Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post Reply
jonbly
Braaaains!
Braaaains!
Posts: 647
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:16 pm
Location: Bristol

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by jonbly »

7/10 - Well made but a bit meandering... the stories weren't linked well to their victims after Harold.
MrsE
Twitching Corpse
Twitching Corpse
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:51 pm

Re: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by MrsE »

I agree, the victims aside from Harold, didnt seem to have done enough 'wrong' to deserve the punishment. The effects were good and I'd give a sequel a try.
Alex J
Braaaains!
Braaaains!
Posts: 702
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:30 pm
Location: The Back Of The Beyond

Re: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by Alex J »

I loved the impending sense of doom in this, particularly effective given the backdrop of the Vietnam War. I enjoyed the story, but some of the CGI isn't always that successful. The young leads do well, while the ending is very poignant. I loved the version of the "Season of the Witch" over the closing credits too. 7 / 10
No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering.
mamawaldi
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 265
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:32 am
Location: Berkshire

Re: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by mamawaldi »

Enjoyable in places although some of the stories were paper thin and didn't have much relevance to the victims as far as I could tell. Decent jump scares and good delivery of the "hiding under the bed" horror standby.
User avatar
TheDukeAbides
Braaaains!
Braaaains!
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:08 pm
Location: North West of England
Contact:

Re: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by TheDukeAbides »

Reminded me of del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark remake which I also thought has its moments.

I am getting slightly annoyed by 80s stuff and kid led films these days but it was a well acted piece and I thought the bed scene with no music was a particularly strong scare scene within the festival as a whole.
The Aylmer
Running Zombie
Running Zombie
Posts: 199
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:49 pm
Location: Farnham

Re: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by The Aylmer »

I enjoyed this although didn't feel the spooky tales were really strong enough to warrant the 15 rating awarded by the BBFC. I suggested as much to my group afterwards and said I thought a 12A rating would be more in line with the target audience but was met with a "no Eddie, 15 is about right" so what do I know? But this did have more of a Goosebumps feel about it to me. The opening scarecrow tale worked well with the lead in to this making me think we might be in for another Trick 'r Treat. And there is a Stranger Things quality to much of it. But at the best part of two hours long the pace does slacken off at times. Maybe I shouldn't knock it too much though as a couple of days into Frightfest I woke to find a spot on my cheek (which at my age is a rarity) and for a brief period found myself worrying about baby spiders hatching from it. As with all the opening Thursday films 7/10 then.
ChrisReynolds
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 281
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:01 pm

Re: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Post by ChrisReynolds »

This film is saddled with too much plot: there are six adapted stories plus a wraparound story, but the adapted stories are integrated into the wraparound so that all the setup and action takes place while the rest of the film is going on. It leads to an unbalanced effect where what seem like overcomplicated and unecessary digressions keep distracting from the plot, but these digressions are actually what the film is setting out to showcase. The pratical and CGI realisation of the disturbing illustrations of the original book are the best part and mostly look superb.
Post Reply