MovieChat Forums > Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) Discussion > Very scary - esp considering it was a tv...

Very scary - esp considering it was a tv movie from the 70s

posted 13 years ago by alanjobe
6 replies | jump to latest

This movie gave me such nightmares for years after seeing it as a child on tv. I would be convinced that someone was whispering my name or terrified that one of the creatures was under my bed.

Like the dvd audio commentary says, I always thought this was an episode of 'Night Gallery' and not an actual movie. Considering the length on the dvd, this must've been a 90 minute movie instead of a 2 hour one.

As scared as I was from seeing it years ago, I just had to rewatch this to see if it was still as terrifying as I remembered. I will admit that it was still pretty creepy.

While I wouldn't recommend it to modern day horror lovers, it definitely fits in with my idea of a great scary movie. I prefer creepy over gore any day. And this was def creepy.

And it had Uncle Charley from My Three Sons as well. Brrrr.

Al - Alicia
An - Andrew
Jo - Joseph
Be - Benjamin

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] alanjobe 13 years ago

I haven't seen the remake, but I will always be grateful to it.

for years, I wanted to see this orginal again - as sick as it sounds, I had to see it because it had affected me so.

I was convinced it was an episode of Night Gallery, but when I read about the remake, I realized that it was actually a tv movie and that it was available on dvd.

Most first-time viewers may not find this movie scary, but because I had seen it as a child, I still jumped several times while watching it as an adult.

Al - Alicia
An - Andrew
Jo - Joseph
Be - Benjamin

[–] a_l_i_e_n 12 years ago

Very scary - esp considering it was a tv movie from the 70's.

I would say that's the very reason it was so scary. The networks during that period had a talented pool of filmmakers (John Newland being one of them) who, despite small budgets and short production schedules, knew how to really frighten their audience in a very memorable way. This was the decade that produced so many great horror and suspense pieces for television like "The Night Stalker", "Trilogy Of Terror", "Duel" and ofcourse "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark."

[–] SimplySteve 12 years ago

Guys, I'm right there with ya one this one, and ALL the great TV films of the 70's.

Here's my review of DBAOTD from '05 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069992/reviews-93

.

[–] ElectricWarlock 10 years ago

Yes, this movie is proof that not all made-for-TV movies are cheesy, poor quality junk. It is just as good as any theatrical production and I'm glad I watched it. All the made-for-TV horror movies from the '70s that I've seen so far (Trilogy of Terror, Dead of Night, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark) have been very good. I would recommend this to every horror fan.

I've been waiting for you, Ben.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

About as scary as a made for tv film from the 70s could be.