Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is directed by André Øvredal, with co-producer and co-writer Guillermo del Toro, based on the books by Alan Schwartz. It’s the Halloween of ‘68, and when a group of kids stumble upon the Bellows’ house, one of them finds the book of Sarah Bellows and her scary stories. Soon the book starts to write itself, featuring the kids one by one, and now they must figure out how to stop the curse.
I’m not someone who read the books as a kid, due to the illustrations by Stephen Gammell freaking me out too much (yeah, I was a wuss). I think I may have overheard some of my older brothers and sisters read it at some point, but I can’t for the life of me remember exactly. So expect this review to be on how the movie works on its own. One major change that’s noticeable is instead of an anthology film, this movie goes more of the route of the Goosebumps movie with Jack Black, where the stories come to life and its up to a group of teens to save the day. Considering Guillermo del Toro was attached to this, that got me hooked; he was intended to direct, but because he got caught up with The Shape of Water, André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe) was given the job. And after seeing the marketing they had, it was the first time I was excited to see a PG-13 horror film, especially with this being one of CBS Films’ last theatrical releases.
In terms of production value, the film looks pretty damn good for a $30 million. The 60’s small town setting is both nostalgic and fitting for the season, when Halloween did have some magic left to it. The monsters are gruesome and disturbing, just as I would suspect from a del Toro production, and each of their scenes gave me chills; the biggest standouts being the Pale Lady and Sarah Bellows’s ghost in the end. While there is a certain amount of CGI used, they do stick to mostly practical effects and people in suits, such as Javier Botet as the Big Toe corpse.
The main cast is comprised of mostly newcomers, with the exception of Ramon (Michael Garza), who is the lone wolf kid of the group; it’s later revealed as to why he keeps a low profile in the town, and how he keeps his cool with the townsfolk definitely reflects people of that time period, I would imagine.
Zoe Colletti as Stella Nicholls is fantastic; her timing in this film, whether it’s on or offscreen with someone, is impeccable. Being the dorky tomboy with bad gossip, there was definitely a sense of empathy to be had with her character, especially in the climax of the film. She’s definitely the breakout star, and if she chooses more horror films, then I’m all for it. She, along with actresses like Lulu Wilson, Anya-Taylor Joy, and Joey King, show great promise in the horror genre...hopefully for Colletti’s sake, she has a better track record than the latter’s.
There can be a lot of moments that do feel oddly placed, such as Chuck (Austin Zajur) revealing his nightmare out of nowhere, suddenly one character is fine as opposed to being dubbed insane, and that’s where I was noticing some of the script feeling a bit faulty; considering this had five writers in total, I can understand if at times some of this dialogue was not that easy to deliver. The film also constantly plays back some of the Nixon v Humphrey v Wallace election, like it’s trying to be a metaphor for “the real monsters are out there, and in our system”, or give reason for the horrors to still sync in after Halloween. Also, the ending does sequel beg through narration, and if they had just cut that voice over, it would have been perfectly fine to leave it open-ended if they DO get that greenlight.
There’s a lot more to digest, but in the end, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is flawed at times, but is a very fitting film for anyone looking for some nostalgic horror. Likable characters, gruesome monsters, and while it does ride the Stranger Things train a little bit, it works pretty nicely.
Rating: B+
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