What can be scarier than being in a strange house and finding out that there are unseen little creatures lurking about that are planning to take a kid away into their world as one of their own? These little creatures are at the center of what happens in the movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a remake from a made-for-television original back in the 1970s. Back then, the creatures were played by little actors in scary suits and makeup. It was a scary classic. In this new movie, the creatures, called homunculi, are computer-generated and are smaller and more goblin-like.

The new movie is supposedly so scary that it was given a Restricted rating. The producers didn’t want that and were targeting a more broad audience. When they consulted about possible edits for a PG-13 rating, they were told, “Why ruin a perfectly scary movie?” And that was that. This movie must really be good and scary for the review board to recommend that the rating stay as is. So, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is for mature audiences, but it’s really about a kid who’s in danger of getting dragged into the world of the homunculi—at least in this updated version.


In the original movie (left), Kim Darby plays Sally Farnham, the housewife targeted by the creepy little men that speak in whispers and hide behind a basement fireplace. In the end, they drag Sally down with them. She disappears, leaving her husband to wonder about what happened, getting only the consolation of knowing the secret of the house from the old handyman. The movie suggests in the end that Sally has become one of the creatures as her voice is heard whispering among theirs. It's a scary thought, to think that such a nice woman can be changed into a little, ugly creature, but that's horror! Sometimes, it's what you think and imagine that makes for a very scary movie.


The creators of the new Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, which is by the way, produced by Guillermo del Toro, has taken liberty in changing a few things. First-time director Troy Nixey, who is also a protégé of del Toro, had aimed to make it scarier, and opting to have a child in the shoes of the character played by Darby in the original. This may make parents who watch more terrified at the thought of their own child being watched and picked to be corrupted and changed into a creature that lurks in the shadows of a house. It’s a fear rooted in reality in a world filled with evil people who have no qualms about kidnapping abusing children, and that makes the new movie even more terrifying.

Ever wonder why people usually see ghosts while either half asleep or half awake?

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