Fear of the Dark
Opening up the Den with a post on a movie that, as far as I can tell, is pretty little known – Fear of the Dark.
Not the one from 2001, which I’ve never seen, but the one from 2002
IMDB 5.3, budget unknown, but I’ve come across references to a million dollars… seems a little light for me, for a movie in this decade, but what do I know? I watch these things, I don’t make them.
Now, I’m not going to go out and say that this is a *good* movie, though it’s one that could easily be watched with your family* – a rarity in horror films these days. It’s not just a PG-13 film because that sells best – it’s PG-13 because that’s what the movie deserves to be, and it doesn’t have a ton of crap tossed in to make an Unrated version that’ll sucker in the adult horror fans.
Basic synopsis: Ryan (about 10 or so, tops, I’d say) suffers from a crippling fear of the dark – to the point where, even when the sun’s out, he needs the lights on in the house and can’t bring himself to go into the basement when the lights aren’t on. He’s been in therapy for years, but it hasn’t helped… and while his mother tries to humor him, it’s seriously wearing on his father… and older brother.
Well, suffice it to say that there’s a power outage that night, and maybe the kid has a reason to be afraid of the dark….
Now, this movie features a lot of jump scares and other things built around shadows and darkness – what some people consider cheap scares. That said, the atmosphere is pretty good… and, most importantly, the two principle actors play their roles well, especially Kevin Zegers (who plays Dale).
I freely admit that the reason this movie works for me is the fact that I’m the oldest brother in my family. I’ve got a younger brother, thankfully well beyond crippling fears of the dark right now, whose had his own share of problems in the past. Dale, the older brother, starts out appearing to be mostly annoyed by his brother’s problems. But he doesn’t play with it, like most movie-brothers would do – he doesn’t go around locking Ryan in closets or turning the lights out on him on purpose. No, as much as he tries to brush off Ryan’s problems, it’s because he feels something very different from apathy – he feels the complete and utter frustration that comes with knowing that somebody you love has a problem, and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it. Worse, it’s somebody you love who you’re supposed to be able to protect.
Speaking as an older brother, there’s always one sure way to send me right over the edge – and that’s to give my kid brother grief. That’s my job, not yours, and no matter how much trouble I give him, I’ll do everything in my power to make your life miserable if you do the same.
Unfortunately for Dale, there’s nothing he can do about this. If there’s a bully at school, he could punch him in the nose. But what can you do about your brother being afraid of the dark, and convinced that there are monsters in it that could pop out any moment and come after him? What can you possibly do about that… especially when the power goes out?
In the end, Ryan’s fear of the dark, and what might be in it, isn’t the same fear that I feel watching this movie – it’s the fear of an older brother who can’t do anything to stop the terror that’s consuming the one person he’s supposed to be able to protect.
My only real problem with this movie is the very end. Given everything, Ryan is the last person who should be discounting a fear of the dark. He might not be afraid of it any more, but he should freaking know better.
* – The author of this post points out that it should be pretty blasted obvious that you should not watch this film with a kid who has any sort of, oh, what to call it… fear of the dark? Wait until they’re in their teens (or even in the double-digits, really), and you can be pretty sure that this flick’s a good one to toss into the “scary movie” collection for sleepovers.
