Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a remake of a film I haven't seen myself so you cannot blame me for comparing the two version and thus favorising the latter. I also like Guillermo del Toro as a writer and I believe he is creating a new subgenre of horror movies which is dedicated to a very specific target audience- a mentally grown up eleven year olds. I don't know how he manages to sell so well, especially when I never see a mature eleven year old, but it seems to be working and everyone loves his films. Or maybe we love them because they are in Spanish. Whichever it is, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark seems to fail in every aspect that his other films succeed. So who takes the blame first?
Let's start with the least experienced one and that is the director of the movie himself- Troy Nixey. Troy has done a short film before and now suddenly has been trusted with a pretty tough job to do- scaring children who are too old to be afraid of a monster under the bed (although can one really stop being afraid of it?) but not old enough to consume naked bodies in gore scenes. Troy Nixey is definitely trying to satisfy his younger audience. We follow the steps of Sally, played by surprisingly good Bailee Madison and throughout the whole film he presents us with the world as seen by this girl. As a director, he lets her guide us through the old buildings and magical gardens and the scenes in which we focus on Sally, the film manages to keep us interested. The problem appears when we see other characters and Sally interacting with them.
Although I am young enough to still be able to identify and emphasise with children characters in films, however, the girl from Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is one of these kids I have never been or seen. She comes from an obviously wealthy environment and can afford to spend her whole days playing around not worrying about anything. Her parents treat her like an adult but don't give her any responsibilities at the same time. She has this weird independence that I bet no other children apart from "del Toro's children" experience. However unpersuasive this character is, it is only when Sally is shown in interaction with others that we really see how impossible her existence is. Her father literally does not care about her at all, however, she still prefers him to any other people in her life. She is jealous of father's new girlfriend, but at the end of the film easily changes her attitude and in the most terrifying circumstances she learns about love, death and sacrifice, however, this experience does not leave her traumatised. I'm sorry but this is a girl I will never be able to identify with.
Troy Nixey struggles with storytelling, especially when the plot is developed by showing Katie Holmes' and Guy Pearce's characters. The shots are completely random in these scenes and it seems like the director was bored with them himself and decided to leave both of them in front of the camera and just went for lunch. There is no chemistry between the two of them and neither of their performances is even satisfying. Although the film is shot on a wonderful location, Troy Nixey seems to have no idea how to use its potential.
The special effects are hugely disappointing. I won't reveal what really lies in the dark, because before it is shown, the film builds very nicely, so I let you enjoy it yourself. Both Pan's Labyrinth and the Orphanage (and I'm mentioning these two films because not only are they produced by Guillermo del Toro but also they seem to belong to the same subgenre) have managed to hypnotise us with creep, but magical atmosphere. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark simply lacks the magic. It is filmed in a beautiful location, however completely ignored by the makers. It is supported by the amazing soundtrack which will remain underrated because of the picture it accompanies.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a big disappointment. I would recommend just watching the trailer and imagining what this film could have been life if it only was in Spanish...
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