Night lights were made for people who are afraid of the dark.

Even the smallest beam of light gives them the peace of mind needed to sleep.

Kyle Walsh, the hero of Darkness Falls, has good reason to be afraid of the dark. There's something evil lurking in the shadows determined to kill him or anyone who tries to intervene.

BURNED AS WITCH

The something in question is none other than the Tooth Fairy, who is really a kindly woman who cursed the villagers of Darkness Falls when she was wrongly accused and burned as a witch.

This terrible injustice happened more than 150 years earlier in this quiet seaside town whose children have suffered terrible nightmares and worse ever since.

The witch story is told over the open credits and little Kyle meets the phantom menace at about the time he reaches puberty.

He loses his last baby tooth and foolishly glimpses the demon when she comes to take it away as is her custom.

After that her single-minded purpose is to kill Kyle. She can only nab him in the dark. Even a small shaft of light will save him.

In a popular horror movie device, the film fast forwards 12 years from the time the Tooth Fairy first visits Kyle to the present when Michael (Lee Cormie), another tyke from Darkness Falls, glimpses the demon and must stay in the light.

Michael just happens to be the little brother of Caitlin (Emma Caulfield), the childhood sweetheart of Kyle (Chaney Kley), who she summons to help her brother.

Kyle returns to town not only to save Michael but to finally destroy the demon.

Darkness Falls opens quite promisingly. Director Jonathan Liebesman has a good understanding of what makes a scene creepy and how to build tension and suspense. Even a shadow at the window becomes terrifying.

Stan Winston's creature, that looks like some huge human bat with a Phantom of the Opera mask, is scary the first few times it swoops into frame but the more it's used the less terrifying it becomes.

GREAT SOUND

The real wizards of terror behind Darkness Falls are sound editors Scott Guiteau, Ken Fischer and Jay Jennings. What they do with natural and mechanical sounds sends shivers up the spine.

Though the trailers for Darkness Falls tried to suggest it is a kin of The Ring, it's real inspiration comes from the old Nightmare on Elm Street flicks.

Anyone who caught They last November will have a real jolt of deja vu. They're a couple of peas from the same pod.

(This film is rated AA)

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