Cabinet of Curiosities episode 6, Dreams in the Witch House great segment of the anthology. The director del Toro chose for this episode is Catherine Hardwicke
Catherine Hardwicke is best known as the director of the Twilight franchise. Before she had huge success with the Twilight movies she was responsible for two great indie films; the dark teen rebellion drama, Thirteen and the skating movie Lords of Dogtown starring Heath Ledger. Both of those films were great…as for the Twilight franchise. Shite.
For episodes 5 and 6 we got treated to not just one, but two Lovecraft adaptations. This one, Dreams in the Witch House was written by Lovecraft in 1932, and like most of his work, was published in Weird Tales.
I have said countless times that I am a big fan of witch horror but nearly everything I have seen really doesn’t live up to the horror and creepy potential I have imagined; I want witches stealing children from their cribs and throwing them in big cauldrons of boiling water with frog legs and human hair. Dreams In The Witch house gives us a witch that you’d expect from a children’s story, but it’s a much darker and more violent form. Keziah Mason is the witch’s name and she is looking to transfer her cursed witch soul into a fresh new human.
Walter loses his twin sister to a mysterious illness. After she passed, Walter saw her ghost before she was dragged away screaming to the realm where the dead walk in limbo. After this paranormal encounter, Walter dedicates his life to finding a way to the realm of the dead, to get his sister and bring her back.
Some beautiful, haunting visuals in this one. The realm of the dead is straight-up something out of a Tim Burton movie, we only get a glimpse into that world but you know there are unimaginable horrors waiting for you behind every layer of creeping mist.
This is the 2nd time Dreams in the Witch House has been adapted for the screen. The first time was by the great Lovecraftian maestro, Stuart Gordon. I hear a lot of people saying this segment doesn’t come close to what Gordon achieved and I wouldn’t dare to disagree with any of them.
As always, thanks for reading.
