Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Review By Bryan Yentz

Providing a foundation of stylistic dread and atmosphere against a backdrop of tooth-tugging horror DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is a welcome addition to the creature-feature canon, albeit without the technical or narrative flair which could have placed it alongside such genre greats as DEEP RISING, FEAST, or even SPLINTER. Even still, what it lacks in ingenuity and audacity, it more than makes up for in entertainment value.

Directed by Troy Nixey (NOT Guillermo Del Toro-he simply helped write and produce), DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is a remake of a 1973 made-for-television-flick which tells the tale of a little girl (Sally--played by Bailee Madison) and her discovery of impish creatures dwelling in a basement furnace. Emotionally ignored by her father (Guy Pearce) and reluctant to form a bond with his new love (Katie Holms), Sally spends her time trying to understand the creepy critters whispering her name and clawing about the house's ventilation system. As any beast--big or small--that cackles and plays mischievous tricks, the four-legged piranha have ill-intention for everyone under the roof of Blackwood--especially the naïve girl who happened to free them.

With a film backed by such grade-A actors and the likes of Del Toro himself, one would expect the characterization and narrative development herein to be a bit stronger. As it is, Guy Pearce and Katie Holms simply fill stereotypical voids as Sally proves to be an annoying protagonist despite the filmmakers' yearning to present her as a young, empowered woman. She obviously retains the emotional and physical characteristics of someone double her age, but that doesn't necessarily make her a compelling heroine as she falls back on every kid-cliché in the book; going as far as doing the logical opposite of what most children would do if a monstrous entity were tearing and shrieking its way about a room. I don't care how "emotionally steeled" a child is, when the sound of oncoming death is verbalized through a dozen fanged maws, a ten-year-old's reaction isn't going to be that of curiosity, but absolute pants-pissing fear. And when 'lil Sally decides it's finally reasonable to be afraid, guess who not only doesn't listen, but contributes all of the crazy, violent shenanigans to just clumsiness and young angst? If you said anything other than ol' dad and girlfriend, then you've never seen a movie before and this is no place to start. The film piles on genre clichés like they're going out of style, and in turn, ruins credibility.

However, given the sheer amount of stupidity latched to practically every sequence of critter-craziness, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK at least delivers the monster goods. . . For the most part. While the envelope regarding the chaotic carnage these tiny suckers are capable of could have been pushed far more, I was pleased to see that the film didn't prance around this collective force of corruption, but actually showed it. While very reminiscent to the pale buggers from the excellent 80's flick, THE GATE, the miniature beasts herein are nifty little creations whose appetite for childrens' teeth makes them all the more sinister. Hair-coated backs, beer-bellies, flabby skin, and long claws comprise an antagonist that's fun to watch and even more fun to witness bested--which doesn't happen near as much as one would expect when, you know, the protagonists are about ten times their height. Even the mythology surrounding these nefarious denizens is an interesting twist on history as well as the tales which have been passed through it.

Seated in a pitch-black theater with my girlfriend gradually cutting off blood-flow to my arm, I was pleased with the cinematic product placed before me--despite the wealth of flaws which permeated its corrugated nooks and crannies. I'm a sucker for monster flicks and the havoc they wreak, and this one at least delivered the goods on that front. As an example of storytelling, it should be avoided; as testament to mindless weekend fun with a pinch of creativity--it should be viewed. DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK ain't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, nor can it even hold a candle to horror greats like SLITHER or even TREMORS, but it does provide an amusing way of wiling away two hours.