Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Starring Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison
Directed by Troy Nixey
Rated R for violence and terror
Appropriate for ages 15+
Little Sally (Madison) has just been ousted by her mother and sent to live with her father (Pearce) and his girlfriend (Holmes) in the old house they are rebuilding in the hopes of landing the cover of Architectural Digest. When they discover a secret basement in the house, an evil army of faeries is unleashed that only the girl sees until it is too late.
Lately, when the name of Guillermo del Toro is thrown around it sends a sense of quality and imaginative horror that brings chills up your spine and a feeling that you are about to have a creepy good time. This little film, which was supposed to be released in 2010, breaks the cycle of strong films with his name attached. You can definitely see his influence in the little touches such as creature design, mood, lighting, and production. Where the movie falls flat is in the script and the direction.
The sets and creatures both serve as fairly horrifying villains within the film. I loved the house and the buildup of tension and thought there was real promise for a good scary movie. I’ve never been a big fan of graphic violence and the macabre as vehicles for horror, but this film gives just enough without going completely overboard. I’m not sure why they opted for an R rating, especially considering there is no bad language and much of the violence is off-screen, but I’m glad they felt the integrity of the project was more important than luring teenagers into theater seats.
I had some real problems here with the script and some of the characters’ actions. For example, in the second act, Holmes goes to the library to do some research on the house. The first librarian she asks just happens to know everything about the old house including what might be upsetting the girl. Isn’t that convenient? Then, with these obvious facts in hand, she doesn’t run from the scene with the girl in tow, but rather slowly prepares for their exit from the house. It’s almost painful to watch. And unfortunately, this type of flaw happens more than once. I would have left at the beginning of the second act when the caretaker winds up in the hospital from a vicious creature attack. In this world, however, that is just a peculiar turn of events that seems to be completely overlooked by the tenants.
There are also some technical problems as well. The CG looks decent enough but many of the actor interactions with the faeries has an awkward feel as if the actors didn’t quite understand what they were supposed to be afraid of on the days they were shooting the green screen attacks. Perhaps they changed the design of the faeries after they filmed or maybe the direction wasn’t adequate enough, but something felt off in many of those sequences. In that regard, the entire film just feels a little off; almost as if the cast and crew weren’t completely on their A-game. There was a lot of talent to be found on set and off, but things just didn’t click and it shows. C