Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (8/10)
Guillermo Del Toro oversaw a Netflix special in 2022 called "Cabinet of Curiosities." It was an anthology series with 8 episodes, each one with a unique story and a unique director. So it's a fun menagerie of different specials that are all roughly an hour in length. It's honestly a perfect little "sampler platter" of different horror for the month of October, or any time at all.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. Each episode was so different but they were all pretty well done. A few in particular had such a high production value - the special effects and monster designs were A+.
Here are some SPOILER FREE overviews of each of the episodes, with some kind of "trigger warning" type things if you haven't watched any of it yet.
Episode 1 and 2: Body horror, Rats, and Confined Spaces/Claustrophobia
They're brilliantly creepy but they aren't as scary as they could be, just because you're fully aware who the danger is targeting and why. It's not like a movie where "it could happen to anyone and that's why it's so scary." These two tales are VERY SPECIFIC to their main characters and you know very clearly that something bad is going to happen. These two probably aren't gonna terrify anyone TOO much.
Episode 3: Incredibly realistic gore
This one is very grisly. The production value is superb so the practical effects are VERY realistic. I've been watching crime dramas and shows like CSI for years with my family in the evenings and this episode STILL had me a bit squeamish. It contains VERY detailed and believable autopsies, as well as self-mutilation and body horror/gore. Just a head's up if you're not comfortable with that sort of thing. Otherwise is was very interesting psychologically and has a certain... nobility to it. It leaves you with a feeling of being proud of the main character. Overall very well done. This one is my favorite in the whole series.
Episode 4: Taxidermy and Rashes/Allergic Reaction type stuff.
I was very surprised by this one. I thought it was going down an obvious path that has sort of been done before but it had a COMPLETELY different ending than what I was expecting. It may or may not be a satisfying ending depending on what you're looking for, as far as a lesson or a moral. It also feels... maybe a smidge out of place with the rest of the anthology in my opinion, but it's not like I would remove it. It was just a bit odd.
Episode 5: Lots of Blood and Gore and Filicide (Death of a child at the hands of their parents.)
Love me some Lovecraft. Based on his short story, "Pickman's Model." I liked this one a lot, too. The set designs and and interior designs of the different locations were very detailed, obviously built with loving care. The costume work and overall acting was quite good - I enjoyed seeing Crispin Glover again. Lots of beautifully horrific paintings, so that's always fun for me as an artist. Pretty true to the source material, as I recall. Overall a good watch, for sure.
Episode 6: No trigger warnings I can think of
This one is also based on Lovecraft's work, though this time around I didn't really care for this one overall. (People say it deviated from the source material quite a bit.) It just wasn't as good as the others, I suppose. It wasn't as scary as it could have been. It almost felt more like a "fun adventure" than a horror story. Possibly my least favorite out of this whole anthology. A lot of reviewers across the internet seem to agree with me on the matter of this episode's quality compared to the others.
Episode 7: No trigger warnings I can think of
This one was a bit odd because the plot was simple enough, I guess, but the pacing and the dialogue are so slow and I was kind of wondering where it was going to go and when it was going to pick up so that I could get there as a viewer. The element that stands out the most in this episode is THE SCENERY. The rich guy's house is SO incredible. The lighting, the designs, the conversation pit from the 70s. It looks like something out of Tron or Bladerunner. The work with the furniture and all of the LED lights and the whole atmosphere of the house is incredible. But a "home tour" is not exactly what you're there to see, huh?
Episode 8: Extreme Grief/Child Loss and Suicide
This episode destroyed me emotionally. I was going through a bit of a rough time when I watched it and it resonated so strongly that it made me cry. The middle is so painful and the end is so cathartic. It has moments of such softness and tenderness, it made me ache in my chest. Essie Davis and Andrew Lincoln gave incredible performances, so subtle one moment and so sharp the next. God they were just such sweet characters, and their grief was so real and I felt so much for them. This episode was definitely my second favorite of the whole series.
Okay those are my vague reviews of each episode. Now I'm going to get a little more specific so
SPOILER WARNING AHEAD * * *
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Episode 1: "Lot 36" (8/10)
"To pay off his debt, a man acquires a storage unit with mysterious possessions to sell, but soon finds himself in a deadly and desperate situation."
Some parts of this episode drag a little because, of course, the most interesting part is what's in the storage unit. The outside elements of the main character's debt and his racism are used as world-building but may or may not be interesting depending on what you're there for. It was nice to see Tim Blake Nelson in a leading role again and everyone's acting performances were pretty solid. Some of the dialogue felt a little... forced? to me. Or perhaps too on-the-nose. Not as "natural" and believable as real dialogue over something that was clearly written. The best part, of course, was the storage unit. I'm a big fan of the occult and how movies and tv shows go about depicting it.
I love seeing what new elements a story may come up with and what elements seem to be universal to dealing with the supernatural - for example, don't disturb or walk over the outer circle of a spell sigil. I loved the design of the seance table and the idea of there being 4 important books, the fourth being the most important when it comes to demon summoning. And the design of the sealed demon sister was AWESOME. She looked fantastic and spooky and was the best part of the whole episode, hands down. And the ending has a sort of poetic justice, with a man getting treated the same callous way he treated a lot of other people for no reason, so there's some lessons there too, I guess. Overall, pretty damn good.
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Episode 2:"Graveyard Rats"(7/10)
"A grave robber eyes the riches of a wealthy new arrival to the cemetery, but most survive a maze of tunnels - and an army of rodents - to secure them."
This one is pretty straight-forward and true to its name. Greedy man likes robbing graves and his greed gets him killed. David Hewlett gave a very charismatic and animated approach to Masson, the main character. The story had some subtle comedic moments that weren't exactly necessary but weren't unwelcome either. I really liked the practical effects with the Rat Queen and the Zombie Corpse that were chasing him through the subterranean tunnels. Their designs and movements looked really good overall. And hey, another lesson about taking risks in the name of greed and paying for it.
Get it? Paying for it? Lol I'm so funny.
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Episode 3: "The Autopsy"(10/10) --- MY FAVORITE
"A seasoned sheriff investigates a dead body in the woods and calls on an old pal, a medical examiner, to help piece together a series of chilling events."
This episode was the best one out of all of them for me. The whole atmosphere was so well-done, from the scenery to the characters to the costumes, all of it. Going back in time to 1978 gave me a sense of fond nostalgia even though I'm far too young to even know what that time felt like. Something about the Sheriff and the Mortician felt so... Almost Sherlock Holmes-esque with a touch of Noir? Like it was old and sepia-toned, but as a vibe rather than just visuals. Just so classic and comforting and nostalgic. Something about them, especially the Mortician, made me fond of him on-sight. Something timeless and charming and - familiar somehow, as if I had seen him captured in many different characters before but couldn't remember exactly which ones for the life of me. (I'm struggling to vocalize this feeling with writing so we're gonna move on lol)
Anyway, this one had the best practical effects too. The body parts looked SO real it kindda made me uncomfortable. I loved the way the whole story unfolded, seeming very normal and standard at first and then slowly acquiring more and more supernatural elements until we get to straight-up parasitic aliens. The escalation from flickering lights to a shambling reanimated corpse was just so good.
And the Mortician. THE MORTICIAN. I just loved him so much. He was so brave, so resolute in preventing the alien from hurting anyone else. He even went so far as to harm himself to ruin the alien's senses. He stabbed his own ear drums, his own eyes, and cut his own veins so that he would bleed out as quickly as possible. What good is a dead vessel to an alien with no sight or hearing or movement of its own? The mortician even wrote directions on his chest IN HIS OWN BLOOD for his Sheriff friend who he knew would be there in the morning to check on him. The directions were even FACING THE RIGHT WAY and not backwards like you would do accidentally if you were looking at text in a mirror!
The DEDICATION to override the instinctive hesitation to harm oneself and power through for the greater good. To endure all of that pain with no anesthesia or numbing agent. What a man. I don't think I could do all of that damage to myself even if I knew it was necessary for me to not become a captive zombie that would hurt other people. He was just so strong and so admirable and you're just so PROUD of him as the episode ends. You WISH you could be such a good and resolute person as him. Incredible.
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Episode 4: "The Outside" (5/10)
"Longing to fit in at work, an awkward Stacey begins to use a popular lotion that causes an alarming reaction, while an unnerving transformation takes shape."
This one threw me for a loop. Any time someone is pressured to use a popular product that changes who they are, it ruins them as like, a lesson to be true to yourself and not cave to negative social pressures. Spending so much money on a lotion that is obviously burning your skin seems like such an OBVIOUS lead-up to Stacey melting herself to death in her lotion-filled bathtub. Because why would the lotion work, it never works? That's the whole point of manipulative snake oil cure-all products like that.
But no, this lotion actually works and Stacey IS actually prettier and more popular at the end. It was so strange and unexpected.
Everyone knows what it's like to not fit in with the popular crowd. To not be pretty enough, rich enough, thin enough. And Stacey is a brilliant taxidermy artist and all her pretty friends think the animals she makes are so gross so of course I relate, as the weird artist girl. XD It's a very approachable and simple story. I feel quite bad for her husband who was "holding her back" from growing and changing for the better when he just didn't want to lose his wife. He sadly didn't make it to the end credits before getting taxidermized and set up nicely on the couch, "watching TV."
I guess the only HINT of negative consequences for Stacey is that she seems to realize that something is wrong at the VERY END, when she's laughing and frolicking with her girl friends at work. It's so hollow, so meaningless. The man selling the lotion WARNED HER that it would eat up anything unique about her and leave her feeling empty and hey, I guess it delivered. It just wasn't the "consequences" I was expecting when someone keeps using a product that gives them terrible rashes and burns. That is almost the supernatural element overall, that the lotion does what it promises.
Just such an odd episode, especially if you look at the whole anthology together as a whole.
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Episode 5: "Pickman's Model" (9/10)
"Art student Will meets introvert Richard, whose terrifying works of art begin to have a disturbing effect on Will's sense of reality."
Another Lovecraft tale, much closer to the source material that I've read and enjoyed. A solid episode all around. The acting is good, the costumes are good, the story is good. Pickman is actually a reoccurring character in Lovecraft's Dreamlands Mythos so it's fun to see him here before he became a ghoul entirely. I loved all of the scenery and set design. It really felt like you were taken back to 1909. This episode in particular did a lot of "warm" and "cold" lighting contrasts. Where the room was lit by both a cheery orange light and also some creepy blue tones as well. Adds such a lovely depth and feel to the space.
Ben Barnes and Crispin Glover gave some fantastic performances, really passionate and believable. I loved to see the creepy paintings actually depicted, instead of them just being described with words - it's interesting to see the props that someone actually had to paint, seeing as they had to actually decide on horrific elements instead of leaving some aspects of the horror up to the reader's imagination. The cinematography overall was lovely. I guess the only critique I can come up with is that it was rather predictable? But that's because the story progresses very reasonably. It just - leads to the logical conclusion, not in a way that is boring or overdone but is just ... familiar. That might just be because I've already read Pickman's Model, though it was some time ago. Also the creature at the end looked a tiny bit fake in certain shots, but hey, it was still a cool design and a delight to see when it finally appears.
I guess I can't say why I'm not giving it a 10/10 except for it just didn't resonate with me like Episode 3 and Episode 8 did. That's all I got haha
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Episode 6: "Dreams in the Witch House" (4/10) --- LEAST FAVORITE
"Years after his twin sisters death, a researcher ventures into a dark and mysterious realm with the aid of a special drug, determined to bring her back."
As I've already stated, this one might be my least favorite entry in the anthology, close to the Lotion one in just being "Not as Good" as the others. It was nice to see Rupert Grint (Ronald Weasley) again after so long and his strands of white hair after a supernatural traumatic event were super cool. The "other world" where his twin sister is trapped is very lovely, a misty foggy forest. And I did enjoy the witch's overall design, with her ominously glowing orange eyes. They were absolutely piercing in the dark, reminiscent of a Jawa from "Star Wars" but of course much more horrific and unsettling.
I suppose my only beef is just that the story isn't as interesting as the others? And the rat with a human face is just ... bad. It was so fake-looking and so out of pocket. It got way too much screentime and literally killed Rupert at the very end and possessed his body for no reason, other than "I'm an evil rat and this sounds fun" I guess. It just felt like such a letdown after I had been wanting this poor ginger man to be happy this whole time - and he just gets Chest-Burster'd by an ugly little fake rat with a human face. Just - dumb.
This one just wasn't as good as the others. Not as scary and not as well-made. And the plot was very unsatisfying overall. I'm trying to give it something for the Witch's design and the Witch House itself but otherwise it was just mid. Pales in comparison to the more interesting episodes.
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Episode 7: "The Viewing" (7/10)
"A wealthy recluse hosts four accomplished guests at his stylish mansion for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but their intrigue soon turns into terror."
As I've already stated, this one was an absolute TREAT for the eyes. It was so 70's in color and interior design. And there was a veritable TON of orange LED lights and sharp angles and it was SO cool to watch. And I adore Sophia Boutella because she's so graceful and gorgeous. But the conversations between the different characters took up the majority of the runtime and just dragged way too long for my liking. The talks and character development weren't fascinating enough to warrant their prevalence in the episode. It's like, over half of the whole thing.
But hey, the scene with the Meteorite is so glittery and has so many trippy lens flares - a really interesting and old-fashioned filming style. The way most of the characters who interacted with the meteorite exploded or melted was - cool. The VIBRANT orange goo that comes out after the space rock after it bursts is so rad and the horrible horned space creature that ends up being formed out of it is really neat to see. The design was simple and yet effective, creepy and cool at the same time. Again, the strengths of this episode are its incredible interior design of the wealthy recluse's home and the final climactic last ten minutes. Otherwise most if it drags on a bit and has too slow of a pace to be as entertaining overall.
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Episode 8: "The Murmuring" (10/10) --- SECOND FAVORITE
"Mourning a major loss, ornithologists Nancy and Edgar flock to a secluded home to study birds, but the house's history reveals heartbreak and horror."
Again this episode was heart-breaking and healing at the same time. The two leads are so precious together (Andrew Lincoln in a sweater vest is just the cutest thing) and the tension and grief between them felt so raw and real. There are three "levels" to this episode - the birds, the two main characters, and the history of the house they are staying in for their studies. You wouldn't really think they would work so well together just hearing about it on the surface but the way they all twist and play together is so fascinating. Such symbolism and such beautiful story parallels.
The way Nancy's maternal instincts keep pulling her toward the ghost of a little boy is so poignant, - how she just wants to comfort him and hold him so desperately in the way she can't do to her own lost baby daughter. I'm not even a mother so I have to imagine any parents who have experienced the loss of a child would feel even more emotional in regards to this episode.
The way the little boy is seen soaking wet on more than one occasion to reference the way in which he was tragically killed is so brilliant and haunting. The RAGE and terror that his Mother's ghost shows until Nancy is finally able to understand the other woman's grief and pain, and then the ghost is immediately soft and vulnerable and heart-broken. There are so many "journeys" here, so many "transformations" throughout the course of the episode. The way Nancy and Edgar keep arguing and pulling further and further apart only to come back together so cathartically at the end. The palpable strain between a loving married couple and their desire for proper husband and wife intimacy while Nancy is terrified, lest it lead to another lost child in the future. The pain on their faces, in their voices, and how it finally becomes relief and release.
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