Review of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Scary Film With Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, and Bailee Madison

Creatures flee daytime situations which people handle -- or not -- in the remake of the ABC made-for-television horror film, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. The 74-minute original movie followed similar plotlines, through the inputs of:

• Allen S. Epstein, producer;
• Gene Fowler, Jr. and Michael McCrosker, editors;
• Billy Goldenberg, musician;
• Andrew Jackson, cinematographer;
• Nigel McKeand, screenwriter;
• John Newland, director.

Its filming location was Ventura County Historical Landmark #4: Elgin-born Illinois publisher David Caleb Cook’s (August 28, 1849 – July 30, 1927) 1890-built, Queen Anne-styled mansion in Piru, California. Lorimar Productions’ release date was October 10, 1973, with:

• Distribution by ABC Broadcasting, USA Home Video, Warner Bros.;
• Special effects by The Howard Anderson Company;
• Vehicles by Chrysler Corporation.

The 99-minute remake benefits from:

• Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, musicians;
• Jill Bilcock, editor;
• Mark Johnson and Stephen Jones, producer;
• Troy Nixey, director;
• Matthew Robbins, writer;
• Oliver Stapleton, cinematographer;
• Guillermo del Toro, writer-director.  

It had as filming locations in Victoria, southeast Australia:

• Central City Studios;
• Melbourne;
• Mount Macedon.

Its initial release date was November 6, 2010, with:

• Distribution by FilmDistrict;
• Special effects by Iloura and Spectral Motion.

Its premieres by Granvia, Miramax Films, and Necropia were on:

• June 26, 2011 at Los Angeles Film Festival, California;
• August 22, 2011 at Buenos Aires, Argentina;
• August 25, 2011 at London FrightFest Film Festival, England.

It premiered in 2012 as:

• DVDs in France, Germany, and Sweden;
• Television programming in Hungary.

The plot in both versions concerns creatures who occupy a mansion’s sub-basement and stalk the newest move-in, Sally. In the original, Sally Farnham (Kim Darby) emerges as an heiress whose deceased grandmother’s mansion includes a sealed fireplace and sub-basement because of a tragic event. Sally inadvertently frees creatures who consequently demand her becoming like them. She finds belief from the hired carpenter, Mr. Harris (William Demarest), and skepticism from:

• Doctor (Robert Cleaves);
• Friends George and Joan Kahn (Joel Lawrence, Barbara Anderson);
• Husband Alex (Jim Hutton).

One of the links between the two versions is the tragic staircase stumble of a hired designer, Francisco Perez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) in the original and Kim (Katie Holmes) in the remake.

In the remake, eight-year-old Sally Hurst’s (Bailee Madison) mother, Joanne (Abbe Holmes), appears to need time-out for love interests in Los Angeles, California. Sally comes to live with her father and his girlfriend in Providence County, Rhode Island. Alex and Kim do not have too much time to spare from respectively face-lifting and interior-designing Blackwood Manor. The isolated manor does not seem at all interesting until Sally discovers:

• Backyard gardens;
• Basement windows;
• Noisy grates;
• People’s teeth;
• Silver coins.

Sally entertains thoughts of befriending the sub-basement’s hermits. But malicious pranks that destroy Kim’s wardrobe and that harm Alex’s employee, William Harris (Jack Thompson), frighten Sally. But neither Alex nor the housekeeper, Mrs. Underhill (Julia Blake), offers any protection.

As in the original, the doctor (Nicholas Bell) appears as someone who can, but does not, make a difference. He attributes Sally’s surliness to feeling left out. But he considers medication stronger than Adderall -- which treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- the problem-solver to an over-active imagination. The recommendation does nothing to halt the free-fall to catastrophes:

• At the dinner table with Architectural Digest-connected power couple, Charles and Evelyn Jacoby (Alan Dale, Trudy Hellier);
• In the library;
• Near the car;
• On the stairs.

It nevertheless impels Kim to help and love the person to whom she least and most relates, Sally. The conclusion is as frightening as it actually is logical in this must-see, must-own film.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Fantasy, horror, and supernatural literature written by Arthur Llewelyn Jones under pseudonym of Arthur Machen inspired dark depictions of sub-basement dwellers in "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark."
1906 cover design by Sidney Herbert Sime (1867 – May 22, 1941)
The House of Souls by Arthur Machen (London: Grant Richards, 1906): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Souls_1906.jpg

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark": theatrical viewing in trendy Berkeley on September 1, 2011, less than one week after film's U.S. release on August 26
California Theatre, Berkeley, northern Alameda County, northern coastal California: Sean Davis, CC BY ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandavis/6888790044/

Bailee Madison -- presumably in a less scary place than "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" -- at 19th Annual Movieguide Awards® Gala, February 17, 2011
Universal Hilton Hotel, Universal City, San Fernando Valley region, Los Angeles County, southern California: Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV (RedCarpetReport), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/minglemediatv/5462317643/

"Don't Be Afraid of The Dark Trailer [HD]" (1:44).
Uploaded August 3, 2010, by IGN to YouTube ~ URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFE4lGvRt8E

Kim (Katie Holmes) finds shocking discoveries in "Lot 1134" at an opulent, local library in Rhode Island.
Scene was actually filmed in State Library of Melbourne in Australia's southeastern state of Victoria.
Reading Room of the State Library, Melbourne, southwestern Victoria state, southeastern Australia: Daderot at English Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Library_Reading_Room_-_Melbourne_Australia.jpg

Guillermo del Toro and Katie Holmes at New York City premiere of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Monday, August 8, 2011
Walter Reade Theater, Samuel B. and David Rose Building, Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street, Manhattan's Upper West Side: aphrodite-in-nyc, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guillermo_del_Toro_and_Katie_Holmes_(6024050977).jpg

Guillermo del Toro -- eliciting smiles rather than screams -- at masterclass in Toronto on September 21, 2011, less than one month after August 26th U.S. release of "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark."
masterclass for Canadian Film Centre's Cineplex Entertainment Film Program and Actors Conservatory; Studio District, east of downtown Toronto: Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guillermo_del_Toro_Toronto_September_2011.jpg

"David Caleb Cook." Find A Grave.com. Retrieved October 31, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15730136

Machen, Arthur. 1915. The Angels of Mons. London, England: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd.

Machen, Arthur. 1926. The Chronicle of Clemendy. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Machen, Arthur. 1922. The Hill of Dreams. 1923 Edition. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Machen, Arthur. 1922. The House of Souls. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Machen, Arthur. 1924. Ornaments in Jade. New York, NY; Alfred A. Knopf.

Machen, Arthur. 1922. The Secret Glory. 1925 Edition. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Machen, Arthur. 1923. The Shining Pyramid. Chicago, IL: Covici-McGee.

Machen, Arthur. 1917. Stories and Articles. Baltimore, MD: Privately Printed.

Machen, Arthur. 1923. Things Near and Far. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Machen, Arthur. 1923. The Three Imposters. New York, NY: Alfred A.Knopf.

Newland, John. 23 August 2011. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Warner Archive.

Palmer, Christopher. (Ed.). 1988. The Collected Arthur Machen. London, England: Duckworth.

Robbins, Matthew; and del Toro, Guillermo. 3 January 2012. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.