Guillermo del Toro presents DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK at Comic Con

(c/o Miramax Films)

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

Press Release

MIRAMAX FILMS

Like us Facebook: Facebook.com/Don’tbeAfriadoftheDarkMovie

Genre: Horror

Rating: R (for violence and terror)

U.S. Release Date: January 21, 2011

Cast: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson

Director: Troy Nixey

Producers: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Johnson

Executive Producers: Stephen Jones, William Horberg, Tom Williams

Screenplay by: Guillermo del Toro & Matthew Robbins

Based on the teleplay by: Nigel McKeand

Producers Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Orphanage”) and Mark Johnson (“Chronicles of Narnia”) join forces to deliver “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” a tale of hair-raising, spine-chilling horror.

Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison), a lonely, withdrawn child, has just arrived in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) at the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the sprawling estate, the young girl discovers a hidden basement, undisturbed since the strange disappearance of the mansion’s builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creatures who conspire to drag her down into the mysterious house’s bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it’s not a fantasy—before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all.

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 23: Writer/Producer Guillermo del Toro, Director Troy Nixey, Moderator Nick Nunziato and Producer Mark Johnson at Miramax’ “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark“ Panel at 2010 Comic-Con on July 23, 2010 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 23: Writer/Producer Guillermo del Toro

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 23: Director Troy Nixey

(All Comic Con Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage)
via wikipedia:
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is an American made-for-television horror film by Lorimar Productions that was first telecast on ABC on Wednesday October 10, 1973. It has since been shown many times in syndication and was distributed on home video and now on DVD. Nigel McKeand wrote the story and screenplay, and John Newland directed the film. It is known as Nightmare in Europe.

c/o WIRED

Del Toro Promises Serious Scares in Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

* By Hugh Hart
* July 23, 2010 |

Guillermo Del Toro promises major chills in Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark during a Comic-Con panel.

SAN DIEGO — Guillermo Del Toro told would-be horror storytellers to keep things visual if they want him to consider their projects.

“I can’t listen to story pitches,” he said during the Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark presentation at Comic-Con International here Friday, “but If you’ve got a portfolio of drawings or a short film, fucking show it to me!”

He’s not just blowing hot air. First-time feature filmmaker Troy Nixey got his shot at directing old-school screamfest Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark by e-mailing Del Toro a few .jpgs featuring monsters from his 2000 short film Latchkey’s Lament.

“To get a guy like Guillermo Del Toro to see your short film and then ask you to direct a movie he wrote the script for is like a dream come true,” Nixey said during the Hall H presentation.

The filmmakers unveiled a Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark trailer and previewed a gripping Gothic sequence centered on an exceptionally brutal bit of dungeon dentistry performed on a hapless housemaid who falls down the stairs. After the clip, Del Toro questioned an admiring fan: “Did you crap in your pants?…. Figuratively of course.”

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, set for Jan. 21 release, contains no profanity or nudity, but nonetheless received an R rating because it was simply too scary for younger audiences.

“I consider that R a badge of honor,” said Del Toro, who wrote and produced the movie, which is based on a 1973 TV movie of the same name.

He scripted the remake in 1997 but had a hard time selling its hard-core terror to studio bigwigs, who wanted the filmmaker to tone down the ending.

A day earlier at Comic-Con, Del Toro announced that he will be developing a movie called The Haunted Mansion based on the classic Disney attraction.

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