Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011 film)

For other uses, see Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (disambiguation).

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Troy Nixey
Produced by	Guillermo del Toro Mark Johnson Stephen Jones
Written by	Guillermo del Toro Matthew Robbins
Starring	Bailee Madison Guy Pearce Katie Holmes
Music by	Marco Beltrami Buck Sanders
Cinematography	Oliver Stapleton
Studio	Miramax Films Necropia Gran Via
Distributed by	FilmDistrict
Release date(s)	August 26, 2011 (2011-08-26) (U.S.)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million[1]
Box office	$31,528,645[2]

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a 2011 American horror film written by Matthew Robbins and Guillermo del Toro, directed by comic book artist Troy Nixey and filmed in Mount Macedon, Victoria and Melbourne, Australia^[3]. The film stars Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes, and Bailee Madison, as a man, his daughter, and his girlfriend moving into a 19th century Rhode Island mansion, where his withdrawn daughter begins to witness malevolent goblin-like tooth fairies that emerge from a sealed ash pit in the basement of the house. It is a remake of the 1973 ABC made-for-television horror film of the same name that starred Kim Darby.^[4]

Plot

In Blackwood Manor in Providence County, Rhode Island, renowned painter Lord Blackwood summons his housekeeper into the basement where he kills her with a hammer and chisel. He removes her teeth and offers them to mysterious creatures down an ash pit within an old fireplace. However, the creatures demand the teeth of children. Blackwood begs for them to give back his kidnapped son, only to be dragged down the ash pit by the creatures.

In the present day, eight-year old Sally Hurst arrives in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex and his girlfriend Kim, both restoring the Blackwood Manor to put it on the market for their client Mr. Jacoby. Sally is depressed due to her mother forcefully putting her in Alex's care and giving her copious amounts of Ritalin. On the first night of her stay, Sally is given a carousel-styled nightlight, the melodious tune it plays awakening the creatures in the ash pit. The next day, Sally wanders the grounds and finds the hidden basement's skylight. However, one of the workman restoring the house, Mr. Harris, warns her, Alex and Kim not to venture into the basement, although they do regardless. Sally takes interest in the sealed fireplace where she hears the creatures calling her name, and follows the mysterious voices.

Sally opens the fireplace to meet the creatures, and finds one of the old housekeeper's teeth. The creatures quickly prove to be hostile, stealing Alex's razor and shredding Kim's clothes. Alex immediately puts the blame on Sally and finds an old nineteenth-century silver coin in her possession, which she found under her pillow after the tooth disappeared. Alex and Kim head into town on a business trip, Sally sneaks to the basement to talk with the creatures, but Harris shoos her away and tries to seal the fireplace. The creatures emerge and brutally wound him with his own tools, and he is hospitalised. Sally's increasingly frightening encounters with the creatures prompts Alex to call a therapist to talk to Sally who draws a sketch of one of the creatures that attacked her under her bed sheets.

Kim visits Harris in the hospital, who tells her to find the unpublished artwork of Lord Blackwood in the local library. The librarian reveals the artwork, one of which is of one of a creature whom he describes as being like tooth fairies, which every now and again turns a human into one of their own. Kim races home as Sally is attacked again by the fairies while having a bath, the lead fairy being a transformed Lord Blackwood who proclaims the fairies will make Sally one of their own. Kim finds an undiscovered mural painted by Lord Blackwood in the basement, depicting his son being devoured by the fairies. Kim confronts Alex who is more interested in hosting a dinner for Mr. Jacoby and friends. However, he finally realises what is happening when Sally is trapped in the library by the fairies, but she fends them off by taking photos of them.

Alex and Kim decide to flee the house with Sally, but both are ambushed by the fairies so they can literally drag Sally to the basement for her transformation. Kim awakens and confronts the fairies, freeing Sally but gets caught in the ropes and dragged into the fireplace. The fairies drag Kim into the fireplace, but the distraught Sally stomps Lord Blackwood to death. Alex arrives just as Kim disappears, and father and daughter mourn their loss. Some time later, both return to the abandoned mansion to leave a drawing of Kim there, but a gust of wind blows the drawing to the fireplace where the transformed Kim is heard convincing the fairies to forget Sally and wait for others to come, claiming they have "all the time in the world".

Cast

• Bailee Madison as Sally Hirst
• Katie Holmes as Kim
• Guy Pearce as Alex Hirst
• Alan Dale as Jacoby
• Jack Thompson as Harris
• Julia Blake as Mrs. Underhill
• Garry McDonald as Emerson Blackwood
• Edwina Ritchard as Housekeeper (Miss Winter)
• Nicholas Bell as Psychiatrist
• James Mackay as Librarian

Production

Del Toro chose Troy Nixey to direct the film after seeing Nixey' short film Latchkey’s Lament. For the design of the creatures in the film, Nixey drew inspiration from pictures of mole rats.^[5]

Influences

Del Toro has attributed the idea of giving the creatures in the film a fairy origin to the work of the writer Arthur Machen saying in an interview: "I love the Welsh author Arthur Machen and his idea that fairy lore comes from a dark place, that it’s derived from little, pre-human creatures who are really, really nasty vermin but are magical in a way, living as they do for hundreds of years. His books are what compelled me to do this." Machen's stories are specifically mentioned in the film by the librarian character. Del Toro is a long-standing admirer of Machen and said his work was also an influence on El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) which also features fairy creatures.^[6] The name of Emerson Blackwood, the artist character who built the mansion in the film is a tribute to another writer of supernatural horror Algernon Blackwood.

Release

This picture, which was developed with Mirt in the wake of the division's closure was released by FilmDistrict, was rated R despite filmmaker ambitions to the contrary.^[7] "We originally thought we could shoot it as PG-13 without compromising the scares," Del Toro said. "And then the MPAA came back and gave us a badge of honor. They gave us an R for 'pervasive scariness.' We asked them if there's anything we could do, and they said, 'Why ruin a perfectly scary movie?'"^[8]

Troy Nixey narrated the film at a screening at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.^[9] The initial release date was scheduled for January 21, 2011.^[10] Due to the sale of Miramax by Disney, the release was put on hold until the sale was finalized.^[11] The film was released on August 26, 2011.^[12]

Reception

The film has received mixed to generally positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 59% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. Most critics agreed that "While it's pleasantly atmospheric and initially quite scary, the film ultimately fails to deliver the skin-crawling chills of the original". Bailee Madison's acting was generally well-received by critics, who have also praised the idea of turning the protagonist into a little girl, as opposed to an adult in the original film.

References

1. ^ Kaufman, Amy (August 25, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'The Help' to brush off the competition again". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/08/movie-projector-dont-be-afraid-of-the-dark-colombiana-our-idiot-brother.html. Retrieved August 25, 2011. 
2. ^ "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers". The Numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2011/AFRAD.php. Retrieved 05 September 2011. 
3. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/dont-be-afraid-of-the-dark-20111103-1mw6a.html
4. ^ Fleming, Michael (May 6, 2009). "'Dark' days for Katie Holmes". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003272.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
5. ^ "Movie Pick : Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark". planetsmag.com. 2011-09-02. http://www.planetsmag.com/blog?id=210. Retrieved 6 September 2011. 
6. ^ "Dark Deeds: An Interview with Guillermo del Toro and Guy Pearce by Robert Cashill". www.cineaste.com. http://www.cineaste.com/articles/emdarkem-deeds-an-interview-with-guillermo-del-toro-and-guy-pearce. Retrieved 9 October 2011. 
7. ^ Guillermo del Toro isn't afraid of... Much of anything|latimes
8. ^ Preview Review at the LA Times.
9. ^ Barton, Steve (July 2010, 16). "Tiny Images From 'Walking Dead,' 'Let Me In,' 'Saw 3D' & 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark'". Bloody Disgusting. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/20918. Retrieved 2010-07-16. 
10. ^ "Guillermo del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Gets a Release Date". Dread Central. June 29, 2010. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/38252/guillermo-del-toros-dont-be-afraid-dark-gets-a-release-date. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
11. ^ Winning, Josh (October 12, 2010). "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark delayed". TotalFilm.com. http://www.totalfilm.com/news/don-t-be-afraid-of-the-dark-delayed?_r=true. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
12. ^ Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - Official website

External links

• Official website
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark at AllRovi
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark at Box Office Mojo
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark at the Internet Movie Database
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark at Rotten Tomatoes
• Trailer