Fear-of-the-DarkAbout two or three years ago I was up late and skimming through the channels.  I stopped on Showtime and watched the last few minutes of some action shoot’em up and then this little movie followed that was perfect for a late night excursion into the unknown:  Fear of the Dark.  I know what you’re thinking:  An independent Canadian horror movie?  Just trust me on this, okay.  Some movies were made for midnight, and Fear of the Dark is a winner.  Whether you buy or rent, it’s worth the few bucks you slap down for it.

Brian Billings is a young boy with an intense fear of the dark.  He sees ghosts in the house, hears things.  To combat it all, he keeps his lights, and takes a flashlight with him wherever he goes.  Brian’s parents don’t believe him, neither does his big brother, Dale.  When his parents go out for the evening, they leave a begrudged Dale to babysit Brian, but luckily Dale’s girlfriend comes sneaks over in the storm, so he isn’t too sore anymore.  He is a little embarrassed by Brian’s behavior, what with him being afraid of the dark and all.  It doesn’t help matters that the storm knocks the power out.


Once the lights are gone, Dale and his girlfriend try to comfort Brian and keep his mind off his fears.  But in the deep dark of the suburban house, filled with lightning flashes, Dale begins understand his little brother’s fear of the dark.  There are things lurking in their house, things roaming the halls, the basement, the attic….

Fear of the Dark has charm.  It is reminiscent of Darkness Falls and They, though I liked it better than both of those movies (most anything is better than They).  Fear has more ingenuity, more smarts, and more heart (you can’t say that about a lot of PG-13 movies).  And like the old saying goes, “Personality goes a long way.”

the_novacula