Whoever said that scary movies have ceased to be scary had it right if they were talking about “Darkness Falls,” the new horror movie from Jonathan Liebesman.

This horrible ride begins in the mid-19th century with Matilda Dixon, a kindly old resident of the town Darkness Falls.

When children in the town lose their baby teeth, she presents them with a coin. Then her luck turns bad, and she’s hanged for the disappearance of two of those children.

And of course, Darkness Falls, like all old New England towns, has a curse.

Any child who loses baby teeth and looks at Matilda when she comes to collect them will die.

Tooth Fairy, meet Ted Bundy.

So now, 150 years later, the town of Darkness Falls is still dealing with the legacy of Matilda and the horrors she creates every time a child sees her.

The main character is Kyle (Chaney Kley), a grown man who has been obsessed with light ever since Matilda nearly killed him fifteen years ago.

His former girlfriend Caitlin (Emma Caulfied, of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), plays the older, long-suffering sibling of Michael (Lee Cormie).

Michael lives in a hospital because of his obsessive fear of the dark.

At Caitlin’s request, Kyle returns to Darkness Falls to help her with her young sibling.

There she encounters disastrous consequences.

“Darkness Falls” commits the two most heinous mistakes a horror movie can make.

One, it’s boring. Two, you root for Matilda more than you do the people.

But that’s easy to do, since monster magician Stan Winston (“Aliens,” “Interview with the Vampire”) has created another creepy marvel in the character of Matilda.

It took six puppeteers to handle Matilda.

This makes her one of the most elaborate creations since computers took over most of the monster-making.

The acting in the movie is a little above terrible, but the blame can hardly be placed on the actors.

No one can be a good actor without good material to work with.

The script is so terrible that John Fasano should be medically examined to determine when he went insane and began to write such crap.

From implausible actions to clichés, the script leaves little to the imagination.

Director Jonathan Liebesman does what he can with what he’s given, but unfortunately it’s not enough.

One can only hope that his further work will show off his talent more than “Darkness Falls” ever could.

The last word: A murderous tooth fairy? What’s next, “Santa Claws”?