What's the deal with Guillermo del Toro? In recent years he's spent less time directing – which he's pretty good at (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth – and more time serving as a producer for pretty mediocre films. And sadly here's another one to add to the growing list.

Restorations – that's what Alex (Guy Pearce) and Kim (Katie Holmes) do best. They find old properties that have clearly seen better days, work their magic and restore them to their former glory.

For their latest project, the gothic looking Blackwood Manor, Alex has his young daughter Sally (Bailee Madison) join them. Sally is under the misunderstanding that it's a short term arrangement, but the truth is, it's probably going to be for the long haul.

Although Kim isn't a parent herself, she does try to make Sally feel at home in what is essentially someone else's home. Sally isn't in the mood to be friends with Kim just yet. Besides, she hears intriguing voices from within the manor itself; they sound playful to her and she's keen discover where they come from.

As it turns out, they come from behind a sealed grate in the basement. Despite her tiny frame, Sally manages to remove the cover from the grate. And although the voices sounded friendly at first, it's not long before she regrets letting the little critters trapped behind it out.

I have to tell you I'm really scared right now: what the hell is going on with your freaky giant hand?!

It comes as no real surprise to learn that this is actually a remake. What's a little more surprising is that it's from a made-for-TV film that aired in the US in 1973. It transpires, from one of the DVD extras here, that del Toro was a big fan of the original, hence his participation with this remake.

The question has to be asked however, if it really is a film he's truly passionate about, would he really hand the whole project over for someone's directorial debut?

The first bump in the road the film encounters is in the casting department. There have been a number of impressive performances by young actors over the years (Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, Dakota Fanning in Man on Fire, and more recently Thomas Horn in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, for example), but Bailee Madison's isn't one of them. She looks like she would be perfect for a cuddly Disney film, where she might go off and have an incredible adventure with her cute puppy, but fear is just not in her range.

But she's not the only one to have a bad day at the office. Pearce is disappointing by his usually high standards, and the only thing disturbing about the whole film is Holmes; it's a part that is anaemic at best, delivering as she does a limp and lifeless performance.

Not that it matters all that much in the great scheme of things, as the film can't handle fear either. It's about as jumpy as a wheelchair-bound cricket. Which is a shame as it certainly looks the part for the first half of the film – before its 'big' creature reveal. But it's difficult not to feel disappointed when the monsters finally show their faces, when they are nothing more than anorexic gremlins.

It all seems to boil down to the inexperience of Troy Nixey; he's made a name for himself as a comic book artist in the past, but he really struggles with the medium of film. His direction lacks impact on all fronts, as he fails to deliver any semblance of shock. It's a real shame as the art department did a good job at creating a spooky environ for the story to play out; it certainly looks the part, but Nixey shows little in the way of ingenuity in attempting to create the necessary chills.

The truth is, if del Toro was truly a fan of the original as he states, he should have simply manned up and directed this project himself. The fact that he didn't, is more of an indication that he really wasn't that fussed about it in the first place. So you can watch this with the lights out, as there's sadly nothing to be afraid of here.