#Film Review: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – Review 3 Watch Online

The culture of the 20th century has acquired exceptional value in our time. Almost no modern cinema is complete without nostalgic motifs. Dreams about the 80s found themselves in the impeccable style of It and Stranger Things of the Duffer brothers. However, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark refers us to the golden 60s, which were just as skilfully reflected in Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood, singing a slightly different, but also in its own sad and somewhere terrible song. We all yearn for irretrievably bygone times and dream at least for a moment to return to them. This movie gives us this opportunity. Of course, we did not live at that time, but at the meta-level, almost everyone is able to understand the spirit of each decade of the last century.

But the film, which was directed by Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro, is not so simple. The nostalgic component of the movies reinforces some of the most terrible fairy tales in the history of the United States, which fascinate and excite the imagination. Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz is a grim series of children’s books, backed up by shocking illustrations by Stephen Gammell. Schwartz’s works were long considered too creepy for children and were often banned, as they were able to cause damage to the unformed mentality. And who, if not Guillermo del Toro decided to realize the wild dreams of the audience and move urban legends from paper to the screen? Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark returns to the best traditions of a bygone era, diluting the excursion with grotesque fantasies of authors.

The small town of Mill Valley is covered with the magic of Halloween. A group of teenagers celebrates the holiday on the streets of the city, but, due to the conflict with local hooligans, they are forced to take refuge in an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of Mill Valley. The house IS associated with the terrible legends about the bullied girl Sarah, who splashed out her fury on the pages of the book, which turned into a collection of horror stories. However, children do not stop, and they are curiously exploring the estate. This night could have ended well if Stella hadn’t found that book. Now the shadow of the past hangs over teenagers, who must unravel the mystery of Sarah’s story, until the pages of the book did not appear another story, but already about themselves.

The film is known for having decent elements of horror. Considering the fact that the film’s production also took place in Canada as well, upon its debut, it also gained popularity in the North American country as well. At the same time as it is a known fact, famous industries and enterprises always try to include some elements from movies into their services, especially if a movie has nice graphics. This was the case in the Canadian gambling industry where Spinia CA one of the major representatives of the industry, decided to include some motives from the movie into their games, such as various items, dolls to make them more attractive. In general, it is considered a very powerful marketing decision.

It is trivial, but the life and laws of the genre have ordered so that children and horrors are strongly intertwined. Teenagers are the most vulnerable and sensitive to environmental influences. Therefore, childhood can become a period of cloudless bliss, and the abode of our worst nightmares, which put off the imprint for life. But it is at this time that a person is able to find within himself a miracle that will help to cope with darkness. In the movie, there was a place of loneliness and self-identification of the characters, from which the cursed book pulled out deep fears and forced to face them one-on-one. The monsters from the film are not just children’s horror stories, they are products of the subconscious that crawl out of the darkness at critical moments in our lives. Teenagers go to war with their own consciousness, materialized in the form of old traumas and phobias, before which everyone can be helpless. As the entire American people were helpless before the call to Vietnam and the presidency of Richard Nixon, all this turned into another terrible story and a nightmare for the United States.

Del Toro’s involvement in the movie was as important as Gammell’s illustrations for a series of books. They can catch up with the horrors of even the most sophisticated fans of horror, and in the hands of him finally, find the volume and come to life, turning the most terrible fantasy. In general, del Toro was going to work on the film himself, but still decided to give this honour to his protege – André Øvredal. Although del Toro’s Scary Stories is more than all the participants of the project combined, the style of the Norwegian director has its own intonation and it leaves an imprint on the cinema. The film clearly shows echoes of the grotesque The Troll Hunter and The Demon Inside, in which the director also pays homage to American culture and traditional rites.

Pros

• Stunning style and graphics
• Masterfully conveyed the atmosphere of the 60s
• Creepy images of monsters
• A chic unnerving musical series
• Interesting concept
• Having an analysis of child psychology, related problems

Cons

• If you discard the adaptation of Schwartz’s fairy tales, the central storyline is pretty much cliched

Conclusion

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is hypnotizing, transporting the viewer far beyond the cinema to a cosy bonfire in the woods. The atmosphere of a small American town in the traditional Kingian style fascinates and captures the spirit. You can not lose sight of such romantic details of the ‘60s, as watching Night of the Living Dead in the open air or children’s fun in Halloween. All this looks spectacular and pompous. One can only wonder at how masterfully gossip fairy world, filled with ghosts and monsters. And who could better embody our worst nightmares, if not a powerful Guillermo del Toro?