The new horror movie Don’t be Afraid of The Dark knows how to draw the audience from the very beginning. An extremely powerful opening scene (which I believe is the sole reason for its “R” rating) builds up for some great expectations. As one theater-goer in the row behind me put it before the opening credits scrawled, “that’s one ****ed up way to start a movie!” Does it live up to its incredible potential brought up in the opener? Not really, but it’s still worth watching.
Written by horror enthusiast Guillermo Del Toro, and directed by Troy Nixey (which appears to be his first feature film to direct) one can immediately tell these guys know a thing or two about horror. The shots bleed tension when required, and the plot is given ample enough time to cook into a climatic finale. The movie is surprisingly character driven, perhaps too much so, but it’s required for the payoff. The kooky original premise brings a lot to the table as well (think the tooth fairy gone wrong).
Sally has her fair share of problems. Over medicated by her mom, and seeing a therapist, she now has to adjust to moving in with her dad while he is seeing somebody new. Played by Bailee Madison she is depicted with the appropriate level of disconnection and curiosity for a young girl in her position. Her dad is somewhat of an architect/home renovator and Sally must stay in one of the mansions he is renovating. However, the previous owners are still there lurking around, and Sally’s curiosity gets the better of her. Of course her dad (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend (Katie Holmes) don’t believe her when she says she hears voices that eventually lead her to a secret chamber that was previously walled up. Unfortunately that’s where these creatures reside and Sally is eventually responsible for freeing them. Even after the friendly groundskeeper gets killed by these strange creatures the parents still dismiss Sally’s claims as an overactive imagination of a troubled child. But they can’t stop there, they need Sally for her teeth because it’s what apparently keeps them alive…for some reason. They’ve been doing this for a while, they’re evil just go with it.
Which brings me to my main conflict with the movie. The creatures we are supposed to find scary; are they scary enough? They are certainly some ugly bastards, a mix between a monkey and a rodent, but are they scary? They are for a great deal of the film due to the smart decision to show them sparsely from the shadows or bold quick in your face close ups, but by the end of the film where they are given more screen time, things start to fall apart. I questioned if it was due to the fact that they were CG creations, and not something like stop motion which is always inherently creepy due to the unnatural otherworldly motions caused by the process. When we see Sally take these things on in the third act, which she does with just a camera (they have a weakness to bright light) and a blunt object you start to wonder if they are really that threatening or the adults in this movie are just really incompetent.
Not to mention some things don’t really jive together story wise. If you stop for a minute and think about some elements to the plot, it just may ruin the experience for you. All in all Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark offers an original premise with moments of hair raising tension. Too bad it ultimately couldn’t live up its potential.
Written by horror enthusiast Guillermo Del Toro, and directed by Troy Nixey (which appears to be his first feature film to direct) one can immediately tell these guys know a thing or two about horror. The shots bleed tension when required, and the plot is given ample enough time to cook into a climatic finale. The movie is surprisingly character driven, perhaps too much so, but it’s required for the payoff. The kooky original premise brings a lot to the table as well (think the tooth fairy gone wrong).
Sally has her fair share of problems. Over medicated by her mom, and seeing a therapist, she now has to adjust to moving in with her dad while he is seeing somebody new. Played by Bailee Madison she is depicted with the appropriate level of disconnection and curiosity for a young girl in her position. Her dad is somewhat of an architect/home renovator and Sally must stay in one of the mansions he is renovating. However, the previous owners are still there lurking around, and Sally’s curiosity gets the better of her. Of course her dad (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend (Katie Holmes) don’t believe her when she says she hears voices that eventually lead her to a secret chamber that was previously walled up. Unfortunately that’s where these creatures reside and Sally is eventually responsible for freeing them. Even after the friendly groundskeeper gets killed by these strange creatures the parents still dismiss Sally’s claims as an overactive imagination of a troubled child. But they can’t stop there, they need Sally for her teeth because it’s what apparently keeps them alive…for some reason. They’ve been doing this for a while, they’re evil just go with it.
Which brings me to my main conflict with the movie. The creatures we are supposed to find scary; are they scary enough? They are certainly some ugly bastards, a mix between a monkey and a rodent, but are they scary? They are for a great deal of the film due to the smart decision to show them sparsely from the shadows or bold quick in your face close ups, but by the end of the film where they are given more screen time, things start to fall apart. I questioned if it was due to the fact that they were CG creations, and not something like stop motion which is always inherently creepy due to the unnatural otherworldly motions caused by the process. When we see Sally take these things on in the third act, which she does with just a camera (they have a weakness to bright light) and a blunt object you start to wonder if they are really that threatening or the adults in this movie are just really incompetent.
Not to mention some things don’t really jive together story wise. If you stop for a minute and think about some elements to the plot, it just may ruin the experience for you. All in all Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark offers an original premise with moments of hair raising tension. Too bad it ultimately couldn’t live up its potential.
