Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

Title: Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (15)

Year: 2010

Running Time: 99 minutes

Director: Troy Nixey

Cast: Guy Pearce (Alex), Katie Holmes (Kim), Bailee Madison (Sally)

Notes: Nominated for four awards.

Rating: 9

Thoughts:   A young girl is sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend in a mansion. And then the girlfriend accidentally lets loose evil creatures from the basement.

This is a dark horror and has plenty of vengeful suspense to sit alongside some grim violence.

The premise is simple enough with a good old spooky house for the characters to explore. This builds well with the child tempted by the initially friendly voices of the creatures.

Then they spiral into malevolence. What's very well done is that the violence is used to punctuate the suspense, resetting the nerves and allowing it to all build once more.

The house looks great and the scenes are cleverly lit. All three leads are excellent and the supporting cast delivers realistic performances.

The whole is very believable which is quite something given fanged goblinoids are emerging from an old fire pit in a basement. As horror goes, this is top notch.