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

After a crazy semester and an even crazier Christmas season, things in my life have settled down enough that I am going to give Bleak House another shot. I guess it is a New Year's Resolution of sorts. So, to start things off, I have a post about two movies. The 2010 Guillermo del Toro and the 1973 versions of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

Unfortunately, like in all other movie genres, remakes and adaptations are prevalent in the horror genre and Guillermo del Toro's remake of Don't Be Afraid  is evidence of this. So, after seeing the Guillermo version a I got the original version for Christmas watched it within the last few days.

Although this will be more of a comparison between the two films, I haven't seen Guillermo's versions since it opened in theaters so I am a little fuzzy on some of the more particular details, but I think the comparison will still do well. To start with the remake, I liked it. Once you got past the crappy advertising (most of the tags called it "Guillermo del Toro's scariest film yet/ever", which it wasn't), it was a cool, fun, movie that I would categorize more as an adult fairy tale like Pan's Labyrinth. The creatures are pretty wicked, the voices and their appearance are pretty great, but nothing less is expected when Guillermo is behind the movie. I was surprised with how early, often and fully they showed the creatures, but I liked that they weren't something kept solely in the dark until some final reveal. In the original, there is the same concept of the creepy house that these creatures live in, trapped in a fireplace in a barricaded room. In the original, Sally is an adult woman and she and her husband move into the house that her grandmother has left them. In del Toro's version, Sally is a little girl, a change that I understand. At times in the original, it was frustrating to see the lack of belief that Sally's husband and friends had for her, a grown woman who had never shown any signs of psychosis. When Sally is a 8-9 year old, it is almost expected that the adults in her life aren't going to believe her when she says she is seeing little creatures throughout the house.

Although I loved the creatures in del Toro's version, and I think the edition of the Emerson Blackwood back story allowed for the arts department to really show off their work with the creatures, there was something about the fact that these creatures were entirely CGI that made me like them less than the ones in the original. Part of what makes Guillermo's creatures his, what makes them so great is the fact that a lot of it is actual make-up with actors, particularly Doug Jones, playing the creature. In the original, three "little people" played the creatures. The were much more human looking which played a part in making them scary and the fact that they built replica sets to make them look the tiny size that they are supposed to be was surprising to me and made things seem more real.

Now, to the ending. Sally and Sally have mirrored each other throughout the film, but there were some elements that Katie Holmes' character played in Guillermo's version that adult Sally shared with her. Most of these involved adult Sally's interaction with her husband, but in the end, they share the same role as the woman who is pulled down by the creatures. I liked the Guillermo ending for its violence (I defy anyone to say that the leg break didn't make them cringe), but also because it showed her getting pulled in. In the original, Sally screams but the audience does not see her go down at all. Her husband looks into the fireplace but sees nothing and the movie ends there.

The one element of Guillermo's that I really didn't like was Katie Holmes becoming "one" of the creatures and talking with them about waiting for someone new to come. I just didn't like the idea of her actually becoming one of them, but it is in the original with Sally talking with the creatures, so I understand why he did it.

Overall, there are elements of both movies that I love. If you can get over the early '70s make up and technology of the creatures and some spotty dialogue, the original is a good film and if you like Guillermo or a good creature movie then the remake will be right up your alley.