Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

It’s a rule of horror cinema that the children, as opposed to the customer, are always right. It’s also a rule that the parents of said children, no matter how much the children beg and plead for mummy and/or daddy to believe their story, will not believe a single word they say. “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is a film that incorporates this rule and does so proudly; it may sound like the film’s writers have merely tumbled their way into a tired horror cliché, but using classic horror tropes makes perfect sense in a film that has a rather classic horror story to tell.

The child in this case is ten-year-old Sally Hurst, who is played by the very talented Bailee Madison (“Bridge to Terabithia”). Daddy is Alex, an architect played by man-of-many-accents Guy Pearce (“Animal Kingdom”). And mummy may be heard on occasion but is never seen, though taking her place is Alex’s new girlfriend, Kim, who is played by a surprisingly decent Katie Holmes (“Batman Begins”).

Little Sally is most displeased with her current living situation. She’s been taken from her LA home with mummy and is now living with daddy and daddy’s girlfriend in the spooky and gothic Blackwood Manor on Rhode Island. Alex and Kim are planning on putting the house on the market, so are refurbishing the place for selling purposes.

They soon discover that underneath the grand staircase lies a basement that has been mysteriously hidden away behind a wall. As they are unaware that they are in a horror film, they indulge in their curiosity, and venture into the basement. The place is completely covered in dust and cobwebs. Nobody’s been in here for decades. Sally begins to hear voices. Daddy says it’s just rats. Who do you believe?

Inevitably, spooky goings-on begin to occur in this creepy, creaky house, specifically around poor little Sally. But no matter how much Sally begs and pleads for daddy and daddy’s girlfriend to believe her story, they ignore every word that comes out of her silly little mouth, believing that she has just gone a bit nuts. But there are teeny-tiny fairy gnome creatures living in the basement, you stupid grown-ups, and they want to take poor Sally down to the basement and devour her bones! Do something, damn it!

Yes, the villains of this supernatural horror are teeny-tiny fairy gnome creatures that live in the basement and enjoy chasing innocent little children. Now, these vicious little buggers may not sound very intimidating on paper, but when you’re watching an endless army of the creatures sneaking about the floor, wielding knives and screwdrivers with murder in their eyes you better prepare to be slightly intimidated.

They’re kept in the dark for a fair amount of the film’s runtime, their presence for the first half or so of the film consisting of raspy whispers that attract and enchant poor little Sally. But when these creatures finally emerge from the darkness and show their ugly faces, we are greeted with a marvellous, yet rather simple, design. They’re humanoid, they’re scrawny, their skin is a dead grey, their eyes are beady, their teeth are rotten and they’re a half foot tall. Just imagine the world’s worst rodent and times it by a thousand.

The film is less scary than it is thrilling. Sure, there are plenty of jump-scares to startle one and send flakes of popcorn flying through the air, but the film never truly chills or frightens. Instead, the film benefits from being engaging and intriguing, providing a regular and consistent collection of thrills to keep viewers enthralled throughout. You may think that a horror film that is not frightening is not worthy of your time, but a horror film - and any film in general - need only be entertaining to be a success.

The film is co-written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, a very talented Mexican filmmaker. His influence on the film is noticeable; the creature designs, for one, remind one of the creatures presented in his “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” There’s also the use of a child as the protagonist, much like in del Toro’s “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth;” the original, made-for-TV “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” of which del Toro is a massive fan, instead had a grown woman (played by Kim Darby) as the protagonist.

“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is director Troy Nixey’s first feature-length film; all in all, it’s an impressive debut. He, along with co-writers del Toro and Matthew Robbins (“Mimic”), successfully build an unnerving atmosphere and stay true to it. While it’s not particularly spine-chilling or scary, the film is a perfectly enjoyable, endlessly compelling and generally solid haunted house horror; okay, okay, infestation horror.

7/10