Director
André Øvredal
(THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, TROLLHUNTER)

Starring
Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn and Kathleen Pollard

It is difficult to pinpoint the level of influence that Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro (THE SHAPE OF WATER, PAN’S LABYRINTH) has had as one of the screen story writers and producers of SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK. Based on the 1980s book series of the same name written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell, this feature adaptation’s horror sequences and its monstrous antagonists do occasionally exhibit some of Del Toro’s notable trademarks.

Set in the fictional town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania in 1968 on the night of Halloween, three teenage friends, Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti), Auggie (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur) should be trick or treating. Rather, they’ve decided to venture over to an abandoned mansion that’s rumoured to possess a dark past. Joining them is a Good Samaritan from out of town, Ramón (Michael Garza). As they start to unravel the horrifying truth that this house has kept hidden for decades, they are each haunted by one of its former inhabitants who preys on their innermost fears.

Not all of the ‘stories’ that are visually presented in SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK are the same in style or tone. Whether or not this works to positive or negative affect for you will depend upon your preferred taste in horror and to what extent the film has sucked you in from the very beginning.

For me, there is definitely a gap in creativity behind the conception and execution of earlier horror sequences compared to later ones. Those that feature during earlier stages of the film all generated strong volumes of suspense while also adding some gross-out fun to the mix. Sure enough, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK is deliberately opting for jump-scares (I lost count the amount of times a young man beside me jumped right out of his seat!) and isn’t interested in being all that logical, but it does consistently provoke the reactions it’s aiming to. A lot of that genuine suspense soon becomes a ghost itself and disappears throughout the latter half of the film as its creepier scenes rely more heavily on the visual elements of those aforementioned monstrous antagonists. Given that the monsters in this horror movie originate from separate stories throughout the book series, I guess this should come as no surprise.

Fortunately, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK has an underlying story of horror to unveil beneath its horror stories. The revelations to develop from this house of horrors become more prominent as the film transpires and do show glimpses of the intrigue they’re capable of summoning. One more facet of the film to mention that works well is the casting of lesser known actors. To a degree and for a brief time, this takes away some of the commonplace predictability that often plagues horror films and has unleashed a rather gutsy lead performance from Zoe Margaret Colletti (pictured below).

3 stars

Viewer Discretion
M (Horror themes and violence)

Trailer
SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

Moviedoc thanks Universal for the invite to the screening of this film.

SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK is released in cinemas throughout Australia from September 26th, 2019.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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