A tiny girl

cannot be found.

Her mom and dad

look all around.

Where is she now?

Is she okay?

Do ghosts of kids

want her to pay?

Dark secrets get

revealed at last --

of greed and grief

from years gone past.  

Grim evils are

hard to forgive.

Still, Hannah has

the right to live.

Out of the Dark

makes us feel fear

for this lost child

so sweet, so dear.

Movies about a child in jeopardy always get my full attention. Out of the Dark features Pixie Davies, one of the most darling little actresses I’ve ever seen, as the youngster in question. When Hannah, the character she plays, gets taken – I moved quickly to the edge of my seat and stayed there during most of this suspenseful film. Fine performances by Julia Stiles (The Prince & Me) and Scott Speedman (The Moth Diaries) as Hannah’s parents plus the movie’s visual appeal and creepy story also helped draw me into what was happening on screen. The ending seemed a bit too drawn out and over the top, but that’s my only complaint.

Sarah and Paul Harriman feel like two fish out of water when they move to Santa Clara, Colombia, with their daughter Hannah. Sarah’s father (Stephen Rea) wants to train her to take over the Harriman paper company there when he retires. Paul plans to stay at home and work on his illustrations for children’s books. Their new living quarters? A beautiful house that was once the company’s medical clinic. Little do they know they are living in a place where a terrible tragedy occurred. This is a ghost story, so it’s no spoiler to tell you the house is haunted -- and by ghosts of dead children.         

Filmed in Colombia, Out of the Dark benefits from splendid location shots by cinematographer Isaac Vila (Radio Music Society). The color palette Vila chose also adds to the atmospheric nature of this horrific ghost story. As directed by Lluis Quilez -- from a screenplay by Javier Gullon (Enemy) and David and Alex Pastor (Carriers) -- the film starts out slowly but soon begins to move at just the right pace for this genre. Warning: be prepared for some scary scenes!

(Rated “R” for some violence, terror and disturbing images.)

For more information about Out of the Dark, please go to the IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes website.