Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
2/4
Starring: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Gabriel Rush, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Natalie Ganzhorn, Austin Abrams
Rated PG-13 for Terror/Violence, Disturbing Images, Thematic Elements, Language including Racial Epithets, and Brief Sexual References
The movie theater I frequent had a showing of "Jurassic Park" tonight, which I saw almost immediately after this one. Legendary film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert and famed internet reviewer James Berardinelli felt that it had good action scenes and special effects but weak and cliched characters. I disagree with their criticisms. The characters in "Jurassic Park" weren't deep or especially original, but they were easy to identify with and care about. That's all that matters in a movie like "Jurassic Park."
I mention this because, ironically, I have the same criticism of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark." The special effects and scares are effective, but the characters are weak. The leads in this movie are so lacking in charisma and personality that it's impossible to care if they live or die. They're boring.
Stella (Colletti) is joining her friends Auggie (Rush) and Chuck (Zajur) for Halloween. But their goal for the scariest night of the year is more than just getting candy. They want to get revenge on their tormentor, Tommy (Abrams). While hiding out from Tommy and his flunkies, they end up in the local haunted house with a hunky drifter named Ramon (Garza). But they get trapped down there by Tommy (along with Ruth (Ganzhorn), Chuck's queen bee sister). There, they find out that the local spook story is true, and that her penchant for telling scary stories that kill puts their lives in danger.
The film's central gimmick, that an evil entity tells scary stories that come to life and kill the protagonists, is a good one. Unfortunately the film centers around some of the dumbest and least interesting characters in a while. Stupid characters doing stupid things in horror movies is a given. But it's easy to overlook sudden brain cramps if the audience has a rooting interest in their survival. I didn't. Stella, Ramon, and their friends are so dull that I just didn't care what happened to them. The weak writing and flat performances are to blame here. There are occasions where Stella and Ramon show flashes of personality, but it's a rare occurrence.
One thing the film does right is the special effects. The creatures are appropriately spooky and the scare scenes do raise the pulse. What is missing is a sense of atmosphere. Atmosphere is difficult to get right in a horror movie, but it's absolutely essential. Watching this movie I could sense that director Andre Ovredal knew what to do, but missed the mark just by a hair. Unfortunately that's all that separates darkness from a place where evil slithers off the screen.
"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" isn't a terrible movie, and won't come anywhere near my Bottom 10 list at the end of the year, but it is disappointing. It's clear that the filmmakers have a love of the genre and know the tricks, but the sensation of telling campfire stories doesn't come across in this movie like they want.
Starring: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Gabriel Rush, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Natalie Ganzhorn, Austin Abrams
Rated PG-13 for Terror/Violence, Disturbing Images, Thematic Elements, Language including Racial Epithets, and Brief Sexual References
The movie theater I frequent had a showing of "Jurassic Park" tonight, which I saw almost immediately after this one. Legendary film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert and famed internet reviewer James Berardinelli felt that it had good action scenes and special effects but weak and cliched characters. I disagree with their criticisms. The characters in "Jurassic Park" weren't deep or especially original, but they were easy to identify with and care about. That's all that matters in a movie like "Jurassic Park."
I mention this because, ironically, I have the same criticism of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark." The special effects and scares are effective, but the characters are weak. The leads in this movie are so lacking in charisma and personality that it's impossible to care if they live or die. They're boring.
Stella (Colletti) is joining her friends Auggie (Rush) and Chuck (Zajur) for Halloween. But their goal for the scariest night of the year is more than just getting candy. They want to get revenge on their tormentor, Tommy (Abrams). While hiding out from Tommy and his flunkies, they end up in the local haunted house with a hunky drifter named Ramon (Garza). But they get trapped down there by Tommy (along with Ruth (Ganzhorn), Chuck's queen bee sister). There, they find out that the local spook story is true, and that her penchant for telling scary stories that kill puts their lives in danger.
The film's central gimmick, that an evil entity tells scary stories that come to life and kill the protagonists, is a good one. Unfortunately the film centers around some of the dumbest and least interesting characters in a while. Stupid characters doing stupid things in horror movies is a given. But it's easy to overlook sudden brain cramps if the audience has a rooting interest in their survival. I didn't. Stella, Ramon, and their friends are so dull that I just didn't care what happened to them. The weak writing and flat performances are to blame here. There are occasions where Stella and Ramon show flashes of personality, but it's a rare occurrence.
One thing the film does right is the special effects. The creatures are appropriately spooky and the scare scenes do raise the pulse. What is missing is a sense of atmosphere. Atmosphere is difficult to get right in a horror movie, but it's absolutely essential. Watching this movie I could sense that director Andre Ovredal knew what to do, but missed the mark just by a hair. Unfortunately that's all that separates darkness from a place where evil slithers off the screen.
"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" isn't a terrible movie, and won't come anywhere near my Bottom 10 list at the end of the year, but it is disappointing. It's clear that the filmmakers have a love of the genre and know the tricks, but the sensation of telling campfire stories doesn't come across in this movie like they want.
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