Afraid of the Dark

Rating:
Summary: The one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind
Review: I know that this is meant to be a drama of great power with startling insights into the human condition, man's inhumanity to man's, the lives of quiet despair we all face, or some other pretentious nonsense. I just found it confusing as well!

The basic plot centers on young Frank. Just starting his school holidays, Frank offers to help his blind mother down to walk to the local center for the blind. There he meets her blind friends, listens to the gossip about the local serial killer (who attacks blind people), and then goes about his merry day stalking some of the blind residents who live near the center. Unseen he pries into their lives and, is actually able save one the victims from the serial killer.

Reality check ! It was all in the kid's mind ..

Young Frank has imagined a world in which he is the hero and saves the day. In reality the little boy is the one going blind and his fear has caused an imaginary world in which he is the sighted hero.

The boy's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and dangerous as the movie progresses. Because the adults have so many other things going on it takes a long time before anyone realizes how dangerous Frank has become. By the time they do clue in, it might be too late.

This was confusing and often times dark movie. I like the first part in the boy's fantasy where he silently prowls the neighborhood. I even enjoyed the first part of the 'real' section where half the fun was spotting the people and places from the child's imagination. But every time you get used to something in the film they ratchet it up to a new level of cruelty. That was a little overdone.

Rating:
Summary: Fear is a Man's Best Fiend
Review: James Fox, Fanny Ardant and the incredible Ben Keyworth create a very strange family triangle in Afraid of Dark. The film is structured much like David Lynch's Lost Highway, it's like a puzzle that viewer puts together. I'll leave it at that, as not to spoil any of the vivid suprises.

Rating:
Summary: Mark Peploe's Afraid of the Dark
Review: Mark Peploe, one of the Oscar winning screenwriters behind "The Last Emperor," comes up with his own tale of a little boy overwhelmed by his situation, and in the process scares the living daylights out of the viewer.

Ben Keyworth is young Lucas, a morose little boy whose blind mother Miriam (Fanny Ardant) dotes on him. His father, Frank (James Fox), is a cop and Lucas' hero. A madman is running around London slashing the faces of blind women, and the blind community is in a panic. Lucas is a little boy, hardly noticeable, and begins observing prime suspects. The ice cream man, the window washer, the photographer, even the overly helpful locksmith (played by a young David Thewlis), are all under the boy's suspicion. A neighborhood golden retriever is Lucas' only friend and confidant, and eventually Lucas has a showdown with the slasher, stabbing him in the eye with his trusty knitting needle...and then the film does a complete 180!

We find out Lucas was only imagining the first half of the film. The characters from the first half were not blind at all. Instead, it was Lucas who is slowly losing his sight. The day of his older half-sister's wedding, he is shunted aside. His mother goes into labor at the reception, and everyone forgets the poor little boy. Lucas still has the trusty dog Toby along, but his imagination gets the best of him. Toby is killed, and Lucas sets his next target as his new baby sister with the pretty blue eyes everyone comments on.

Ben Keyworth, as Lucas, is incredible. Some might see his delivery as flat and monotonal, but I thought his cold exterior was perfect. You will feel sorry for him, even in the throes of the madness that grips him in the latter part of the film. The beautiful French actress Fanny Ardant is great as his mother, and James Fox is always reliable as the dad.

Peploe's direction is so creepy it becomes uncomfortable often. The graveyard scenes are chilling, as is Lucas' hallucinations. Peploe also co-wrote the screenplay (with Frederick Seidel), so he knows these characters better than anyone. None of them are stupid, or do horror film-stupid things, and this adds to the squirm level. Plus, if you have any sort of phobia about things getting too close to your eyes (like I do), this may not be for you.

The pace is slow, as Peploe builds his characters, and this is actually a relief. The entire cast is good, and Peploe should direct more. All in all, "Afraid of the Dark" is one of those films that you will find bothering you days after you see it. I highly recommend it.

This is rated (R) for physical violence, gore, female nudity, some sexual references, and strong adult situations.