I thought the concept was good, the spookiness was there, the thrill of "what's in the shadows" was pretty real, but 80% of the movie is carried by two actors, a pre-teen and a pre-adult. I feel they did a good job of acting but they were in no way good enough to carry the movie. Too many times, the young boy is scared (unconvincingly) and his older brother is yelling at him to "settle down, settle down"...8 or 9 times of this gets very old and would take supreme acting to sell it to me.I'm by no means a movie creator, so I can't say whose fault this next problem belongs to (probably the writer), but when the parents left, they told the older brother about the generator AND the young boy even said, "Dad, I can hear you". So both boys know about the generator (especially the young boy who has the absolute fear of the dark). Yet, well after the darkness has set in and the boys are scared and confused and running throughout the house, at no point did it occur to them to turn on the generator. This frustrated me through the whole darkness sequence and doubly frustrated me when the generator was turned on and ended the whole thing. At least have them turn it on and find something wrong with it. This would have been enough to make me not worry about it anymore.You'll watch it once, but only once.

"Fear of the Dark" is a lot better than expected once it gets going.**SPOILERS**Stuck together for the night, Dale Billings, (Kevin Zegers) is forced to stay home babysitting younger brother Ryan, (Jesse James) who has an intense fear of the dark. As they spend the night home during a raging thunderstorm, he's driven insane at his constant mentions that something is in the house with them, despite his insistence that there's nothing there to bother them. When friend Heather Fontaine, (Rachel Skarsten) shows up to keep them company, they all realize that he was right all along and that the house is haunted by a series of ghouls that are afraid of venturing out into the light and are forced to overcome their fears to survive the night.The Good News: There was some good stuff to this one when it tried to. The best thing about it is that there's some really good suspense scenes spread throughout. The very first one, where the furniture appear scattered throughout the house only to reappear back in the original position moments later is one of the greatest scenes in the film, and it sets off the rest of the film to a great touch, making it seem really creepy and gives off a wonderful atmosphere that the rest of the film works perfectly with. They're in perfect keeping with the early parts of the film, which has a pretty healthy level of atmosphere that works wonders for the film as well, and it helps to set up the genuinely creepy and unnerving last half. Presented as a series of chases around the house with the shadowy creatures pursuing them around the house, there's literally nothing to these that doesn't work and it's all the better. From the scenes in the bedroom under the covers to the confrontations in the hallway and the finale in the basement, as well as the fun scenes in the attic, all work wonderfully for the film and give this one a really creepy and unnerving atmosphere. The ghosts on display in here are actually really nicely done, with the severely white face, demonic grins and evil expression leaving quite an impression and leaving the film with a freaky-looking villain that's actually a worthwhile haunting tool. The last good part is that this one plays up the rating well, really seeming to be comfortable with the tag and not really requiring or needing to have anything to push it beyond what it is which is much different from others out there. These here are the film's good points.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with this one. The fact that this one does have some really slow-going and boring parts in the beginning is the biggest thing with this one. There's really not a whole lot more to them other than an imaginative scare tactic followed by everyone around saying it was just that, the imagination running wild. The sheer repetition of the same cycle of scenes manages to produce anything less than aggravation and annoyance at what's happening. It goes on for so long in the beginning half that it feels like it goes on forever and just gets old after it keeps on going. The only other thing that doesn't make much sense is the rushed ended, which just sort of stops and ends the film right in it's tracks, and compared to what had happened before it, really should've been stretched out a little more. Other than these, though, there's not a whole lot to hurt this one.The Final Verdict: Actually really enjoyable and interesting once the film decides to get going, it's actually one of the better entries in the genre. Give this a shot if you're into the style or think this one sounds decent, though if you can't overlook the rating factor, then just ignore it altogether.Rated PG-13: Language and Mild Violence

Overall this was a very well done movie. Although i did feel as though i was watching the family channel at some parts it has everything you would want in a horror movie.I thought that the special effects could have been better. This movie gets you if you are one of those children who had a fear of things that go bump in the night. Overall it wasn't bad but it wasn't the best either so if you are looking for a movie to watch with your friend on Friday night and are open minded to the fact that this isn't the best graphics then sit back and prepare to jump and bite your nails down to the finger. I give this movie a 8 out of ten although maybe it deserves a little lower

It's a great horror movie. I mean it.No special f/x, no great music. The acting is good, very believable. It's no amateur class B movie. But all the details aren't really that important. The thing that makes it so good is the spirit. You see a world through eyes of a young boy, whom no one believes. During this movie you start to believe him, and you fell what he feels. I was gripping my chair for the last hour of this movie. On of the best horror movies I've seen.It just tells a story of Fear of the Dark and makes you fear too. Really. I was sweating after I've seen it.