Afraid of the Dark?

Afraid of the Dark at the Charing Cross Theatre was billed on the posters as 'a new-brand of theatrical terror'. It was billed by Time Out as 'dreadful' and by the Guardian as 'as scary as a wet sock'. So it was with some trepidation one ventured to see it.

Happily, Afraid of the Dark turned out to be an enjoyable slice of hokum, vaguely reminscent in style and structure to the much-homaged Amicus portmanteau horror films such as Doctor Terror's House of Horrors as a mysterious old vaudevillian, Dr Charlier, visits the staff of a schlocky 1950s film studio and reveals that he knows rather too much about their pasts and futures.

Cheesey stuff, yes, and certainly not 'a new-brand of theatrical terror', but some effective frights are achieved by techniques that would have pleased the B-movie producers the show celebrates. The small cast, despite the odd variable accent, did a laudable job - particularly Julian Forsyth as Charlier -  and although the closing scenes didn't entirely satisfy Afraid of the Dark was a likeable little ride that hasn't deserved the kicking certain critics have given it.