The only really good thing about Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark is seeing Stephen Gammell's iconic illustrations masterfully brought to life in the third dimension (although a few of the realizations involve a bit too much CG). The rest of the movie just feels tired and lacks intensity. How many stories do we need about a ghost indiscriminately inflicting evil on the living after having been wronged in both life and death? There's no particular reason to attach that particular framework to an adaptation of Alvin Schwartz's macabre trilogy--an early source of dreadful fascination for any millennial. Would have been more satisfying as an anthology rather than forming itself around the misadventures of a misfit group of teenagers. I have a feeling some studio executive kept giving the note, "Make it more like Stranger Things."
The impact of the books was largely due to the surreal, gory, folktale quality of the tales, which read like campfire stories that had been passed down through the generations, becoming progressively more bizarre and fanciful with every telling. The movie tries to rationalize the scares in some hollow attempt at emotional resonance, and sucks all the air out of them in the process.
The impact of the books was largely due to the surreal, gory, folktale quality of the tales, which read like campfire stories that had been passed down through the generations, becoming progressively more bizarre and fanciful with every telling. The movie tries to rationalize the scares in some hollow attempt at emotional resonance, and sucks all the air out of them in the process.
