Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2012

Tired of haunted-house movies that rely on gore and mere “Boo!” moments? Then try on this scarier-than-most effort from writer/producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth). A lonely 10-year-old girl (an astounding Bailee Madison) trying to deal with her new life in an impossibly gothic manor with her workaholic dad (Guy Pearce) and potential stepmother (Katie Holmes) releases these rat-size, not-so-cute Tooth-Fairy beasties, which then begin to stalk and torment her. Unless the lights are on. Quibble: the CG monsters, though gradually revealed, were scarier when you could only imagine them.