'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark': Film Review

  • 📰 THR
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 51 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 24%
  • Publisher: 53%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

Guillermo del Toro came up with the screen story for this lackluster adaptation of Alvin Schwartz's popular children's horror books.

The late author Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" series — three books in total, each comprised of between 25 and 29 tales that mostly run a page or two — have captivated children since the first volume's publication in 1981. They've also, due to their macabre subject matter and eerie illustrations by Stephen Gammell, drawn ire from prudish adults.

The cleverest conceit is to give the "stories" themselves their own origin. They're the product of a vengeful spirit named Sarah Bellows , who writes them in blood within a cursed tome. If you're the subject of the tale, your doom is assured. As one of our petrified protagonists notes, "The book reads you!"

It's all rather ineffective window dressing , though give del Toro credit for at least mentioning 'Nam where Quentin Tarantino cheekily and recklessly effaced it from his own 1960s head trip,however, for setting a scene at a drive-in showing and reformatting that film's 1.37 aspect ratio to a modern-era friendly 1.78. Sacrilege! We'll call the needle-dropping of "Season of the Witch" by Donovan a draw.

All of these beasties are "scary." Though they'd be much more so if they felt less like franchisable IP and more like fervent expressions of the ills of the eras on which the film aims to comment.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 411. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Guillermo del Toro Talks ‘Scary Stories,’ ‘Nightmare Alley,’ and Bringing His Fantasies to LifeIs Guillermo del Toro ever not in pre-production? The Oscar-winning director-writer-producer has seemingly lived in a constant state of development for the entirety of his nearly three-decade caree… The Devil’s Backbone/ El Espinazo del diablo, how cannot be on the list 🙈 I’m part of the 7% for Hellboy 2. Wooo Where is Crimson Peak?
Source: Variety - 🏆 108. / 63 Read more »

‘Hobbs & Shaw’ To Swat Away Five Wide Releases Including ‘Dora’, ‘Scary Stories’ & More – Box Office PreviewUniversal’s Hobbs & Shaw isn’t going anywhere, and they’ll stay put in No. 1 this coming weekend with $28M-$30M, a decline somewhere between -50% and -53%. This as five wide e…
Source: DEADLINE - 🏆 109. / 63 Read more »

'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' to Feature Lana Del Rey's 'Season of the Witch' CoverLana Del Rey to cover 'Season of the Witch' for ScaryStoriesMov ScaryStoriesMov LEGEND ScaryStoriesMov BrookeHenige THIS IS IMPORTANT
Source: THR - 🏆 411. / 53 Read more »

'Scary' German output figures propel recession fearsGerman industrial output fell more than expected in June, driven by weaker produ... with trump in office we are headed for the next great depression. military deployment is already underway. how many nukes will go off, and will we consequently go into extinction as a cause of global warming. . . next on world media seiht. German economy props up the EU, and about to lose UK markets to Brexit , better get ready for a huge hit. EU needs a kick up the backside and needs to make a real DEAL. Am I the only one that imagines being crushed to death if one of those steel rolls came loose? ☠️
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »

Jacob Elordi Literally Got a Concussion Filming Nate’s Scary Meltdown in the ‘Euphoria’ Finale
Source: Cosmopolitan - 🏆 725. / 51 Read more »

Wayfair Has Some Scary Good Deals on Halloween DecorThe discounts are legit pretty spooky, and believe us, Halloween will be here before we can say
Source: CafeMom - 🏆 701. / 51 Read more »