DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

    SUMMARY               

Produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Troy Nixey, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark follows Sally Hurst, a lonely, withdrawn child who moves in with her father Alex and his new girlfriend in the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the sprawling estate, Sally discovers a hidden basement, undisturbed since the strange disappearance of the mansion's builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creatures who conspire to drag her down in the mysterious house's bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it's not a fantasy - before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all.

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DAVE GRIFFITHS'S DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK REVIEW:

 I’m not sure this has ever happened to me before in a film. I was loving Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark right up until the last scene. Sure the film has ‘borrowed’ heavily from films such as Critters and Gremlins but it had me engrossed right up until the final scene when one of the characters did something that was completely unforgivable in my books.

Young Sally (Bailee Madison – Just Go With It, 25 Hill) isn’t very happy at all. She has been completely shafted by her father and forced to go live with her estranged father, Alex (Guy Pearce – Justice, 33 Postcards) who is now in a relationship with the sickly, sweet, Kim (Katie Holmes – Jack And Jill, The Son Of No One)… someone whom she is actually a lot like. Worse, still Kim and Alex are currently in the middle of renovating a mansion formerly owned by Blackwood (Garry McDonald – Burning Man, A Model Daughter: The Killing Of Caroline Byrne), a famous painter whom mysteriously disappeared. The mystery grows deeper when weird things start happening and Sally starts hearing voices. Alex doesn’t believe her stories but with dire warnings from the strange, Harris (Jack Thompson – Mao’s Last Dancer, Australia) soon he just has to accept that something isn’t right.

For the most part director, Troy Nixey (Latchkey’s Lament) helps Guillermo del Toro (who co-wrote the script) regain his credibility with Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark. Early on the film takes on the tone of a good horror, the creatures are mysterious and at time quite terrifying (to those not used to horror) and because the characters of Alex, Sally and Kim are nice, believable and down-to-earth you don’t want to see anything particular nasty happen to them. But a poorly made ending (not sure whether you could blame the screenwriters or a director that should have known better) the film becomes a let down. The final scene sees one of the characters do something completely out of character and while I’m sure the filmmakers would argue it adds to the mystery of the film all it really does it cause frustration for the audience.

The real winner acting wise is Bailee Madison. While both Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes are credible in their roles it is young Madison who shows some real talent. Group this with her performance alongside Adam Sandler in Just Go With It and it is not hard to see that you are witnessing one of the finest child actors that Hollywood has to offer at the moment. Madison certainly has a big career ahead of her.

For the most part Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark is a good horror with just enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat, but I just know that a lot of people are going to be thoroughly disappointed with the ending. Well worth a look but remember I warned you about the ending.

RATING:- ***  (out of 5)

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