Synopsis
Kit, a troubled girl, is sent to the exclusive Blackwood boarding school, where she discovers that only four other female students have been admitted to learn the four pillars of knowledge under the ominous wing of the mysterious headmistress Madame Duret.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- AnnaSophia RobbKit
- Uma ThurmanMadame Duret
- Isabelle FuhrmanIzzy
- Victoria MorolesVeronica
- Noah SilverJules
- Taylor RussellAshley
- Rosie DaySierra
- Rebecca FrontMiss Orlonsky
- Jodhi MayHeather Sinclair
- Pip TorrensProfessor Farley
Recommendations
- 80
Arizona Republic
It's a smart, well-crafted tale that is thoroughly contemporary, yet somewhat old-school in that it doesn't go for cheap shocks. Instead, the emphasis is on mood, atmosphere and some sharply etched characterizations. - 70
The New York Times
With each new element, Down a Dark Hall reveals itself, with improbable delight, to be genuinely strange — a movie in which viewers can pick their own pleasure, no two spectators having exactly the same experience. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Its elegant subtlety feels refreshing in this era of over-the-top horror films. - 63
Movie Nation
Thurman, oily accent dripping with menace, is no Disney villain here. She’s real world dangerous, vulpine, callous, keeping supernatural secret threats from her pupils. - 60
Los Angeles Times
Based on Lois Duncan’s gothic young adult novel, Down a Dark Hall is entry-level horror for teens. The scares might not satisfy those old enough to vote, but it should provide mild chills for its target audience. - 60
Variety
This is a decent modern Gothic thriller handled with sufficient style and a straight face by genre ace Cortés. His efforts, and strong performances by the young female leads, make for a movie that’s fairly strong meat by juvenile fantasy standards, if probably a tad wimpy for horror-fan tastes. - 50
RogerEbert.com
Somehow, neither the plentiful creaky floorboards that the story rests on nor Thurman’s spot-on, French-accented coolness manages to send shivers down the audience’s spine through this allegorical and bitterly timeless tale of female exploitation. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
Down a Dark Hall eventually goes Down a Convoluted Tunnel, with some admittedly creepy but also just plain crazy sequences that play like “Eyes Wide Shut” meets “The Shining.”
