Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is certainly the master of suspense our generation. He now co-produces and co-writes (notice how he doesn’t direct) his latest project of fear ‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark‘ which is a light stain in his magnificent career.

The plot revolves around Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison) a lonely, withdrawn child who just came to Rhode Island to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) in a nineteenth century mansion that is being restored. While exploring the neglected property, the girl discovers a cellar, abandoned since the strange disappearance of the builder of the mansion, a hundred years ago. Soon the young girl discovers that living under the stairs are strange and sinister creatures willing to kill for their freedom.

 

‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’, a remake of the 1973 television series of the same name, is a haunted house movie, whose poor debutant director, Troy Nixey, does what he can to try to salvage the unsalvageable. The big problem here are the small dwarf monsters that produce more laughs than scares. The design of the creatures feels too unreal, to the extent you get used to it and it ceases to be scary or funny, to that point.

No one expects to find a masterpiece when it comes to genre of terror. But expectations may very well change, when you say that Guillermo del Toro is involved behind the scenes. One expects a cult film for the ages! But it was not so … the script, one of the lowest points of the film, is laughable, there are scenes too trite, too many explanations and situations that are not fully understood. One ends up almost up in arms, scratching their head wondering why such inconherence.

Anyway, to beat the boredom on DVD this choice isn’t so terrible, but the buying the darn thng would buy a disservice to your pocket. One thing left to say is that you will most likely come away feeling jipped and wanting to see something really creepy like ‘The Strangers‘ and ‘Paranormal Activity 3‘. Guillermo, you owe us one!