Guillermo del Toro co-produces and also assists with screen story, as André 'Trollhunter' Øvredal adapts Alvin Schwartz's controversial children's book series of same name.
Zoe Margaret Colletti - Stella
Michael Garza - Ramón
Gabriel Rush - Auggie
Dean Norris - Roy Nicholls
Gil Bellows - Chief Turner
Lorraine Toussaint - Lou Lou
Austin Zajur - Chuck
Natalie Ganzhorn - Ruth
Austin Abrams - Tommy
Kathleen Pollard - Sarah Bellows
Summary
Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, 1968.
On Halloween night, a bunch of nerdy friends are on the run from local town bully Tommy.
After meeting drifter Ramón at drive-in theatre, Stella takes them to the Bellows derelict mansion where family imprisoned Sarah in the basement, leaving daughter to while away the hours writing creepy yarns.
Legend has it that if she told you a story, it's the last you'll ever hear.
Stella makes the foolish mistake of stealing magnum opus, and it doesn't take long for a new story to appear, spelling immediate danger for unfortunate lead.
The book reads you
During opening and ending, voice-over tells us:
"Stories hurt, stories heal. If we repeat them often enough, they become real. They have that power."
Running time cobbles together:
Harold, The Big Toe, The Red Spot, The Pale Lady and Me Tie Dough-ty Walker!
Some monsters are actually lifted from other stories.
Whatever.
The eagle-eyed will notice The Cat's Paw and The Wendigo when browsing through book.
Kudos has to be given to filmmakers for expertly bringing Stephen Gammell's chilling illustrations to life on the big screen.
However, mild horror relies on too many jump scares and spills little, or no blood.
But army of tiny spiders emerging from Ruth's cheek in The Red Spot was quite effective.
Shadowy hand dowsing surroundings in darkness tease something special, but sequences that follow underwhelm.
Seemingly invincible corpse (able to disassemble and reassemble at will) could have been horrific, but really wasn't.
Best part is definitely Pale Lady meandering towards Chuck, before eventually assimilating teenager.
Source material was considerably more adult than its target audience, so why not let 15 cert flex gory muscles?
As survivors play detective, narrative goes exposition happy, revealing Sarah was used as a scapegoat to cover up family poisoning river with mercury.
Leads are more kidnapped rather than killed, and Turner is the only character to die, as Jangly Man snaps neck like a chicken.
Stella vows to use book to bring friends back, leaving door wide open for a sequel.
After all, pickings aren't exactly slim, so anthology series could easily happen.
Zoe Margaret Colletti - Stella
Michael Garza - Ramón
Gabriel Rush - Auggie
Dean Norris - Roy Nicholls
Gil Bellows - Chief Turner
Lorraine Toussaint - Lou Lou
Austin Zajur - Chuck
Natalie Ganzhorn - Ruth
Austin Abrams - Tommy
Kathleen Pollard - Sarah Bellows
Summary
Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, 1968.
On Halloween night, a bunch of nerdy friends are on the run from local town bully Tommy.
After meeting drifter Ramón at drive-in theatre, Stella takes them to the Bellows derelict mansion where family imprisoned Sarah in the basement, leaving daughter to while away the hours writing creepy yarns.
Legend has it that if she told you a story, it's the last you'll ever hear.
Stella makes the foolish mistake of stealing magnum opus, and it doesn't take long for a new story to appear, spelling immediate danger for unfortunate lead.
The book reads you
During opening and ending, voice-over tells us:
"Stories hurt, stories heal. If we repeat them often enough, they become real. They have that power."
Running time cobbles together:
Harold, The Big Toe, The Red Spot, The Pale Lady and Me Tie Dough-ty Walker!
Some monsters are actually lifted from other stories.
Whatever.
The eagle-eyed will notice The Cat's Paw and The Wendigo when browsing through book.
Kudos has to be given to filmmakers for expertly bringing Stephen Gammell's chilling illustrations to life on the big screen.
However, mild horror relies on too many jump scares and spills little, or no blood.
But army of tiny spiders emerging from Ruth's cheek in The Red Spot was quite effective.
Shadowy hand dowsing surroundings in darkness tease something special, but sequences that follow underwhelm.
Seemingly invincible corpse (able to disassemble and reassemble at will) could have been horrific, but really wasn't.
Best part is definitely Pale Lady meandering towards Chuck, before eventually assimilating teenager.
Source material was considerably more adult than its target audience, so why not let 15 cert flex gory muscles?
As survivors play detective, narrative goes exposition happy, revealing Sarah was used as a scapegoat to cover up family poisoning river with mercury.
Leads are more kidnapped rather than killed, and Turner is the only character to die, as Jangly Man snaps neck like a chicken.
Stella vows to use book to bring friends back, leaving door wide open for a sequel.
After all, pickings aren't exactly slim, so anthology series could easily happen.
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