Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
starring Kim Darby and Jim Hutton
Directed by John Newland
1973
74 minutes
Unrated

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce
and Bailee Madison
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
2010
99 minutes
Rated R

When I was a little girl, I loved scary haunted house movies, as I do now. Of course, my parents were sensible and did not take me to see them at the movie theatre, so I had to watch them on television. One of the movies that made a big impression on me was Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. I had a hard time forgetting the creepy little creatures that came out of the fireplace and scared Sally (Kim Darby) to death. It didn't help that we had two fireplaces in our home and that my parents refused to brick them up to keep any creatures from getting out.

Imagine my joy to discover that the scariest movie of my childhood was remade by the famed director, Guillermo del Toro! True, there are changes, but the new version is equally great in its own right.

In the original movie, Sally and her husband Alex inherit a mansion from Sally's grandparents. They decide to keep it and fix it up. There is a mysterious room in the house that Sally finally breaks into and decides she would like to use it as a study, as her grandfather had done before her. The only problem with the room--the fireplace is mysteriously bricked up and the grate is bolted on tight. Sally asks the handyman, Mr. Harris (William Demarest),  about why this might have been done and how to undo it. Mr. Harris reveals that he was the one who bricked it up after her grandfather disappeared, and he has no plans to undo and advises that Sally leave it alone. And, of course, she doesn't!

I watched this version again recently on dvd and was struck by how scary this movie still is, despite the distractions of the 1970s clothing, hairdos, decor, and the obvious phony little creatures. Kim Darby is very good at playing the character of a rather shy woman who doesn't quite know how to deal her unusual problem. She is lucky that she has a friend, but her husband (Jim Hutton) just thinks she is neurotic. Would my husband believe me if I told him I was seeing scary little creatures in the house? He might tell me they are just the children and get over it.

Throughout the movie I was shouting comments: "Mr. Harris, please tell Sally why you blocked up the fireplace in the first place!" "Sally, don't open that grate--you'll be sorry!" "Knucklehead husband, take Sally on the trip with you so she won't be alone!" "Sally, don't drink that water! It has those sleeping pills in it!" "Friend Joan, just take Sally to your house!" "Sally, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"

The new version directed by Guillermo del Toro is quite different, although the same basic premise is the same. Sally (Bailee Madison) is now a young child, which actually works quite well in the story. Children often "see" things that aren't there and the grown-ups don't believe them. They also "see" things that are there because they are often more observant than the grown-ups, and their imaginations do not impede their belief in the unlikely. This young Sally has been shipped off to live with her father (Guy Pearce) and is depressed about the change. To make matters worse, her father is living with a new "mom" figure, Kim (Katie Holmes).

The father, Alex, and Kim are renovating a giant historical mansion in Rhode Island, owned by the late Emerson Blackwood, a wildlife painter who mysteriously vanished after the also mysterious disappearance of his son. The house is a showcase! Filmed at the Drusilla Mansion in Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia, the house has everything from a large library, parlors, amazing staircases, lots of bedrooms, a huge garden, and a secret room with a bolted up ash pit. Wow, how amazing!

The Druscilla Mansion in Australia

The Blackwood Mansion in Rhodes Island

I liked how del Toro tied the creatures to the fairy world, making them a very frightening version of the Tooth Fairy. Kids like Sally would have been responsive to the idea of tooth fairies, since we are all familiar with the stories, but some fairies are actually malicious, devious, and tricky in folklore. The old tales tell of fairies who capture humans and keep them hostage, never to return to their families again. You can read more about the many types of fairies here. There are several references to this sort of fairy lore in the movie, including a lovely fairy ring of mushrooms.

Little Sally seems rather more enterprising in the del Toro version. She is very thoughtful and stocks up on supplies to help her deal with the creatures, such as the camera and other sources of light. Her helplessness is quite understandable since she is only a child and can't go where she pleases, although she does try to get away by running away from home. But the unsympathetic parents bring her back and just make her go to bed--right where the creatures want her!

The creatures were more believable and scary in the newer version of this movie, but mostly because technology in film making has advanced so much. I personally wouldn't want to meet either of these types of creatures.

If you would like to see trailers for these movies, here are the links:

• 1973 Trailer
• 2010 Trailer