Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Synopsis: A young girl is sent to live with her estranged father and his girlfriend at their new home. The father, Alex has plans to spruce up the home with the help of his interior decorator girlfriend, Kim. The previous owner of the home was a famous painter who mysteriously disappeared. Alex's daughter, Sally, soon discovers the cause of the painter's disappearance.
Director(s): Troy Nixey
Production: Miramax Films
  4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
5.6
Metacritic:
56
Rotten Tomatoes:
59%
R
Year:
2010
99 min
$23,900,000
Website
878 Views


Mr. Blackwood?

Sir?

Mr. Blackwood, I'm sorry.

You did ring, sir?

Come down.

I'm so...

So very sorry.

I didn't see the steps.

They made me do it.

I didn't...

If I want to see my child again,

I must comply.

Mr. Blackwood.

Please understand.

Precious teeth. Beautiful teeth.

Ransom for my boy.

Yes.

Daddy.

I brought you something more to eat.

Not children's teeth like you wanted,

but please accept them

in exchange for him.

Children's teeth.

Oh, no, that's the best I could do.

And they're my own. You see?

My own.

Please. Give me back my son!

Yes, your son is down here.

Reach for him.

Son? Son!

Son!

Grab my hand!

We've now begun our descent

into T.F. Green Airport.

Please return to your seat,

make sure it is in...

She's landed.

What do you think? Too much?

No, it's perfect. Just like you.

There's my girl.

Sally?

Wow! Look how tall you are!

What are you, 17 now?

Dad, you know how old I am.

I know. I'm being silly.

- Hey.

- Good morning, sir.

Thank you.

Come on.

Sally, this is Kim. Kim, Sally.

Hi, Sally. It's nice to meet you.

I love you. I love you.

Thanks.

What about a picture?

You got your camera?

It's good to see you.

Good morning, Rhode Island!

- Everything okay?

- Yeah.

We've got fog this morning

and a slight chance of a shower later on.

Smell that fresh air, kiddo?

Sure beats the smog of LA, huh?

I have to call Mom now.

Just press one and the green.

Hi, you've called Joanne

and the magical Sally! Leave us a message.

L.C. delivered the flooring.

If it rains, I'm afraid it's going to warp.

Well, just put it in the garage.

Sally, say hello to Mr. Harris.

Nice to meet you.

Come take a look at the house.

Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris,

would you give me a hand...

- How's it going?

- Good.

- When do you think you'll be finished?

- No problem.

Good, huh?

- It smells funny.

- You should have smelled it before.

They had moldy newspapers everywhere,

and dead pigeons all over the floor

and poop.

- Lots of it.

- It's Jacoby's office.

Mr. Jacoby.

Oh, hey, Michelle. Sorry.

I don't know. Hold on. I'll check.

You got the photographs?

I like to draw, too.

You work here?

No, Sally, I live here.

I'm the interior designer.

Do you know what that is?

Of course you do.

You see all the animal

paintings and friezes?

They're by Emerson Blackwood,

a man who once lived here.

He was a very famous wildlife painter.

Hey, Sally, look.

You want to try?

What do you have there?

- I found it.

- That's mine.

It was my grandmother's.

When I was little, my mother gave it to me.

My mom gave me to my dad.

Sally?

You want to see your room?

What do you think?

Kim and I worked really hard

to get it ready. Check this out.

It's pretty great, huh?

It looks better at night.

How long am I staying here?

What did your mother tell you?

She told me I was coming to visit.

But then she packed all my clothes.

She didn't explain anything to you?

- No.

- Sally.

Your mother and I are worried about you.

She thinks that maybe you're feeling sad

and she thought that...

Well, we thought that perhaps a change

might be good for you and that you could

come and live here with Kim and me

until we finish the work on the house

and sell it.

Then we could move

somewhere else and...

Sally? Come on. Open the door.

Come on. Let me in.

Are you going to marry her?

That's between Kim and me.

Mom said you only liked her

because she was young.

But she isn't. She's old.

Sally.

Open the door.

Come on, sweetheart. Open the door.

Sally, please, let's talk about this.

Look, I know...

I know it must be tough.

You've had a long flight,

and it's strange being in a new house.

I want to go to bed now.

Okay.

Don't forget to brush your teeth.

You'd be a terrible poker player.

You've been ironing that shirt

for half-an-hour.

She sure didn't take to me.

I wouldn't take it personally.

She's like that with everybody.

Those pills she takes, what are they?

Adderall, I think.

Jesus.

That's her mother for you.

That woman medicated our dogs.

So, what about Jacoby?

His assistant said he still

hasn't looked at the new photographs yet.

- He's had them for a week.

- I know.

We're still in the running,

and he's still coming to the dinner.

- He should just give us the cover.

- Yes, he should.

He gave it to the Spencer restoration

two years ago

and you have done miracles here.

We have done miracles here.

It's not all about me.

Thank you.

These are new?

- Yeah.

- Great.

If we get the cover of

Architectural Digest,

we won't need to take

out another bank loan, will we?

You know what your

daughter told me today?

What?

She said your wife gave her to you.

Kids say all kinds of

things they don't mean.

It couldn't have gone any worse today.

I feel like the evil stepmother.

The evil and very old stepmother.

Let's not forget the old part.

Because I was kind of thinking

you were looking a little ancient.

- Oh, yeah?

- Oh, yeah.

The stuffed bear? What was I thinking?

Come on. It's great. She likes it.

I saw it in her room.

On her bed?

Well, above the bed. Hanging by a noose.

That's okay.

Nice sign of affection, I think.

Sally. Her name is Sally.

Sally!

What do you think?

Yeah. Looks great.

- Have you seen Sally?

- Yeah, she's on the bench.

Sally!

It is not safe for you back here.

Hey. What's going on? Everything okay?

Keep her out from the back of the house.

She could fall in.

We'd be in a hell of a mess.

I didn't do anything.

There's pits. Old wells.

It's dangerous for a child.

Mr. Harris is right, Sally. He knows.

His grandfather worked at the house.

- You shouldn't be back here.

- But I found a basement.

There is no basement.

Easy, Harris. I'll take her. It's okay.

It's there! It's right there!

There's a reason

this house is called Fallen Mill.

The English had a mill here,

and it fell into a sinkhole.

That's why most of the houses around here

don't have basements.

This one does.

- You may want to check this out.

- It's unsafe for a child.

Pull on that.

Look! I told you it was here!

Can you believe this?

This is definitely hollow.

I'm going to get some tools.

- You sure you want to do this now?

- Of course! You kidding?

We can fix this easy if we have to.

You may want to step back.

Mr. Hurst, I...

There's a door in here.

Where did you put the old house keys?

They're in your junk drawer in the office.

Okay.

Have a look.

Oh, wow.

- You be careful, Sally. Okay?

- Okay.

How the hell did we miss this?

That must be the garden window.

It's all of his paints and old

color pencils. This is amazing.

Wow. Alex, look at this.

Harris, did you know about this?

This place isn't safe. Especially for kids.

It's okay. I'll keep an eye on her.

This must be where Blackwood worked.

I found another door.

- Look at these sketches.

- It's an ash pit, I think.

Yeah. It's bolted shut.

These are incredible.

Okay. Let's go, Sally.

Come on, Sally. Let's go.

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Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro Gómez (born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist. In his filmmaking career, del Toro has alternated between Spanish-language dark fantasy pieces, such as the gothic horror films The Devil's Backbone (2001) and Pan's Labyrinth (2006), and more mainstream American action films, such as the vampire superhero action film Blade II (2002), the supernatural superhero film Hellboy (2004), its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Trollhunters (2016) and the science fiction monster film Pacific Rim (2013). His 2017 fantasy film The Shape of Water received critical acclaim and won a Golden Lion at the 74th Venice International Film Festival as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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