10 Hidden Gem Horror Movie Remakes You Need To Watch
4. Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (2010)
With a script co-written by Guillermo del Toro, the visionary filmmaker behind Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone, and Matthew Robbins (who’d go on to co-write Crimson Peak), it’s incredible that nobody talks about dark fantasy Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark.
A remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name which terrified a young del Toro when he saw it, this sinister fairy tale sees a young girl named Sally (Bailee Madison) fall prey to a horde of fairy-like creatures when she releases them from the basement of an old house her father (Guy Pearce) is renovating.
Though del Toro handed the reigns over to comic book artist Troy Nixey to direct, his fingerprints are nevertheless all over this tale's reimagining.
By switching the perspective from a grown woman to a small child this time around, this iteration leaned more into its dark fairy tale aesthetic by playing on the childhood fear of the dark. Hearing the unseen creatures whisper in the shadows made for some creepy moments while the sinister tooth fairy angle gave the monsters a darkly unique twist.
If you were afraid of the dark as a child, this film epitomised every reason why that was the case.