DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2010)
Tagline: Don't listen to them. Don't turn off the light. Don't let them out.
(Horror, Fantasy, Creep Little Creatures) [R]
They don't like bright lights, you know, those things.
Guillermo Del Toro the
master filmmaker behind HELLBOY and PACIFIC RIM occasionally does horror
flicks. This is a remake of a 1973 film by the same name. He then decided to
take the tooth fairies from HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY and make a horror
movie basically starring them (the same name different but similar look). I
have to say the first few minutes of this movie are creepy as hell, but as the
script unfolds and you sift through Del Toro’s brilliant sets, beautifully
executed effects, and even careful casting, we don’t really have much going on
here in the “horror” department.
What we do have is a layered unveiling of the dark reality of taking on the challenges of a broken family and some better-than-stellar acting on the part of young Bailee Madison (as Sally) who almost single-handedly saves this movie all by herself (you know when she is not taking time out to smash little creepy creatures to bloody pulps with the nearest solid object. The movie tells the tale of a father, daughter, and new girlfriend who move into like the oldest crappiest house they can find and it just happens to be infested with smooth-talking demon rodents.
What we do have is a layered unveiling of the dark reality of taking on the challenges of a broken family and some better-than-stellar acting on the part of young Bailee Madison (as Sally) who almost single-handedly saves this movie all by herself (you know when she is not taking time out to smash little creepy creatures to bloody pulps with the nearest solid object. The movie tells the tale of a father, daughter, and new girlfriend who move into like the oldest crappiest house they can find and it just happens to be infested with smooth-talking demon rodents.
In spite of Katie Holmes
misplacement in just about everything since Dawson’s Creek went off the air, I
still actually like her quite a bit. I thought she did a nice job in this
actually making me want her to save the day. If you haven’t seen the flick I won’t
give away whether or not she actually does. Your enjoyment of this film will
likely be largely based on what you are coming into it expecting to find. If
you are looking for something jump-worthy, this only has a bit of that. If you came to see the expansion of the tooth fairy idea expressed in
Hellboy II, this is pretty interesting. Finally, if you came to see a well-paced,
terrifying horror that keeps you up at night, you are probably better off
seeing THE WHOLE NINE YARDS (kidding, don’t see that). That movie sucks.
I give this a 3 out of 7
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