Horror fiction for teens became a big item back in the 90s
with the release of the books by author R.L. Stine. His GOOSEBUMPS books were
huge sellers. But eleven years before the first of those appeared another
series of books captured the imaginations of children and were a must have item
on their bookshelves. Those books, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, by author
Stephen Gammell were a quite popular and still sell to this day.
The basis for Gammell’s stories were a combination of folklore
and urban legends to create original tales meant to terrify young readers. For
the longest time fans hope that these stories would be used to inspire a new
series of films. Finally their requests have been answered. The books have been
turned into a film and that is new to disc as of now.
Rather than use an anthology setup for the stories the movie
instead uses a central theme and it works perfectly. The year is 1968 and set
in the small town of Mill Valley, PA. Friends Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti),
Augie (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur) are the outcasts, the kids
everyone tend to pick on. This Halloween they want revenge and play a prank on
school bully Tommy Milner (Austin Abrams). When he chases them down they sneak
into the local drive in and pop into the car of Ramon Morales (Michael Garza).
Before Tommy can do them damage the drive-in owner kicks him out.
Looking for something to do and to return the favor to Ramon
the three tell him about a haunted house in the area, once owned by the Bellows
family. The story is that young Sarah Bellows was locked away in a hidden room
and would write scary stories in her own blood, reading the tales to those who
would sit outside her room. Checking out the house they find the secret room,
something no one else has ever done, and the book that Sarah wrote her stories
in. Stella takes the book and they return to Ramon’s car only to find that
Tommy has damaged it.
Stella offers Ramon the couch in her basement to stay on
until his car is repaired. Going to her room she begins to look through the
books and finds blank pages near the back. But those pages begin to fill up
before her eyes, handwriting in blood that scribbles away while she watches. A
story called “Harold” is being written and while it unfolds before her eyes, we
see the story actually taking place with Tommy as the scarecrow he took out his
frustrations on begins tracking him down, eventually turning him into a
scarecrow as well.
When Tommy is reported missing the next day Stella shares the
story with her three friends. They go to Tommy’s and find a scarecrow with his
letter jacket on but no Tommy. Stella is convinced this is Tommy but her
friends not quite so much.
That night she watches with Ramon as another story begins to
write itself. This one involves a big toe found in a stew. She calls Chuck to
join her and Ramon and they race to Auggie’s house realizing that he is the
next target. Unfortunately they arrive too late.
The next day the final three try to destroy the book only to
find it’s impossible to do so. With that knowledge they decide that there must
be a story behind the book that no one really knows. They begin to look into
the truth behind Sarah Bellows and what happened to her. Hopefully that
knowledge can be used to stop the book from writing more stories before they
are all gone.
The movie is a fun filled adventure that both adults and
children can enjoy. It helps that director Guillermo Del Toro produced the film
as he’s a big fan of the books. The use of a story that connects the short
tales in the book works perfectly here and creates a path that makes sense for
each story to follow. Images from the books themselves were used to create the
monsters in the film and they look as creepy here as they did in those books.
The film is well made with great performances by its young
cast as well as the adults on hand. Many scenes take place in the dark but
never so dark you can’t see what’s happening, a problem with many horror films
these days. The movie will provide plenty of scares for young viewers and might
not be best seen by the far younger ones. That’s something that each parent
will have to determine. But pre-teens will have a blast with this one and can
watch alongside their folks, waiting to see which of them will jump first.
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