Review by Ben Bussey.
You may have seen Britt’s review of this just over a month ago, in time for the US release which happened to coincide with its UK premiere at FrightFest. I wrote the bulk of the following review back then, but it was decided that two takes on the same film were hardly worth posting so close together, particularly as Britt’s feelings on the matter are not radically different to my own. However, as this Friday sees the UK theatrical release of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, I thought I might as well dust the FrightFest review off and put it out there. So here goes…
Poor Troy Nixey. On the one hand, it must be a godsend for your first feature film to garner such attention, but on the other it must hurt somewhat that no-one appears to think of the film as your work. As producer, co-writer and principal driving force behind this film being made, Guillermo del Toro has been so heavily associated with this remake of 70s TV movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark that you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d directed the damn thing. True enough, many familiar characteristics of his work are in evidence: an emotionally detached child moved unwillingly to a remote location where she encounters the supernatural, a la Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone; tooth fairies reinterpreted as miniature terrors who feed on human teeth, as featured in Hellboy II; the prominence of the subterranean. (For more on del Toro’s characteristics, see my definitive directors article.) Yes, del Toro’s fingerprints are indeed all over this film, in much the way that Spielberg’s were on Poltergeist. Nor is that the only similarity between the Nixey/del Toro film and Hooper/Spielberg’s earlier work. While the ‘pervasive scariness’ may have been deemed too much for a PG-13 or 12A (though frankly the prologue sequence alone should leave you in no doubt as to why it got the higher rating), this new film harkens back to an old cinema tradition which, alas, Hollywood tends to look disapprovingly on these days: to make a good old scary movie for the whole family, and in so doing really freak out the young ‘uns.
I’ll admit to having been entirely unfamiliar with the original version before word of the remake broke. I’ve since tracked it down and checked it out, and found it insubstantial yet fascinating; from the use of darkness, the persistent whispering and the tantalisingly brief glimpses of the little monsters, it’s not hard to see how the film could disturb a young child and fester in its imagination in much the way del Toro has described. The key difference in this reinterpretation is that, while the original saw a grown woman terrorised, this film brings a child into the mix and makes her the centre of attention. And yes, billing be damned, Bailee Madison is very much the star of this movie. Refreshingly low on that stereotypical syrupy cuteness we tend to expect from child stars, she’s a considerably more natural and sympathetic presence, not unlike the children from del Toro’s films; or, for that matter, Heather O’Rourke in Poltergeist. She’s young enough to make her continuing belief in fairies seem plausible, which makes it entirely reasonable that her father and stepmother initially assume her to be imagining things. She’s also under medication, on the orders of her absent mother; and, if you’ll forgive a sidestep into vaguely tabloid territory, I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed the clear disdain Katie Holmes’ character shows for a child being pharmaceutically dependent and pondered if that may have been a factor in her taking the role, given her religion of choice.
While we’re on the subject of Katie Holmes, she’s been notable for her absence from the big screen of late, and the answer is no; she hasn’t matured much as an actress. If you didn’t like her constant twitching, laboured delivery and diagonal smirk before, then you probably won’t enjoy her performance here either. And I’m afraid this may well become a real issue, for as much as Bailee Madison is the real lead, Katie Holmes does take a fair bit of the spotlight too, as her character comes to suspect that Sally may not be delusional after all. As the workaholic dad who dismisses his daughter’s words at every turn, Guy Pearce winds up having the least to do of the core three, subsequently turning in a performance which is fine, but fairly standard.
Unfortunately, ‘fine but fairly standard’ may be about the best that can be said of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark overall. It’s a film that a great many horror fans have been anxious to see ever since the tremendously atmospheric teaser trailer came online last year, but as the release was delayed this anticipation has built to the extent that the end product – while not really anything less than what was promised – cannot entirely fulfill audience expectation. It’s what I call Trick ‘R Treat syndrome. Yes, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is atmospheric and has some good scares here and there, yet much like its source material it winds up feeling somewhat hollow, lacking pace and feeling half-baked at times. I may bemoan how Nixey has not been given proper credit, but the truth is he does little to assert a distinct directorial personality here, with it all coming off a bit by-the-numbers. Even so, this film does stand as a good example of the kind of remakes we should be having; new takes on less familiar titles of old, which had tremendous central conceits but did not realise them to their full potential; in short, films which left significant room for improvement, unlike the vast majority of the films we have seen remade this past decade.
It may not be the next great horror classic then, but there’s still plenty to enjoy. The locations and photography are quite beautiful, with Melbourne easily passing for Maine (yes, I say that as an Englishman who’s never been to Maine, but that’s besides the point), and the little monsters are very effective digital creations; no shitty Mummy Returns pygmy CG here, that’s for sure. These are some brilliantly realised creatures, all piercing eyes and fuzzy backs, who wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of a Terry Pratchett book. It’s no stretch to see them giving nightmares to a whole new generation of kiddies, which one suspects was always the film’s core motivation. And if it does fester in the imaginations of these young ‘uns, nurturing a love for all things spooky which – as most of us can testify – tends to stay with you for life, then all minor failings aside Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark will have done just what it set out to do.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is in UK cinemas from 7th October, from Optimum Releasing.