By Shane Conto
There have always been lessons to learn by watching horror films over the years. Should you stay in a place that is obviously haunted due to some horrifying things having occurred there? Should you let someone into your life that screams “I am a creeper and clearly psychotic but I am not really that bad”? Should you trust a small child that is quite clearly the spawn of Satan? Tonight’s TedTalk is centered around the idea of one particular trope. Should you read out of a book that is most certainly going to unleash some kind of hellscape on a small town or a small group of people? Well Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is one of those films that is able to get past that tired trope and deliver a quality horror film that hits on multiple levels.
Alvin Schwartz is the author that brought a generation of children nightmares with his bone chilling tales of horror. I will admit that I was not one of those children that read his work (my childhood was mostly fill with reading and watching Goosebumps and watching Are You Afraid of the Dark?). But when I saw the trailer for this film including the name of Guillermo del Toro attached, I was blown away. Del Toro has a great way of creating monsters to haunt your dreams forever while making you feel an eerie connection to them. Andre Ovredal is the one who actually holds the reins as the director, building on his great filmography of Trollhunter and The Autopsy of Jane Doe (a film that surprised me by the quality of its atmosphere and scares). Ovredal is able to create some impressive scares in Scary Stories with the rich and eclectic source material. One particular sequence uses fluid camera work, eerie red lighting, a terrifying monster with impressive effects, and never-ending hallways to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. Not every scare is impressive as the film still leans on jump scares on multiple occasions but overall delivers more times than not.
One of my biggest fears for this film, one that came true for Annabelle Comes Home,was that the film would feel more like a string of individual threads without fully coming together as a convincing whole. Thanks to quality writing from Dan & Kevin Hageman, each story is brought together in a cohesive way that builds on character and a greater story. The film builds to a satisfying conclusion that feels earned and something that elevates the experience past just spooky scares. I felt sympathy for the “monster” of our story as the finger prints of del Toro are all over this tale. It was meaningful to feel depth in an antagonist within a horror story making the film more complex. But let’s not forget the group of teenagers that are the center of this story. They are a group of young folks on Halloween who get tangled up in a haunted house where they find a book of evil tales. The Hageman’s create a group of protagonists to root for as they face a swarm of creepy creatures out of their worst nightmares. As the film tells us “you don’t read this book, this book reads you”.
Zoe Margaret Colletti plays our lead, Stella, who has a penchant for writing and the horror genre. She has baggage in her life that she draws upon throughout the film including her relationship with her father, played by Dean Norris. Colletti gets a few moments to flex her acting chops that feel real and powerful. Michael Garza plays Ramon who has a budding relationship with Stella but he is not very memorable despite some twists to his character. Austin Zajur gets to deliver the majority of the comic relief, which mostly hits. His increased anxious state of mind allows for him to show some real paranoia as he confronts his nightmare. There are a few performances that feel a little flat like the local bully, played by Austin Abrams, and the local police chief, played by Gil Bellows.
The film is set during Halloween and early November 1968 which turns out to be a good choice. The election that brought Nixon to the White House and the escalating Vietnam War make a solid backdrop that add layers to the themes and plot of the film. The production design is well done and allows the audience to get lost in this small town and time period. The Bellow’s house feels lived in and creepy.
Overall, Ovredal and del Toro are able to create an effective horror film with good scares, an interesting story, and likeable characters. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is worth the time at the theater as it will deliver on these different levels. As an adult man, I will be freaked out tonight as I dream of the monsters I saw on screen. The books may have been written as horror for kids but this film leans a little more on the adult horror side making it a little too much for kids. As the summer comes to a quick end this August, why not jump a few months ahead to Halloween and get the crap scared out of you?
Grade: B+