Read Nicolette's review of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is in theaters on August 9th, 2019.
Halloween starts extra early this year because Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark releases in theatres this weekend! I owned the books growing up, therefore I would read them many times (and hide them after). The illustrations were definitely the reasons I couldn’t sleep. The one particular image that still haunts me is the illustration of the woman from the story ‘The Haunted House.’ That being said, when the trailer came out, I was super spooked while being super excited for all my childhood nightmares to come to life.
On Halloween night 1968, teenager Stella (Zoe Margarat Colleti) and her friends break into the Bellows mansion, a local legend and a haunted house. While there, Stella finds a book of scary stories that belonged to Sarah Bellows, the young child who lived in the mansion and murdered children. Curious about the stories, Stella takes the book home. After taking the book, new stories start to appear staring Stella and her friends. They start to discover how real the legend truly is.
This movies reminds me a lot of Goosebumps and the Stranger Things series, but with not being as good. The creatures in the movie were very creepy and looked a lot like the ones in the book. They obviously creeped me out the most. Other than that, there were a lot of cheap jump scares. The human characters come off as flat, boring and forgettable. Some are only in the movie just to be in the stories. Zoe Colleti’s chemistry with Michael Garza is stale, I didn’t feel it. There’s your typical character in the movie just there for comedic relief, which wasn’t really funny to begin with.
The scary stories/creatures in the movie overshadow the fact that the story doesn’t really flow. The stories from the book are supposed to be tied together with the characters personal life. Some of the stories do make that connection and some do not, which gets me confused. There’s definitely some points missing from the plot that never get answered and are hidden behind the creepy creatures. If the story had more development I think the audience would have had more of a connection to the characters.
This movie is definitely a family-friendly horror movie. I think many teenagers and new, young horror fans will enjoy this movie. To me, a person who grew up on the books, it was just okay. Don’t expect this movie to keep you up at night like the books did.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Nicolette (Contributor) is a Chicago Native who loves watching movies (some definitely more than once). Her favorite genres include Thrillers and Dramas. When she's not at the movies you can most likely find her at a live concert, singing along to a Disney classic or binge watching Netflix.Click Here to check out Nicolette's Articles.