I've attended quite a few panels at Comic-Con over the past couple of days, and it's interesting which 'stars' make an impact on you and which ones don't. I've already mentioned
how Ryan Reynolds won me over. On the other hand, Mary-Louise Parker (who I've always adored because of
Weeds) seemed totally disinterested during the Showtime Anti-Heroes panel - as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure she was texting under the table most of the time.
On day two of the convention I was most taken with Mexican director/writer/producer Guillermo Del Toro. There to discuss his upcoming horror film
Don't be Afraid of the Dark, Del Toro was colourful, affable and downright genuine. He had the audience mesmerised from the moment he sat down. The first thing he noticed was a pile of Hershey's Kisses chocolates that the organisers has placed in each participant's chair. "That's how they lure the fat man out here," he exclaimed as soon as he spied the chocolates.
In an expletive-riddled 60 minutes Del Toro explained how much he loved the original 1973 film
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark as a child. "The films at the time were films like
Nightstalker and
Nightstrangler" he recalled. "
Don't be Afraid of the Dark came completely out of left field .... my brothers and I just loved it." Toro acquired the rights to the film and wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robbins back in 1998, but apparently it's taken until now to get it made, as they wanted to work with a studio that would let them produce the film the way they wanted. "In writing the screenplay we had to get it right. I wanted to reinvent the story and make it contemporary, but also stay faithful to the ending, which is completely shocking. The ending hits you like a motherfucker".
At this point someone reminded him that there are children in the audience and that he shouldn't swear. "Oh, fuck it," he said. "It's like Sesame Street ... 'Kids, the word today is 'motherfuckers'".
Del Toro then introduced comic artist Troy Nixey to the crowd. Apparently Nixey emailed Del Toro some of his art a few years back after seeing him at Comic-Con. He also sent him a short film he'd made and on the back of that Del Toro decided he was the right person to direct this horror film - even though he had never directed a feature before.
Nixey went on to say how blown away he was when Del Toro - one of his heroes - took an interest in his work. During the panel, Del Toro told the audience that he will always look at any drawings or story ideas that any punter brings to Comic-Con. "I also have an open email address," he said. "Any time you email me something, I promise I will always, always reply with feedback". This announcement was met with appreciative cheers from the crowd.
It was then that they decided to show the audience the first trailer for the film. There's no real point in describing it to you - it's better that you see it with fresh eyes when it's released. All I can say is that every single person in the audience got a good, proper scare and screamed collectively. "What the fuck was that?!" yelled Del Toro as the lights came up. "I shat my pants!"
The film tells the story of a little girl who goes to live with her father (Guy Pearce) and stepmother (Katie Holmes) in a rickety old mansion. In the basement she discovers an 'ash cellar' which has been closed up for years. Upon opening it she releases some terrifying creatures that want to pull the little girl down into their world.
"This idea of something wanting to pull children down is in so many of the best fairytales," explained Del Toro. "The Changelings and Rip Van Winkle. All those wonderful dark fairytales have this element."
They then went on to show the first prologue clip of the film.
The scene (which was set back in the early 1900s) builds the tension in a magnificent manner. It shows a maid responding to a call bell which came from the house's basement. As she walks tentatively down the basement stairs in the dark, she trips and falls. Out of the dark corner of the basement comes a slightly derranged older man, who seems to be missing all his teeth. As she lies on the ground in a semi-conscious state, he kneels over her in a menacing fashion. While crying and apologising he goes ahead and kills her in one of the most disturbing murder scenes I've seen in a long time. The entire Hall H at Comic-Con flinched and buried their heads.
"And that's the backbone of any good horror film," Del Toro said after the clip was shown. "A shiver, or a good scare".
As an Aussie it was interesting to see that the crippled old man character was played by Australia's Own (TM) Garry McDonald. Because the film was made in Melbourne (remember all the fuss that was made when Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise were in town?) there are a number of local cameos - Jack Thompson, Alan Dale and ex-
Neighbours star Eliza Taylor-Cotter will also appear in the film.
The panel then went on to discuss the fact that the ratings board in the US has given it an R-rating. Here's the ever entertaining Del Toro describing his reaction to the rating:
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is due out in the US early 2011. An Australian release date is yet to be confirmed.
As an aside, Del Toro selected Nixey as director after seeing his short 'Latchkey's Lament'. You can view the film on YouTube: part one and part two.