By: debbie lynn elias
“We want to be friends. They don’t want you, but WE do.” And so the tone is set for DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. Who is it that wants to be “friends”?
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is based on the 1973 ABC telemovie of the same name; a movie that forever changed a very young Guillermo del Toro, imbuing him with a love of horror and fear of things that go bump in the night. Believed by del Toro, even as a child, “to be a very creepy concept”, DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK has haunted him ever since, prompting him to produce this reimagination of a favorite fright.
Blackwood Manor is a house with a very macabre history. Over 100 years ago Blackwood was designed and built by naturalist and artist Emerson Blackwood. A devoted father, Blackwood was devastated when his son disappeared down the basement ash pit, never to be found again. But as Blackwood soon discovered, this wasn’t any ordinary disappearance. His son had been “taken”, taken by ancient creatures who Blackwood discovered living deep in the earth underneath the house. Creatures that like teeth. Creatures that feed on teeth…and bone. Creatures that lure their victims deep into the underbelly of the world to feed…and then await their next meal. Creatures known as homunculi, or as we more commonly know them – tooth fairies. But these tooth fairies aren’t covered with glitter and angel dust flitting around on gossamer wings. They are dark, dirty, vicious and pure evil. Soon after his discovery, Blackwood himself disappeared. The ash pit was sealed off. The house abandoned and the evil became nothing more than a silent myth.
9 year old Sally Hurst is the product of a broken home. Living with a disinterested mother, she is now shuttled to her equally disinterested father, Alex, and his fiancee, Kim. An architect, Alex sinks all of his money into Blackwood with the intent of restoring and remodeling it to its once great grandeur…and get himself on the cover of Architectural Digest in the process. Which means there is little time for, or paternal interest, in Sally. As for Kim, a noted interior designer, she too, has designs on fame…and no experience or desire for motherhood. So what’s a 9 year old to do in an old, dark, musty, creepy mansion? Easy – look for adventure wherever she can find it. And what could be more adventurous than seeking out the source of voices that speak to her, begging her to be friends. “Come into the basement. There are children down here. We want to be friends.”
A precocious, intelligent and curious child way beyond her years, Sally’s days are quickly filled with searches to find these mysterious voices. And on one of those searches she unlocks a door, a door long hidden behind a sealed wall that her father has just uncovered in his renovation. Chastized by their handyman Harris, who has been caretaker of the house for years, and ordered to stay away from that door and to cover it up, Alex ignores the warning as he and Kim find untold treasures of Emerson Blackwood, treasures that will help them in their quest for notoriety. But the voices now beckon Sally ever closer. Suddenly, the raspy, shrill Siren-like voices begin to fill the house during the day, during the night, in the air ducts and vent shafts, behind the bolted ash pit, and in Sally’s room. What began as a game of curiosity is becoming a nightmare. And you know what they say? Curiosity killed the cat. The voices get louder. Alex and Kim dismiss Sally’s concerns and attribute it to psychological issues and depression. But now, there is the sound of scurrying feet on the hardwood floors, destruction in Sally’s bedroom and missing items within the house. Is this all in Sally’s mind or are there really things that go slash in the night?
We have a new star on the horizon in Bailee Madison. As Sally, she amazes, carrying the film from start to finish. It is her emotion, her experience, her point of view, that steers the ship. On a personal note, I adore her. With intelligence, great poise and range of emotion, Madison more than convincingly conveys fear and terror, balanced with the innocent naivete of a child. A crystallized performance of perfection. Important to Madison was “losing Bailee” in creating Sally. “I feel like I kind of left me behind. I wanted to have Sally be her own self. I wanted her to be her own character; someone that no one’s ever seen before.” Knowing Madison and seeing her on screen as Sally, she has truly succeeded in her creation of Sally.
A breakout role for Madison, DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK “is a type a movie where I really wanted to portray someone who I wasn’t used to portraying. I think when I read [the script] I just knew there was so much potential and so much excitement that was already building up within me. I knew that Guillermo del Toro was attached, and Mark Johnson and Troy Nixey. And I knew that Katie Holmes was going to be in it, too. I felt like it would just be a once in a lifetime experience. When I found out that I got the part, I was jumping with joy.” Wanting to expand her already lengthy resume, it was the idea of “be[ing] able to show a variety” that appealed to Madison; that and the fact that this is a true Gothic horror film. “I was really excited to be in my first scary film.”
I am the first to admit that as Kim, Katie Holmes surprised me – brilliantly. More than convincing, Holmes’ character arc is full and complete, going from frustrated, isolated “step-mom” to hungry lioness. Her performance is fully realized and packed with emotion. Describing her role, and that of Sally as “strong female characters” punctuated with an “understanding of what a relationship between mother and daughter is and what that means.”, she believes key to the film was also “making sure that these characters and this world worked without the creatures and that the emotional tension worked without even the need for the genre part of the film.” One of Holmes’ most powerful emotional performances, she opines that “being a mom changes your perspective on everything. What I loved about this script when I read it, first of all, is I love Guillermo…and I was terrified when I read the script. And I loved Kim because she went on a journey of ‘No, I don’t want to be a mom, no, no, no’ to forgetting all that and just listening to a human being who’s in pain and who’s lonely and recognizing that and, seeing herself in Sally. I think that is so admirable and heroic. You really understand building the choices from the beginning to the end, you understand how she becomes that lioness. Being a mother myself, I didn’t understand that feeling until I had my own and there’s just nothing you wouldn’t do.”
Contrary to Holmes’ warmth and humanity, is the juxtapositioned cold indifference of Guy Pearce as Alex. With pinhole vision and no room for emotion, as Alex, he throws the weight of the film on Holmes and Madison, putting them center stage to great result.
Written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, who is masterful at dark, elaborate, visual and visceral suspense, the story is well crafted, successfully updated from the 1973 original, with a fresh perspective as being seen through the eyes of a little girl. An effective storytelling technique here is the fact that we, the audience, get to hear, and eventually see, the creatures along with Sally, while Kim and Alex remain in the dark, doubting Sally’s sanity. Sadly, I do believe that exposing the creatures to us as early as it happens is a mistake, detracting from what up to that point is edge of your seat terror. Real terror lies in the unseen, not in the seen. Not knowing or seeing the creatures fully realized but rather as shadowy outlines or glimpses too quick to actually “see” was terrifying but I think their appearance was revealed too soon, thus suspending the greatest part of the suspense and terror. But Nixey regains steam as the film approaches its climactic ending complete with action, where Holmes and Madison do their own stunt work, and newfound terror.
Bringing in Troy Nixey as director was a stroke of genius. With a background aa a comic artist and illustrator, Nixey is the perfect for a Gothic genre film such as this. Relying heavily on visuals to create the mood and suspense, the cinematography and production design are exemplary giving the film a look of high polish, gleaming like the most highly polished dark wood. Cinematographer Oliver Stapleton is masterful with his use of lighting while Production Designer Roger Ford creates a stunning palette of Blackwood. Eerie, yet warm, with dark rich wood tones bode well for Stapleton’s play of light and shadows, while the basement – complete with ash pit – is the centerpiece of attention and design. And all smacks of del Toro’s wickedly delicious visual aesthetic.
And the creature creations? Truly horrific and unnerving. Designing them to be small, “ancient, old wrinkly little things” Nixey and his VFX team, including Scott Shapiro and Stephen Jones, looked to nature (much like the mythical Blackwood would do) for method and manner in “their movement and in the way they attack en masse.” The result is realistically creepy.
As for the film’s payoff? Bone chilling terror. Be afraid. Be very afraid. DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK will make you think twice before turning out the light….or putting that tooth under your pillow.
Sally – Bailee Madison
Kim – Katie Holmes
Alex – Guy Pearce
Directed by Troy Nixey. Written by Guillermo Del Toro and Matthew Robbins based on the teleplay by Nigel McKeand.
