Based on a series of short stories, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is produced by none other than Mr Guillermo Del Toro. André Øvredal, director of Trollhunter and The Autopsy Of Jane Doe is the man in the director’s chair.
The first chapter of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark was first released in 1981. The first book featured 29 short horror stories, so that’s a lot of content to play with. This film will focus on some of the stories from the first chapter of the series.
The second instalment which was called More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was then released in 1984. The third instalment was not released until 1991 and was called Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones.
This movie really doesn’t look like my sort of flick but I was still impressed by the trailer.
I am not sure about the direction the plot is taking us. I would much rather prefer straight-up retellings of the stories. Now, we have a bunch of kids who find a book with the infamous scary stories…but the stories come to life.
I know a lot of people this will scare the absolute shite out of and I will look forward to showing them this. That, and you’re always going to have the die-hard fans who are familiar with the original stories. I am sure they have been waiting for someone like Del Toro to come along and take the reigns and bring these terrifying children’s tales to life.
The original series was written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Even looking at the illustrations now looks freaky but Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is still a kids story. Del Toro has confirmed that he wants to keep that family-vibe for the film adaptation. He wants Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark to be a family horror movie.
The film has been officially rated PG/13 and from what I have seen in the trailer, it looks like it’s going to be terrifying a whole new young generation.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is Due for release August 23rd. Enjoy the trailer.
More updates to follow as they are announced. As always, thanks for reading.
Words by Gary Gamble
Founder/OwnerBigCheese @ Moviehooker
