Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Plot synopsis:
The movie starts off at Blackwood Manor some time ago (to the point where they use candles as lights). We see a maid dusting some books in the study when suddenly a bell rings nearby (meaning she is needed). The maid grabs a candle and walks through the dark house until she approaches a stairwell leading to the basement. She calls out for Lord Blackwood, but there is no reply. She begins to walk away when suddenly she hears him call for her. She looks down the stairwell, and we see Lord Blackwood standing in the shadows beckoning for her to come down the stairs. She begins to slowly come down without hesitation. We see Lord Blackwood constantly looking over towards an old, dark fireplace. As she reaches the middle of the stairwell, we see a tripwire has been set and she trips over it and falls down the stairs. Lord Blackwood is obviously in a frightened state, and he stands above the maid. Then he quickly mounts on top of her, and we can hear whispers coming from the fireplace. The maid screams as Lord Blackwood uses his tools to remove her teeth as she screams. We see the majority of his teeth are missing as well, and he can barely speak. The maid is on the floor either passed out or dead as Lord Blackwood goes towards the fireplace with a small ashtray full of teeth. He begs to the creatures to give him his son back as he has collected teeth and offers them as a trade. However, the creatures do not accept it, and a swarm of the rat-like creatures attack him and pull him into the fireplace and down the hole, killing him.Present Day. Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison) is drawing on an airplane. She is very talented but is sitting alone. She arrives at the airport, and we see her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) waiting for her. Kim is obviously very nervous being the new girlfriend and we can tell that Sally and her father rarely ever spend time together. Sally hugs her father but does not seem happy at all and appears very depressed. Kim offers a teddy bear as a welcome gift and Sally hesitantly accepts it.On the ride to Blackwood Manor, we learn a lot. Apparently Sally did not want to leave Los Angeles from her mother at all. Her mother also has her taking Ritalin. Alex hardly acknowledges that his daughter is in the backseat as he constantly brings up his business and trying to sell the Manor. Kim notices this all while riding.Finally, they arrive to the Manor. There are people there working on it to look perfect for the open house party where they will try to sell it. One of the workers is Harris (Jack Thompson), who sort of flinches when he sees Kim and Alex arrive with Sally. Kim sees Sally go into the study from the beginning of the film and Kim goes in to try and lay some "new mother" work, so to say. She comes in and tries to befriend Sally who doesn't seem that interested at all. She even goes so far as sliding on one of the sliding bookcases to make it seem fun. Kim also shows Sally a raven crest that her grandmother gave her when she was little. Sally replies by saying "My mother gave me to my dad" in a cold way and leaves out the study.Sally goes upstairs where Alex shows her to her room, and Sally asks him how long she has to stay. Alex is surprised and pretty much tries to beat around the obvious; her mother abandoned her and now she has to stay with her father from now on. Sally is angry and sad and exclaims that her mother said Alex only likes Kim because she's younger, but Sally shouts out that she looks old, which Kim overhears. Sally locks herself in the bathroom as her father asks her to come out. Kim is slightly hurt by Sally's words but understands it's because Sally is afraid. Sally eventually comes out and sits in her bed saying she wants to go to sleep. Alex sighs and turns on a nightlight and he and Kim leave the room.That night, Kim and Alex are in bed, and Kim is trying to discuss ways to win Sally's trust. Alex brushes it aside, saying she'll grow to like her. Kim also mentions what Sally said earlier about her mom "giving" her to Alex. Alex avoids the question, and they kiss and cuddle in the bed. Sally overhears all of this because of the vents and places a pillow over her vent and goes to sleep. Meanwhile, in the basement, we see that it is covered in dust and cobwebs, and we see the fireplace has been bolted shut, and we hear voices whispering, "Sally... her name is Sally."The next morning Sally is sitting on a bench while the workers are outside. She is bored, and so she spells her name on the bench with little rocks. Kim walks outside and waves at her from a distance. Sally waves back then Kim gets back to helping the workers. Then Sally hears voices whispering her name coming from a small forest/garden in the backyard. So she slips away and follows the voices through the garden. We are treated to beautiful scenery, and we see her smile for the first time as she uses a stick as a sort of staff and walks through the garden. While walking through the garden, Sally encounters a "fairy ring" of mushrooms. Then suddenly she ends up on the side of the house and sees a bunch of bushes blocking something. She moves through the bushes and sees they are covering windows. She brushes them aside and sees a basement. Suddenly Harris appears and tells her its not safe and quickly tries to lead her away. Kim and Alex show up asking about the commotion. Harris tells her to stay away from back here, and tries to lead her away but Sally protests and points, saying there are windows to a basement. Much to Harris' obvious dismay, she proves it to Alex and Kim, and they go back into the house.Alex grabs a hammer and begins to tear at a hollow wall in the middle of the main hall/stairwell. Kim, Harris, and Sally watch as he reveals a doorway. Kim runs to grab the master key, and they enter the basement that we saw at the beginning of the film. Sally is excited to explore the basement, and Kim is amazed at all that is down there. She mentions that they came upon a great find. Sally looks over towards the bolted fireplace, and she gets closer. She studies it and can hear the voices whispering her name. Alex and Kim tell her that it's time to head back upstairs, and they do so.The next morning while her father isn't paying attention and Kim is speaking to him, Sally sneaks down into the basement with a wrench to open the fireplace. After many successful tries, she knocks one of the bolts off, and as she unscrews the last one. Her father comes downstairs, and she hides the tools. She tells him that she's been hearing voices from the fireplace. The creatures sneakily steal a sharp metal stick, and as her father places his ear to the fireplace, they attempt to stab him, but fail. Neither Sally or Alex notice. Alex goes upstairs and tells her to come, as well. As Sally is going up, the fireplace cover falls, and the hole is exposed. She crouches down and sees the tooth tray, and she takes one of the teeth and puts it in her pocket. Her father calls her upstairs. The voices whisper "She'll be back, they always come back."Dinner that night, Sally does not want to eat her rice. Kim tells her that there is some apple pie if she'd prefer that. Sally again declines saying her mother doesn't want her to eat gluten. Alex is angry and tells her that she can either eat the apple pie or go to bed. Sally slams her fork and goes up to her room. Kim shakes her head in disappointment at Alex.That night Sally hears the voices whispering to her through the vents. They ask her to set them free and that they can be her friend. They try to coax her further by telling her that her parents don't want her.She places the tooth under her pillow that night and goes to sleep. Alex notices his shaving blade is missing, and Kim goes to her closet to see what she's going to wear the day of the open house, and she sees her clothes torn in pieces. Alex confronts Sally the next morning and yells at her. Sally constantly says that she didn't do it. Kim is watching from the hallway and appears to believe Sally. Alex notices Sally is gripping something in her hands and sees it is an old coin which Sally claims was under her pillow.The next day Kim and Alex are leaving to go handle some business downtown. Harris, and the cook offer to watch Sally while they are gone. While driving Kim acknowledges the fact that Alex does not seem to be paying much mind to her daughter. But back at the manor, once again Sally slips away downstairs with some raisins and crouches by the hole with a flashlight. The creatures hiss saying they hate the light and so Sally turns it off and sits some raisins on the fireplace offering them to the creatures since they are 'hungry.' The creatures are about to come out when suddenly Harris rushes downstairs with a flashlight asking Sally who she's talking to. She says nobody and he orders to go upstairs "Now!". And she does so, Harris props his flashlight to point towards the fireplace while he goes to seal it back up. The creatures whisper to him and call him a fool. Some have already gotten out and knock over a toolbox and his flashlight. He backs away from the fireplace begging to the creatures and saying he hasn't told anyone else anything! The creatures, however, begin to attack, using various items from the toolbox such as boxcutters and scissors, and begin to attack and stab Harris repeatedly, but not killing him. The cook and Sally are standing by the stairwell and hear his screams. Harris comes upstairs, bloodied, with scissors sticking out his shoulder and he collapses.Alex and Kim return home and see that the police are there. They enter, and the cook is crying and in shock, and tells them that Harris had an accident and is in the hospital and she tried to keep Sally from seeing but she saw it anyway. Alex speaks with the police while Kim runs out to the backyard to try and find Sally. She finds her sitting in a tree crying and offers comfort and to show Sally something. She takes Sally into a bush maze and in the center is a beautiful fountain with fish that they imported straight from Japan. Sally begins crying and tells Kim, "I swear to God I didn't tear your clothes. I swear." Kim hugs her, saying she doesn't care about the clothes, and she and Sally have gotten somewhat closer.That night, Kim carries Sally to bed and Sally pleads to Kim to stay with her even after she falls asleep. However, sometime in the middle of the night, Kim gets up and leaves the teddy bear next to Sally and goes back to her room.The creatures knock over the carousel night light which causes Sally to wake up. She grabs the flashlight from the table.We see a creature sneak under her covers. She crawls underneath with her flashlight, and as she continues underneath her covers she shines the light on the creature causing it to shriek and her to scream. She tosses her sheet off the bed and screams for her dad and he and Kim quickly enter the room and embrace her as the creatures flee into the one of the vents. Kim notices the light is broken and the teddy bear is torn to shreds.Alex schedules for a therapist to come speak with Sally. He does and begins to question her while they talk about her behavior. She is drawing the whole time as she talks to the therapist. He asks her what she's seeing, and she explains that the creatures that have been talking to her are like evil fairies or gnomes. She has drawn a picture and shows the therapist. He asks what they are saying, and she tells him "that my parents don't really love me. And that they are my friend." The therapist tells Alex and Kim, and shows them the drawings. They conclude that the creatures are obviously imaginary. Kim seems skeptical.The next night, Alex and Kim are going out. The cook and a few workers offer to watch Sally for the night. Sally is in her room, and decides to go down the hall to take a bath. As she goes down the hall, we can hear the creatures moving through the vents and following her. She enters the bathroom and closes the door and gets in the tub. Meanwhile, we see Kim dropped Alex off at where they needed to go and goes to visit Harris in the hospital. She tries to ask him questions about the house, and he can barely speak, but he informs Kim to, "Get...her...out." Kim asks more questions, but Harris simply gives her instructions to go to a certain library and he gives her the index info for a certain book. She rushes to the library.Back at the house we see Sally in the bathtub and the creatures turn off the light switch. She tries to get lower in the bathtub, and we see a creature run past the curtain.At the library, Kim gets a librarian to lead her to the book, and he explains it was Blackwood's. He tells her of how Blackwood had a son who went missing and then days later Blackwood went missing, as well. Kim never knew this. He also begins to show her long lost pictures Blackwell drew saying Blackwell wrote that there were ancient fairies who ate bones and teeth from their victims and mainly children. He also mentions that the fairies Blackwood mentions must always take one victim so that they can make he/she one of their own. Blackwood drew pictures, and Kim thinks that they are very similar to what Sally has been drawing and the stories she has been telling. The librarian mentions there is a mural somewhere in the house Blackwood made before he died that no one has seen. Kim is shocked by all she has discovered and rushes back to get Alex and go home.Back at home, Sally steps out of the tub and the creatures began to torment and try to attack her. She screams for help and tries to get out but they have broken the lock on the door. She falls into the empty tub as the creatures crawl along the sides and up the curtains with sharp objects. The cook and the workers are trying to break in the door this whole time and just as we think the creatures will get Sally they break in and turn on the lights. The creatures have hidden.Alex and Kim arrive home to the cook, who is in a frantic state once again saying Sally is in her room crying. Kim runs upstairs before Alex and sees Sally is gone. Alex mentions she may have run away because she does that a lot. Kim rushes down to the basement and notices a giant tarp covering a section of the wall in the basement. She removes it and sees the mural the librarian mentioned. It is a painting of a child being sacrificed to the creatures. Kim is stunned.Alex and Kim drive down the road looking for Sally. Kim mentions how she talked to Harris and all that she discovered but, as usual, he fails to listen and brushes it off. They see Sally walking down the road and Alex orders her to get back in the car which she does.The following night it is the night of the open house. Kim is in the room with Sally as they get ready and she finds Alex's shaving blade in Sally's drawer. Sally claims she needs it for protection, but Kim comforts her, saying she'll protect her and they won't get to her. Sally mentions that they hate bright lights. Kim has an idea and gives Sally her camera (very old camera the type that flashes very bright and you have to shake the picture when it comes out). So Sally walks through the party taking pictures as guests arrive. Suddenly, she sees a small vase of flowers moving, and she hears the whispering. She gets close and can see the creature and snaps the picture, the creature freaks out and runs. Sally, excited that she has proof, tries to show her dad but sees the picture hasnt developed yet. Her father goes upstairs and sees that Kim is packing up all of Sally's stuff. They get into a brief argument, but Alex ends it when the cook informs him that the food is done so he goes downstairs.All the guests, Alex, and Sally gather at the table. Sally is steadily shaking the picture for it to develop, but it's taking too long, and the guests keep trying to touch it, so she sits it under leg. Alex is speaking with the guests about the house when suddenly we see one of the creatures under the table attempting to get the photo from under Sally's leg. The guests see her fidget and tugging with something as the creature fights to pull the photo away. She crawls underneath the table while Alex ignores it, and continues talking with the guests. She chases the creature with the camera under the table. This eventually leads her across the hall and into the study where the creatures close the door behind her and lock it. The creatures whisper and taunt her saying nobody will listen and try to attack her. She snaps pictures at every turn to keep the creatures away. They begin to jump on her, and she screams. The guests and Alex hear this and rush to the door. Kim runs downstairs and tries to help get the door open. Sally is fighting with the creatures as they attack her and one of them grabs the camera and begins to crawl up the side of one of the bookcases. Sally sees this and quickly pushes the sliding bookcase into the creature, killing it. The camera falls. Alex and Kim rush in while the guests are looking, and Alex embraces Sally. Sally is crying, saying she has proof, but when she tries to show the only picture she had left it is just a picture of her screaming. The guests all leave and vow to try the dinner again at another time.Sally cries herself to sleep, and Alex goes to lay her in her bed in her room again. He then goes downstairs and stares at the mural of the child being fed to the creatures. Kim comes down and stands next to him. He realizes the need to leave the house and offers to go get the car while Kim goes to get Sally. Kim rushes upstairs and tells Sally they are going to go, but Sally is half sleep. Alex goes to the garage and uses the garage key to open the doors. He gets up and goes to lay pillows and a blanket in the backseat when suddenly the garage doors close. Alex goes back to the front seat to get the opener and notices it is gone. The creatures use a rope to cause Alex to fall and his head smacks the ground, knocking him out. The creatures then crawl towards the power box and cut the wires causing the house to go dark.Kim is in Sally's room while Sally is asleep. She grabs the flashlight off Sally's table and begins to walk through the hallways. She can hear whispering in the dark. As she begins to walk down the stairs in the dark, we see the creatures have set a trip wire as they did before, which causes Kim to fall and cut her shin. As she lies on the floor loosing consciousness because of the fall, she can see the creatures slowly surrounding her, and one of them points upstairs saying, "Sally." Kim passes out.Upstairs, Sally awakens and calls out for Kim. She grabs the camera and rushes down the hall and downstairs to sees Kim lying on the floor, knocked out. The creatures began to swarm around her, so Kim and Sally try to use the flash to ward them off, but it does no good. They grab Sally and begin to drag her towards the basement as she drops the camera and continues to scream for Kim. In the garage, Alex has awakened and stands up. He tries to leave out the garage but the door is blocked from the outside.Back in the house, Kim awakens and hears Sally screaming. She struggles to get up, grabs her flashlight, and heads down into the basement. The creatures have Sally tied by her ankles to a rope as they attempt to pull her into the fireplace, and down into the hole. Kim aims her flashlight around the room to try and keep the creatures away and pulls against the creatures to save Sally. All the while Sally is trying to keep the creatures away with the flashlight.Meanwhile, Alex breaks out the garage and runs into the house. One of the doors are locked, keeping him from the basement. As he tries to get through he peeks through the keyhole and the creatures use a sharp needle to try to stab him in the eye, but they miss and get his cheek. In the basement, Kim picks up the box-cutter from earlier and begins to cut through the rope telling Sally that when she cuts the rope she wants her to run. Sally protests saying she won't leave her; the rope is tangled around Kim's shins. Kim cuts the rope, and the creatures are extremely angry. Kim looks down at Sally and gives her one final smile as the creatures pull the rope and cause Kim to smack into the fireplace and her shins to snap backwards. Kim cries out in agony and falls to the ground. The creatures pull Kim down into the hole while Sally screams. Alex breaks his way into the house and rushes downstairs. He sees Kim hanging on to the sides of the fireplace, but he is too late. Kim is pulled completely down into the hole, and she is gone. Sally cries as Alex hugs her and apologizes that he never believed her.A few days later we see Sally and Alex return to the manor in the daytime. There is a giant sign that says "Foreclosure". They walk into the manor, and we see Sally has the same hairstyle Kim always wore and the same jacket Kim had the day they met. Sally sits a picture she drew of her and Kim in the doorway and says "I Love You Kim." Alex and Sally leave the house and close the door behind him. Seconds later, however, we see the basement door open, and a draft leads the picture Sally drew down into the basement and into the re-bolted fireplace, and it sucks in through the cracks. We hear the creatures whisper what will they do and that soon they will bring others to get them. But then we hear Kim's voice mixed with the creatures whispering as well saying "We will dig deeper. Soon they will forget. They always do. "We have all the time in the world," and the other creatures repeat after her saying, "Yes, we have all the time in the world."

Tags: suspenseful, murder

Review:
Pros: beautiful scenery/sets, a few good jumps, and about 5-10 minutes of eerie atmosphere Cons: not very scary, too much CGI'd gremlins, and a very predictable/slow plotConclusion: rent the original and skip this remakeThe much anticipated, by me, remake of the 1973 made for TV movie of the same name left me feeling extremely disappointed.
A young girl Sally (Bailee Madison) moves in with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes), into a house Alex and Kim are fixing up to sell.
I think it was way more effective than the over-shown little gremlins in this movie, which looked to me like Chihuahuas that could speak.
Just watch--you'll have trouble hating it.Guillermo del Toro's new collaborative effort with first-time director Troy Nixey is, simply put, horror done right.
Keep a keen ear and listen for del Toro, as he voices a few of the creatures.Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a very fun and very creepy horror movie experience.
The scares in this movie are well thought out and are not the cheap thrills Hollywood has come to depend on, and the film did a good job building momentum.However, that being said, the plot and its lack of logicality stop the film dead in its tracks.
The only thing it makes me want to do is track down the original.The film I most likened it to was, in fact, an obscure early '90s B-movie called LITTLE DEVILS: THE BIRTH, which was much better in terms of pure, unashamed fun - the effects were better too.
The movie tells the story of a young girl named Sally that moves in with her architect father and girlfriend Kim who are remodeling an old mansion.
Soon after arriving the girl opens a doorway that unleashes a group of small monsters that attempt to kidnap her and eat her teeth!First thing I should tell you is that the movie isn't that scary.
Guy Pearce does an amazing job playing a father you really want to strangle at the end of the movie and Bailee Madison does a good job playing Sally.
The little creatures, which are all CG done look fantastic in the film, which is something expected when I see the name Guillermo Del Toro attached to the film.While everything sounds good and great and the movie does a great job at being a good classic horror movie with the usual or unusual twist ending, I still have a problem with the movie that is more an issue with the genre.
Overall I enjoyed the film even though I am not a big fan of horror movies and I think that if you want to see a horror film is that more creepy than scary than Don't Be Afraid of the Dark will satisfy your needs.Written by Steve Cienfuegos for MovieFloss.com.
It tied-in every cliché horror movie story point, from: moving into a creepy new old house, neglectful father, his new girlfriend, a misplaced child who sees things, the people don't believe her until it's too late, the people that live there that know what's going on but don't say anything...like give me a break.
The visual effects were horrible, the story was stupid, and the only reason I'm not failing this move is because I like Del Toro, Holmes and Pearce, so I'll give them a second chance...but not a third!.
I saw the adverts, and thought 'this looks good!' What i didn't know, was that the adverts covered what the actual film was about, and when, while watching the film, you find out what the monsters are, I almost laughed.Tiny little half pint sized sprites struggling to hold up nail clippers on the attack!
The first time the creatures were revealed, the whole movie house broke out in laughter, THAT bad.The last thing that I have to mention, those IMDb vote results are rigged.
In Rhode Island, the interior designers Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) welcome Alex's nine year daughter Sally (Bailee Madison) that was sent by her mother to live with Alex.
Unfortunately the lame screenplay has many plot holes and, for example, the disappearance of Kim and the weird events that the guests have witnessed have no consequence in the end of the story.The DVD has interviews and behind stage footages and it is visible the interference of Guillermo del Toro in the direction.
And I know many people lack it, but it gets way too ridiculous.That one part the girl caught one, no one mentioned that at all.There were too many parts that didn't add up to any realistic scenario and to me, that killed most of it's little contribution to horror films.The dad is a total moron.The people get "knocked up" and wake up coincidentally at specific moments, even if they get shaken up or stuff happens that should wake em up anyway.The critters are fun but I believe they're executed with a WANKERey attitude.
I was excited to watch Don't Be Afraid of the Dark because I'm a fan of some of Guillermo Del Toro 's work, I love horror movies and I haven't seen Katie Holmes in a watchable movie in what feels like a decade.
The main reason I decided to check this movie out was because the trailer made it seem like it would have potential and because it has Guillermo Del Toro as the writer.
Computer graphic.I saw this movie just cause i generally do like horror movie, but overall because i was reassured by the writer Guillermo del Toro and the actor Guy Pearce.
And it truly is annoying to see yet another scary movie where the characters do stupid things when they know something bad is going on, like being alone etc.
Like Guillermo del Toro and countless other kids, I saw the original Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) on TV and lost some sleep to visions of goblins in the midnight shadows.
Oh dear, what a turn off!Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes are cast as the loved up couple trying to redecorate an old house and base camp their with Alex (Pearce) bringing Sally (Bailee Madison) - his daughter - against her will.
There isn't one scene in this entire movie, where i felt like i didn't know where the monster is going to attack you from.
As I start my review for "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" I must confess one thing: I'm not a fan of supernatural horror movies.
The basement is sealed and forgotten over the generations.The movie then opens with a young girl, Sally Hirst (Bailee Madison), moving into Blackwood Manor, the Gothic mansion being restored by her architect father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes), an interior decorator.
The pacing is way too slow, the CGI is bad, and the creatures look like something that with minimal tweaking could appear in a children's version of a scary movie.
Yes, his prints are all over the movie- though this time, they are much less indelible than his previous works.Retaining the premise of the original, del Toro's version is once again set in a spooky house, the kind with decades of history behind it, secrets behind its walls and whispering voices along its corridors.
Left abandoned and in ruins for more than a century, the mansion in present day becomes the centrepiece of architect Alex's (Guy Pearce) restoration works- which also becomes the movie's excuse later on for his reluctance at moving out.Alex is joined by his girlfriend cum interior designer Kim (Katie Holmes) and his daughter Sally (Bailee Madison) from a previous marriage.
Needless to say, their agenda is far more sinister, but Sally suspects little- as curious children are wont to do- and follow their voices to unearth the hidden basement, inadvertently releasing them to roam freely around the house.From then on, del Toro and co-writer Matthew Robbins deliver a straightforward narrative where Sally gets terrorised by the creatures every night when the lights go out, try to convince Alex and Kim in vain of the horror lurking behind the walls, and then gets proved right when both adults are confronted by the very monsters.
As an old-fashioned creature horror however, his film works well with an efficient combination of suspense and thrills- though it is likely that most modern-day audiences will find it coming up short.www.moviexclusive.com.
I was quite surprised by the poor reviews this movie is receiving here to be honest.I thought it was a very enjoyable Horror, old fashioned creepy house type of film with the visual imagination of Horror mind Guillermo Del Toro and some talented acting.Bailee Madison, the young girl who played Sally was very good for her age and she played the role of a helpless scared and frightened young girl perfectly for some one at her age.
the plot centers around her, as she moves to her father's big house " mansion " and his girlfriend, only to find herself a target of an ancient and mysterious creatures, helpless and hopeless that any one would believe her.Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes were pretty good here, i never felt their acting was wooden or bad.I was intrigued, thrilled and spooked out.
Bailee Madison, who's only 11 years old, does a fantastic job here as Sally, a girl who is forced to move from Los Angeles to Rhode Island to live with her architect father Alex (Guy Pierce) and his interior decorator girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes).
Directed by Troy Nixey starring Guy Pearce (Memento) and Katie Holmes ( wife of Tom Cruise) the movie is really a Guillermo Del Toro vehicle as he produces and co-writes the script.
Del Toro himself admits he became involved in the project as he was terrified by the original film when he was a child and brings the story forward 39 years as a professional couple and small child move into a 19th century mansion with more than a few secrets beneath the floorboards.The child in question is 8 year old Sally (Bailee Madison) who's been sent to live in Blackwood Manor with her architect father Alex (Pearce) and interior designer Kim (Holmes), Sally's potential wicked step-mother.
In fact Bailee Madison is the star of the film acting circles around a dull Holmes and a wooden Pearce and is one of the few enjoyable elements on offer here.As silly as the concept of the fairies is the creature design and special effects are outstanding.
Sally, being the rebellious angst-filled little girl that she is, finds a sealed-off basement, and of course, like in all overrated horror movies, she goes in, even after being warned that it's dangerous by Harris (Jack Thompson).Not to ruin the plot of the movie, I'll keep the summary short and sweet.
We must slowly progress upwards and stand outside the door calling her name, because SHE'S NOT IN DANGER OR ANYTHING!'Gary McDonald (Blackwood), Bailee Madison, Katie Holmes (Kim), Guy Pearce (Alex, father), and Jack Thompson (Harris) all did great jobs in this movie.
Don't Be Afraid of the DarkThere's no reason kids should be afraid of the dark because the same monsters will be there in the light, except now they'll have to watch themselves be eaten.Fortunately, the ravenous imps in this horror movie abhor any type of illumination.When her mother sends her to live with her father (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend (Katie Holmes) in the old mansion they're restoring, Sally's (Bailee Madison) ADHA begins to act up, resulting in strange behaviour.Beckoned to the basement of the abode by disembodied voices, Sally discovers the manor's secret: minute monsters that crave human teeth.Unfortunately, no one believes her outlandish tale, blaming the delusions on her disorder.While this remake of a made-for-television movie contains some scares, once the inane looking creatures are revealed, the atmosphere completely dissipates.
She acts like she spent a lot of her time reading to a wall and doesn't know how to convey her scenes realistically with another person in the room.Katie Holmes is ridiculously bad in this movie.
Pretty lame horror film, a remake of a 1973 TV movie with a screenplay co-written by Guillermo del Toro.
I've heard del Toro changed a lot from the original TV movie (where the protagonist was an adult woman), and he doesn't do a very good job establishing either characters or situations..
Lets start off by saying that the set pieces in this film are great and that everything that is needed to make a really good ghost and ghoul story was here and ready to be used to make everyone in the cinema quiver in terror, unfortunately there wasn't much in the ways of things going bump in the night in don't be afraid of the dark and not much darkness for that matter.There were a few main point in which this film fell short one was the music in the film, it wasn't quite horror music and it wasn't quite fantasy music this is where the problem lies if you are not ether one or the other then it just leave the audience sitting on the fence nether scared or entertained and in the days of paranormal activity scaring the pants off of people and the only thing closely resembling a sound track in that film a low bass note that gives the whole audience a deep sense that something is wrong but they don't know what it is and they don't know when it is going to jump out and scare the crap out of them but it just isn't there in don't be afraid of the dark,the second part that is just wrong in this film are the monsters they are revealed to the audience to early and so the tension given by just the sense of the unknown is lost and never regained since they just aren't that scary to begin with so the only thing they had going for them (being hidden in the shadows is lost)These faults are in no way minor ones and so this film just falls down at the first hurdle and just never gets back up..
Some people genuinely enjoy it whereas others passionately hate it.Unless you are an adult who still likes childish campfire stories and at the same time tolerates gore and violence quite well, the movie will most likely disappoint you.The Positives "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is not a typical horror movie.
Do not expect any strong logic and coherency from the movie as you do not expect them from a campfire tale, even from a good one.If you treat "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" as a 100-minute long campfire story, it becomes a little more enjoyable to watch.The Negatives The movie has a very narrow target audience.
Well, I just watched Guillermo del Toro produce a horrible movie DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison, directed by Troy Nixey.
I had high hopes in this movie, expected something like "They" from 2002, but unfortunately "Don't be afraid of the Dark" isn't even suspenseful.
Essential ingredients for a typical horror film, if only the pacing was done right so that it won't be that much of a chore to sit through what was overly dramatic family relationship matters for the first half, where young Sally (Bailee Madison) is sent packing to stay with her dad Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) in their new mansion in the middle of nowhere, one that has a gruesome past (as with almost all mansions) involving minute goblins with an appetite for children's teeth.With Guillermo del Toro lending his name to the production, one would have set expectations that it'll reach the dizzying heights of his films such as Helboy and Pan's Labyrinth, but first time director Troy Nixey allowed the focus to be put on the estranged relationship between Sally and the adult folks in the new chapter of her life, battling plenty of deep resentment especially with Kim who would be her step-mom sometime soon.
This is a classic fantastic-horror movie, with some horror scenes that might scare a little but the whole movie sucks, first of all the plot has no sense in some scenes, it seems like a ten year old child write the story, and never check what he wrote.
A young girl Sally (Bailee Madison) has gone to live with her dad Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes.) They are fixing up an old gothic mansion in Rhode Island and discover a hidden basement.
But I think the reason I liked it better than I probably thought I would have is because of Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison, they really just made up for what the movie was lacking, not all of it though.
One of the only horror movie I can the of worst then this one is Don't be afraid of the dark (1973).
So naturally comes a remake from the 70's comes along that was a haunting child horror story and let's make it the most ridicules looking thing you'll ever see in your life.In Blackwood Manor eight-year old Sally Hurst arrives in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex and his girlfriend Kim, both restoring it to put it on the market for their client Mr. Jacoby.
And good grief is the film bad.Like the re-make of 'The Haunting' the house is beautiful and so are the sets, but you come to see a horror movie to be scared, or be put under a little tension, not to see anorexic gremlins bully a little girl.Pearce and Holmes have zero chemistry and the only reason this hasn't got one star is because, to my knowledge the first time that Mike and Jim Robinson from hit Aussie soap 'Neighbours' have been in the same room on the big screen.otherwise, it's dull, don't let the Del Toro credit fool you..
The monsters themselves are gremlin-like creatures and are kind of cool...but no reason is given for their interest in killing people.All in all this is a generic and quite boring horror film.