indiescream.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.

Everybody I know has at least some form of resentment towards being alone in the dark or being in the dark in general. This is often used in horror films to make the viewer feel the uncomforting feeling that is known all too well. Every person in existence can recall a time when they stood still in a dark area, too scared to move for no other reason than the unknown. Well, blind people may be an exception.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is produced and co-written by Guillermo del Toro and directed by new comer Troy Nixey. For his first film, Nixey did a phenomenal job. It’s an extremely well made film with breath taking set design. The amount of detail that was put into every inch of the house is simply magnificent.

I have never seen the original 1973 made for tv film of the same name so I will not touch on that and will treat this as a standalone film. First off, the original ad campaign sold me instantly simply by showing short clips, mentioning del Toro, and having the title fall in huge letters. I loved it and could not wait to see it. As the months went on for me waiting to see it, I did my best not to read much about it so I could go in with a completely fresh mind.

For those who haven’t seen the original, the story is about a young girl named Sally (Bailee Madison) who is sent to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) as they remodel a mansion. Sally isn’t there for long before she is contacted by the dark past of the house and what starts out as innocent childish curiosity, quickly turns into something much darker.

I want to state right now that I thoroughly enjoyed Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and had a very good time watching it. It’s extremely well made and is obviously a passion project for those involved. With that being said, I wasn’t frightened pretty much at all by it and that’s my biggest criticism. If I was young or around the age that del Toro was when he saw the original, it probably would have kept me up for a few nights but as it stands and with me being at the ripe old age of nineteen, it just did not scare me. Yes, it was tense at moments and there’s a scene toward the end of the film where Kim is attempting to save Sally from the monsters and… just see it. It’s the only part that really got me simply because I was not expecting to actually see anything of a semi-graphic nature.

For some reason, the film is rated R and I really cannot see why. The violence was kept to a minimum and was mostly off screen (with the exception of one fairly bloody scene and the quick one I mentioned earlier), I don’t remember there being any harsh language at all, and there was no sex whatsoever. The MPAA claims that is was rated R for violence and terror. I can kind of see that for younger viewers but for the crowd that will be allowed in to see it, I doubt there will be much terror.

It’s a good film but I wanted it to be great. Nixey showed great skill and I will definitely keep an eye on him as his career continues. I do recommend it and I doubt it will be met with much dislike. The acting and writing are quite good (more so the writing) and the directing and set design were damn good. Also, it kind of confused me a bit with the ending which I liked. Maybe I just need to see the original to understand it but nonetheless, it was pretty cool. See it and have a good time and if you hate your young kids, bring them to it as well.

★★★½