Don't be afraid of the dark

   There is nothing more frightening than not knowing what goes bump in the night.

   In "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark", the new horror remake from Miramax and FilmDistrict, visionary Guillermo Del Toro gives these bumps a form.

   In this movie, young Sally Hirst (Bailee Madison) is sent to live with her busy and imposing father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his sweet and understanding girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) in a new home they had just bought.

  They soon stumble upon a hidden basement with a grate bolted shut with voices emanating from within. During a moment of curiosity and neglect, Sally opens the grate, unwittingly unleashing something very sinister.

   Soon after, she finds herself the center of attention of small, dark creatures seemingly bent on claiming her for their own sinister purposes.

   It was an interesting initial concept, it's just too bad it didn't work out in the way it was intended to.

  While the overall atmosphere of the film was dark, the film fell flat on its face. It was a little too over the top, feeling almost like forced fear tactics.

   Some points that were meant to be creepy missed the mark entirely.

   It was the acting that lacked in this film. Asking for extreme caliber acting in a horror is asking a lot, but asking for some sense of connection with the characters doesn't seem like too much.

   A few members of the cast seemed too disconnected from the characters they were portraying.

   However, not everyone had this problem. Madison committed fully to her role, giving the audience a true sense of her dread. You actually ended being scared for her.

   "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" was a good attempt at creepiness. In the end,  it didn't seem like the movie captured the true feeling that Del Toro had intended.