Poster art for "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 56 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    This is a very good haunted house film. It milks our frustration deliciously. Read full review

  • 75
    Washington Post |

    Feels retro in all the right ways; it's a bump-in-the-night tale that, if not for the occasional glimpse of a cellphone or reference to Adderall, could have been told decades ago. Read full review

  • 63
    Orlando Sentinel | Roger Moore

    Entirely too literal, but it still manages to be a literally hair-raising piece of modern-style old school Gothic horror. Read full review

  • 60
    Village Voice |

    If the grand finale isn't as resonantly scary as the original's, maybe that's just because, try though we might, we're no longer impressionable kids. Read full review

  • 58
    St. Petersburg Times | Steve Persall

    Curled up at home with the lights off and DVD player running, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark might be passable fun. Spread over a movie screen, the film's modest ambition gets dwarfed by expectations, especially after paying for a ticket. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Jeannette Catsoulis

    None of Mr. del Toro's classy fiddling, however, can improve on the original's marvelously economical scares. But if you've always wondered what the tooth fairies want with all those teeth - or if you just need proof that a terrified Katie Holmes looks not that different from the everyday version - this is the movie for you. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    This insipid wannabe frightener features a checklist of derivative conventions. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety |

    Rather than trying to frighten adults, this entire R-rated exercise feels engineered to emotionally scar any younger audiences who should happen to see it -- much as the original did del Toro back in the day. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Neither colorfully brutal nor especially fun. It's a plodding, derivative gothic potboiler: "The Shining" meets "Coraline," with a touch of "Gremlins" played (boringly) straight. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Betsy Sharkey

    Really, truly, very scary ? At least until about 30 minutes in, when you start to be distracted by the lack of logic in the storytelling and the fact that the nasty little gremlins responsible for all the bumps in the night can be offed pretty easily. Read full review

View more reviews for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Scary remake features some gore and a young girl in danger.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this horror movie -- a loose remake of a 1973 made-for-TV movie -- focuses on a tween girl who accidentally releases dozens of hungry, scary creatures into an old house. She's often in danger, and although the movie is less bloody than other horror flicks, there are a few extremely gory sequences in which adult characters are disfigured and murdered (slashing, heads bashed, etc.), and the movie's overall tone/feel makes it very scary and suspenseful. Language is extremely mild for an R-rated movie ("hell" is about the worst of it), and an adult couple is seen kissing, with off-screen sex implied.
  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. What's the impact of the gory sequences? Are they scarier than the more suspenseful/tense scenes? Why or why not?
  • Are either of the grown-ups in this movie role models? Can either of them make an actual connection with Sally when she needs it most?
  • What makes the little creatures so scary and/or creepy? Is a movie like this more or less scary than a story in which humans hurt each other, rather than creatures?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The main point here is probably "curiosity killed the cat" (or "don't go in the basement"). But a little girl does learn to open herself up -- she starts out sad and shy and ends up stronger ... though it takes a horrifying experience and a terrible loss to get to that point. 
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: A little girl eventually begins to show bravery after bonding with her father's new girlfriend. The girlfriend shows a great deal of empathy and patience for the lost, sad, daughter; their mutual bond makes them both stronger.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Most of the movie concentrates on suspense and the threat of violence rather than lots of gore (which doesn't make it any less scary), but at least three scenes are quite graphic, with bloody teeth-pulling, head-bashing, leg-breaking, creature-squishing, stabbing, and slashing. Other scenes show a little girl in danger, with the terrifying potential of harm. A couple gets into heated arguments.
  • sex false2 Sex: An adult couple is seen kissing. They begin (presumably) making love, but it happens off camera. Some giggling/kissing sounds are heard through an air vent.
  • language false1 Language: Mild language includes "hell," "poop," and "Jesus" (as an exclamation).
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: A young girl wears Converse high-top "Chuck Taylor" shoes.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false1 Drinking, drugs and smoking: The girl in the movie takes some kind of prescription medication in one scene. There's also a brief discussion about the girl's (unseen) mother using medication to solve problems.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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