A young girl is sent to live with her father and his girlfriend in the mansion they are renovating for a client. In the basement, locked in an old ash pit, the girl finds a group of small creatures.
Setting them free was a mistake...
I first saw the 1973 TV movie "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" when I was very young and loved it... Why it's taken this long for me to get around to the remake, I have no idea.
Guillermo del Totro's production fingerprint (he also co-wrote) is all over it; It's incredibly atmospheric, and a lot of the mansion (or at least the parts relating to the creatures) have a nature-inspired look reminiscent of tree-roots or vines; in other words it looks very "Pans Labyrinth" at times.
The Pans Labyrinth feel continues into the films biggest change, the protagonist; an adult woman in the original, Sally is here a child... something which ultimately the film suffers for. When an adult claims to see goblins, people assume shes having a breakdown; when a child claims the same thing, they assume she's either lying, or simply has an over active imagination... we also know that a movie is far less likely to kill a child, so I never really found myself fearing for Sally's well being.
Another, frankly baffling given the title, change is that in the original the creatures could only come out in the dark; in this version they seemingly have no problem facing lights.
The acting is solid (especially from the always reliable Guy Pearce) and the film looks great; the creature design is great, and the mansion provides a great backdrop.
For all it's slick production though, it fails to be as creepy as a 40 year old low budget TV movie... stick with the original.
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