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 Years
ago, there was a golden age of horror films that people didn’t have to
leave the comfort of their homes to experience. The 1970s was a decade
that featured movies made for TV by like Dan Curtis and his Trilogy of
Terror, the Stephen King adaptation of Salem’s Lot, Wes Craven’s
Stranger in Our House, and other titles like The Initiation of Sarah and
the immortal Devil Dog: Hound of Hell. One such small-screen thriller
is still spoken of in some quarters in hushed and nervous tones; 1973’s
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, starring the then grown-up star of John
Wayne’s True Grit, Kim Darby, as a housewife with some undesirable
roommates.
Nearly
forty years later, we have a big-screen version of Don’t Be Afraid of
the Dark with a few changes. The most notable of these is that the main
character, Sally, the film’s heroine, is now a small child. Dumped on
her other custodial parent when her mother no longer feels like taking
care of her, Sally’s father and girlfriend must find a way to welcome
the unhappy youngster in the midst of a major renovation of a Gothic
mansion they are overseeing. Alex barely has time for his daughter as
the project could make his name in the architecture world, leaving an
uncomfortable gulf between Sally and new love, Kim. What’s a little
girl to do with all this house and no one to play with? As Sally goes
wandering, she finds a previously undiscovered studio with a nice,
securely bolted fireplace. Childlike whispers from behind the bars
coerce Sally into some redecoration of her own, and once she opens the
grate, the voices inside begin to make their way through the house at
night and proceed to show Sally a little something less than gratitude.
As in
the original 1973 TV-movie, the thing that triggers Don’t Be Afraid of
the Dark’s frights is the primal fear of what happens when the lights go
out? What is the thing that goes bump in the night? Are you sure
there’s no boogeyman under the bed? Sally finds out the answers to
these questions the hard way, setting forth a tiny, malevolent army of
long-lived nocturnal critters with a taste for milk teeth. Because of
her age and her lack of closeness with her own father, Sally isn’t
believed when she tries to warn Alex and Kim about what’s living in
their house. The poor thing is totally isolated and alone: Despite
Sally’s desperate cries to fly home, her mother won’t take her back,
wanting to relive her single years without her kid getting in the way.
Sally’s father, Alex is more concerned with trying to win kudos for the
mansion renovation and navigating the waters of his new relationship
with Kim. The new couple wasn’t exactly planning on this sulky, sad
child who is growing more difficult in her nightmares and delusions to
add pressure to the mix. Sally’s delight in having anyone to talk to,
in this case doll-sized critters that seem to actually want to be around
her is understandable, as is her self-sufficiency when the creatures
reveal their true intent.
One of my favourite scenes shows Sally
getting the hint early on about what the little monsters want to do to
her and the girl slings her backpack and trudges off down the road
before dad drags her back to the mansion. Along the way, Sally begins
to confide in Kim, who sees from the outset that the little girl is
suffering from her slapdash upbringing by both parents and it’s touching
that this woman who may become Sally’s stepmother eventually becomes her
champion. Not so great at saving the day is Sally’s dad, who is
completely caught up in his own affairs and clueless to see the danger
happening literally right under his nose. Once Sally understands the
creatures don’t exactly enjoy brightness, Kim arms her with an old
One-Step Polaroid camera. During a showdown with the critters in the
mansion’s library, this innocuous weapon comes in mighty handy as Sally
tries her darndest to flashbulb them into oblivion.
Directed by comic book artist, Troy Nixey and produced by horror maestro,
Guillermo Del Toro, it’s surprising that Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is
rated R as there are maybe three brief scenes of sparing, obviously
CGI-blood and definite PG-13 restraint. The chills are mostly
psychological as we don’t get to see the little monsters in full all
that often. In its use of ominous lighting and music, eerie sound
effects and hints at things moving where they shouldn’t, Don’t Be Afraid
of the Dark is under-the-skin-creepy. The biggest key to selling the
film is in its star, the amazing Bailee Madison, who was nine at the
time of shooting. Madison, who single-handedly stopped the show in Jim
Sheridan’s 2009 drama, Brothers, is perfect as Sally; all sulks and
resentfulness at first and then quick on the uptake once the danger
begins. The relationship between Madison’s Sally and Katie Holmes as
Kim, the not-at-all-evil potential stepmother, is a novel one in that
they grow together and form a real family bond that exceeds the one
Sally shares with her “real” parents. Poor Guy Pearce hasn’t a thing to
work with in the thankless role of the hapless Alex, and as if to crown
the character’s shame, they stick a toupee on him that looks as if it’s
been mouldering in a closet since 1973.
There’s a lot of Del Toro’s
Pan’s Labyrinth and even a bit of the Del Toro-produced El Orfanato in
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark; mostly in subjecting a female character to
a world that appears to be one thing, but is something they must escape
at all costs. Besides the fractured fairy tale premise, this film also
shares the others’ rich visuals and moody production values.
While
this version of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark might not make viewers
forget the television original they grew up with, it’s an entertaining
thrill for those unfamiliar with that film or simply looking for a good
fright at the movie theatre.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
Aug 26th,
2011
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