Hung around a hackneyed ghost story plot, this has unknowns Chaney Kley and Emma Caulfield pursued by 'The Tooth Fairy' (an implausible clotheshorse on a string that, in a conceit lifted from the immeasurably superior Pitch Black, can only menace in the dark). In fact, a standout moment has a set of doctors informing a worried mother that the best way to cure her son's debilitating fear of the dark is to lock the poppet up in a sensory deprivation tank.
On all the basic tests of horror - suspense, shock and even that old standby, tsunamis of gore - Darkness Falls fails spectacularly. This is likely only to scare those with a pre-existing fear of the dark. Either that, or it will make them see how senseless their phobia is.