Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Tower Rats 2020

- Script of the Dead 2024

- The Bell Affair 2023

- Easter Bloody Easter 2024

- Velma 2022

- Everwinter Night 2023

- Main Character Energy 2023

- Stupid Games 2024

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

USA 1973
produced by
Allen S. Epstein, Lee Rich (executive) for Lorimar/ABC
directed by John Newland
starring Kim Darby, Jim Hutton, Barbara Anderson, William Demarest, Pedro Armendáriz jr, Lesley Woods, Robert Cleaves, Sterling Swanson, Joel Lawrence, William Sylvester, Don Mallon, Celia Kaye, Ted Swanson
written by Nigel McKeand, music by Billy Goldenberg

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

Available on DVD!

To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)

Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!


Sally (Kim Darby) and Alex (Jim Hutton) are in the process of moving into the house of her deceased grandparents, when Sally finds a sealed up furnace in the constantly locked basement, and decides to open it despite the confusing and confused warnings of her carpenter Harris (William Demarest). Of course, nothing happens when she first opens the furnace, what was supposed to happen? It's only that Sally starts to see ... well, something. She first suspects mice, but that's rather unlikely, the house was literally just fumigated. Alex on the other hand just thinks she is nervous, due to their move, due to the fact that he's hardly at home due to his job, due to the dinnerparty they are going to have the next day that will almost certainly result in his promotion, due to whatever else.

At the dinner party, things come to a head when she at the first time sees these little things that have been worrying her for real, little demons that look menacing enough to scare the living shit out of her. Of course nobody else sees the demons, which makes her husband angry that she spoilt his all-important dinner party, but also worried about her state of mind. He thinks she's slowly going mad, actually, only her level-headed friend Joan (Barbara Anderson) figures there must be more to her claims ...

Eventually, the little creatures kill Sally's decorator (Pedro Armendáriz jr) using trip wire, and now Sally knows they are really after her, and are intelligent, too ...

Joan manages to convince Alex that there is truth in Sally's crazy claims about these little people, so he decides to fetch Harris, who apparently knows more about the creatures than he cares to admit, while Joan stays with Sally - but the creatures manage to drug Sally, then lock Joan out, and drag Sally to the furnace. When Joan, with the help of Alex and Harris, finally manages to break back into the house again, it's already too late, the three of them just see Sally disappearing in the furnace, and they can do nothing more than to seal it shut again, like it should have stayed in the first place ...

 

Considering this is a made-for-television movie, it's quite ok, it features an interesting story that doesn't lose itself in useless explanation but leaves enough in the dark (no pun intended) to keep one interested, and it features a compact cast and simple yet effective effects to carry the story. But of course, on the other hand the movie just doesn't let you forget that it was made for television, the direction is disappointingly flat, slightly impersonal, and a bit too atmosphere-free at times to totally convince.

All that said, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is still a quite ok movie, it's just not what it could have been.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Don't Be Afraid of the Dark here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

Something naughty?
(Must be over 18 to go there!)

x-rated  find Don't Be Afraid of the Dark at adultvideouniverse.com


Thanks for watching !!!

 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!