Afraid of the Dark

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Afraid of the Dark

R

1992

1h 31m

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

20%

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5 Reviews

34%

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1,000+ Ratings

Terror grips the streets of London when an unknown murderer targets the blind, leaving a gruesome calling card. The crimes resonate with 11-year-old Lucas (Ben Keyworth), whose eerie set of circumstances -- his mother is blind; his father is a police officer working on the case -- causes his imagination to unravel dangerously. Is this murderous pattern the product of a boy's tortured, fertile creativity, or are these inexplicable acts actually occurring?

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 2/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Mike Davies

Birmingham Post

Credibility is the least of the film's problems. With Edward Fox and Fanny Ardent giving astonishingly wooden performances, it’s a clumsy banal work.

Apr 13, 2022

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Debut of Mark People (co-writer of Bertolucci's Last Emperor) is a borderline pretentious cerebral thriller, aiming at delving into the inner workings of the mind, but acting by young protag Keyworth and James Fox and Fanny Ardant as his parents is good.

Rated: C+

Mar 31, 2007

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Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 2/5

Dec 6, 2005

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Dragan Antulov

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: 2/10

Dec 9, 2002

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Stephen C

Failure in 1 hour and 31 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $52,700.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/29/25

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Audience Member

Disturbing film . Started out well but fizzled out to a damp squib..two of my fav actors also star paul mcgann and the underated david thewlis

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The directorial debut of Mark Peploe, who wrote Antonioni's "The Passenger" and "The Last Emperor" and "The Sheltering Sky" for Bertolucci. It's pretty wonderful at capturing the perspective of a child in a fairly irrationally hostile environment. Then ... partway through, the film pulls the rug out from under you and proceeds to tell a different story with a remarkably different kind of threat. Not an easy film, but one that rewards patience. The excellent cast includes James Fox, Paul McGann, David Thewlis and Catriona MacColl.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

Strange if slightly dull psycho thriller. A young lad with poor eyesight and an over active imagination believes he knows the I.d. Of a local serial killer preying on the local blind club.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I was expecting a lot more from the writer of The Last Emperor. The dialogue and the delivery of the dialogue is terrible. The twist in the middle of the movie just didn't make sense to me and it seemed pretentious. Like it thought it was much more clever than it actually was.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The movie is just like another Secret Window or Hide n Seek. Except its a kid who has eye problems. It doesn't seem bad when you're watching it on midnight on television.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

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Mark Peploe

Director

James Fox

Afraid of the Dark

Fanny Ardant

Miriam

Ben Keyworth

Lucas

Paul McGann

Tony Dalton

Clare Holman

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Synopsis

Terror grips the streets of London when an unknown murderer targets the blind, leaving a gruesome calling card. The crimes resonate with 11-year-old Lucas (Ben Keyworth), whose eerie set of circumstances -- his mother is blind; his father is a police officer working on the case -- causes his imagination to unravel dangerously. Is this murderous pattern the product of a boy's tortured, fertile creativity, or are these inexplicable acts actually occurring?

Director: Mark Peploe
Producer: Simon Bosanquet
Screenwriter: Mark Peploe, Frederick Seidel
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $52.7K
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Surround

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