Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
An unsettling cinematic experience that's both dark and haunting. - 7.5/10
by Francesco Bakhos - 365 Movies Lebanon
The shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large in the small town of Mill Valley for generations. It's in a mansion that young Sarah Bellows turns her tortured life and horrible secrets into a series of scary stories. These terrifying tales soon have a way of becoming all too real for a group of unsuspecting teens who stumble upon Sarah's spooky home. God knows how long I've waited for this film!!!! And I'm absolutely thrilled to say that it surely did not disappoint.
First things, I really liked how this film remained faithful to its source material. The little few changes that were made, didn't affect the overall storyline, but only helped in making the story more suitable for the film's plot. But I honestly would've absolutely loved if Director Andre Ovredal, explored, dived deeper into this nightmarish universe.
Ye3ne in other words, the entire film's atmosphere was pretty intense, spooky and sometimes disturbing but it wasn't scary. You could say it was, just a bit, TAMED!!
To continue, and this is something I rarely say, but the time period around which the plot revolves is just perfect. The 1960s was obviously a great choice. It kind of helped in maintaining the spooky atmosphere, an atmosphere so well presented , either with the sets, the props or the costumes/makeup (which kind of didn't make justice to this era, but still) and of course the soundtracks (Season of the witch will always send chills down my spine).
In addition, the performances were Good, not great (and this is something I wasn't expecting). Austin Ambers, Gabriel Rush, Michael Garza and Austin Zajur, as mentioned above, did good but generally speaking, they could've done a whole lot better. Their performances felt kinda forced and fake. But on the hand, Zoe Margaret Colletti and Natalie Ganzhorn were spectacular. Their performances were simply on a whole other level than the boys'.
And of course, I can't not talk about the special effects and CGI which weren't bad at all and also helped in creating an unsettling cinematic experience that viewers will find it both dark and haunting.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, is definitely one creepy movie that everyone should experience.
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