Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Year: 2010
Genre: Horror
Directed: Troy Nixey
Stars: Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson, Garry McDonald, Julia Blake, Alan Dale
Production: Miramax

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark suffers from an unfortunate affliction that effects many inferior horror films such as Case 39 (2009) and The Haunting in Connecticut (2009); something I'd like to call bad-decision syndrome or BDS. While showcasing an intriguing premise, a promising start and some decent acting from child actor Bailee Madison, the film constantly shoehorns "scary" and "atmospheric" situations despite the fact no sane person would put themselves in that position.

Also, who the hell still owns a Polaroid?

Take for instance the scene where Sally (Madison) finds a human tooth on the grounds of the house her father (Pearce) and girlfriend (Holmes) are renovating. Instead of anyone going "Oh dear, a human tooth!" Sally is shuffled off and ignored as children often are in films of this nature. The bad decisions get more ludicrous as the film progresses. You'd think that an architect and interior designer who live where they work would be at home more often but alas they aren't and leave the babysitting duties to an elderly maid (Blake) . When the groundskeeper (Thompson) is stabbed repeatedly they chalk it up to falling down the stairs and once the two principle adults finally realize something is amiss they leave Sally alone in her room passed out and medicated.

Pictured: injured squirrel with mange

The creatures themselves just aren't scary. Like a cross between Quasimodo, Gollum and the Gremlins (1984), they might have been more effective if the film didn't take itself so seriously. But since it does, the little critters who are revealed one too many times are just plain goofy looking.

Luckily you can do something about BDS. When you and your friends are lost in the woods don't split up, when you're in a haunted mansion, you should probably leave at the first sign of trouble and, more realistically, when you're watching a bad film walk out and ask for your money back.

Final Grade: F