I haven't seen this movie in over 30 years, but I still remember it every time I have to go down stairs into a dark room.

I was at least 11 when I saw this movie. My mother and I moved into a house that had a basement when I was 12. A basement with open stairs that you had to go all the way down and into the room to turn on the light. And guess where the washer and dryer were? Also the freezer and various other ordinary things that meant I had to go into the basement almost daily.

The worst part wasn't going down into the basement, it was coming back up out of it - because coming out you had to turn off the light, then run up the stairs before the nasty little men could grab you from between the steps.

It's a wonder I didn't break my neck.

This is one of those movies that is best judged by the people who saw it on its original or first rebroadcast. By today's standards, I agree with a lot of reviewers that say it is not very good. I wouldn't give it a 1, but probably no more than a 4. But I am one of the lucky people who got to see it on its original broadcast, and like so many others, it has scarred me for life.

I harbor no ill will toward new viewers who didn't get to experience the fear and trauma this movie inflicted on viewers (especially kids like me) when it was first released. I actually feel sorry for them, as they didn't get to experience one of those rare movie experiences where everything just came together perfectly.

The 1970s was truly the golden era of the made-for-TV horror movie, and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is a pretty good example of the genre. Fondly remembered by those who saw it at an impressionable age, it succeeds at creeping out its viewers. It's got very respectable atmosphere, and an appreciable level of mystery to its diminutive terrors. Just where *did* they come from? All we know is the level of fear experienced by our appealing main character, Sally Farnham (played by the very cute Kim Darby), especially as her stubbornly skeptical husband, Alex (Jim Hutton) doesn't take her seriously.

Sally and Alex have moved into her deceased grandmother's home, complete with a study and a sealed-up fireplace. Sally wants the fireplace opened up, despite the warnings from their cagey caretaker, Mr. Harris (screen veteran William Demarest) to leave things as they are. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and her actions lead to the release of three beings who are dead set on getting their hands on her.

Fortunately, Sally is not the type of person to only do the stupid thing, so it's easy enough to sympathize with her and be chilled by how the story plays out. Darby is fine as Sally, and Hutton is good as Alex; able support is provided by Demarest, Barbara Anderson as Sally's friend Joan Kahn, and Pedro Armendariz Jr. as the briefly seen Francisco Perez. Andrew Jackson's cinematography is appropriately moody and the music score by Billy Goldenberg is excellently spooky. If there's a criticism to be made here, it's only that the three onion headed demons in the movie (played by Felix Silla, Tamara De Treaux, and Patty Maloney) are shown too much, and should have been revealed just a bit at a time.

Still, this is fun stuff and worth a look for fans of "old school" horror.

Remade by filmmaker and fan Guillermo Del Toro for theatres 37 years later.

Seven out of 10.