Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Details

2026 Subscribers: This is NOT included in your Subscription. If you'd like to purchase it, you will need to login to view your special 50% off SRP pricing.

This special limited edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray set comes with a spot gloss and embossed bottom load slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Wes Benscoter) and is limited to 6,000 units. It is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.

Iconoscope is a new Vinegar Syndrome sub label dedicated entirely to television, produced by long-time VS film scanning technician and restoration artist, Brandon Upson. With a focus on genre-based, English language (and possibly international) productions, Iconoscope will be preserving, restoring and releasing made-for-tv films, mini-series, and multi-season series ranging from well known big productions to more obscure, and even lost, regional rarities.

When Sally inherits a beautiful Victorian mansion from her grandmother, she and her husband Alex waste no time moving in. During renovations, she comes across a mysterious locked study. Despite pleas from the local handyman who insists she leave things be, Sally finally happens upon the key. Inside, she discovers a reinforced fireplace that was sealed long ago, and the handyman insists she not try to open it. Soon after entering the room, Sally begins to see small, menacing creatures all over the house, but no one will believe her. Alex thinks she's just neurotic, and her friend Joan thinks she’s merely another bored housewife seeking attention. Meanwhile, the macabre creatures keep calling her to join them, as Sally too begins to question her sanity. As she spirals closer and closer to madness, the shocking truth of the house’s past starts to unravel, with death close behind. 

One of the most celebrated and beloved horror Movie Of The Week telefilms of the 1970s, helmed by master small screen director John Newland (TV’s Star Trek, Night Gallery), DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK has resonated with and inspired generations of fans and filmmakers alike, including Guillermo del Toro, who produced and co-wrote a 2010 theatrical remake. Evincing an atmosphere of true doom, terrifying forced perspective creature effects, and bold performances from Kim Darby (True Grit, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers) and Jim Hutton (Hellfighters, Psychic Killer), Iconoscope is proud to present for its debut release, the 4K UHD premiere of this intensely creepy creature feature, newly restored from a 4K scan of its original camera negative.

directed by: John Newland 
starring: Kim Darby, Jim Hutton, Barbara Anderson, William Demarest, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Lesley Woods
1973 / 74 min / 1.33:1 / English Mono