Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – Troy Nixey
Don't be afraid of the fact it's a modern day horror movie
Slapping Guillermo del Toro’s name onto a film generates a similar amount of buzz nowadays as having Justin Bieber featured on a song. Obviously these two showbiz juggernauts attract a polar opposite fanbase, and for the pint-sized pop sensation, his fans only need to hear his chipmunk-like voice to proclaim his new ventures a success. Del Toro on the other hand has a reputation to uphold; a reputation of stunning visuals and genuine quality, so tacking his name onto a half-baked piece of shit will simply not do.
Fortunately Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is not the undercooked pile of human waste that was teased in the last paragraph, but then again it’s not up to the standard of the rest of his filmography that includes the likes of The Devil’s Backbone, The Orphanage and Pan’s Labyrinth.
Based on a 1973 made-for-television movie and featuring a title that sounds like it could have appeared on every horror movie poster of the last 50 years, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark tells the story of a young girl who becomes the target of small goblin-like creatures that live in the basement of the house her father (Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Holmes) are restoring.
Stuffed into the lines of the script lay a ridiculous amount of horror movie clichés and initially it’s tough to look past them. You have the emotionally detached child that’s been passed off by one parent to another and seeks a bit of human contact; there’s the new girlfriend that struggles to bond with the problem child; there’s strange goings on with blame put on the doorstep of the ‘little bit weird’ daughter, and finally the pièce de résitance is the ‘despite your continued cries for help about being attacked by monsters, I’m going to ignore it all and put it down to you being depressed and being on tablets’ viewpoint taken by the father.
You can pretty much piece together the plot just by connecting the dots between the clichés. This is Del Toro disappointment point number one.
Disappointment point number two is the lack of proper scary moments. While the whole film is a masterclass in how to build up a creepy atmosphere, it could have done with a few more jump-out-of-your-seat scares. And the only problem with building up an atmosphere is it takes an alarmingly long time, so if you’re sat there at the hour mark with your trousers still intact, then a little more patience will do you no harm.
Having said all of that, there are some good performances from the female cast. Bailee Madison in particular is extremely impressive as the young girl Sally. Not only is she more than capable of portraying the emotionally detached side of Sally, she’s also the reason why the scenes when she is attacked by the creatures are as scary as they are. It can’t be easy for a child actor to pull off a sustained and convincing portrayal of horror when the primary antagonists are CGI characters, but such is Madison’s assurance she looks as though she’s been doing it for years.
Even Katie Holmes shines in her role as Kim, a character torn between supporting her prospective stepdaughter despite her supernatural ‘claims’ and supporting her boyfriend in getting the renovated house on the cover of an architectural magazine (yeah you have to wonder whatever happened to the script). But Mrs. Tom Cruise puts a few iffy performances behind her and finally comes good. Guy Pearce on the other hand looks bored, a far cry from the man who wowed us in Memento.
Special mention has to go to the way the film looks. The combination of director Troy Nixey’s background in comic books and Del Toro’s signature style come together to produce a visually stunning movie. The creatures look genuinely frightening and every interior and exterior brood with a creepy atmosphere.
So there you have it. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is an above average horror film in a time where horror isn’t horror unless you throw industrial amounts of gore at the screen. It’s a shame that Del Toro’s name is attatched to it. Great things are expected when the Mexican maestro’s name is featured in the credits but unfortunately this doesn’t live up to his high standards.
