Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

In small town America 1968, there is a dark history that hangs over an old abandoned house regarding the fate of the Bellows family. While escaping the town bullies, a group of teenagers break into the house to hide and it is in this house they find a dusty old book full of terrifying stories but as they take it away with them, new stories begin to appear in the book and the group of friends start to disappear one by one. When I first saw this advertised, I had never heard of the books on which it is based and from the trailer I couldn't figure out who the audience for this story might be. From the trailer I felt it was aimed at young teenagers but then some of the imagery used on screen seemed so terrifying and disturbing i thought it couldn't possibly be. Well it turns out it is aimed at teenagers and if i was a teenager watching this i would probably have loved it. As an adult i did still enjoy it, the horror elements were done brilliantly, scary, disturbing and memorable. It's the bits in between the horror that let it down slightly. I just felt the characters weren't developed enough and didn't really gel together like the young cast of IT did. Visually impressive and a decent story behind it but could have done with some extra time dedicated to character development.

Film directed by André Øvredal and co-written with Guillermo del Toro, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) benefits from an efficient Halloween atmosphere, an excellent photography, the nostalgic 60's dress code, impressive old cars and rather talented young actors. On certain aspects, in particular the ineluctably-fatalistic side, the film makes me think of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) directed by Wes Craven in which a psychopath sadistically haunts teens during their sleep.

After the showing of a cult film (नाइट ऑफ़ द लिविंग डेड (1968)) in a drive-in theater, a group of teens arrives, we do not really know how, in a time-worn mansion on the edge of town, abandoned for ages after an unexplained murder. By chance, they find a book. A cursed book! The small town will then suffer a wave of atrocious deaths. Stella and Ramón will have to face their own worst demons in order to stop the carnage and save the inhabitants.

As a synthesis: an efficient teen movie for getting started with cinematographic thrills. 6/7 of 10

Good: The main story that is tying the 'scary stories' together is interesting and a fresh take as the 'scary stories' are short and filler needs to be made for a feature film. The direction from Øvredal is great finding the right amount of scares to be had with built suspense from the grisly production by Del Toro.

Bad: The cast is fine, nothing spectacular or atrocious, it is something you would expect from a horror film. Some lines are cheesy and laughable. The main story could have been shortened.

Overall: Although there is nothing innovating it is still a solid fresh straight-up(less jump scare, more imagery) horror of 2019 that can pass the time with entertainment and chills to be made.

3.5/5

I've never read the books but that didn't seem essential to enjoy the movie. A few scary moments but very predictable for most horror fans. However, I think its quite good for its target audience, early teens making the first steps into horror movies. I'll definitely watch it again with my kids when they are a little older.

It's Halloween, 1968 in the town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania. Stella Nicholls is out with her friends Auggie Hilderbrandt and Chuck Steinberg. They are pursued by bully Tommy Milner after the friends pull a prank on him. They find sanctuary in Ramón Morales' car in the drive-in. Stella leads the group to a haunted house. They escape from scary things including Tommy's revenge. Stella takes an old book from the abandoned house. You don't read the book as much as the book reads you. It belongs to Sarah Bellows who lived a tragic life and died horribly.

It's a good in-between horror between the kiddie spooky stories and outright adult gore-fest horrors. I like all the characters. I like the teen actors. I like the spooky and slightly scary stories. I like the idea of the book and the body horrors. The zombie looks good and I expected nothing less from a Guillermo del Toro production. It is not quite an adult horror but it's a good step up from a kiddie campfire story.