“The Darkness” (*1/2 out of four) was an umpteenth, by-the-numbers horror story about a haunted house, satanic curses, and (yawn) a demonically possessed child. A workaholic father (Kevin Bacon) moves his family into a new house when his son suddenly begins behaving strangely and endangers the family’s safety and sanity (and the audience’s patience). Hard to believe there could be yet another rip-off of both “The Shining” and “Poltergeist” but horror fillmmakers keep churning out the same story over and over. Why a top-notch character actor like Bacon starred in this is scarier and more mystifying than anything on screen.