As is true with almost all anthology shows, "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" is a mixed bag as to how good the story actually is. Most of the time, the show had great episodes, and this one is no exception. The story is fine, the characters are interesting enough (despite being somewhat clichéd), and the writing isn't bad, but...this acting is horrible. This episode features the worst acting to ever grace this series, or possibly even Nickelodeon, and that's a hard thing to have happen, as Nickelodeon has had a plethora of horribly acted series. The acting is that bad.
Tough guy Denny (the very popular Jason Tremblay) and his younger brother Buzz (Sean Ryan) are lost in the woods for some reason. They find a cab driver who tells them about a house where a man can help them find what they want. They meet Dr. Vink (Aaron Tager in his first appearance of the character), and he gives them a riddle. The answer to this riddle ends up being what they need when they are riding in a phantom cab headed straight for a tree.
This acting is so bad! Jason Tremblay's performance as the older brother is very bad. He gives the clichéd "I'm gonna pound you." bully type readings, and this is how every line is said. Even worse than him is Sean Ryan as Buzz. His acting is equivalent to that in cult classic "Silent Night Deadly Night 2". His acting is so unbelievably bad you have to hear and see it to believe it. The only redeeming actor in the mix is Aaron Tager as Dr. Vink, and he's always good as the creepy old man. But everyone else is just so horrible, it's the acting equivalent of a painful enema.
This is not a bad episode, but it certainly is weak for a pilot. Maybe with a recast it could've been good, but it didn't have one and it isn't.
My rating: ** out of ****. 30 mins. TVY7