Introverted Sally Hurst has just moved in with her father Alex and his girlfriend Kim when she realizes that their sprawling estate holds its fair share of secrets. Ascending to the depths of the house, Sally gains access to a secret lower level that has lain undisturbed for nearly a century, when the original builder vanished without a trace. When Sally accidentally opens the gateway that kept the creatures locked up tight, she realizes that in order to prevent them from destroying her family is to convince her skeptical father than monsters really exist.
Genres: Suspense/Horror, Thriller and Remake Running Time: 1 hr. 40 min. Release Date: August 26th, 2011 (wide) MPAA Rating: R for violence and terror. Distributor: FilmDistrict
Cast And Credits
Starring:
Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison
Directed by:
Troy Nixey
Produced by:
Bill Horberg, Guillermo del Toro, Michael Falbo
A Renovation Uncovers Nastier Things Than Dust More bump-in-the-night than blood-on-the-ground, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark†is an old-fashioned spooker suggesting that dysfunctional families might benefit more from malignant demons than from a benign therapist.
Set in the kind of crumbling mansion that invariably comes with a loon-haunted lake and a gruff handyman who knows more than he’s letting on, this handsome throwback follows a lonely child, Sally (Bailee Madison), whose distracted father (Guy Pearce, bored to tears) plans to renovate the home under the direction of his considerably younger girlfriend (Katie Holmes).
Unbeknownst to this tense little family, the former tenants are still in residence: tiny, toothy creatures who whisper in the walls and scrabble in the skirting, occasionally poking a miniature claw in the direction of a human body part. What they’re after is clear from the film’s gruesome prologue; what they look like is withheld until long after we have ceased to care.
Reimagining the 1973 television movie that terrified him as a boy, the producer, Guillermo del Toro â€" who wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robbins and who has made a career transforming childhood trauma into art house shivers â€" may have entrusted directing duties to Troy Nixey, but his fingerprints are all over the screen. The child’s-eye view (the original Sally was an adult), the mash-up of history and fairy tale, the overly fussy story â€" all bear his stamp, as do the richly detailed visuals and prolix tension.
None of Mr. del Toro’s classy fiddling, however, can improve on the original’s marvelously economical scares. But if you’ve always wondered what the tooth fairies want with all those teeth â€" or if you just need proof that a terrified Katie Holmes looks not that different from the everyday version â€" this is the movie for you.
A Renovation Uncovers Nastier Things Than Dust More bump-in-the-night than blood-on-the-ground, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark†is an old-fashioned spooker suggesting that dysfunctional families might benefit more from malignant demons than from a benign therapist.
Reimagining the 1973 television movie that terrified him as a boy, the producer, Guillermo del Toro â€" who wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robbins and who has made a career transforming childhood trauma into art house shivers â€" may have entrusted directing duties to Troy Nixey, but his fingerprints are all over the screen. The child’s-eye view (the original Sally was an adult), the mash-up of history and fairy tale, the overly fussy story â€" all bear his stamp, as do the richly detailed visuals and prolix tension. 
