"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" director Troy Nixey and producer Guillermo del Toro are poised to terrorize audiences with their new film, which secured an R rating essentially based on scares alone.

A reimagining of the 1973 film by John Newland, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" centers on Sally (Bailee Madison), a young girl who is sent to live with her father (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend (Katie Holmes) in the old mansion, only to accidentally free a deadly horde of creatures.

In addition to serving as a producer, del Toro ("Hellboy," "Pan's Labyrinth") co-wrote the film with Matthew Robbins ("Mimic," "Dragonslayer") after spending years pondering the remake and chasing the filming rights.

Viewing the original film again, de Toro saw great potential in the story, but his recollections of the film were clouded.

"I realized that a large portion of what I loved was there, and another large portion I had invented," del Toro said in an interview with Rabid Doll. "Or I had sort of expanded on that ... I thought it would be great to try and formulate that into a new take on that material."

Helping to shape the remake's chilling tale was Nixey, who found working with del Toro -- one of his favorite directors -- an irresistible draw.

"To be able to tap into his knowledge and enthusiasm, it was just incredible," Nixey explained. "But at the heart of it, it's this great family dynamic. And to be honest with you, if you took the monsters out of it, you would still have this great movie.

"Then you bring in scares, and you bring in these monsters, and to be able to essentially create this fantastic world. These terrible creatures terrorizing this little girl is just the icing on the cake."

Nixey describes the film as a throwback to scary movies of the '70s and '80s. And its R-rating simply comes from terror and violence.

"It's not a blood and gore slash-fest movie," he explained. "It's a real psychological terror. We really go after this little girl with these monsters. It's really strongly implied scares."

The film is the second feature del Toro has presented, which reinforces his validation of the project.

"I have only presented 'The Orphanage' and this," del Toro said. "That should tell you the level of faith and love I have for the movie. I think it is a classic scary movie, with a modern degree of intensity."

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" opens in theaters Jan. 21, 2011.