El gabinete de curiosidades de Guillermo del Toro

I thought I would not review this series until I watched all 8 of the episodes.

Episodes 1 to 4 were very good but I would not call them horror per se.

Episode 5 was also very good and more humour in it than the previous ones.

Episode 6 with Rupert Grint was okay and I was disappointed with it, Rupert is a good actor and I thought he would have gone onto bigger and better things, maybe this will kick his career in to overdrive.

Episode 7 was awful, the worst out of the bunch. I was so looking forward to this one as it had Peter Weller in it, in fact if you look quickly at him he looked like David Carradine in his latter years. This one is worth a miss.

Episode 8, the final episode was the only real horror in the whole series, this one was also very good. If you like a good gothic feel horror then this one is for you.

Overall a good series of course with hit and miss episodes.

Episode 1

The story is good, the sound and settings are great, it builds up to something special, and ends everything it took 90% of the episode to destroy and make it like all the other crappy horror stories that doesn't really have a proper ending.

The ending is like a weak Twilight Zone ending, it's dumb, its cheap, where you, rather than being scared, or, entertained even ... just feel like you've wasted 45 min minutes of your life that was a cliche like all the worst and most boring horror stories.

I don't know if I should call it horror even, not a single minute that is scary. But it could have been, but the last 5 minutes are so bad that it's amazing that it got made.

Lets hope episode 2 is better.

My rank: The Murmuring (somber drama) The Autopsy/Graveyard Rats (gruesome and uncomfortable tension) Pickman's Model/Dreams in Witch house (Creepy and haunting) The Outside (slightly disturbing) Lot 36 (unsatisfactory cliche) The Viewing (dull yellow filter)

Lot 36 Ep1 - Story premise is cliche, I was fine with it but it needed more time because it felt lacking. It's like ending a 2 hour movie in the middle as it was getting interesting.

Graveyard Rats Ep2 - Best in terms of the tense horror. I couldn't even eat my noodles as I was short of gagging with some of the scenes. I hate rats and tight spaces so this episode was just hitting my senses right. Silently screaming it to be over. David Hewlett was brilliant in this.

The Autopsy Ep3 - Body gore horror. Made me gag same as ep 2. I quite like the initial mystery and how it ended up. Slow start but the payoff after the build up is good. F. Murray Abraham delivered his character well.

The Outside Ep4 - Societal commentary horror. Not at all scary or disturbing. It just reminds me of Black Mirror vibe and would honestly not be surprised if I ever saw this in Black Mirror.

Pickman's Model Ep5 - Ben Barnes and Crispin Glover. Chef's kiss. Anyway it's like when your mind envisions everything that come to mind into something horrific.. this episode is that, you begin to question yourself what even is real.

Dreams in Witch House Ep6 - I thought Rupert was great here. I love the set. Had good creepy vibes. It somehow felt like a dark magic fantasy idk why lol.

The Viewing Ep7 - I have no words for this except HUH???. Weakest episode. Like a very bad trip.

The Murmuring Ep8 - A somber end to this anthology and my favorite. It's not thrilling or scary even with the horror elements it just felt like a heartwarming drama. It's a journey of a couple trying to get over a wall that's tearing them quietly apart. The short story is told and closed perfectly. Paired with brilliant acting of Essie and Andrew.

All episodes had good coloring and lighting as they fit the vibe (except for ep7... idk what's happening with that yellow filter) and I can see the details fine which is always a plus for me. The cinematography, cgi, practical effects were good overall as well. Music is minimal and not overbearing which is great as some horror rely too much on those basic horror sound effects to jump scare you which can get quite stale.

I really, really wanted to love this series.

Guillermo del Toro has produced some amazing horror, but this is probably not in his top 40%. Things started well, and the first three episodes are great in a non schmaltzy, Creepshow kind of way.

Episode four changed things for me. It was an undeniably female body shaming story, how far will you go to be accepted by the elite. Horror? Probably. And there were a few gratuitous moments with the taxidermy, but, not the main thrust of the story.

Loved Episode 5, based on a H. P. Lovecraft story.

Episode 6 was Okay, Ron Weasley chasing his dead sister into the after life.

Episode 7 was just plain weird, and didn't enjoy. Had a strange '70's vibe. The last episode was a poignant, but ultimately boring. This sneaked in at 6 stars as the good episodes were very good, but really a 50/50 effort.

Gotta love seeing those inside bits eh.

A bit of an uneasy watching hodge podge. Each episode starts with del Toro visiting his cabinet and grabbing something that seemingly relates to the oncoming story.

Hitchcock he's not.

Every episode has something going for it. Originality, production and mostly fine acting...but most of the characters are just so unpleasant, one doesn't care what happens to them.

My 3 picks are "Graveyard Rats" (Good Fun), "The Inside" (beware those late night infomercials) and "The Murmuring" (classic spooky ghost story).

I watched this first series in the cold hard daylight which probably lessened the enjoyment effect somewhat.

Probably more a late night thing (Duh!!!).