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Don't Be Afraid of the Dark with Katie Holmes

Written by Jonathan Jacobs

Guillermo Del Toro has done it. The legendary director has written/created the quintessential monsters under the stairs motion picture. Best of all he has guided the film's stars to excellence. Katie Holmes (Kim) and Guy Pearce (Alex) are fantastic. However, neither are the real star of the show. That honor belongs to young Bailee Madison (Sally, who ironically looks like a young Katie Holmes). Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is horrifying from beginning to end. Mere meters away from crowds of unknowing dinner guests there are gnomish monsters wreaking havoc as they seek to abduct and absorb a terrified child.

Alex is an architect that restores elderly mansions to their former glory. He makes a living at flipping these restorations. His beautiful and much younger girlfriend is the demure Kim. In the inchoate phases of updating a grandiloquent manor, Alex's ex-wife thrusts their daughter into his custody full time. Sally is naturally crestfallen, but she has little time for remorse as vengeful creatures of the night seek to cause her malicious harm. At first she is saved only by her luminescent toy carousel.

The monsters live in the sealed off basement of the home. They have manufactured a dwelling in a furnace like crypt that allows them to sleep for years until fresh victims arrive. To replenish their ranks, the fanged fairies (they sound like Gollum's children) stipulate they will murder at least one new victim and consign their soul to oblivion. They utilize children as bait to lure new victims into their clutches.

These are no ordinary creatures. The gnomes are intelligent as they are former humans turned into tiny vengeful entities. The malicious ones carry knives, scissors, scalpels, and any other devices they can locate in order to mangle would be attackers or victims. Their only ineffectuality is bright light. If only the older home would have modern compact fluorescent bulbs and LED flashlights, but instead Sally's only potent weapon/countermeasure is her Polaroid camera. Those of you familiar with the 80s instant camera will remember its bright flash and its inability to take rapid fire photos.

While Sally is being seduced and then terrorized by the entities, she is also having an impossible time convincing her nearly bankrupt father that the house's latent residents are inimical menaces. Only Kim believes her which is ironic considering their challenging introduction. Kim's curiosity and kindness lead her to the truth but until the bitter end Alex is too obdurate to see the truth.

Make no mistake about it, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is scary. If viewers can submerse themselves into the spirit of things, this film will do its job and horrify them. The suspense is a killer and the CGI fits nicely with the 1980s feel of the surroundings and decor. There is nothing so vital to a good horror movie as its setting. I have been a Guy Pearce fan since the reenactment of The Time Machine. Katie Holmes has developed into a fine actress. While both deliver admirable performances here, Bailee Madison is the actress that steals the show by being thoroughly realistic. Guillermo Del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a nice addition to modern horror.