Yes! I was really looking forward to this one because it reminded me of 'Vanishing on the 7th Street' (to which I give more credit than it deserves for the sake of cheap thrills). But let's hold on a second because this movie is neither good nor scary.
The only reason why darkness is even in the title is because the monsters (or should I say little tooth fairies) are afraid of the light. But there are so many scenes where this one rule is broken. Sometimes these little devils will avoid the light as if they've seen the poster for the new Michael Bay movie. Other times they'll just walk up to someone and stick a fork in their feet.
Let me just say how much I TRIED to enjoy this movie. They take so damn long to start this thing (by long I mean really boring exposition) but the movie never amounts to anything. There's no suspense; no genuine effort to make us care about the people who'll die. Seriously, I care just as much about the little girl that's supposed to be the protagonist as the first guy that gets killed first. And besides, am I supposed to be afraid of tooth fairies now? These things are like 6 inches tall yet nobody stomps on them like a bunch of bugs.
This movie...ugh, it has no identity. What's it trying to accomplish? Is it trying to scare us? Well, no because after the monsters are revealed to be little tooth fairies, we're pretty much comfortable with staying in the spooky mansion. So is it trying to tell a fairy tale? I mean the garden scenes are really reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth but then there's no real exploration or any mystical adventure. So...is it trying to be a family drama? Not really because the focus is on the not-so-scary tooth fairies rather than the development of the characters. Bottom line: this movie has no focus.
The ending is anti-climatic yet they try so hard to throws us on to a pandemoniac scene. And all the while I'm just wondering, "leave the damn house, why don't you?" I mean I understand why they didn't do it the first time considering how expensive the house was but I'm pretty sure that the life of your child is worth a lot more than the stupid house. Oh right, I forgot Guy Pearce is portraying the typical doubtful father who will never believe his daughter's stories.
**Spoilers here** The stereotypical wise old man gets slashed and hacked by these creatures in the house. Guy Pearce assumes it's "just an accident". What's this, Final Destination? He was slashed and stabbed by forks and knives, that's no accident! This should at least be investigated as attempted murder. **Spoiler ENDS HERE**
Guess what, moron? If a little girl tells you that there are killer tooth-fairies in the basement, then there are killer tooth fairies in the basement so abandon the precious house and find another house.
This film gets ridiculous to say the least. Katie Holmes says she has "a good idea" and gives the little girl a camera for her to take pictures of the creatures (for proof to show the father). That's a little bit more than just stupid. If I see Jason Voorhees in my house with a machete I'm not going to take photos of him as proof so I can convince my dad to GET OUT. My first response would be to leave right away and bring my family with me. But wait a second, they do that in this film!! But why did the little girl go back to her house? Did she leave her Macbook behind? That would at least explain something! Why? These characters have no logic! They never explain anything! One moment they do something and in the next moment they press the undo button to everything they've accomplished. Imagine if Harry Potter found a Horcrux only to put it back where he found it.
I walked into this film with the wrong idea. This is partially the marketing's fault and the TITLE's fault. Why is this film called "Don't be Afraid of the Dark?"It's not about the dark and I'm not afraid of anything after watching this film. This is what a misleading plot and a group of stupid characters (portrayed by good actors) will do to you; it will disappoint you. This is what the Miami Heat fans must feel right now.
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
Performances: 5/5
Specifics: 1/5
Theme: N/A (What was this about?!!)
Overall: 1.5/5
