Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is a film that revolves around a famous mansion once owned by a great artist. The place had a very dark past. In the basement, there is an old furnace that has been bolted shut. Inside the furnace lies a pit that goes deep down into what might be described as the bowels of hell. Up from the pit come these little demon like creatures that are obsessed with teeth, but most importantly, every time they rise they need to bring a human soul, preferably a child down their pit with them to feast upon. In this film a young eight year old girl named Sally, the daughter of Alex (Guy Pierce) the man who just purchased the house along with his girl friend Kim (Katie Holmes) is experiencing some unusual things in the home. Her father thinks is just stress from being away from her mother, but the truth is once they uncovered that the home had a basement, and the furnace had been tampered with these little children eating monsters had been released from their underground prison and Sally just happens to be on their menu.

   As I mentioned above, there are things about this film that I enjoyed and things that I didn’t care for. First and foremost, the storyline is generic, but the overall feel of the story and film give it that fairytale feel with horror elements. The atmosphere of the film reminded me a lot of Pan’s Labyrinth. The one thing that Pan’s Labyrinth has over this film is that the visual effects are a lot better. The creatures in this film look CGI. They have this odd, ugly monkey look to them and they really were not at all frightful once the film exposes them. We don’t get a good look at them until about half way through the film, and those scenes are the ones that gives the film it’s scares. On another note: the set design in this film is excellent and add to the great visual elements in this film.

   The Blu-ray disc comes with a few special features such as a three part making od Documentary which explores The story, the Blackwood’s Mansion and the creatures of the film. There is also a BD Exclusive conceptual Art Gallery and is BD Live enabled.

   Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is one of those films that I enjoyed but it could have been better. I enjoyed the story and the majority of the visuals, except the creatures themselves looked fake. This film also scared me more than it might the average horror fan who does not have kids. Having to deal with night terrors with my child, this is one of those film that makes you feel as a parent if you don’t go and help your kids could the stories they tell you really be true? That’s the question that this film posed to me. It may not be monsters trying to steal their teeth, but there are things that are always worth checking out. If anything the real message of this film is; Don’t ignore your children.