Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Spooky and enjoyable! - 7/10
by The Movie Inspector
An enjoyable horror flick, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark may not be the scariest movie out there but is most definitely spooky. A proper mood and an engaging narrative allow it to flow smoothly and keep viewers eager to see what happens next.
Based on the book series of the same name, this movie takes a couple of short stories from the book, remains faithful to the source material and properly inserts them throughout the narrative. As a reader of the book, I can positively note that the film translates the spookiness present in the stories and at times even gets under your skin. Visionary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro serves as both producer and co-writer on this project, and his signature touch is clearly present throughout the movie. ‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark’ follows a group of teenagers who come across a haunted book that seeks to bring chaos their way.
The movie doesn’t waste much time and gets straight to business. A proper tone is set from the beginning and soon after that the spookiness kicks in. Now the characters could’ve definitely benefited from some more insight, especially that some required that more than others to help us care and understand them better. Despite that, I found myself invested in the story and intrigued to see where they might end up next. The movie works with a couple of jump scares but doesn’t really rely on cheap tricks to scare its audience but rather the concept it works with.
It’s not terrifying in the traditional sense because it isn’t what fans of commercial horror movies are used to, but once the context is taken into consideration, you’ll surely notice how creepy it is. The performances aren’t the movie’s strongest aspect but Zoe Colletti did a great job portraying Stella, the lead character. The movie has clear inspiration from other horror classics yet effectively works with its own originality. I also really enjoyed the recurring theme that deals with the power of stories and why we need them. At the end of the day, this is a horror movie that’s worth a watch and most importantly doesn’t follow the same boring formula as the other commercial horror flicks.
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