Unnerving TV-movie features Kim Darby and Jim Hutton as an upwardly mobile young couple who move into an old manor previously owned by Darby's now-deceased grandmother. The veteran handyman tells curious Kim not to open the bricked-off fireplace in the hidden room downstairs, but she unbolts the ash bin anyway and unwittingly unleashes a society of evil little goblins intent on adding her soul to their circle. Well-done thriller from director John Newland and writer Nigel McKeand might have benefited even more from a slightly larger budget and more time on the clock to expand on McKeand's scenario. As it is, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is so compact that it feels rushed, although the finale being cut short may actually work in the movie's favor: there isn't an opportunity to ask questions, only to ponder the possibilities--and the sounds we're left with linger in the mind. Loosely remade as a theatrical feature in 2010.

Thankfully this has been released on DVD. I never saw it on its TV release, so unlike so many others I didn't watch this as a child. I'm in my 40s. I watched this on my laptop, alone, in bed with the lights off. It was really awkward in places with cliché remarks from an old man about leaving things alone, don't go there, I'm warning you, etc. Other difficulties with this movie is the same with many other movies of this nature: just get out of the dang house already. Why continue to stay when all this is going on? But all that aside, this movie disturbed me. I had trouble sleeping with the lights off afterward. That is the ultimate tape by which any horror movie should be judged. And this was indeed "horror," because there were no "feel good" threads, no comic relief, no happy endings where some cute child saves the day. It's dark the whole way through, I mean that literally as well: the house always seemed dark or too dimly lit. And the music was very well done.My pet peeve with modern horror is that the genre has become nothing more than gory comedies with large waves of laughter and cheers ringing through the theater over and over. That is not horror. I also hate the constant "gotchas" that litter modern "horror" films. The old school horror films always make you think something crazy is about to happen, but it never does. This is "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" in a nutshell. You are constantly worried about something jumping out at you, but the director never uses such cheap "gotchas" to fool you. So the suspense rides and rides and rides. That's not to say that this movie doesn't show you some creepy things, it surely does. Even if it is dated, I found some of the images exceedingly disturbing.Bottom line: if you like modern horror/comedies you will not care for this film. If you like dialog and increasingly building suspense, dark and non-comedic film... try it.(and it was very weird seeing Mattie Ross through the shower curtain. I felt like a dirty peeping tom.)

This 1973 flick made for television has so many followers that it became a classic in the horror genre. It was made in a time when horror wasn't that popular but being broadcast at a normal hour in the US some kids were really scared and as a grown up they still talked about this creeper.John Newland, the director was well known for making TV series but he made a few television flicks too like Crawlspace (1972) but let Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark being his most famous one. Due being a television production they brought in two popular names for the main leads. Kim Darby playing Sally came out of TV series to make this flick and went back to television and some other famous horrors like Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Meyers as Debra Strode. The other name, Jim Hutton also came from television series but also appeared in some classics like The Green Berets aside John Wayne. Sadly he died in 1979 at age 45 due liver cancer. They did a great job in this flick.But it was those scary little voices that made the movie. And of course the story line itself. It had a bit of fantasy over it and that attracted the little viewers but how many did watch under their bed years after watching this flick. The buggers itself doesn't look very frightening up to today's standards but it was the way it was filmed and edited that made it believable. Still, if you watch it nowadays it is outdated but it's a must see how they made a creepy flick just before the heydays of horror.Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Story 4/5 Effects 3/5 Comedy 0/5

This movie creeped me out for YEARS, I remember making mental plans to keep them away when I was a kid. I remember for years I would think of this movie. When I saw the trailer for the new one It all flooded back, I could remember so much, I know I had to have seen it again to remember as much of it as I do. I want to see the new one but I am afraid it will be a disappointment I want to see this one again, Yes! OK AMC lets have it.It got under my skin and stayed there. Ahhh to watch a movie from a kids point of view again and be really scared.. Have a flashlight with you when you watch this one..