We're a little conflicted about the new Spiderwick Chronicles trailer, online here. On the one hand we just don't know if we can handle another pubescent kid fighting magical hoozits in a bid to become, cinematically, the next Harry Potter. On the other hand it stars Freddie Highmore, who is insanely talented and charming and can apparently add accents and being twins to the list of things he does better than most grown ups. On the other other hand it also stars David Strathairn, who is always worth the price of admission. And on the other other other hand it actually looks like it might have a little edge.
The film tells your standard story, based on Holly Black's book, of boy discovering magical land through medium of reading (go to libraries, kids, they're not just for fat spotty types) and some specially powered trinket. But this seems to be pushing those childhood fear buttons that most films nowadays are too scared to go near.
That little goblin thing is weird enough, and not just for his slightly ropey CG, but who didn't feel just the teeniest bit freaked out when the ogre started making himself known? That thing is frightening. Too many studios are too frightened of backlashing parents to put anything remotely unsettling in children's movies these days. But kids movies are always improved by a villain that gives you nightmares – the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz, the script in Garfield – so we welcome the return of anything that scares the bebaby bejesus out of small people.