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Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Play trailer Poster for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 1973 1h 14m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A couple who inherited an old house learn they share it with small creatures determined to possess the wife's mind.

Critics Reviews

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Paul Lê Bloody Disgusting Aug 26
4/5
[Don't Be Afraid of the Dark] didn’t have too much money to spend, but it compensates with a priceless amount of atmosphere. Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins 08/29/2020
7/10
An impressive little thriller, full of uniquely unnerving notions, and a surefire bit of amusement for those flustered by monsters under the bed. Go to Full Review
R.L. Shaffer IGN DVD 01/29/2012
6/10
Certainly inspirational and occasionally haunting, with great effects, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is also a bit overlong and padded. Go to Full Review
John Beifuss Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) 09/16/2011
3/4
The husband's hostility seems to encourage disaster, and the depiction of the couple's relationship offers something of a preview of what Stanley Kubrick would do with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall in the early part of 'The Shining.' Go to Full Review
John J. Puccio Movie Metropolis 08/23/2011
5/10
If you were a child and saw it for the first time on television some four decades ago, it might have seemed pretty scary. Go to Full Review
Drew McWeeny HitFix 06/29/2011
B+
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Audience Reviews

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Eric W. @Jtuess Aug 13 As a child, this made for tv movie had me awake all night for days. It proved that a horror film needs no gore to devastate its audience. See more j r 10/10/2020 THE BEST! of the classic scary old houses movies! spooky as hell!!! See more 10/05/2019 For a 70s film, it's chilling from the bleak imagery shading the nice production merits from the make-up department to the relied performative efforts, furthering whatever effects it had successfully mustered under such limited scale, even though the fear factor's fright understandably aged to acceptably not meet the grown expectations but stand as influential. (B) See more 08/10/2016 I saw this movie as a child on TV in the early 1970's and NEVER forgot as it scared me for many years. I even remember eating Morel Mushrooms that my friend Jay Bailey and I, had picked the previous couple days after school and his mother breaded & fried them. It was so traumatic I remember watching and eating, with elbows on a pillow and sleeping bag while I was eating those mushrooms. That time is etched into my memory. Especially when they are dragging her down and she uses a flashbulb on camera that she pulls off an end table or some such to try and get away and the husband trying to get it the house but cannot until it's too late. I would like to see it again to see if what is in my memory is accurate. See more 07/10/2016 This is one of my all time favorite horror films. And has to be one of the best made for tv horror films ever. Make sure you watch this at night it makes the film even more creepy. See more 06/22/2016 stupid but oddly compelling See more Read all reviews
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A couple who inherited an old house learn they share it with small creatures determined to possess the wife's mind.
Director
John Newland
Producer
Allen S. Epstein
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Runtime
1h 14m