[Netflix] Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

[Smoove_B]

Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is an anthology of sinister stories, told by some of today’s most revered horror creators - including the directors of The Babadook, Splice, Mandy, and many more.

[hepcat]

Yeah, I’ve been salivating over this one in the general Netflix thread for a while. Can’t wait!

[Smoove_B]

I love horror anthologies and they seem to have all but disappeared from regular channels. I know if I get AMC and Shudder there are a few shows, but I guess I'm talking more mass-appeal. This one has me a bit nervous - looks like it's really leaning into body horror and gore. I guess I'm more into the classic horror anthologies (Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt, Twilight Zone, etc...) - maybe I'm old now?

I remember years back trying to watch Channel Zero and I was really enjoying it for a while but then it switched into more gore and I lost interest completely.

[hepcat]

You really need to get Shudder then. At least grab the free trial and watch the Creepshow reboot, The Mortuary Collection, and Scare Package. None of them are consistently great, but they are fun.

Then watch what is still my vote for best horror film of the last decade, Terrified.

It’s the season, man. You know ya wanna.

P.S. I wish Guillermo would get his wish and they’d hand him the rights to Night Gallery. He’s such a fan he even did the voice over intros for most of the segments on the DVD release a while back.

[Smoove_B]

Episodes start coming tomorrow, a few releasing each day through Friday (I think).

The AV Club gives it an "A" rating:

As both a survey of contemporary horror and an ode to the timeless nature of its many concerns, Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities is a welcome addition to the filmmaker’s oeuvre. Just as he’s proven time and time again, the Oscar-winning director is just as much a student as a master of horror, and here he is once more allowing audiences to revel in its many possibilities with a slew of entrancing and an times all too timely stories—and just in time for spooky season, no less.

[Holman]

I really wish Del Toro would devote himself to all the major works of the Lovecraft canon.

Movies? One-offs? Think of what a series it could be!

[hepcat]

I think Del Toro is best when he’s challenged by a smaller budget. He seems to get distracted by big money projects, and he becomes obsessed with what he can do, instead of what he should do. So I’d like to see him tackle less grand Lovecraft tales. At least at first. Build up his vision in smaller works before making his opus.

At the Mountains of Madness being that opus, of course.

[hepcat]

The first episode was fantastic (i mean, if you get Tim Blake Nelson, there’s little you can do wrong). This series is obviously Del Toro recreating Night Gallery. As I mentioned elsewhere, he provided a bunch of narratives for the last NG DVD release. As he’s a rather big name director, I would assume he did it less for the money and more because he’s a huge fan of that show (let’s face it, I doubt the Night Gallery DVD release was making tons of moolah for anyone). He noted in one of his intros how he’d sneak out of bed at night to watch it because his parents didn’t want him to.

And that’s why I love Del Toro. He is as much of a giant geek for this stuff as any of us. His enthusiasm for it all is infectious. It doesn’t hurt that he has the eye of an artist and the soul of a novelist when it comes to his scripts.

I also love that he’s obviously trying to help the directors who’s work he showcases in this series because he wants us to enjoy them as much as he does.

[YellowKing]

I've watched the four episodes released and they were all great in their own ways. Really a showcase for what a horror anthology can be if you throw a bit of money at it, some good actors, and some brilliant directors.

[hepcat]

Episode 3: The Autopsy

Ferociously original. Loved it.

[Malificent]

Episode 3: The Autopsy

Ferociously original. Loved it.

Directed by David Prior, who directed The Empty Man, which I found to be both good and capable of surprising me, which was nice.

[hepcat]

I actually saw that a while back. It was surprisingly good. I went into it expecting a copy of a slender man teen horror film, what I got was way different.

The Autopsy also defied my expectations. I did not expect the story to go that direction.

[Malificent]

I actually saw that a while back. It was surprisingly good. I went into it expecting a copy of a slender man teen horror film, what I got was way different.

The Autopsy also defied my expectations. I did not expect the story to go that direction.

Agreed with all of that. I also just watched episode 7 - "The Viewing". It was weird as hell AND it oozed style from every pore.

[Zaxxon]

Episode 3: The Autopsy

Ferociously original. Loved it.

Glad to hear it. I enjoyed ep 1 a bunch, but found ep 2 to be just terrible. Probably just not my thing, but it seemed like exactly what you'd get if you took all the tropes one would expect from an episode titled 'Graveyard Rats.' There was just nothing interesting or surprising to my wife or me.

Guess I'll continue on to ep 3!

[hepcat]

Episode 3: The Autopsy

Ferociously original. Loved it.

Glad to hear it. I enjoyed ep 1 a bunch, but found ep 2 to be just terrible. Probably just not my thing, but it seemed like exactly what you'd get if you took all the tropes one would expect from an episode titled 'Graveyard Rats.' There was just nothing interesting or surprising to my wife or me.

Guess I'll continue on to ep 3!

Graveyard Rats is an old Lovecraft influenced story written back in 1936. The episode was surprisingly faithful to the source material. I liked it, personally.

[Zaxxon]

I believe you. I'm just sayin'...

Spoiler:

Episode is titled Graveyard Rats. Man loots bodies in graveyard. There are rats. Man makes supremely intelligent decision to follow rats down their tunnels under the graveyard. There are larger rats. Man continues fully well-thought-out decision to proceed deeper into supernatural rat territory armed with both his unfit body and his weapons of war, which include a small light along with various and sundry other daily items such as shoes and a suit. Man encounters even larger rats. Tunnel begins to collapse, but man is undeterred!

Tunnel collapses. Man is trapped, suffocates / rats eat his innards.

I guess I can see the nostalgia value for fans of the old-skool story. But it's not a very interesting story today, and it was just boring / almost entirely predictable, and not very satisfying for us.

Which is not to say that you shouldn't have enjoyed it! Just that I didn't.

[hepcat]

I'm just noting that it might be because it was written almost a hundred years ago. The audience it was written for, in the time period in which they lived, were less worried about the overuse of tropes back then, I imagine. I think that's why I was surprised by how closely the story adhered to the original.

Also, I think if you clinically break down almost ANY story into its components as you did, it will sound less than satisfying.

But as you also note, my acceptance of its less than shocking conclusion may be more because I'm just an old skool fan of Lovecraftian stories.

Episode 3 is not based on a Lovecraft story though. It's based on a story by Michael Shea from around 1980. While it's Lovecraftian, it has a definite modern feel with a resolution that was more likely in a late 20th century story.

[stimpy]

Really been underwhelmed by this so far after watching 1-6.
The Autopsy probably has been the best out of the 6. #4, The Outside was tolerable.
I literally fell asleep twice while trying to make it thru #5 Pickman's Model.
I'll finish it, but was expecting much, much better stories.

[Zaxxon]

I'm just noting that it might be because it was written over a hundred years ago. The audience he was writing for, in the time period in which they lived, were less worried about the overuse of tropes back then, I imagine. I think that's why I was surprised by how closely the story adhered to the original.

I hear ya. But the episode was written for the audience of today, which occasionally is more discerning.

Also, I think if you clinically break down almost ANY story into its components as you did, it will sound less than satisfying.

True, but even compared to episode one this had maybe 20% the complexity and level of surprise.

But as you also note, my acceptance of its less than shocking conclusion may be more because I'm just an old skool fan of Lovecraft stories.

I would be similarly accepting of a Shannara adaptation. Oh, wait--I was!

[hepcat]

I literally fell asleep twice while trying to make it thru #5 Pickman's Model.

That's age, not taste.

But on a serious note, Pickman's Model is the one I'm really looking forward to. The old Night Gallery episode was great fun when I was a kid. I'm hoping this interpretation catches some of that magic for me again.

Slight off topic, but I would kill to see someone do an anthology series based on the plethora of (unfilmed) short stories gifted to us over decades by the great Richard Matheson.

I would be similarly accepting of a Shannara adaptation. Oh, wait--I was!

It's too bad they've never tried to make a series out of the books.

[stimpy]

I literally fell asleep twice while trying to make it thru #5 Pickman's Model.

That's age, not taste.

But on a serious note, Pickman's Model is the one I'm really looking forward to. The old Night Gallery episode was great fun when I was a kid. I'm hoping this interpretation catches some of that magic for me again.

It has the ever reliably eccentric Crispin Glover, which probably set my expectations a little too high.
As usual, he chews up the scenes he is in.

[rittchard]

I keep falling asleep, I think I’ve slept thru about half of the eps I’ve seen (1-3). Is there any one in particular you all think is a can’t miss?

[hepcat]

If you've slept through the first three episodes, then this show is just not for you. That's not a slam on the show (it's critically acclaimed by many) or you (we're all different). Life's too short to waste time struggling to enjoy something.

[Hrothgar]

I would be similarly accepting of a Shannara adaptation. Oh, wait--I was!

It's too bad they've never tried to make a series out of the books.

Ooh, they could have punk elves on neon hoverbikes. I hear that's the rage with kids these days.

[hepcat]

Let's put on a musical! We'll show that Warlock Lord what's what!

...also..."punk" and "neon"? What, we getting Joel Schumacher to come out of the grave to direct?

[Holman]

I started with the two Lovecraft adaptations: "Pickman's Model" and "Dreams in the Witch-House."

Neither sticks very close to the source material, but I thought "Pickman's Model" was really good. The other lost my interest, although I did stay with it to the end.

Starting "The Autopsy" next.

[hepcat]

I mistakenly said Graveyard Rats was a Lovecraft story earlier. I was wrong. It was written for Weird Tales, like many of Lovecraft’s stuff, but by a writer named Henry Kuttner. The link I posted for it notes it was heavily influenced by Lovecraft. I’ve updated my posts on that episode.

[Jaymann]

Yeah, I remember Rats in the Walls by Lovecraft, but not set in a graveyard.

[hepcat]

I read a lot of Lovecraft as a kid, but not all. He wrote quite a bit of stuff for pulps I haven’t come across. So I just assumed this was another early work of his from that time.

[Jeff V]

Is this related at all to the Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston novel of the same name? (one of the early Pendergast novels). If so, I'd try to find a way to get Netflix, if only for a brief time.

[hepcat]

No

[Jeff V]

Thanks, it's a pass then. Still wish someone would pick up the Pendergast novels though. Could make for a good series.

[hepcat]

Would have been surprised with any other reply.

[Jeff V]

Subscribing to a service I don't currently have for anything but the most desperately want-to-see show is quite difficult for me -- not only do I not have much time to watch, but my wife goes through the bills with a fine tooth comb, watches virtually no TV, and does not approve of any TV-related expenses beyond what she already begrudgingly agrees to. Not everything Del Toro has done has been a hit with me, so maybe I check it out some day if and when Netflix produces something I feel I can't miss.

[Jaymann]

I literally laughed out loud when the guy hit the button a the Doobie Brothers started playing.

[hepcat]

I started with the two Lovecraft adaptations: "Pickman's Model"

I love Crispin Glover. He’s a truly eccentric individual who has proven he’s capable of some powerful work (see River’s Edge, for example). But good goddamn, what was that accent he was trying for? It started off Irish…if Ireland was in New Jersey. Every time he said “werks” I would giggle. It was like Joe Pesci trying to play the lead in Juno and the Paycock.

But then he seems to just stop any hint of a brogue and goes full on Brooklynite at one point. Then it’s “youse” and “muddah”.

[Holman]

I started with the two Lovecraft adaptations: "Pickman's Model"

I love Crispin Glover. He’s a truly eccentric individual who has proven he’s capable of some powerful work (see River’s Edge, for example). But good goddamn, what was that accent he was trying for? It started off Irish…if Ireland was in New Jersey. Every time he said “werks” I would giggle. It was like Joe Pesci trying to play the lead in Juno and the Paycock.

But then he seems to just stop any hint of a brogue and goes full on Brooklynite at one point. Then it’s “youse” and “muddah”.

I thought it was supposed to be Boston.

[hepcat]

Oh, I’m sure that was in there too. But most of that accent sounded like a Goodfellas table read.

As for the episode itself, it was too far off from the source material, in my opinion. It just dragged on.

[Jaymann]

You know Wahlberg is from Boston...

/ducks

[hepcat]

I loved him in The Happening. That scene where he had to look at something? Pure genius. I really felt like I was watching someone watching something.