Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

John already wrote an earth shattering review for this film but I’ve decided to put my two cents in due to an interesting text message exchange.

Mark – “The creatures from Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark are jerks.”

John – “They sure as sh** are. But, in this economy you just do what you have to do to feed your tribe of diminutive monster fairies.”

The reason to watch this film is for the diminutive monster fairies. They are creative looking little buggers who have a neat mythology. The reason the creatures are so cool is because Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy 1 & 2) produced and wrote this film. Del Toro’s creature effects and attention to production design are reliably stellar and the angry monsters look beautiful.

The biggest problem is this film should have been part of a spooky double-header. The premise is stretched so thin the film lags to the finish line instead of sprinting. Afraid of the Dark could have been a lean mean thrill machine instead it feels like a decent flick with too much fat. However, this remake of a TV movie tries to expand a cool story and create a neat world of monsters and mythologies. In a world of remakes you need to appreciate the people who create new creatures.

If you haven’t watched Devil or Insidious you should check them out. They  are inexpensive experiments in horror. Both films succeed and look beautiful.