In an age where the term "horror movie" is synonymous with blood and guts, every so often one comes along that decides to buck the trend. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is one such movie. An atmospheric, slow-building, suspenseful, flawed masterpiece, this film grabs at the nerves and dangles them in front of the blade until those moments when it saws at them with a relentless zeal. Guillermo Del Toro is a man known for generally imbuing greatness into any film he produces or directs. The Orphanage. Pan's Labyrinth. Hellboy. All of these have been slathered with his special sauce. This time, I have to admit, I had my doubts. With director Troy Nixey, a former comic book artist, helming this movie, I was skeptical that this guy would be able to to avoid the appearance of being a novie, first time director. Fortunately, I was proven wrong. The thing about this movie that's most flawed is not Nixey's more-than-adequate direction. The weak point is, in fact, the screenplay, which focuses too much on the family drama, rather than the scares. Granted, the scenes between the main characters are sufficiently emotionally charged to be worth paying attention to, they ultimately do not mean much to the story. The horror scenes, however, are so damned effective, so well-done, that they manage to put the great majority of modern horror pieces to shame. You will feel your heart beating against your chest as multitudes of miniscule creatures skitter towards the protagonists with a bloodthirsty hunger. You will feel the realization as... well, you'll find out. Though this isn't the perfect horror movie, it is a great modern example of the genre. A stark, suspenseful trip through an aboveground Hell that any horror fan cannot afford to miss.
Review of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
