Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (2010)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 159
Fresh: 93 | Rotten: 66
While it's pleasantly atmospheric and initially quite scary, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark ultimately fails to deliver the skin-crawling chills of the original.
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 18
While it's pleasantly atmospheric and initially quite scary, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark ultimately fails to deliver the skin-crawling chills of the original.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 38,535
Movie Info
While architect Alex Hurst (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) restore their Gothic mansion's period interiors, Alex's young daughter Sally (Bailee Madison) can investigate the macabre history and dark corners of the estate. Spurring Sally's investigation are the voices-rasping whispers who call out to her from the basement, who promise her understanding and friendship, who are so very hungry and would like to be set free. When Sally gives in to her curiosity, she opens a
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Cast
-
Guy Pearce
Alex, Alex Hurst -
Katie Holmes
Kim -
Bailee Madison
Sally, Sally Hurst -
Jack Thompson
Harris -
Alan Dale
Charles Jacoby -
Julia Blake
Mrs. Underhill -
Trudy Hellier
Evelyn Jacoby -
Terry Kenwrick
Bill -
Abbe Holmes
Joanne -
Garry McDonald
Blackwood -
Bruce Gleeson
Buggy Driver -
Edwina Ritchard
Housekeeper -
Carolyn Shakespeare-Allen
Airport Cart Driver -
David Tocci
Workman -
Lance Drisdale
Policeman -
Nicholas Bell
Psychiatrist -
Libby Gott
Nurse -
James MacKay
Librarian -
Emelia Burns
Caterer -
Grant Piro
Creature -
Todd MacDonald
Creature -
Angus Smallwood
Creature -
Dylan Young
Creature -
Guillermo del Toro
Creature
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Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark Trailer & Photos
All Critics (161) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (93) | Rotten (66) | DVD (8)
There is so much here that one admires, one wishes that there was more to love.
Top CriticThe film looks good, it sounds great (Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders' score is full of darkly murmuring woodwinds), and Madison is a pip of a lead.
A welcome alternative to the current genre offerings, steeped in old-fashioned atmosphere and faithful to haunted house routine, albeit to a fault.
This is still a seriously entertaining horror movie, one that will please newcomers as well as fans of the original oddity.
Despite all the care that has been put into it, the film doesn't transcend its dime-store horror roots.
The season's scariest horror film - and, depending on what the next few months bring, perhaps the year's.
Guillermo del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is as murky and ill-conceived as its multitude of dimly-lit corners,
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark might not play as well for adults, but younger audiences (namely preteens) will likely enjoy the hell out of this one.
With the exception of the opening segment this remake can't hold a candle to its chintzy but decidedly more satisfying forebear.
In this hyperactive digital age, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is almost antiquated in its approach to horror. And that is its greatest strength.
Every week, it seems, I watch a remake, or a 'reimagining,' of a feature film that didn't need to be remade. Now here's a remake of, I swear, a made-for-TV movie (starring Kim Darby, incidentally) from the 1970s.
ola exoyne mia safh epirroh apo Spielberg thn opoia o Nixey denei sxedon arista me to gotthiko, zwntano arxontiko poy eixe sto myalo toy, asxeta an parallhla se aifnidiazei me th.. mh Del Toro-ikothta toy
It's not a question of whether the dark is something worth being afraid of, but whether or not it will actually put you to sleep.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is horror by-the-numbers. Parts of it are effectively chilling, and the performances are fine, but there's no sense of reality.
A remake of a film del Toro says frightened him as a child, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark suffers from a very grown-up need to answer all the questions and the result is more Gremlins than Grimm.
The notion that clichés become clichés because they work every time is writ large in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, a film that does everything right but nothing new.
The formula is all too predictably followed
There are a few genuine scares in this fantasy horror movie produced and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, although it smacks of melodrama and manipulation
Dont Be Afraid Of The Dark will remind viewers to tuck their feet in at night but is unlikely to terrify any hardcore horror fans.
The irony, of course, is that you should be afraid of the dark. And you will be, after watching this scary horror film.
A film that'll give you second thoughts about relocating to that country pile.
It's watchable enough and elegantly staged, but it's an Amityville Horror with delusions of grandeur.
Decently produced and acted, and the demons are creepy - but this is no Pan's Labyrinth and ends up a mite predictable.
The old dark house is exactly the sort of place where you'd expect scary things to happen. The only trouble is that the monsters are cute rather than scary.
Though artfully shot, the set up never threatens to develop any real tension.
Del Toro's influence is apparent in the CGI of the bulbous-headed goblins, but the story has none of the shiver-inducing otherness of Pan's Labyrinth.
Audience Reviews for Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Sally Hurst: Tell me what you want!
- Creature: We want you! [screeches]
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- Creature: Old fool.
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- Harris: This house is unsafe for a child.
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- Sally Hurst: They don't like bright lights, you know, those things.
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- Creature: Come and join us.
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- Sally Hurst: What are you?
- Creature: What are we? Hungry.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Talking to oneself. | 4 months ago | 0 |
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Movie: ID: 770875156 Title: Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark Release Date: 2011-08-26 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (DE)
- Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (UK)
