Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Based on a ’70s TV movie, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark follows Guy Pearce’s Alex Hirst as he and his girlfriend (Katie Holmes’ Kim) and daughter (Bailee Madison’s Sally) move into a dilapidated old house with the intention of fixing it up and selling it later – though it’s not long before Sally becomes convinced that there’s something sinister living within the mansion’s boarded-up basement. Director Troy Nixey, working from a script by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robins, has infused Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark with the feel of a fairly typical haunted-house movie, as the first-time filmmaker places a consistent emphasis on the various elements that one has come to associate with the genre – including the inquisitive kid, the creepy handyman, etc, etc. It is, as such, not surprising to note that the movie’s opening hour unfolds exactly as one might’ve anticipated, with Sally’s initial exploration of the house’s expansive grounds segueing into her slow realization that there’s someone (or something) else residing within the estate’s walls. The almost excessively familiar atmosphere, coupled with a pace best described as deliberate, proves effective at preventing the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the spare narrative, with the solid performances and smattering of horror-centric sequences ensuring that the movie remains, at the very least, watchable from start to finish. The passable yet far-from-engrossing vibe persists right up until around the one-hour mark, after which point, with the nature of the threat firmly revealed, the film finally morphs into the engaging, progressively ominous chiller that one might’ve hoped for based on the premise – with the entertainingly ridiculous finale ensuring that Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark concludes on an unexpectedly positive note.

*** out of ****