‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ House of horror

August 26, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Orlando Sentinel

The new version of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is entirely too literal, but it still manages to be a literally hair-raising piece of modern-style, old-school Gothic horror.

The involvement of writer-producer Guillermo (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) Del Toro meant that no effort was going to be spared to “show” us everything — every little beastie who whispers entreaties and threats, every little gnome who goes bump in the night. But this remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name manages the basics quite well.

Because basically, there’s nothing scarier than a big, old, dark and spooky house and a little girl with only a flashlight to protect her.

The girl here is Sally, played by the normally bubbly and apple-cheeked Bailee Madison (“Just Go With It”). Sally is a California tween sent to live with her house-restorer dad (Guy Pearce). And Dad’s new interior decorator girlfriend, Kim (Katie Holmes), is there to try and make the transition smooth. Which it isn’t.

The couple are fixing up a 19th century Rhode Island mansion with the help of an old man (Jack Thompson) who knows its history, but isn’t sharing. Sally has been sent to Dad because she’s depressed.

The first misstep here is the film’s prologue, which gives us the bloody 19th century back story of the haunted house. The second is letting us see the creatures tormenting Sally. The terror we don’t see is always scarier than critters who look like digital pixies from the Harry Potter movies.

But those blunders aside, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” works up a fine head of steam as the “accidents” mount and the almost-helpless Sally tries to figure out a survival strategy. The finale is perfectly chilling, though the filmmakers (Troy Nixey is the director, but you can see Del Toro’s hand in it) duplicate their prologue mistake by tacking on an epilogue we don’t need.