Kim Darby plays the wife of a prominent business man who is obsessed with his work. They move into a new inherited mansion, which they are constantly referring to as a "mess" which made no sense. Upon checking out the basement, the wife takes a liking to the space and is excited about turning it into a study. The only problem is the fireplace happens to be sealed in brick and the old handyman seems insistent that she keep it that way and quit asking questions... She does, however, manage to unbolt the ash compartment, thus releasing a gang of soul-stealing gnomes that proceed to lurk around, through the home's darkened crevasses, torturing the poor woman with ominous whispering and unexpected appearances...
"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" has some good bits of suspense and a fitting atmosphere to go along with it's title that provided a decent tone of eeriness here and there. As previously stated - where the film went wrong was in the creature design. They are like dwarfish monkeys with little walnut heads. I couldn't find them creepy. Looking at them, all I saw was nothing but room for improvement.
Despite all this, the film did a lot right in the way of moody lighting and leaving you with plenty of burning questions by the ever-talked about ending.
My final ruling is: decent enough. But hey, the cult fanfare speaks for itself from those lucky enough to find nostalgic significance in the film.
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