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Horror Fans: Is DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) on DVD?

post #1 of 142
5/21/03 at 12:17pm
Thread Starter 
Okay, I remember this GREAT movie I used to see
all the time on TV as a kid. Thought it was the
scariest movie I ever saw.

I can't remember the name, but I'll describe it
to you.

A couple buys a new house. The wife soon finds
out that there are creatures that live beneath
the floorboards and in the cellar.

She soon discovers the creatures are sensitive to
light and don't come out unless its dark. She lights
the house up with flashlights and candles to keep
herself safe. However, the creatures cut the power
lines to the house.

In the end, she gets dragged down the stairs and
eventually "joins" them.

I believe this film was made in the 70s, and it
probably was a made-for-TV film. I think the
starring actress' first name was Kim.

Anyone familiar with horror films should know
what this is -- I just have totally forgotten the
title.

Anyhow, is it available on DVD?
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post #2 of 142
5/21/03 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 
I answered my own question.

Went to IMDB.COM and did some fiddling
around.

Finally came up with....

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

It was a 1973 TV film starring Kim Darby.

Doesn't look like it is on DVD.
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post #3 of 142
5/21/03 at 12:38pm
Hey I loved this film as a kid too

My brother and I still imitate the creatures when they are calling for Kim Darby:

"Sally...Sally..."
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post #4 of 142
5/21/03 at 12:39pm
Hi Ron.
Yeah i remember this film too. Quite scary, Shame about the ending. She really put up a fight.
mike.
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post #5 of 142
5/21/03 at 12:48pm
Isn't Carl Betz in this as well, playing Kim Darby's husband? And the little boy is the one from the old Family Affair sitcom on CBS.

If I recall, there's a scene where Betz is looking at a film or a videotape of one of the front windows of his house. He sees a couple of red dots, "demon eyes." Pretty effective scene.
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post #6 of 142
5/21/03 at 2:19pm
One of my family's favorites. I would love to be able to give a dvd of this to my sister someday. This movie scares the hell out of her
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post #7 of 142
5/21/03 at 3:13pm
Jack.
The husband is played by "Jim Hutton".
mike.
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post #8 of 142
5/21/03 at 3:16pm
Jack Briggs wrote (post #5):

Quote:
Isn't Carl Betz in this as well, playing Kim Darby's husband?


No. The late Jim Hutton, father of Timothy, played the husband.


Quote:
And the little boy is the one from the old Family Affair sitcom on CBS.

There was no "little boy" in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, as far as I can remember. Darby and Hutton played the Farnhams, a young couple with no children yet. The "little boy" you're thinking of is Johnnie Whitaker ("Be damned!") and the tv-movie you probably have in mind is Something Evil (CBS Entertainment, 1972), directed by none other than your favorite movie director of all time: Mr. Steven Spielberg.

Quote:
If I recall, there's a scene where [Carl] Betz is looking at a film or a videotape of one of the front windows of his house. He sees a couple of red dots, "demon eyes." Pretty effective scene.

The father there was played by Darren McGavin, who sort of looks like Carl Betz.

As far as that scene, which I, too, vaguely remember, is concerned, there is a reference to it in comments by "Gary" at the movie's imdb.com page, dated: June 10, 2000:

Quote:
Better than ET by a long chalk . . . . . Best scare is the demon eyes caught during the filming of a commercial at the haunted house.

The creepiest aspect of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is not the appearance of the demons, but how they sound as they talk past each other---with a cacophony of whispers---, and only Sally (Darby) can hear them tell what they're going to do to her.

It was, if I recall correctly, a Lorimar film, which means it should be owned now by Warner Bros.
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post #9 of 142
5/21/03 at 3:27pm
Thread Starter 
I think all of you will find this interesting....

Miramax already has a remake of this film going
into production. You can read more about it here:

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808403782

This should most likely bolster the chances for
the original to be released to DVD.
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post #10 of 142
5/21/03 at 4:56pm
The creepiest aspect of the film is not the appearance of the demons, but how they sound as they talk past each other, and only Sally (Darby) can hear them tell what they're going to do to her.

Sounds like it could be especially cool with a good 5.1 mix.

Seems like lots of decent horror films in the pipeline.
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post #11 of 142
5/22/03 at 1:54am
Ron,

their are moments of incredible coincidence that don't happen very often in life and I just experienced one of them right now!
When I saw your topic header, this is the first film I thought of since I saw it as a kid too and it scared the shit out of me, and like you, I coudn't remember the title until this thread. Imagine my shock when I read your post to see this was the very same film I was thinking of!

Of all the horror films out their you could have been talking about, what are the odds!?

I also remember very well how they sounded and looked, they had little brown shrunken heads with prune faces, and the one scene I remember most was her in the shower with the curtain drawn and the creatures walking around on the floor of the bathroom!

I'd love to have this one on dvd, i'm also intriguied by the remake possibilities as well.
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post #12 of 142
5/22/03 at 9:45am
Rex: Excellent work! And that's exactly the made-for-TV film I remembered, down to a T. JB
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post #13 of 142
5/22/03 at 9:59am
There were so many horror- and suspense-themed TV movies made in the 1970s that are deserving of a DVD release. Some were better than others, but all of them had a certain charm and, I suspect, have cult followings.

A few examples:

THE LEGEND OF LIZZIE BORDEN
BAD RONALD
THE INITIATION OF SARAH
SOMETHING EVIL
SUMMER OF FEAR
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

How cool if a company like Anchor Bay could license several of them and release them as "Horror TV Classics" or under some such umbrella title.

CN
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post #14 of 142
5/22/03 at 10:55am
Nice list Claude

Another TV movie that scared the crap out of me was Fear No Evil with Louis Jordan, which was about a haunted antique mirror.

The scariest TV movie I ever saw was the pilot film for Night Gallery, actually just the first episode with Roddy McDowall and the haunted painting.
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post #15 of 142
5/22/03 at 2:06pm
Summer Of Fear from 1978 (aka Stranger In Our House) is avaliable on Region 1 DVD. Summer Of Fear was released on DVD in Feb 2003.
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post #16 of 142
5/22/03 at 3:43pm
There was an eerie 1971 made-for-TV movie about witchcraft, starring William Shatner. What was it called?

Also, there was an adaptation of Zenna Henderson's science-fiction series about "The People" that was kind of effective.

The early '70s was a fertile period for decent made-for-TV films, wasn't it?
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post #17 of 142
5/22/03 at 4:27pm
Didn't this movie air as one of those afternoon movies (either on abc or nbc) that they used to show....they showed some scary movies on these afternoon programs (and no, I am not talking about the afterschool specials...lol)
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post #18 of 142
5/22/03 at 4:35pm
Jack- I remember a scary TV movie with William Shatner called "Horror at 40,000 Feet" or something like that. Must have played on the popularity of the Airport movies & had something to do with an evil spirit on an airliner. I remember something about glueing a woman's nailclippings to the tips of a doll so the spirit would think it was a human sacrifice or something. Weird.

As for Don't be Afraid of the Dark... I remember that scary the heck out of me in the second grade. I could SWEAR I've seen it as a cheap DVD release at Best Buy.

Other great childhood TV movies from the 70s were Gargoyles and Killdozer.
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post #19 of 142
5/22/03 at 6:35pm
Yes, we definitely need more of these old 70s TV horrors on DVD. They can join stuff already out there like 'The Night Stalker/Night Strangler' and 'Trilogy of Terror'.....the source of many a childhood nightmare. Oh how I love those films- nothing quite like getting completely scared out of your wits as a kid after one of those shockers.
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post #20 of 142
5/23/03 at 5:48am
I'm a member of the "this movie scared the crap out of me when I was little" club. It's even difficult to find on VHS. Would love to see it make DVD. It has quite a cult following. VHS "copies" show up at sci-fi conventions but I have heard they are pretty poor quality.

As for the remake, I always get a little nervous when I hear of a subtle classic like this being remade with today's Hollywood sensibilities (ala The Haunting). I hope they don't change the ending. I could just see them turning it around to have the couple defeat the demons in a blaze of special effects.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
That ending scene of her being dragged, helpless (weakened by a sedative) to join the demons, slowing them down with the camera flash (they can't stand the light) but ultimately losing and her scream as she goes down...then her chilling voice-over at the end...that's what really made it stick with me.
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post #21 of 142
5/23/03 at 11:30pm
Jack Briggs wrote (post #16):

Quote:
There was an eerie 1971 made-for-TV movie about witchcraft, starring William Shatner. What was it called?

Quote:
Tarot

1970 - USA - 74 min. - Feature, Color, Made for TV
AMG Rating 2.5 Stars
Genre/Type Mystery

Plot Synopsis:

Magazine publisher Glenn Howard [Gene Barry] tries to prove that a young girl did not really kill herself and finds himself dangerously entangled with a coven of deadly witches. The story comes from the Name of the Game TV series [episode #2.19, orig. airdate: February 13, 1970].--- Sandra Brennan
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post #22 of 142
5/24/03 at 10:49am
Wasn't The Night Stalker on DVD at one time?
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post #23 of 142
5/24/03 at 5:03pm
Funny about "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" - everyone who saw it as a kid remembers it as just about the most frightening film they ever saw (as a kid). It was only shown a few times too, and became very much sought after by collectors.

I actually found a copy on VHS (someone sent me their copy) and it's still quite a bit of fun.

Another movie that haunted just about anyone who saw it as a kid was "The Bermuda Triangle" or "Up From The Depths." It was by Bass and Rankin of "Santa Clause Comes To Town" fame (and all those other stop motion animated specials).
The Bermuda Triangle was about a mysterious woman from the sea (Connie Seleca) who, it turns out, has a giant magical sea turtle as her protector. With it's memorable score and theme song, it's incredibly surreal mood, it just stuck in anyone's head who saw it. And because this intensely moody film was only ever shown twice on North American TV, people were left later in life wondering "Just what the heck did I see as a kid that seems to have lodged so mysteriously in my memory?" There should be support groups for those who saw that movie.

BTW, yes the Night Stalker is on DVD. Best damned horror flick ever made for TV. The pacing, mood and acting are soo good that I can still watch it over and over even now.

What I really want is for some classics like the original "Tales From The Crypt" to come out on DVD (or Vault Of Horror).
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post #24 of 142
7/14/06 at 5:18am

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

So whats the holdup with this movie being released ? You would think there would be some studio willing to release it.
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post #25 of 142
7/14/06 at 5:42am

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

I guess they never did the remake, huh?
Shame...that could have helped get the original onto DVD.
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post #26 of 142
7/14/06 at 9:29am

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

Rich, you are spot on about THE BERMUDA DEPTHS (which besides Connie Sellica also starred Burl Ives, Carl Weathers and Leigh McClosky). I saw it only once as a kid and it haunts me to this day! I still have many images from this telefilm etched in my memory, including the creepy and effective ending (you know what I'm talking about, I'm sure). I would like nothing better than to see this again (though it may have dated badly and a rewatching of it may tarnish its mysterious memory.)

Where's the first meeting of the support group?

SATAN'S TRIANGLE (starring Doug McCLure) was also exceedingly creepy.

Haven't seen DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK but it sounds splendid.

The 70s were indeed a golden time for made-for-TV horror.
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post #27 of 142
7/14/06 at 10:11am

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

The dvd company thats releasing trilogy of terror on dvd next month, would be perfect for releasing dont be afraid of the dark.I can always wish cant I?
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post #28 of 142
7/14/06 at 12:02pm

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Flugel
SATAN'S TRIANGLE (starring Doug McCLure) was also exceedingly creepy.

That one popped into my head immediately when I started going through this thread. God, I miss those downbeat, 70's endings!
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post #29 of 142
7/14/06 at 4:00pm

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

okay here's a tough one, I wanna say it was bette davis, but I've searched her filmography and couldn't find it. A stuborn older woman lives in a house by a sea and she has a vase? or some heriloom that the sea wants back. the characters are trapped in the house through a hurricane and at one point the storm stops and everything goes erriely silent because now the house is in the eye of the storm. eventually she can't take it anymore and hurls the thing back into the ocean. my memory is it's in B+W but I could be wrong. It's haunted me for years.... help!
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post #30 of 142
7/14/06 at 5:01pm

Re: Horror Fans: Is this TV "classic" on DVD?

For that matter, don't forget Leonard Nimoy's late '60s ESP romp, "Baffled". Also, "Phantom of Hollywood" with Jack Cassidy. I think that was the last film shot on the MGM backlot as they were tearing it down
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