Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark review – watchable horror yarn can’t make up its mind

There is nothing original about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and that’s sort of the point. Produced and co-written by Mexican auteur Guillermo del Toro and adapted from a series of immensely popular children’s books by Alvin Schwartz, it exists almost entirely as a vessel for classic horror tropes, complete with a haunted house, a chase in a cornfield, jocks clad in red jackets, and (somewhat questionably) a mysterious, African-American woman whose only purpose is to serve as a clairvoyant guide.

Set in the late sixties on the eve of Nixon’s presidency, Scary Stories inhabits the same, retro-inclined and idolised American past we’ve glimpsed recently in everything from Stranger Things to It. Whereas those properties channeled the nostalgic vibes in order to arrive at a unique vision, though, Scary Stories dilutes itself over and over in an attempt to cater to both young adults and older viewers and ends up splitting the difference. The result is a film that probably won’t satisfying either age group, despite a confident lead, some genuinely creepy moments, and creative direction from filmmaker André Øvredal.

In the run-up to its release, it looked as though Scary Stories might exist as an anthology film of sorts. Not the case. Though our heroes – cursed by an evil book whose stories come to life in a gruesome, highly personal fashion – are each plagued by separate, malevolent forces, the segments themselves are too slight – just a few minutes per character. The narrative winds up being a series of talky scenes, intercut with occasional set-pieces in which a kid encounters a couple of jumps scares before being bumped off to make way for the next victim. Most of these moments are admittedly well-executed, if a little fleeting. One in particular, which sees a kid pursued by a horrifically del Toro-esque creature in the hallways of a mental hospital, is particularly unnerving. A shame, then, that it’s over and done with far too quickly.

Scary Stories has clearly been made with love and respect for its source material. It looks, sounds, and feels true to its period setting, even if the references to Vietnam and Nixon end up feeling a little overdone. Where things really fall flat is in the pacing. The set-up takes a phenomenally long time, and is only made bearable due to the film’s charismatic lead, Stella (played by Zoe Colletti), who has to pick up the slack where the other, less memorable characters fall flat (save for Breaking Bad‘s Dean Norris, the film has no recognisable stars).

For a yarn that could have thrived as a Cabin in the Woods-style monster medley, Scary Stories seems almost adverse to unleashing the fun and scares promised in its title, favouring the over-explanation of an uninteresting story. It isn’t self-aware enough to function as an all-out homage, nor is it original enough to separate itself from the competition. And yet there is a level of craft here – and enough interesting design work from the del Toro school of puppetry and special effects – to warrant a viewing. You just might not leave the theatre quite as eager for the sequel as the surviving characters seem to be.

★★★☆☆

By: Tom Barnard

Get Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark showtimes in London.