Review of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) by Dustin G — 31 Aug 2011

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was originally a made for TV movie, shot in a hurry in two weeks due to an impending writer's strike, it was released by ABC in one of a flurry of very popular 'movie of the week' horror flicks the station was releasing to combat the popularity of drive-in movie theatres. Like many of those little gems (not least of all was Steven Spielberg's film debut, Duel), the movie went on be become very popular and receive a 'cult status' among viewers who found the story of a woman who moves into an old house only to find it's inhabited by murderous gargoyle type creatures, extremely scary.

I won't say this film is anything overly scary or special, it's certainly well done, given how quickly it was shot and on a tiny budget, but it's also dated and cheesy in the ways you'd expect of an early 70's made for TV affair. The goblin guys are pretty freaky looking and overall the story plays better than in the remake, but I didn't find it scary or sleep disrupting in the way I might've if I'd seen it on TV as a kid, but its grainy, dark, low budget look actually helped its overall effect.