Scary Stories will disappoint horror fans. But for those don’t normally watch horror films and want to give it a try, this mild horror title is a good place to start.
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Adapted from Alvin Schwartz’s popular children's book series of the same name, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which is produced by Guillermo del Toro, is a mild and safe horror film that’s safe for parents to bring their kids to watch.
The original children’s book contains a series of horror short stories. Del Toro and his team of writers wisely decided not to make an anthology film as anthologies have seldom done well, but to integrate the separate stories into one cohesive film.
Our main character Stella Nicholls (Zoe Colletti) is a big fan of horror stories and herself an aspiring horror writer. Together with her friends Auggie, Tommy, and newfound friend and love interest Ramón, they sneak into the local haunted house of the Bellows, where Stella finds a book of scary stories belonging to the late Sarah Bellows. She takes the book and soon she discovers that the book is writing stories by itself, violent horrific stories that come true and her friends are characters in the stories.
One by one, Stella’s friends and one adversary start to disappear, each one hunted one by a monster - from a walking scarecrow to a living corpse to a grossly fat lady phantom. Behind it is the angry Sarah Bellows, whose vengeful spirit lives on.
With its target audience set at children and young adults, Scary Stories, despite its potential, isn’t all that scary. Director André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe) always refrains from pushing his material. Scary Stories will disappoint horror fans. But for those don’t normally watch horror films and want to give it a try, this mild horror title is a good place to start.
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