Angst vor der Dunkelheit

This one can be a bit challenging, but it's well worth the ride. Written and directed by Academy award nominee Mark Peploe. Without including a spoiler it is difficult to describe too many elements of this surprising film. Sufficed to say, as the revelations begin, you can see layers of complexity and psychology that you weren't expecting at the beginning. There are many original things in this movie; not the least of which is numerous interpretations of blindness and helplessness through the eyes of a child. Now that probably makes you recoil - too artsy/fartsy, but I assure you this is a thriller. Genuinely creepy and the young actor Ben Keyworth that plays Lucas is outstanding.

On the first day of his school holidays, young Lucas (Ben Keyworth) accompanies his blind mother Miriam (Fanny Ardant) to the West London clinic where she teaches a knitting class. At the clinic, talk is of the vicious razor attack on one of the regular visitors by person unknown. Lucas's mother introduces her son to her pretty blind friend Rose (Clare Holman), with whom he forms an infatuation. The lad accompanies Rose to the studio of photographer Tony (Paul McGann), where she is to have her picture taken with her blind fiancé Jim (Jeremy Flynn).

Lucas wanders off and sneaks into a house, where he plays with matches and half-inches a telescope; through the bedroom window, he witnesses a second brutal razor attack on another blind woman. The chief superintendent in charge of the case is Lucas' father Frank (James Fox). Does his son hold the key to the identity of the slasher? Is the creepy window cleaner at the clinic (Struan Rodger) responsible for the attacks? Could it be Tony the photographer, who puts lipstick on graveyard statues? Or is leering locksmith Tom Miller (David Thewlis) behind the crimes?

Keeping schtum about what he has seen, Lucas continues his stroll through the neighbourhood, stopping at the local cemetery to visit his secret hideout in a mausoleum and to feed his canine pal Toby, after which he explores a railway tunnel. At the nearby station, a third victim feels the cold steel of a cut-throat razor. That night, Lucas sneaks out of bed to visit the graveyard where he spies on his neighbours with his telescope; there, he disturbs Tom Miller, who is also doing a spot of peeping. Lucas is chased by Miller, but escapes when Toby comes to the rescue.

Lucas continues to spy on the locals, peering through a window at shutterbug Tony, who has convinced Rose to pose topless for him. As the lad watches, Tony approaches Rose with a razor and starts to cut her legs; Lucas rushes to her rescue, stabbing the photographer in the eye with one of his mother's knitting needles. At which point the film pulls an about-face, yanking the rug from under the viewer's feet...

The movie cuts to Lucas in his bedroom. He is wearing glasses with thick lenses due to a condition that could lead to a total loss of sight unless he undergoes an operation (which could also leave him blind if it is not a success). His mother is no longer unable to see, and she is pregnant. Rose is now his sister, who is about to get married to Tony, and she can also see. His father is a florist.

Everything we have seen up until this point has been through the failing eyes of an 'unreliable narrator': a frightened, confused young boy facing a very uncertain future. The razor maniac terrorising the blind doesn't exist, and is most likely a manifestation of the boy's fear of going under the surgeon's knife. All of the menacing characters - Tony, Tom and the window cleaner - are, in reality, very friendly.

As his operation draws nearer, Lucas continues to slide deeper into an imaginary world where he is surrounded by the blind, and the only way to protect himself is with his trusty knitting needle. When a scared Lucas sees Toby at the window, he imagines the dog as a snarling rabid beast and stabs it in the head with his needle, and when his mother arrives home from hospital, Toby's fragile mental state puts the life of his new baby sister in danger.

Blurring the lines between reality and the imaginary, Afraid Of The Dark is an intelligent, challenging watch that keeps the viewer on their toes. The mid-film switcheroo seems to be a sticking point for some, but I loved the way the story suddenly changed without resorting to clumsy exposition: it's a brave move that has to be applauded. The second half of the film is a tense character study of very troubled boy, and Keyworth is superb in his role - utterly chilling as he covers up the crime of killing Toby, and then sets his sights on baby Tess. The film's finalé sees the infant being rescued before Lucas can do her any harm, followed by the operation on the boy's eyes, which is declared a success. Post-operation, Lucas appears to be back to normal, his fears having evaporated, but when he is giving sister Tess a cuddle at the end, it's hard not to think that the worst is yet to come...

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for the cameos from Hilary Mason and Catriona MacColl, both of whom had previously played blind characters in cult horror films: Mason in Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973) and MacColl in Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (1981).

Psychological horror stories often rely on clichéd images and stories to evoke terror from the audience. A notable exception is the film "Afraid of the Dark" which stars Ben Keyworth as an 11 year old boy who struggles with morbid fears of going blind, as well as fears of a stalker in the streets of London who preys on the blind. This moody thriller has a convoluted story and abstract pace that make it difficult to decipher, but the movie is worth the effort due to it's subtle horror that is mesmerizing! This one ferments in the psyche long after viewing. Keyworth is joined by a strong cast including Fanny Ardent, and James Fox, but Keyworth is the true strength of the film. His intense demeanor is riveting!

The movie is very unusual, and the images were very striking. I couldn't help but think of The Reflecting Skin while watching this movie, as it too is full of odd imagery, and what, at least to me, appear to be delusions by the main character.

Things returning to "normal" suddenly at the end got me, but this film is so dark that it HAS to get better somehow.

To better understand what the director was attempting to do, I read many of the other posts on this film after watching it--because, clearly, it was a murky way to tell a story about an odd little boy who thinks he might be going blind. Some of the explanations seem valid enough, but that still doesn't make AFRAID OF THE DARK any more than an experimental film that doesn't quite have the payoff intended.

The boy, played by BEN KEYWORTH, wears extra thick glasses and sees the world in a distorted way. It's through his vision that we perceive what's happening, although much of the action is in his mind and is not reality. That's why there are so many layers to get through if you want to enjoy the film.

Frankly, I was annoyed by some of his choices--particularly, the incident involving the dog Toby--and the only character in the story that I could fully relate to was the father, played by JAMES FOX. Well mannered, he seemed an understanding parent but was willing to put up with an awful lot of wrong and downright odd behavior from his son.

Certain elements of the film were original in concept, such as the knitting needles and how they took on a different significance in the final scene, but overall there were many moments that seemed to drag, the pace suffering from bad editing.

Not the sort of film I'd want to watch again and ultimately has to be considered a disappointment for a film that had so much potential to begin with.