DON"T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973)
Dir: John Newland

A real standout film in the field of television horror, despite its cult status Don't Be Afraid of the Dark has yet to be released on DVD. This is most unfortunate given the film's ability to perhaps alter a few opinions on the complete and utter worthlessness of Made-for-TV movies. Rarely has TV tried so hard to actually scare the viewer; production executives tend to prefer non-disturbing and mild horror imagery unlikely to frighten away (yes, intended pun) advertisers. Within this tradition of watered down imagery and theme, Don't Be Afraid dares to buck convention and systematically builds its tale upon dread and the common phobias of madness and emotional isolation. Never taking time out for a prosaic sideplot or corny chuckles, Nigel McKeand's script is a near masterpiece of economical horror screenwriting. Similarly director Newland handles the proceedings with a detached and dark iciness, filling the screen with long shots of the spooky house, an abudance of night photography and screen frames heavy with shadows and blackness. Even the main characters of the film are introduced through voiceovers, disembodied conversations heard over still shots of the empty house interiors; the effect of the House as an entity to itself, and the residents merely visitors in a foreign (and hostile) realm is quite chilling.

The plot is deceptively simple; recounted as a written synposis it hardly hints at the creepiness the actual movie manages to achieve. Kim Darby plays a somewhat lonely young housewife to hubby Jim Hutton's Type-A lawyer with an eye on his firm's partnership. From this crux of quintessential 70s politicized domestic drama, thus the characters are built. Darby's unfulfilled modern woman, aching to express herself creatively and intellectually, is a stereotype of the liberated era, but she imbues the role with such pathos and genuine discomfort the viewer instinctively sympathizes. Her one persoanl wish for her new home is to take over an unused dank studio as a home office for herself, a room of her own, but her husband and the patriarchal handyman (My Three Sons' Uncle Charlie) attempt to discourage her. Eventually she is given challenges such as entertaining her husband's business partners and coordinating décor with an interior designer, but her greatest test seems to be staying sane. Darby begins to hear voices and see tiny creatures invisible to all else. And worse, the creatures turn out to be far from cuddly.

An inspiration for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark would surely seem to be Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 19th century macabre novella The Yellow Wallpaper, with its unhinged heroine obsessing over patterns in the wallcoverings that seem to have a life of their own. Both stories eerily present restless women who first feel trapped in their surroundings, then fatally attached to these interiors grown monsterous. And the two tales share endings evilly ambiguous – Don't Be Afraid of the Dark however climaxes on a tone of such despair and horror, even contemprary audiences may feel moved. As a highlight of 70s TV horror – and TV movies in general – this remains a treat for anyone looking for a spooky night at home. For those who love this genre, it is a treasure.