Darker Than Night

A girl inherits her aunt's mansion. She used to live there as a kid when she was adopted by the aunt when her parents and sister died. She later was sent to a boarding school. So she does what anyone else would do--move into the place with her three friends but not her boyfriend.

There she's welcomed by the creepy and ultra-formal housekeeper. The only request by the aunt is the the niece take care of Becket the black cat. One of the girls has a pet ferret that doesn't get along with Becket. One night the ferret appears dead and the girl blames Becket and eventually will take vengeance.

That's when things go awry. The mansion is about as stereotypical as it gets. Like a cheesy haunted house done by Disney. It looks large on the outside with lots of windows but all the rooms are tiny and dark. No sunlight gets in and even when people turn in the lights (which they rarely do), it's still pitchblack. There are spider webs everywhere, dust, mysterious rooms, old junk, pictures, a huge painting of the aunt, etc. So at this point everyone starts seeing, hearing, and dreaming scary stuff. The girl grows distant from her boyfriend and when they throw the lamest housewarming party ever, one of the other girls seduces him, even though or maybe because she's involved with the ugliest guy ever. More and more they start freaking out until we find out what exactly happened at the house years ago when the aunt was young and how that's similar to what is going in the present.

Darker Than Night is unfortunately as bad a movie as the reviews and ratings indicate. It's got very little going for it: a cool title for a horror movie that's even more effective in Spanish; the cute Zuria Vega and the stunning Ona Casamiquela, and the performance by Margarita Sanz. That's it. The story is nothing special. And I haven't seen nor care to see the original. The characters are irrelevant, you couldn't care less about these people. For one hour and twenty minutes nothing particularly relevant happens aside from noises. And then when things get hectic it's not particularly impressive either. I saw the 2D version and I didn't see anything worthwhile for 3D. They could have done more with the idea, I'm not sure why they had such low aspirations.

I was really surprised about all the bad reviews about the movie all over Mexico's press and social networks, so I was in Mexico and I said: what the hell... So I went to the see the movie. I really enjoyed as far as I wasn't expecting things to happen. I had fun, got scared a couple of times. The idea of A Hunted Mexican Mansion really caught me... I found every character lovely in their on way. But there was something that didn't make sense to me, why is everybody so upset about it? I'm not an expert myself but a very huge fan of horror movies, I know a lot about Taboada's job and found this version of Mas Negro que la Noche amazing. What I really got me thinking on writing a review, was the truly emotional and over the top comments. And icon movie such as the original, was just that... An icon. There's nothing more. If you really take the time to analyze it, is both boring and the worst acting performances ever. But I got the point, is the Mexican Horror icon that can't be touched. I've read other comments on the IMDb and I found particular disappointing that even the actress's hair-done (that curly look) even takes more words that the movie review it self. The move is great and way better than the original. Is quite funny that a younger generation can be thrilled by a 40 year old so boring horror classic. Get real. I recommend this version and the 3D option a lot! Cool experience.

I have to be the voice of descent here. I have not seen the original, so I have no idea how this remake honors its source, but as a standalone film I thought it was great - within the genre. Suspenseful, creepy, and the old housekeeper Avengelina is just a delight. With this being a Mexican film, and so many of its cast having started in telenovelas, I was a little worried when I read so many reviews talking about the overacting. Maybe i'm growing used to Latin American acting, but I really have not noticed any. If you like creepy movies with a few jump-scares and a lot of atmosphere, this one is definitely worth a shot. I will add that I watched it in the original Spanish so I have no idea how good or bad the English translation and dubbing are.

This movie is a remake of a 1975 film directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada. The original is by far much better than this 2014 version. The new version is full of bad acting, bad dialogues and lots of clichés. It's a horror movie, but you end up laughing watching it. I watched years ago the original, and I do believe this new version was a complete failure. The sad part is that good actor work in this film, such as Margarita Sanz, she is an extraordinary actress, but in this film, her talent is completely wasted.

It may seem to some viewers that I am over-inflating this film but I genuinely love it despite its flaws. I loved Mas negro que la noche in the theater, and I have since watched it several times after I purchased it for home viewing. As a fan of giallo films and 1970s horror I thought this 2014 effort was absolutely chef's kiss and I have never regretted buying it.

I also think it is a vast improvement on the 1975 original (it's fine, you can throw things at me now, but I won't apologize).

Darker Than Night is a glossy, action-packed but silly haunted house thriller that abuses all the CGI. I typically hate when filmmakers replace talent with beautiful people and questionable technology but this flick is just pure fun to me, I consider it a "comfort film."