Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)
Summary
Goodies:
+ Nostalgic feeling for genre fans, + Good actingBaddies:
+ Falls short on expectation, CGI of the creaturesA young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.
What I really loved about DBAotD was it’s nostalgic feeling. Over the the years, there have been a fair number of spooky mansion movies (that I just so happen to love). Old houses are creepy, that is a given, but what happens inside is the foundation of a movie that either is successful or completely fails. I would say this film, despite minor shortcomings, gives genre-fans something to enjoy. Guillermo Del Torro usually gives us a great film (let’s just not talk about Julia’s Eyes) and although this is no Pan’s or Orphanage, it satisfies nonetheless. One point that I did find a bit distracting were the little creatures themselves. They were very CGI (not terrible, but noticeable), but I found myself wanting to see more of them. We only get glimpses of them every so often, but I understand the theory that what you cannot see scares you more. The little girl actress did a great job and even Katie Holmes didn’t suck! There were several moments throughout the film where I wanted to punch the characters for making stupid decisions (but what horror film doesn’t feature these less than intelligent characters?). Once everyone realized that there were in fact little demons, it felt like they all decided to lay down a blanket and have some tea while they came and festered on everyone. The story progression was weak, but the acting, and lore really kept me invested in the what was happening. Overall, as far as mainstream horror goes, I think it’s a winner, nothing monumental, but pretty good.
