DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Director: Troy Nixey
Screeplay: Guillermo Del Toro and Matthew Robbins
Starring: Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes

Fear is never just make believe

Sometimes you see a trailer for a film and you can't help but get excited. I remember feeling the same way when I saw previews of Paranormal Activity, REC and The Strangers and all three of these films lived up to my giddy expectations. But trailers can be deceptive as proves the case with Don't Be Afraid.

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A young girl called Sally moves from the city to live with her father (Guy Pearce) in a large Gothic mansion that he is renovating with his girlfriend (Katie Holmes). But Sally finds it difficult to adapt to her new surroundings and becomes increasingly lonely. Then she starts to hear whispers in the house that tell her they want to be her friend. That they want to be set free. And Sally's decision to help her new friends proves to be a big mistake.

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The premise sounds pretty standard but still potentially quite frightening and with the involvement of someone as accomplished as Del Toro, you can forgive me for expecting the result to be a well crafted and unsettling affair. But it never quite lives up to the promise.



Sure there are some creepy moments (including a rather tense bath scene) and a couple of effective jolts. But whilst it threatens to be scary for long periods it just doesn't deliver. The creatures themselves might scare you. But only if you are ten years old. They also have too much screen time. Audiences are scared of the unknown. As soon as you show your hand it removes the element of mystery and if your bad guy isn't up to scratch then it can be a problem. And so is the case here.



Novice director Troy Nixey tries his best with the material he has (the script is pretty lousy) and the atmosphere he creates in the first thirty minutes is commendable. It's dark, it's creepy and it's beautifully shot. But the films glossy, fairytale exterior gradually disintegrates to reveal something that is both predictable and frustrating in equal measure.

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You know those moments in horror films where characters do insanely stupid things just so the film maker can get them into a scary situation? Well this film is full of them. When characters make unbelievable choices it has a negative impact, we no longer feel empathy with the character in question because they are doing things that we personally would never do. Oh what's that? The lights have gone out? I know, I'll walk around this old building really slowly with a torch. Which barely works. I mean that may have worked in the 70's but audiences won't buy into that any more.

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Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes go through the motions but neither are particularly good here. But the rather shoddy script and predictable plot don't help their cause. This is by no means a bad film, it's just not a very good one either. If you are after a few chills then this won't disappoint. It's scary in the way that Gremlins was scary. But if you are expecting something more (and you should) then prepare to feel a little let down.