Based very loosely on the novel Sheep by Simon Maginn, The Dark is a supernatural thriller almost entirely devoid of shocks or scares.

Indeed, the most distressing aspect of John Fawcett's film is the lacklustre lead performance of the usually mesmerising Maria Bello (The Cooler, A History Of Violence), who portrays her emotionally distraught mother as a shrill harpy, a scream away from a padded cell.

The Dark begs obvious comparisons with The Ring and Dark Water, and is found wanting, answering few of the questions it poses.

After a plodding opening half hour, which tests our patience, Stephen Massicotte's screenplay gradually loses its feeble grasp on coherence as the heroine descends into the underworld, heading for a muddled denouement that will leave you scratching your head. If you can be bothered.

High-strung mother Adelle Tullian travels from New York to a remote area of Wales with her teenage daughter Sarah (Sophie Stuckey) to stay with her husband, James (Sean Bean), in a farmhouse close to the sea.

A memorial on a cliff pays tribute to the dozens of souls who died in a mass suicide. When Sarah drowns, the girl's body never surfaces but James and Adelle come face-to-face with the enigmatic Ebrill (Abigail Stone), who claims to be one of the victims of the mass suicide 50 years earlier.

The Dark feels considerably longer than 93 minutes.

Bello fails to give us emotional insight into her character's suffering.

Bean's father is massively underwritten and the Sheffield actor has little to work with.