MovieChat Forums > Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) Discussion > There was Photographic Evidence !!!

There was Photographic Evidence !!!

posted 19 years ago by Error_PC_LOAD_LETTER
7 replies | jump to latest

The night of Sally's abduction, immediately before being caught by the three things with a rope, Sally tried to defend herself with a flashlight. Because she had been heavilly druged, she was unable to hold the flashlight.

When the three 'things' caught Sally and were dragging her across the floor, she had presence of mind to grab a camera and tried to defend herself with the camera flash. We see, in two of the flashes, some of the best shots of at least two of the creatures we ever see in the whole movie. Sally actually took pictures of the 'things' that abducted her !!!

Of course, the camera flash didn't last long enough to really ward the things off. They went right on with their plans.

Nonetheless, I wonder what they thought when they found the camera and developed the film ???

[–] lnifan2000 19 years ago

Good point. I wonder if the things maybe would have taken the camera, too though, so no one else could find evidence of their existence?

[–] Error_PC_LOAD_LETTER 19 years ago

Not really sure if they'd care. They had their prize.

Just imagine Forteen Times and other paranormal publications debating whether the pictures were guinuine.

The movie left a lot open to the imagination -- but I'm sure Alex (the husband), the handyman, and Sally's blonde-haired friend were all finally convinced. Wonder what kind of search they'd've done and what was physically below the fireplace ashpit, if anything. The portal in the ashpit may indeed have been a sort of interdimensional gateway of sorts.

Whereas at the end, we hear Sally's voice as one of them, and evidently content with her new existence/life -- makes me wonder what events would have followed this story if there were a sequal. I'd have dismantled the fireplace and hired extensive digging just to see what would turn up -- probably nothing.

Old houses hold old mysteries -- perhaps the ash dump emptied into a cave system since it'd take some effort to scoop ashes out of an ashpit from a fireplace that was already in the basement/below grade. Unless there was an extensive hole there already, it wouldn't have been worth it to build an ash pit below grade. Maybe there'd been more of these things below the ground at one time (like the mole people). Or, maybe they were merely demonic familiar spirits of some ancient magic practicioner. Whatever they were, I sure wanted to know more.

I wonder why I'm so obsessed with this movie -- always have been. It really didn't scare me, but it really reved my imagination.

[–] lnifan2000 19 years ago

Yes, they didn't make a lot of sequels back then like they do now. Seems like the endless sequels started with the FRIDAY THE 13TH Movies. I guess if "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" had come out in the 80's we'd have about 10 sequels to it by now :-) You do have some good ideas for the sequel though. Maybe someday they will remake the movie.

[–] ppolax 19 years ago

Am I the only one that read Katie Holmes was starring in a remake of this film? Now I can't find any info on a remake since she & Tom became TomKat. Maybe he advised her against it?!?

[–] Error_PC_LOAD_LETTER 19 years ago

A remake, yes, I've heard. But don't get your hopes up. Hollywood today does not seem to understand what makes this kind of movie scary. There will be a lot of 'Ka-Ching!" noises and flashes of light at anything even remotely scary. There'd be too much explanation. And the explanation would be hokey as hell, like they were demons of Pazuzu or creatures from outer space.

My "Reviewer comments" has some ideas for a remake. We can do a lot more with the creatures to make them hideous, terrifying, gross, and menacing without giving too much explanation and keeping their appearances to a minimum -- yet enough of a view to make them seem terribly real, nasty, and genuinely terrifying a creepy. Not something you'd want to see escaping from you through the ductwork.

In my opinion, a sequel (not a remake) should be relatively short and on a DVD boxed set but not a part of the movie per se. There is photographic evidence of the creatures, which would be doubted and debated on the Paranormal and Cryptozoology forums. The story could involve a desperate invasion (of Alex, Joan, and the Handyman) that might reveal a great cave system (too small for human exploration) or part of something ancient like an old aquaduct system or some other semi-natural point of invasion -- maybe a few weird artifacts or substances like immense quantities of dried blood, stolen or missing valuables, heinous weapons or weird tools of unknown purpose, but no sally nor any trace of the creatures.

[–] arnomation 19 years ago

There's no way to know if there was actually film in the camera though...

[–] Error_PC_LOAD_LETTER 19 years ago

Seems like she had to advance or fumble with it to get it to work again.

Who knows ... ?