Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

John Newland

Writer:

Nigel McKeand (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Can you see them, Sally ... hiding in the shadows. They're alive, Sally. They want you to be one of them when the lights go out.

Plot:

A young couple inherits an old mansion inhabited by small demon-like creatures who are determined to make the wife one of their own.

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Rope | Couple | Fireplace | Locked Room

Cast

Kim Darby	...	Sally Farnham
Jim Hutton	...	Alex Farnham
Barbara Anderson	...	Joan Kahn
William Demarest	...	Mr. Harris
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Francisco Perez
Lesley Woods	...	Ethyl
Robert Cleaves	...	Doctor
Sterling Swanson	...	Policeman
Joel Lawrence	...	George Kahn (as J.H. Lawrence)
William Sylvester	...	Tom Henderson
Don Mallon	...	Bob
Celia Kaye	...	Anne
Elizabeth St. Clair	...	Party Guest
Monika Henreid	...	Party Guest (as Monica Henreid)
Robert Priest	...	Party Guest

Also Known As:

Nightmare (Europe: English title) (video box title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:15 (video premiere) | USA:Unrated

Company:

Lorimar Productions

Trivia:

The idea of the creatures coming out of an ash clean-out pit came from the Spanish house that Nigel McKeand was living in at the time; it had an old fireplace at the rear with a deep clean-out pit, bolted at the rear. It was so deep, creepy and dark nobody ever wanted the job of cleaning it out.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)

Old School Scary

When I was a kid I watched television every day until I was absolutely saturated with popular culture. Although I was an athletic youth, I ran home each day after school to catch the afternoon movie on Detroit's ABC affiliate on Channel 7. I have never forgotten seeing the film Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, about a young couple who move into the large rambling home once owned by the woman's grandmother. Something sinister once lurked the basement, but had been sealed within the fireplace by bricks stacked four deep -- the door giving onto the ash bin had been bolted shut. Evil subdued.

However, the first thing that happens when the young couple take over the house, is the wife wants to turn this grungy dank room into her home office. And she just has to have that damned fireplace cleared out and working. An aged handy man warns her against "meddling with things you don't understand," but she doesn't heed him.

Remember, there would be no such thing as horror movies if there weren't stupid people.

Sally, the wife, managed to undo the bolt on the ash bin door. That's all the evil needs to be unleashed through the house in the form of tiny raisin-headed ghouls who look like Smurfs gone bad.

The movie hit me like a piledriver when I was eight years old. It scared the absolute shite out of me. Last night I borrowed this film from a friend, seeking to demystify it. I'm just after watching the film for the first time in twenty five years, and I have to say that this cheesy little horror knock-off still does the job. I don't think it'll keep me up tonight as it had when I was a kid, but the story's simplicity, particularly its makeshift special effects, came off quite effectively.

I've never seen the film on the shelf in a video shop. But if you do come across and are looking for a nostalgic thrill, I think Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is what you're looking for.