Originally, I chose to skip this movie since many people in my circles said it was terrible and the last time I saw a horror movie produced by Guillermo Del Toro, it resulted in Mama which was one of my least favorite horror movies ever made. The advertising really didn’t sell me on the film either so I just ignored the movie until I saw a couple clips that piqued my interest. Suffice to say, I feel like an idiot for not checking this one out…
MONSTER MASH
Finally….FINALLY! For years, I have been begging for a movie to finally bring back monsters, creatures, and anything that goes bumping that night besides the typical invisible ghosts and demons that have been overused for the last ten years.
I shouldn’t be surprised to see such beautiful special effects for monsters in a Guillermo Del Toro production, he always helps filmmakers make terrifying creature effects that make you both creeped out and intrigued. The mix of CGI and practical effects worked really well in this movie, I loved every single entity and creature that came from the stories.
SIMILAR TO GOOSEBUMPS BUT BETTER
I enjoyed the Goosebumps movie, it wasn’t perfect by any means but as someone who enjoyed the cheese of Goosebumps, it was satisfying but this is what I feel like Goosebumps SHOULD have been like: dark, creepy, and disturbing.
While there are similarities, I don’t quite understand the complaint that this movie was a ripoff of Goosebumps. If we’re being honest, Goosebumps got its concept from The Pagemaster….which 95% probably have no memory of.
Anyway, books and stories coming to life is hardly a new concept but I think this one did it well, setting a very unnerving tone from the moment it starts. I loved the 1960s period piece look and feel of the movie that is shot very well: this movie was beautiful from beginning to end. It’s a time when Night Of The Living Dead was considered the scariest movie for kids so it was refreshing to see a less jaded era in film. At least it wasn’t the 1980s for the millionth time in the last few years?
The whole history and lore behind the cursed book was also great to see which led to a mystery story that I felt was really engaging, even though the twist as to why this is all happening was just a tad bit of a cliche but I won’t spoil it here.
I WAS ACTUALLY CREEPED OUT?
I don’t scare easily, I’ve been watching horror movies since I was like…five? I had terrific parents. So it really surprised me that this movie got under my skin a couple of times: the first story featuring the scarecrow had me horrified towards the end of it, the Pale Lady was ominous, and even The Big Toe, actually had me on edge.
Plus you have the scariest subplot of them all: we actually get to see Nixon become President! Jesus…if that was written by the book, history suddenly makes so much sense. That makes the Jangly Man look like Baby Groot.
So if a new horror movie actually manages to get to me? I have to give it a horror movie fan salute. Well done, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.
SOLID PERFORMANCES
One reason I was worried about this movie was because I thought this movie was going for yet another Stranger Things-esque cast which was one of my only flaws with the Child’s Play reboot but instead, these kids felt more unique and mature than most teenage brats you tend to see in horror movies.
The only one I had a small gripe with at the beginning was the character of Chuck but he grew on me as the movie went on and I actually felt chills during his story when the curse comes for him.
QUICK FLAWS
I did have some issues: I mentioned that Chuck got on my nerves towards the beginning but then you have the other friend August who was a fine character and all but I felt that he deserved a bit more screentime and the same goes for the creature in his story. It’s there for literally seconds and I wanted more of it.
The music was bland, it was every horror movie soundtrack you’ve ever heard. I know not every soundtrack can be done by Bear McCreary but…a woman can dream, can’t she? Even then, movies like Sinister and The Conjuring had great use of simple yet terrifying music when things were going to hell.
The ending felt…mixed for me: it’s like it tries to set up a sequel while trying to have a happy ending but it comes off as just jarring to me. It’s also an abrupt ending that just kind says, “Oh yeah! We need an ending….THERE YA GO!” Plus I don’t get the ending of Ramon’s story arc: didn’t the movie establish multiple times that the Vietnam War was just a meat grinder yet he just goes to the war anyway? Ramon was my favorite character so I was a little annoyed that he wasn’t part of the team they were setting up for the sequel: no instead it’s this one character who I forgot existed after her story ended.
Oh yeah, the only one of the stories I didn’t like was this very tacked on story featuring the character of Ruth which starts off great and could have led to some cool monsters but it ends just as quickly as it begins without any kind of climax.
And this is more of a fault with the advertising but the trailer tries to sting you with this one creature that looks amazing but…it’s only on screen for a couple seconds at best and pretty much the entire screen-time is shown in the trailer. Not going to spoil it but yeah, that was disappointing.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
As a whole, this movie surprised me with it’s charm, likable cast, beautiful visuals, spectacular creature effects, and a thrilling horror romp through the 1960s. It’s not perfect, I wish it was about 10 to 15 minutes longer to give the creatures and stories just a little more screen time each.
If you spot this movie, I highly recommend it: I’m gonna the movie a solid 8/10. If you’re like me and you’re just wanting a true return of monster movies, then I’d say this movie’s for you.
Melody's Marvels 