A switch of the light on or a camera flash going off scares off the nasty little men living behind the basement fireplace closed off for years in the house inherited by socially awkward Kim Darby from her grandfather, and after handyman William Demarest warns Darby and her handsome husband Jim Hutton of the necessity to keep it closed up, Darby decides to dig it open anyway. Out pops these furious creatures intent on grabbing Darby's spirit to join them inside their fireplace home forever, and they are determined that nothing will stand in their way,

Demarest, as we learn, knows of their existence, threatened with violence if he exposes their existence before they make their move on Darby. They also have the tendency to appear to Darby at the most inopportune times, causing Darby to go bonkers during a lavish dinner party she throws which brings alarm to her husband. When they try to attack her while she's in the shower, it becomes apparent what they want but it is also revealed what scares them away. Hutton can't be around his wife 24/7 so this leaves plenty of time for Darby (given the chore of redecorating, so she is always home) to be attacked.

I truly did get frightened a few times in this classic TV horror movie, and indeed, the dark did become very frightening. Darby ("True Grit") and Hutton are certainly an odd couple. She doesn't really feel comfortable in large social gatherings so when she throws the dinner party, her social awkwardness is revealed, making for a unique heroine, sort of like Joan Hackett in the "Bobby" segment of the TV movie "Dead of Night" and more famously Karen Black in "Trilogy of Terror" dealing with an African warrior doll. Demarest is cranky but honest, even if he can't tell all he knows, and it's nice to see him in one of his very last acting roles, having been around since the 1930's.

Barbara Anderson as Darby's friend and soap veteran Lesley Woods (at least 11 daytime dramas) as the housekeeper also give good performances with Anderson trying to boost Darby's confidence to no avail not only with the dinner party but with dealing with these scary little critters as well. A nice little surprise, reminding audiences of how good these B films made directly for TV (basically replacing the programmers of the golden age of Hollywood) could be when they had a good script and interesting characters to write about.

During the late 1960s and through much of the 1970s, ABC produced a long series of made for TV movies marketed under the title "The ABC Movie of the Week". While the budgets and production times were all very low, they did manage to sign some reasonably big stars and produced quite a few very good little movies. As a kid, I saw a ton of them, but the scary ones were always the ones that stood out in my mind...and scared the crap out of me! "Crowhaven Farm", "The Stranger Within" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" were the big three--the three that made my skin crawl the most and made me go to bed with the lights on...they were that scary. I recently bought copies of a couple of these films and in both cases I was thrilled to see that they were indeed good films and were truly frightening.

This film begins with a young married lady (Kim Darby) looking around her new house. She manages to discover a hidden room--though the handyman (William Demarest) tells her to leave the room alone. Why? Who knows...but it is pretty creepy. Later, the curious Darby undoes some bolts on an old furnace...and unknowingly releases some demonic little creatures who are now up to no good! There is much more to it, but I don't want to say more, as it would spoil the suspense.

Overall, this is STILL an incredibly creepy film--and might make you lose some sleep! This is incredible considering that this film has the distinction for being the fastest to produce made-for-TV film of all time! And, considering this and the very low budget, the film is a huge success. And, if you enjoy this, try watching "Crowhaven Farm". It, too, will scare your pants off! While not a masterpiece, I still give this film a 9, as it's a wonderful film for young film makers to watch--to know it does NOT take explosions, gore or big bucks to make a wonderful film. See this one.

Although unavailable for decades, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK has to be one of the best remembered US TV movie horrors of the 1970s, up there with the likes of DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW. Nowadays an insipid remake hasn't put off the scores of fans who were traumatised by this film's scares when they first saw it as kids back in the day.

The story is a simple 'haunted house' horror yarn about a married couple who move into a new abode. The wife becomes quietly obsessed with the blocked-up fireplace and grate in the basement, and sets about opening them up despite warnings not to meddle. Soon she finds herself assailed by miniature critters with designs on her very soul.

I'd never seen this before so had no idea what to expect, but I was impressed with this TV movie's atmosphere, which is more oppressive and horrific than many a big-bucks Hollywood production of the era. In many ways it's an old fashioned production in which the scares are more subtle than in something like THE AMITYVILLE HORROR with its in-your-face fright sequences.

The acting is fairly middling, with the exception of Kim Darby who puts her all into the role of the frightened housewife. The direction and cinematography are fine. The only problem lies with the creatures themselves, one of whom is played by Felix Silla (of BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY fame). We see far too much of them as the film progresses, and the fact they talk in drawling US accents means that they're not frightening in the least. They should have spoken inarticulately, in hisses or grunts, and they should have been kept in the shadows until the final reveal. Less would have definitely been more in this case.