Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

 

On the surface, Sally Farnham (KIM DARBY) seems to have it all. Married to the overly ambitious Alex, a lawyer desperately trying to make partner at his firm, Sally has the free time to redecorate the ginormous estate she just inherited from her late grandmother. She even has the economic clout to keep a maid, a handyman, and the highly coveted interior designer Francisco Perez, an expert in navy, browns, and candles on retainer. The one thing missing from her seemingly perfect life is a study, a place with enough room for a desk, some filing cabinets, and a fireplace. Judging from the exterior shots, it seems as though Sally could have her pick of over 300 different rooms that could readily satisfy her need for a home office. What Sally wants, Sally gets, and she is hell-bent on quenching her fireplace fixation by redecorating the downstairs study, long abandoned by her late grandfather. Despite repeated warnings from the handyman that, "Some things are better left as they are," stubborn Sally opens the side panel on the bricked-up (with steel reinforcement no less) hearth. As a result of her one-woman renovation, Sally sends a generation of TV movie watchers scurrying for the light switch when she unleashes three of the creepiest lil' photophobic demons that look like the California Raisins crossed with Boy George in Taboo make-up. 

INDELIBLE SCENE(S):

• The disembodied voices intoning, "Sally… Sally…Sally, we're waiting for you"
• Sally's tug-of-war at the top stairs with the demons after her decorator takes a tumble
• Sally's futile attempt at fending off the demons with an Instamatic as they drag her towards the fireplace