SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK (2019)

DIR: André Øvredal
STARS: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows

The Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark books, like R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, have amassed a cult following among children of the 80s whose first experiences with horror came within their pages.
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However, rather than Alvin Schwartz’s fine writing, it was the illustrations by Stephen Gammell that haunted budding genre fans. And it is these images that serve as the visual inspiration for the movie adaptation.

Helmed by Trollhunter and The Autopsy Of Jane Doe director Øvredal, the film is set in 1968 and features a quartet of teens - bookish Stella (Colletti), outsider Ramone (Garza), uptight Augie (Rush) and comic relief Chuck (Zajur) who discover a cursed book. Penned by local legend Sarah Bellow, the book was said to be written in the blood of the children she murdered. After removing the book from a suitably creepy haunted house, our protagonists are shocked when new stories start to appear within its pages... featuring several familiar characters.

The clever set-up of this story allows writers Dan and Kevin Hageman to implement several stories from the anthology-style source material in ways that specifically reference each character’s fears and hang-ups. Taken from folklore, these stories provide the necessary jolts, while the narrative structure stops the movie from simply feeling like a collection of short films.

Øvredal is becoming something of a force within the genre and his team ensure that the flick boasts expert pacing, tonnes of atmosphere, and some genuine scares along the way.

The teen cast is strong and ably supported by background characters such as Abram’s swaggering bully and Ganzhorn’s pretty but self-conscious high schooler. Familiar faces Norris and Bellows also add some experience and gravitas.

However, the real stars of the film are the fantastically creepy monsters, brought to life by fantastic effects work and top physical performers such as Javier Botet and Troy Parker. The toeless corpse, the pale lady, Harold the scarecrow, the Jangly Man... each feels more than capable of carrying a horror movie on their own. That we get so many in the 1hr 47min runtime is spoiling us!

Yet the film is not without its flaws. Familiarity with the source material (which is less well known this side of the Atlantic) is definitely a bonus as some sequences may seem odd or confusing without knowledge of the stories.

Also, the historical setting seems rather arbitrary, contributing little other than a more relaxed attitude to racism, a rather shoe-horned Vietnam draft subplot, and some political digs toward Nixon and the current U.S. government.

Nonetheless, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is good old-fashioned spooky fun - an ideal gateway flick for teens who want to get into horror, much like the original book served way back in 1981.

Proving a hit at the American box office, a second chapter appears inevitable at this stage - and I will be first in line for More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.

3.5/5