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

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128 comments in total

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22 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Old School Scary, 25 October 2004

Author: xshitz from Majenta supersonic jet

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.

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21 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Are you afraid?, 26 July 2005

Author: stullyo2003 (stullyo2003@yahoo.com) from Levittown, New York

Seen when I was very young, this "made for TV" movie became the vehicle which drove all my fears. My childish scares of the dark, once irrational, now were validated. During bedtime, it was only instinct that pleaded with my mom to leave the hall light on. After seeing this movie, I had a reason, an image, and the creepiest soundtrack to hope that she.....NEVER TURN IT OFF AGAIN! This movie plays right into the dark corners. Why we don't just reach under the bed without looking first. Why, as we lay awake, closet doors need to be constantly observed... Just in case! At eight years old, I was truly ripe for the scare of my life!

The movie begins with a cats meow and haunting music. The score of this movie is absolutely penetrating and perfect. This is not an overstatement. I can think of very few I would call it's equal. This music accompanies Sally (Kim Darby from True Grit) as she unwittingly, and unknowingly, sets free demons from a bricked up fireplace. They set about, slipping through the dark corners (and there's plenty of them), searching to get Sally's soul. As frightening events start to mount up, and with no support from her workaholic husband, Sally begins to doubt her sanity.

Darby has a quiet demeanor that lends itself to her rising panic. When the "creatures" do finally appear, they seem to have come straight from a casting call from hell. That...or a jar of raisins. The ending is absolutely unforgettable. "Dark" made quite an impact for it's time.

I am now 40. Don't like to have ANY lights on when I sleep. Can watch this film, or any other horror flick without strategically placing a body part to obscure the view. However, a few slight noises-say a scratch or a whisper, and my defenses still go up. The blanket is always on the ready. All because of a few film makers decided to take "TV movies" seriously. I thank them....I think.

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Childhood trauma-inducer, 28 August 2002
Author: Beth (eaphelps) from Indiana

I saw this when I was 8 years old, and whenever someone asks me what the scariest movie I've ever seen is, I tell them about this one, but nobody seems to know what I'm talking about! I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one who saw it and was creeped out! Another movie from those days that had the same effect was "Trilogy of Terror," when Karen Black gets a Zuni fetish doll in the mail and it comes to life and chases her around her apartment---both these movies had a profound effect on how I looked at staircases and other places where little creepy things could be hiding. I'm looking forward to the remake.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Things that go bump in the night can be very scary!, 21 May 1999

Author: yenlo from Auburn, Me

I'll always remember when the first advertisement for this movie was shown. It was on the old ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week (1973) and came right after the flick for that week ended with the announcer saying "Next on the ABC Wednesday movie of the Week". A clip of William Demarest telling Kim Darby "Some things are better off left alone" then a few other quick clips concluding with the announcer saying "Don't be Afraid of the Dark" as a lit Flashlight in pitch blackness is snatched up by something which the viewer is given only an eyeblink glimpse of. WOW! It was definitely worth the week long wait. This was hands down the scariest Things that go bump in the night made for TV movie ever! Throughout the years it's amazing how many people I've met have seen and remember this movie. Sometimes all it takes is to say "Did you ever see the movie with the guy who played Uncle Charlie from My Three Sons" and they'll immediately say "DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK."!

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Don't miss this flick, 24 April 2005

Author: charfaz from United States

Unbelievably creepy. Is this movie on DVD or video anywhere? I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since seeing it in the 70's. Totally 70's gritty cool horror film. We'll probably never see horror made like this again. Especially when dopey heiresses are playing leads in current horror films. Movies, especially horror, have sucked since the early eighties. The film brings you back to a time when people didn't need spit shined, glossy Hollywood film style to be scared. Budgets were limited, so this movie makes do with lighting, shadows, eerie music, and mood. So again, shut out the lights, curl up under a warm blanket, and try not to be afraid of the dark.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Unique, 3 August 2000
Author: BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC

This is one of those little films that lends itself to legendary status, because it is almost impossible to see nowadays. With a great deal of effort and patience, one can find a copy....but it sure isn't easy. So many of us remember seeing it when it aired...I was all but six or seven and remembered only these gnome-like creatures. Recently I was able to see it again....and started to remember a lot more of it. The film is pretty atmospheric as it chronicles the slow then fast menacing of Sally Farnham by pint-sized demons with conical shaped heads. Sally and her husband recently moved into this large house and forsaking the advice of carpenter William Demarest, Sally opens a fireplace which had been sealed over twenty-five years ago. These creatures lived in the fireplace and now they want Sally...to join them. Kim Darby does a good job playing Sally as she slowly descends into madness...as well as other destinations. Forget all the talk about it being only good for a television movie...this is a good movie period. It has loads of atmosphere and suspense, albeit a bit shallow in the area of plot.

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A movie that was fun to be scared by, 15 October 2005
Author: jonesy74-1 from United States

What a sadistically weird movie this was! Have you ever thought you saw something out of the corner of your eye, but when you looked directly at it, it wasn't there? Of course, it was in the shadows, so if it really WERE there, you wouldn't know for sure, would you? That's what this movie is about. Small, dangerous things in the shadows. Of course, they couldn't harm you directly... while you were alert... but they sure could mess you up if, say... they strung a rope across the stairs or did something to you in your sleep.

The theme of this movie is, "Did I really see it?" And of course, we know Kim Darby really did, but it was too late when she finally knew forsure.

As a t.v. movie, it was okay - production, setting, acting, special effects and make-up... but the idea of things... lurking... waiting... made your hair stand up and want to exit the room along with the rest of your body.

And what the heck WERE those things, anyway? They lived in the furnace... or BELOW the furnace - we know that for sure. But were they demons? Goblins? Aliens? And was one of them Kim Darby's grandfather? We never know the answer to this. All we know is they're nasty spiteful little things that want to make you one of them. And, I guess, that was the spookiest part of the story - it never let you know the answer. Just made you wonder what sort of ickies could be lurking below YOUR furnace! The spookiest moment is when Kim ticks one of them off and it makes the nastiest face. You really don't want to tick one of these little creepy-crawlers off.

I watched this movie-of-the-week alone at night really late while I was home by myself. Even though I was well into my teens at the time, I was totally weirded out.

The moral of the story, I guess, is that if you don't want evil miniature creatures to drag your wife off to the nether-regions below your furnace, don't be a workaholic and ignore her when she says she's seeing strange nasties in the corners or the room.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Very Scary When I Saw it as a Kid, 22 July 2006
Author: Brock-47 from United States

I also saw this movie as a kid and was haunted by it for a long while. I still remember being scared of the little creatures. There was another somewhat similar TV movie called Trilogy of Terror (just found the titles of both of these movies on the web out of curiosity) with Karen Black where she was haunted by a little voodoo like creature with a spear that also really got me good. As far as the effect a scary movie had on me at the time I saw it, this was by far the scariest movie I have seen in my life. I don't know if it would have much an effect on me now or not but it certainly did then.

I'm guessing it is not available on DVD or video.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
We Need a Sequel! Great Movie!, 25 August 1999

Author: Carrigon from United States

This is a classic horror that will stay with you for years. A young couple moves into a house where the previous owner, the woman's father, mysteriously disappeared years before. As it turns out, the young couple aren't the only ones living in the house, there are scary demons living in the basement. This movie is great! You just scream sequel. The ending will stick with you, it's a shocker. This is an amazing movie for a made-for-tv movie. Grab this one, it's that good!

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Second Most Memorable ABC Flick, 24 October 2005

Author: Estelle Edwards (riverheadestelle@msn.com) from Riverhead, L.I., New York

One reason ABC plays such a key part in my childhood memories is because we were a captive audience, in a sense. My family and I moved to Sag Harbor in 1971 - a then unknown town on eastern Long Island. Cable was in its infancy back then, and if you didn't have it, well there was ABC, the only network that came in clear as a bell. CBS and NBC were always snowy or fuzzy. So, I remember a lot of ABC programming, whether it was 'Movie of the Week', 'The After School Special', and the many prime time dramas and sitcoms that aired on the network - even those which were short-lived. And even before we moved from the city, I had memories of racing home from parochial school to catch 'Dark Shadows'.

The house in Sag Harbor had a real fireplace, not one of those gas jobs like the house we had in our old neighborhood of Springfield Gardens. Well, the allure of a real log fire wore off quickly when I saw 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' at the age of 12. I didn't go near our fireplace for about a week afterwards! It creeped me out that much. In spite of the movies disappointing ending, it's still good for what it is: one of ABC's best forays into the supernatural.

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