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Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) | You’ll be keeping the lights on after this scarefest
Don’t Be Afraid Of the Dark, from the pen of fantasy favourite Guillermo del Toro, should have been called Don’t Look Under the Duvet or The Girl Who Cried ‘Bedbugs!’ as it’s about some nasty miniature menaces chasing a withdrawn little girl called Sally (Bailee Madison), who’s been shipped off by her OCD mum to live with her dad (Guy Pearce) and his not-so maternal girlfriend (Katie Holmes).
The setting for this scarefest, Blackwood Manor, looks like it belongs in Desperate Housewives territory – albeit with some Tim Burton styling. While exploring the empty rooms and dark passages of the vast mansion, Sally discovers a hidden basement where she unwittingly unleashes the creatures that want to turn her into one of their own.
This is old-school horror at its best and the little critters that emerge from the darkness will certainly give you the jitters and have you checking twice under the lounge as poor Sally vainly tries to convince her parents that the creatures are real. For full scary impact, get under the duvet, turn the volume up to maximum and leave the lights – on!
THE VERDICT
A must see, especially if you like your horror pint-sized.
Available on on DVD and Blu-ray through Studiocanal
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFE4lGvRt8E%5D
DID YOU KNOW?
This is a remake of a cult TV-movie from 1973 starring Kim Darby and Jim Hutton as a couple restoring a Victorian mansion in which goblin-like creatures reside. Here’s a taster of that spooky original…