Fear of the Dark (2002)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

K.C. Bascombe

Writer:

John Sullivan (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Once you believe... you're dead!

Plot:

Twelve year old Ryan Billings has been diagnosed with an acute fear of the dark. He spends each night lying awake in torment...

Plot Keywords:

Fear | Fear Of The Dark | Darkness | Dog | Blow Torch

Cast

Kevin Zegers	...	Dale Billings
Jesse James	...	Ryan Billings
Rachel Skarsten	...	Heather Fontaine
Charles Edwin Powell	...	Eric Billings (as Charles Powell)
Linda Purl	...	Sandy Bilings
Daniel Rindress-Kay	...	Taylor
Derrick Damon Reeve	...	Figure Pulling Young Ryan / Cloaked Tall Figure #1
Charles-Etienne Burelle	...	Young Ryan

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some terror.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Constellation Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: In the end of the movie, when Ryan and Dale are in the basement, Ryan is wearing a red shirt. Shortly after, in Dale's bedroom, Ryan is wearing a green/white shirt.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Dale Billings: There's nothing there in the dark that's not there in the light.

Movie Connections:

Features The Evil Dead (1981)

Soundtrack:

Ski Bum

What you always thought was there... is

I have to disagree with some comments that I have read about this movie. Personally, I thought it started quite poor in that it would be another cheesy, cheap, suburban style movie. However, the route that it followed was surprising and interesting.

Basically, from my own personal thoughts, this movie brought into reality, the fears that I've experienced as a kid. Whenever you think there's something in your room, the safest place is always under the covers and if you peak out there's going to be a scary face staring at you. Or if part of your body is not covered by the duvet it'll get grabbed by a hand...

This film takes all these fears and myths into consideration and tries to tie them all in. No it's not necessarily scary in this sense, but I believe it tries more to 'relate' rather than scare, and perhaps 'spook' you rather than terrify.

Without spoiling it for people who have not seen it, the film takes an interesting route as mentioned before, making these fears more than the kid's imagination, and that was a surprise.

Some good camera work has been implemented but the film is still very basic. I would say it's an enjoyable film for those who are a little precautious of dark corners.