Synopsis
Now you see them, now you don't...now you die.
A young couple inherits an old mansion inhabited by small demon-like creatures who are determined to make the wife one of their own.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
1973 Directed by John Newland
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Horror, the undead and monster classics Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse scary, horror, creepy, supernatural or frighten horror, creepy, eerie, blood or gothic horror, gory, scary, killing or gruesome horror, creepy, frighten, eerie or chilling horror, scientist, monster, doctor or experiment Show All…
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I kind of want to get a decent list of titles ticked off after flicking through Amanda Reyes' book about the phenomenon that was the TV movie.
Unfortunately the two films I've recently watched sounded much better on paper than what was filmed.
1972s Gargoyles and now this are meant to be a couple of the best examples of the genre too so it's not looking good.
Maybe I'm not catching them in the right mood or regulating my expectations enough but there must be a slight disconnect with not having grown up with them, it not really being a thing in the UK, although I'm sure the odd one would show occasionally. There're plenty out there though, so will… -
Excellent made for TV movie! I had seen the remake but I somehow never knew it was a remake until recently when I saw this available at my local library (aka best library ever) and snatched it up. It was the original dvd release and not the very recent bluray release so the quality was really awful, but I still see how this is considered one of the best tv horror films ever made!
I really miss the days of TV movies that were made with all the love and expertise of theatrical movies, like they were EVENTS and you got super excited about them! This one might not have had a theater worthy story, but the production was right on par. Kim Darby was fantastic as the cursed housewife and THAT ENDING! It’s still bleak as fuck today so it must have been absolutely devastating in the 70’s! I love it.
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🍬Daily Horror Hunt #28 (Oct. 2020)🍬
YES, I love that spooky intro showing off this grand ol' totally-gotta-be-haunted house, perfect Fall/Halloween vibes (Black Cat Freeze Frame!). Pretty decent unsettling atmosphere throughout as our wife (Kim Darby) gets taunted and tormented by some miniature basement dwellers looking for a fresh Sally soul. Her husband OF COURSE doesn't believe her (...), she starts losing her mind, shit starts getting too chaotic to ignore, and before you know it we're deep down in crazy town!
The creatures aren't the most frightening of beasts, more goofy troublemakers than anything. We see them way too much which kinda takes away some of the mystique, and yeah, they're mostly just jerks. Whispering, scheming, prank-pulling jerks. That last prank though... I was totally expecting this flick to wimp out by the end, but there were NO punches pulled! Quite the morbid finale for a made-for-TV production, I love it!
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Day 10 1970's horror.
This film is perfect for dark chilly nights. The massive house is eerie enough add the sniveling evil voices gives cause to cosy under my blanket more.
Ew and look at those creatures. Walnut head, furry bodied creeps with mischief & freedom on their minds.
I can't get my head around the cycle, get free, then sacrifice the person that freed you, get locked up again. Bang your walnut heads together creeps.
I wonder what they get up to during lockdown. Apart from lots of evil whispering.
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Let me tell you how real people differ from people in monster movies.
If real people ever see weird shit - and little pin-headed ape goblins definitely qualify as weird shit - our number one priority is to share that weird shit with as many people as is humanly possible.
And I don't mean running around in a mad panic acting like halfwit nutters. No. I mean trapping a few of the little fuckers, calling everyone we know, and putting on a goddamn three-ring circus. We'll order pizza, call the press, and then have pest control come by and root out the rest of the horde. Before the government swoops in and takes over, we'll charge twenty bucks a head…
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Famous horror TV-movie from the 70's. It was considered quite eerie at the time but I found it a bit tame now. The creatures are silly looking and nothing too threatening. I preferred the remake, which I did find creepy and really fleshed out the story much better.
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Didn't have huge expectations for a 70s made-for-TV mini monster movie but looks & sounds great and... there's actually really cool mini monsters in it?!! Nice
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Horror Hunt #45 (March 2022)
26. 75 minute runtime or less
---------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm kinda shocked that so few people on here has seen this.. This feels violently underrated, especially when you consider that it got a big budget remake and everything. Guys.. Drop everything that you're doing and go watch Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)! It got it all!
* A big spooky house!
* A sympathetic female protagonist whose struggles elevate the horrific shit that goes down. Brilliant mixture of the mundane and the supernatural!
* Some absolutely charming goblin monsters that really come to life thanks to some brilliant suspense and lovely miniature sets!
* A horrifying ending that would absolutely scare the shit out of me if I saw this on TV as a kid.. And it still seriously spooked me out now!
What a sweet little horror thing this was. An absolute cornerstone of Made For TV Horror!
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Soon after Sally, a housewife played by Kim Darby, and Alex, an ambitious business executive played by Jim Hutton, move into a sprawling mansion that they inherited from Sally's grandmother, they discover a locked study room containing a fireplace that has been sealed by bricks and bolted shut. Against the advice of an elderly carpenter who cryptically tells her that some things are better left alone, our soft-spoken heroine removes the bolts and opens the ash door of this fireplace. During the days that follow, she senses that she is not alone in the house, and expresses her unease, only to be ignored by her self-absorbed husband and her friends, all of whom convince her that the strange disturbances are…
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A pleasant change of pace to the "only one person sees the evil thing so everybody else thinks that person is crazy" trope is that everybody in her life is nice and non-condescending and listens to her concerns and actively wants to help her even though they're iffy about believing her. The husband fully respected her opinion that they move out of the house, even as it increasingly seemed like she was losing her mind.
It was kinda lame that the monsters didn't have a more original design than pumpkins (this originally aired in October) but I liked the way they moved and their pumpkin heads squished when they talked.
Cool ending. -
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