Movie Review

‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’

Whoever dubbed Wes Craven the “master of horror” must stop reviewing movies until seeing the collected filmography of Guillermo del Toro. In his latest horror-suspense screenplay, del Toro delivers a relatively fresh plot with his characteristic cinematic ingenuity.
Moviegoers are not flocking to see “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” possibly due to its B-level stars or its lack of mainstream promotion. Neither Guy Pearce (best known for the brilliant 2000 movie “Memento”) nor Katie Holmes (best known for marrying Tom Cruise) have the star power to pull in massive audiences, even with del Toro’s name attached to the project. But, box office numbers rarely ever predict the actual worth of a movie – which holds true in this case.
The plot follows a broken family’s attempt to reunite in a historic house. The father, Alex (Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Holmes), grudgingly take his daughter Sally (Bailee Madison) from his ex-wife into the old home he is restoring. She, like most other orphaned or estranged children in horror movies, does not take well to her new home, despite her father’s best efforts.
Sally discovers a hidden basement on the premises of the mansion in which she finds an old furnace that she hears voices coming from. These voices begin telling her that they want to be her friend, but the creatures quickly take a nasty turn when they start tearing up Kim’s belongings and attacking the groundskeepers.
At this point in the review, you may be telling yourself, “this sounds just like a thousand other horror-suspense movies that I have seen,” but you would be wrong.
The genius of Guillermo del Toro is his presentation of the story, not the plot itself. The story should be familiar to many audiences, especially those who have seen “The Orphanage,” which has a remarkably similar, yet more plausible premise. For the sake of argument here, we will ignore his blockbuster movies like the unbelievable failure of “Hellboy,” and focus on his artistic work like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.”
The last time I remember being scared by a movie was when I was five years old, watching “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” at my grandparents’ house. This movie had perfected suspense in 1964, following the story of a reclusive lady plagued by the past murder of her intended husband that she was framed for. It was pretty edgy for its time, and still remains relevant today.
Aside from my five-year-old nightmares of a cleaver-wielding little girl from “Sweet Charlotte,” I had not found a movie remotely scary until I saw “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.”
Too often today, producers rely on the shock-and-awe technique in horror movies. Del Toro, however maintained consistent focus on plot, rather than to the blood-and-guts mess that most horror-suspense movies devote their attention.
“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” is not a perfect movie, and certainly will not be under consideration for any Academy Awards next year. But, for those who enjoy a good scare or the artistic presentation of a familiar story, it is still a great way to spend a couple of hours. Bottom line: wait until it comes out in the Redbox and spend a cold night watching it with a friend with the lights off.

Grade: B

Posted by Ryan Del Campo on Sep 1 2011. Filed under Features, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.