Pan's Labyrinth

Ineffective ‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ From Producer Guillermo Del Toro

BrianTT — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:03:11 -0400

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Echoing elements of masterful works by Producer Guillermo Del Toro (most notably “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”), “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is an incredibly frustrating remake, a film that reminds one of scary movies instead of actually producing scares itself. There are gothic elements that work, but the story simply isn’t strong enough to support a remake and lackluster direction fails to iron out the flaws in this potential horror hit.

Most haunted house films suffer from a common flaw – why the Hell won’t they just leave the house? “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” may be the most egregious offender of this regular problem ever. The film is constantly shattering suspension of disbelief, which prevents it from ever becoming honestly scary. When everyone in the audience would merely turn and run from the fictional situation at hand, it stops the fictional fear cold. “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is a story about a child being tormented by violent creatures. After increasingly terrifying attacks, the idea that she would spend another minute (much less actually SLEEP) in the house where these creatures live is just too much to take. “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is illogical on every level and that lack of logic also leads to a lack of honest scares.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Photo credit: Miramax Films

Much like “Pan’s,” “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is another tale of a young girl arriving at a history-filled estate with a stepparent to add to the drama inherent in something new. The best elements of Del Toro and Matthew Robbins’ screenplay play off classic fairy tale elements – the creatures under the bed, the evil stepmother, the haunted house. These elements are woven around the story of a smart, precocious girl (Bailee Madison), her often-preoccupied father (Guy Pearce), and her new stepmother (Katie Holmes). The trio moves into an old estate with the intention of renovating it for the cover of Architectural Digest.

Of course, it’s not long before our heroine is exploring the previously-sealed basement and hearing the whispering voices of something asking her to come and play. Rather than run fleeing, the lonely girl investigates and sets free dozens of ugly little beasts who proceed to terrorize her. Del Toro and Robbins develop a somewhat-nifty mythology around these creatures (that stepmom has to leave the house to learn at the most inopportune time) as they are part Tooth Fairy, part Gremlin, and part demon. They want your children’s teeth but they can’t come into the light. A Polaroid camera serves as a nifty weapon in the final act.

Sorta. Debut director Troy Nixey doesn’t have the eye for a challenging piece like “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.” When the Polaroid is introduced, savvy viewers naturally assume that it will lead to at least one strong visual – a creature of the darkness caught in the flash of the bulb. It does happen on a plot level but isn’t accompanied by a scary, memorable visual. In fact, the piece is almost entirely devoid of memorable visuals save for perhaps a few shadows rising up shower curtains in a scene so traumatic that the fact that the rest of the film doesn’t consist of the poor terrorized girl merely screaming and crying is purely ridiculous. Horror needs to work as visual storytelling and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” isn’t visually memorable.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Photo credit: Miramax Films

And it isn’t thematically intriguing either. To be blunt, I was never invested in these characters to the point where I was overly concerned what happened to them. Their behavior feels so scripted at every turn that they are nothing more than devices – they are as real as the creatures who crawl from the Earth to steal their teeth.

To be fair, Pearce and Holmes find some nice moments – typically the ones away from the horror arc of the film. The story of a younger stepmother trying to get closer to her hesitant stepdaughter is actually more interesting than the horror one. When mom’s dress is found in tatters (one assumes the creatures were bored waiting for their prey to go to bed and needed something to do), the ensuing scenes of domestic turmoil are far more interesting than the action of the piece. Pearce is one of our best working actors and Holmes has long been underrated. One hopes she finds a part to prove that again soon.

Ultimately, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is far from a disaster. Del Toro is too talented a filmmaker even when he’s not directing to let the work fall completely on its face. And, oddly, it feels like a love letter to the original, a widely-berated TV movie that Del Toro has claimed helped spawn his love for horror. The remake is unlikely to do the same for future generations of filmmakers.

“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” stars Bailee Madison, Katie Holmes, and Guy Pearce. It was written by Guillermo Del Toro and Matthew Robbins and directed by Troy Nixey. It opens nationwide on August 26th, 2011.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Following ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ Regresses From Best to Worst For Guillermo del Toro

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:01:00 -0400

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Hellboy is plugged as the world’s brawniest, kitten-loving superhero. While that paradox is supposed to be both funny and action packed, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” from famed writer and director Guillermo del Toro falls flat on the funny front and instead winds up on the funny farm.

Amid a superhero-laden 2008 with true blockbusters including “The Dark Knight” (opening on July 18, 2008), “Iron Man,” “Hancock,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Punisher: War Zone” (opening on Dec. 5, 2008), “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” had just as much potential but reveals only semi-blockbuster status.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) does battle with an elemental in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Photo credit: Double Negative, copyright Universal Studios

On the heels of the majestically dark “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro regresses from perhaps his finest film hour to his among his greatest misfires in the action-packed but story-miscued film about a tough-talking hellspawn who wages war against rebellious and ridiculous creatures.

Writer and director Guillermo del Toro tries on Hellboy’s right hand of doom on the set of “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Photo credit: Egon Endrenyi, copyright Universal Studios

If you recall 2004’s “Hellboy” at all, it’s not likely because of the $60 million in domestic dollars the film raked in theatrically or its $100 million worldwide total in theaters. Rather, “Hellboy” earned cult-following status from its subsequent DVD release. It’s that launch pad that’s propelling “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” with steam in 2008.

But while the film will show an improved box-office balance sheet and critically is earning rave reviews, don’t be fooled by the hype machine. Guillermo del Toro delivers the Hollywood filet mignon we’ve come to expect wrapped nicely in all the special-effects bacon we’ve come to desire but without the heart we’ve come to demand.

Do we care about any of these characters? Do we care if this one actually falls in love or if that one actually lives or dies or if this one makes amends or if that one comes to terms with destiny? What we do feel isn’t for the characters, their missions or the performances they deliver.

All we do feel is gypped that Hollywood took our 10 movie bucks and gave us flat characters, forced plotlines and ultimately a mediocre movie experience.

The initial adolescent Hellboy backstory begins with Montse Ribé – yes, a female – as the young Hellboy. She’s credited with doing special effects makeup for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and should stay in the special effects and makeup departments instead of behing handed her first acting role.

Ruthless leader Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) challenges his enemy in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Photo credit: Double Negative, copyright Universal Studios

The child acting and costuming weakly stood out larger than even kid Hellboy’s right hand of doom.

Ron Perlman as Hellboy and “A”-gamer Selma Blair return as a duo from Guillermo del Toro’s first iteration of “Hellboy” in 2004. This time around, we’re treated to the same mediocrity spewed upon us then. What we didn’t expect – and what wasn’t advertised – is that the most interesting characters in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” were in fact the supplementary ones.

Writer and director Guillermo del Toro holds Hellboy’s revolver on the set of “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Photo credit: Egon Endrenyi, copyright Universal Studios

Ancillary creations Abe Sapien and Johann Kraus and their respective performances from Doug Jones and James Dodd (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) had the right idea the rest of the film fatally ignored. Now these organisms – Abe as an aquatic “merman” and Johann as a disembodied ectoplasmic spirit – had charm, intrigue and character appeal.

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As well, we can appreciate the ruthless creature leader Luke Goss as the spear-fanatical Prince Nuada and the saccharine Anna Walton as the interestingly entwined Princess Nuala. This brother-and-sister duo earns scripting props.

But “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” isn’t about them. While the four supplementary characters deliver admirable supporting roles and performances, the film ultimately leaves you feeling “eh” because at its heart is a superhero who’d be just as fine fighting adversaries as he is taking a nap or petting a cat.

Following a magnum opus in “Pan’s Labyrinth” and a red-hot backfire in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” Guillermo del Toro raises a red, hit-or-miss flag on his upcoming blockbuster projects “The Hobbit” in 2011 and “The Hobbit 2” directly after in 2012.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” which is written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Doug Jones, John Hurt and Jeffrey Tambor, opened everywhere on July 11, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com