Thursday 5 September 2019

Film: 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'

I comprised the entire audience in a 300-seat cinema for this. Shame that it was so unremarkable.

Back in the 1970s there was a brief vogue for films like this, containing a compendium of a handful of horror tales, each story lasting around 20-25 mins, all related in some way - often including some quite big-name actors in what were, in effect, extended cameo appearances. In this film all the names of participants were unknown to me, unsurprising being that the main characters are all teenagers.
The link between the stories are that they are all found in an ancient book which very strangely write themselves by an invisible hand whenever the book is opened, all involving in some way the four young protagonists. 
As ever in such films the half-dozen tales have varying success, ranging from flat and silly to reasonably effective. However too much reliance is placed on the overused technique of silence......silence..........silence...........BANG! - designed to make one jump, even though we can see it coming. I always think this is cheating, trying to make up for the director's lack of skill and imagination.
Shan't waste any more time in talking about this (director Andre Ovredal). If you're not a fan of the horror genre there's really no reason to see it..............4.

(IMDb...................6.2 / Rott. Toms.................3.8 /5 )

2 comments:

  1. Well that's another one to miss! Perhaps that's why you were alone in the cinema.

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    1. Hardly qualifies as an if-you've-got- nothing-better-to-do film, Carol, and I'm sure you will have.

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