Afraid of the Dark 1992

 Set in a nice London neighborhood that is rather deserted and foreboding, this film is about a sensitive young boy who lives in flat overlooking a cemetery with his blind mother and his father who is a policeman.  Taking place in the summertime, Lucas the boy of the film is on holiday and has plenty of time to roam around his neighborhood and imagination which is fed by his voyeuristic peculiarities and the news that a maniac who takes pleasure in slashing blind women is on the loose. This is really all I can tell about the plot without giving away the many surprises and pleasures that this film offers. I guess I would call it a thriller semi-horror film set in the land of adolescence, loneliness and loss. On a superficial level it’s a thriller, but it’s also about perception and how we see things, and how things look to us whether they are real or imaginary and the deepness and sometimes despair of childhood.  Written and directed by Mark Peploe who wrote the screenplays for The Last Emperor and The Passenger and is the brother in law of Bernardo Bertolucci, this is a smart and intricate puzzle of a movie which I watched the other night for the third time and I will no doubt see again down the road, that’s how good it is. There are many references to other films and filmmakers including Michael Powell and Peeping Tom, Hitchcock and Rear Window, The Fallen Idol and even The Wizard of Oz. There are also sly references and clues dropped here and there including a green grocer whose shop is named Vigo, but happily one’s enjoyment of the film does not depend on the degree of one’s cinema knowledge or history of film.  Atmospheric with deep color saturated cinematography and a nice cast featuring Fanny Ardant, James Fox and Ben Keyworth as Lucas. Also look for David Thewlis in an early role. One of the ten best films of 1992.