Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Michael Ledo The movie opens with a spoiler by letting us know something evil is in the basement of a home.I enjoyed the animated aspect of the credits. It gave the movie that classic 1960's feel. Afterwards we have Guy Pearce moving into the same home with his young melancholy daughter, Sally, who would prefer to be with her mom in LA. She also has an instant dislike of Katie Holmes, dad's girlfriend. Eventually the family discovers the basement, which had been sealed. The area is famous for its sink holes that go deep into the earth. Sally is fascinated with shaft/tunnel in the basement.The movie initially keeps you in suspense as to what is in the basement and which travels through the old ventilation system. Good suspense. Good creepy story. Good child acting. Great movie to show when the girls want to have a sleep over. And then when things are good and tense, flip the breaker off and let everything go dark.No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Try not to think too deep and enjoy this one.

bryangl Yes, there are illogicalities and loose ends; yes, some characters could have been written with more depth. And, if you want a high-action film, this is not for you.BUT, the story, despite some holes, is carefully crafted to slowly and inexorably build to its climax. The many clichés in fact are used constructively (including a backward glance to Hitchcock), in the environment of a wonderful, beautifully detailed and atmospheric house, in superb and equally atmospheric gardens. The period is Victorian (the location footage of house - modified exterior - and gardens being shot in the state of Victoria in Australia!).The cinematographer capitalises on these settings with excellent lighting (careful use of not always letting you see what you may wish to see), complemented by very good editing (plus a skilled colourist). The acting is excellent (even if Pearce isn't given much to work with) and the young daughter is a stand-out. All of this bound by a good, although much as might be expected, score.I suspect many of the negative reviews are by people impatient for a story to reach a high pitch, or for a succession of never before seen thrills. But, instead, if you let yourself go and allow the clever construction of the elements used in the films' development to work their whiles; sit back and go with carefully controlled pacing, then there is much here to enjoy.

Thaneevuth Jankrajang This is a children fable marketed, wrongly, as a film for well-educated adults. Guillermo del Toro has made his reputation directing fine films for adults who appreciate fine arts. The expectation of this film, even though he only produced and didn't direct, is much higher than the labor he and Director Troy Nixey had put into the making this film. I am a fan of Clive Barker and all his top-quality macabre short stories, novellas, and novels. When he released a fable called "A Thief of Always", it is a fable of simplified language, but at the same time as wonderfully intense as any of his self-styled macabre writings. del Toro should learn a lot from Barker. It is regrettable to see talented foreign directors get dragged into the Hollywood process and lose their craft and their reputation almost completely. "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" turns a misled, unworthy, and low-quality storytelling. Character developments are shallow, confusing, and unnatural to the point of annoying. Never again should anyone try to fool a horror fan into an artless fairy tale.

GL84 After moving into a new house in the countryside, a young girl discovers the area home to a race of diminutive beings who need to feed on human teeth to survive and must convince her parents to help her stop them.This is quite a decent enough effort that does have enough going for it to make it work. The main thing going for this one is the fact that house itself is used to build the kind of atmosphere and presence that gives this a rather impressive amount of suspense throughout this. By being the kind of location that can accurately keep the creatures hidden so well as it does here by utilizing the darkened hallways, light-less rooms and generally creepy layout this gives off, it has the perfect hiding locations to allow the creatures to stay a rather impressive force by having them know the lay-out so that there's an advantage to them that's not available elsewhere. That gives this a few rather impressive attack scenes throughout this with there being the basement brutalizing and the ambush in the bathroom to give this a rather spectacular air about it to having the kind of action required to stay invested here. As well, the final half which is the assault on the dinner party and the guests there is quite a bit of fun and really works quite well, helped by the swarm of creatures there but also managing to get plenty of high-end spectacle coming from this so it all works out quite well. These do help somewhat to overcome the few flaws in here, though nothing overcomes the factor of having the father be so utterly clueless and careless towards his daughter's claims. The blatant dismissals here generally feel solely there to provide an excuse to stay in the house and keep the plot rolling along rather than out of any general kind of rational behavior on his part, as the kind of sequences ushered throughout here are far more worthy of investigation on his part and these are brushed off quite simply to move the plot along so these are quite unbelievable. As well, the constantly-changing tone of the creatures here is somewhat confusing, since it gives them a reverence and feel towards their behavior and general appearance that reads more like a fantasy than a straightforward horror effort so there's a rather alarming clash against the brutal and vicious actions they undergo here. It doesn't help the CGI looks atrocious and off throughout here as they rarely interact well with their surroundings and the size changes throughout, but when they have a whimsical attitude towards someone here only to suddenly swarm them with knives and surgical tools to violently begin hacking them to pieces, it's differing moods is a big problem. Otherwise, this one isn't so bad.Rated R: Violence, Language and continuous children-in-jeopardy.