View source for Afraid of the Dark (film)



{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Afraid of the Dark
| image          = Afraid of the Dark poster.jpg
| caption        =
| director       = [[Mark Peploe]]
| producer       = Simon Bosanquet<br>Jean Nachbaur
| writer         = Mark Peploe<br>Frederick Seidel
| screenplay     =
| story          =
| based_on       = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| starring       = [[James Fox]]<br>[[Fanny Ardant]]<br>[[Paul McGann]]<br>[[Clare Holman]]
| music          = [[Richard Hartley (composer)|Richard Hartley]]<br>Jason Osborn
| cinematography = [[Bruno de Keyzer]]
| editing        = Scott Thomas
| studio         = [[Ariane Films|Les Films Ariane]]<br/>Telescope Films<br/>Ciné Cinq
| distributor    = Rank Films Organization (UK)<br/>[[Fine Line Features]] (US)
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|1991|10||Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival|1992|2|21|UK}}
| runtime        = 91 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom<br/>France
| language       = English
| budget         =
| gross          = $53,932<ref name="mojo">{{cite web |title=Afraid of the Dark |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0101276/?ref_=bo_tt_ti |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=29 June 2024}}</ref>
}}

'''''Afraid of the Dark''''' is a 1991 French-British [[drama film|drama]] [[horror film]] directed by [[Mark Peploe]] and starring [[James Fox]], [[Fanny Ardant]] and [[Paul McGann]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/444660 |website=BFI Film & TV Database |publisher=British Film Institute |title=Afraid of the Dark (1991) |access-date=4 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022025334/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/444660 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Afraid of the Dark'' had its world premiere at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival in October 1991. It screened at the [[BFI London Film Festival]] on 21 November 1991 and went into general theatrical release in the UK on 21 February 1992.

==Plot==
Lucas is an introverted 11-year-old boy who lives with his policeman father Frank and blind mother Miriam. He spends most of his time at a school for the blind where his mother teaches knitting. He also has a habit of [[Voyeurism|spying on others]]. A recent spate of attacks on blind women has kept the community on edge. One day, Lucas goes to spy on Rose, his mother's blind friend, as she takes some photos for the local photographer. Lucas sees the photographer ominously take out a razor blade and touch Rose with it. Thinking he is the wanted slasher, Lucas runs in to save Rose and wounds the photographer in the eye.

He awakes and realizes he was having a nightmare. Lucas overhears his parents whispering about the eye operation he needs. He continues to have strange visions of the killer as his mind begins to confuse reality and [[delusion]].

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[James Fox]] as Frank 
* [[Fanny Ardant]] as Miriam 
* [[Paul McGann]] as Tony Dalton 
* [[Clare Holman]] as Rose 
* [[Robert Stephens]] as Dan Burns 
* [[Susan Wooldridge]] as Lucy Trent 
* [[David Thewlis]] as Locksmith / Tom Miller 
* Ben Keyworth as Lucas 
* [[Catriona MacColl]] as Blind Woman 
* [[Hilary Mason]] as Basement Woman 
* [[Sheila Burrell]] as Meg 
* Gwyneth Strong as Blind Mother with Baby
* Star Acri as 1st Girl at Wedding 
* Niven Boyd as Ice-Cream Man 
* Tiffany Bryant as Tess 
* [[Frances Cuka]] as Mrs. Dalton
}}

==Critical reception==
''Afraid of the Dark'' received mixed critical reviews. ''[[TV Guide (magazine)|TV Guide]]'' praised the film, though it admitted the film "does not succeed in linking its themes of voyeurism, oedipal complexes and fear of physical harm and then those in Lucas's overly mature imagination. The perversions he dreams up are far too sophisticated for a little boy. Nonetheless, ''Afraid of the Dark'' does its job as a horror film and makes one consider some difficult and ugly issues as well."<ref name="TVGuide">{{cite web |title=Afraid of the Dark |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/afraid-of-the-dark/review/2030009315/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929150209/https://www.tvguide.com/movies/afraid-of-the-dark/review/2030009315/ |archive-date=2022-09-29 |access-date=29 June 2024 |website=TV Guide}}</ref>

In a positive review, Michael Wilmington of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote, "'Afraid of the Dark' isn't an intellectually shallow terrorize-the-yuppies shocker. In many ways, it's a critique of the new contemporary family thrillers, of the ways movies like '[[Fatal Attraction]]' or '[[The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992 film)|The Hand That Rocks the Cradle]]' push our buttons and feed our paranoia."<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news |last1=Wilmington |first1=Michael |title='Afraid of the Dark' Aims for Mind, Eye |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-14-ca-5161-story.html |access-date=29 June 2024 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=August 14, 1992}}</ref> ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' wrote, "Deftly avoiding self conscious experimentation and artsy intellectuality, writer/director Peploe constructs a mesmerising world of harsh contrasts and alarming juxtapositions."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunton-Downer |first=John |date=2000-01-01 |title=Afraid Of The Dark |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/afraid-dark-review/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |language=en}}</ref>

Marjorie Baumgarten of ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]'' said "''Afraid of the Dark'' gets so wrapped up in its psychological dimensions that it forgets the rudiments of suspense."<ref name="Austin">{{cite web |last1=Baumgarten |first1=Marjorie |title=Afraid of the Dark |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1992-11-13/138696/ |website=[[Austin Chronicle]] |access-date=29 June 2024 |date=1992-11-13}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' commented the film is "a tricky mix of [[Slasher film|slasher movie]] and psychodrama that's strong on tease but weak on final delivery".<ref name="Variety">{{cite news |title=Afraid of the Dark |url=https://variety.com/1991/film/reviews/afraid-of-the-dark-2-1200429474/ |access-date=29 June 2024 |work=Variety |date=August 14, 1992}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title}}
*{{rotten-tomatoes}}
* [https://filmschoolrejects.com/essential-afraid-of-the-dark-481676d81c46/ ''Afraid of the Dark'' review] at [[Film School Rejects]]

[[Category:1991 British films]]
[[Category:1991 French films]]
[[Category:1990s horror drama films]]
[[Category:1991 films]]
[[Category:1991 horror films]]
[[Category:French drama films]]
[[Category:French fantasy drama films]]
[[Category:French horror drama films]]
[[Category:French fantasy films]]
[[Category:British fantasy drama films]]
[[Category:British horror drama films]]
[[Category:British fantasy films]]
[[Category:1991 English-language films]]
[[Category:English-language French films]]
[[Category:1991 psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:Films about blind people]]
[[Category:Films about disability in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English-language fantasy drama films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Mark Peploe]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mark Peploe]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Hartley (composer)]]
[[Category:English-language horror drama films]]
[[Category:English-language thriller films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Afraid of the Dark (film)|access_date=2026-02-24}}