Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to
Tell in the Dark book series changed me. As a fan of anything
spooky growing up, my tiny hands found its way upon a copy of the
first volume in grade school, and I was never the same. Terrified
yet titillated, I feasted my eyes upon Stephen Gammell’s gruesome
pen and charcoal illustrations, and it was the pivotal moment when I
realized horror isn’t all rubber bats and sheet ghosts. Needless
to say, when I heard a film adaptation was being made with the
imaginative Guillermo del Toro’s involvement, I had high hopes that
it would do justice to the source material, and I am thankful to
report that it did.
The plot plays out like a more adult
version of the 2015 Goosebumps film. On Halloween of 1968, a
mischievous group of teenagers visits an abandoned house with a dark
past involving the troubled Sarah Bellows—daughter
of an affluent family in town—hanging
herself in the basement. While they explore the house, Stella (Zoe
Margaret Colletti) finds a mysterious book and takes it home with
her. Little does she know the book has a strange way of writing
itself and affecting those around her in the most macabre of ways.
Grisly undead entities attempt to murder her friends, and Stella must
get to the bottom of the book’s apparent curse before she herself
is killed.
The most exceptional aspect of Scary
Stories to Tell in the Dark is its chillingly accurate portrayal
of the ghoulish characters from Schwartz’s books. Any fan of
Gammell’s artwork can rejoice in knowing that the design team of
this film went to great lengths to make the appearance of these
boogeymen unnervingly exact. Better yet, these fiendish foes are
graced with some exceptionally nice-looking cinematography that sets
the mood for their tales to unfurl perfectly. The haunted house is
well-conceptualized, serving as a befitting backdrop for some of the
film’s most frightening moments, and when it comes to life through
flashbacks of its past, it has a rich, elegant air that adds ambiance
to the story. It is clear the biggest priority of this film was its
overall look, and it was accomplished with reverence and creativity.
Another success of this film is its
ability to be suspenseful and frightening without the use of explicit
gore. For a PG-13 film, it knows how to scare the hell out of an
audience and leave them on the edge of their seats. The pacing of
the scare scenes is the stuff of nightmares, knowing when the tension
should culminate to reap the utmost reward. Body horror and good
old-fashioned specters aplenty will make the audience cringe, laugh
nervously, and startle more than many blood-spattered horror films
have been able to, which is a particularly impressive feat for a film
based on simple children’s campfire stories. The violence in the
film is mostly implicit, and it knows precisely what to show and what
to leave to the imagination in a tasteful display of director André
Øvredal’s artistry.
The only problem
especially noteworthy was its portrayal of the teenage protagonists.
While the young actors are all adept, the characters they played were
mostly forgettable. Stella has a bit of dimension and backstory to
her, but for the most part, the other teens play flat, disinteresting
characters solely present to either serve as victims or to flesh out
Stella’s story. Even more problematic is that some of these said
victims don’t “earn” their imminent demise. It’s one thing
to see a high school bully get his come-uppance, but in the context
of this film, it felt a bit odd to see a teen who has done no
apparent wrong become a victim. In terms of youth in horror, there
is traditionally a sense that if they are murdered, then it is
because they are being punished for misbehaving, which can feel
darkly satisfying, but in this film, it’s a mixed bag. Some of the
victims are outwardly bad, some are questionable in terms of moral
standing, and most have done nothing discernibly wrong to deserve
“punishment.” Nevertheless, the film works for the most part,
and there is enough done correctly here to overlook its flaws.
In a world rife with pretentious, heavy
horror films nowadays, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a
breath of fresh air. It is fun, clever eye candy for horror fans
that don’t take themselves too seriously, and an especially good
time for those familiar with the book series. Halloween came early
this year, and there’s enough tricks and treats in this film to
keep audiences entertained.
-Andrea Riley