Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour, 51 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

CBS Films, Academy Award-winner Guillermo del Toro, and director André Øvredal presents a super creepy movie. I don’t know why I even watched this film because I don’t like scary movies! I guess I thought it wouldn’t be too scary since it’s rated PG-13, but it is! Well, for me it is. My kids laugh at me because I don’t like the spooky Halloween costumes and decorations around in October and so I only use happy pumpkins and fall harvest decor instead.

So, it’s only natural that I would have a son who eats this stuff up. He and his friends love watching scary movies. I think they’ll like this one.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

This is way too scary for young kids. The trailer below will give you a taste of what your kids would see.
Some crude language and references
Lots of profanity
Teenage life in the 1960s. There is TV coverage of the Vietnam war and talk of evading the draft.
Vandalism
Bullying
Some super disgusting and chilling images and sounds.
5 people die, usually gross deaths with blood and gore.

THEMES:

Facing your fears
Courage vs. cowardice
Rage
Friendship
Letting go of a hurtful past
Never give up
“Stories can teach us to care. They make us brave enough to admit that we need each other, give us a home to go back to.” – Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti)

THINGS I LIKED:

Just the opening music creeped me out!
The kids watch a few scenes from the movie Night Of The Living Dead which scared me so much when I was a little girl. For some reason, my dad let me watch it when it came on TV. Why? That movie gave me nightmares and made me afraid of Zombies for years.
Lots of jump scares and cringe moments for people who love that.
There is a lot of tension that will make you hold your breath.
Ruth performs in the show Bye Bye Birdie which is a stage show I performed in when I was in junior high.
The movie poster is based on a story called “Harold” in the third book.
As an author, I liked the aspect of the movie that illustrated how powerful words and stories can be.
The teen cast includes Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, and Austin Abrams.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

This movie hit theaters way too early. It would have been perfect for an October/Halloween release, right? I mean, we’re still swimming and celebrating summer in August!
A lot of scenes are in the dark, which will make it hard to see if you try to watch it on a small device once it goes to streaming.
Why do people do such stupid things in scary movies?
Are you ready for a sequel? The ending is perfectly positioned for one.
Fans of the book anthology series might get frustrated because this movie blends stories together.
The story doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the horror genre. Some hard-core horror fans are calling this a “gateway” horror movie to introduce kids to the genre.

INTERESTING LINES:

“Stories heal. Stories hurt. If we repeat them often enough, they become real. They make us who we are. They have such power.” – Stella (Nicholls (Zoe Margaret Colletti)
“You don’t read the book. The book reads you.” – Stella Nicholls (Zoe Margaret Colletti)
“There is no magic, only rage.” – Lou Lou (Lorraine Toussaint)

LIKE THE MOVIE? CHECK OUT THE BOOKS:

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: The Complete Collection