Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix series, 2022)
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is an eight part horror anthology, made by a bunch of talented filmmakers from all over the world.
The first episodes are now on Netflix, the rest will follow in the coming days.
Two of the episodes are based on stories Del Toro wrote himself. Others are based on stories by famous writers like H.P. Lovecraft.
All episodes are introduced by Del Toro himself, a nice touch reminiscent of the way the legendary Alfred Hitchcock introduced his tv episodes.
Guillermo Navarro directs the series opener Lot 36, which is based on one of Del Toro’s own stories. It starts out like an episode of Storage Wars and takes the idea that you don’t always know what you will find inside a lot that you paid good money for.
Tim Blake Nelson plays a war veteran who is looking for a way to pay off his debts and takes an unfortunate trip into the occult. It doesn’t help that he is basically a racist and forgets to be kind to an elderly Latino lady who just wants some old family photos back from another lot he bought.
To be fair, the arc of the story feels a little predictable, but it is still pretty suspenseful. It also has the polished look that we associate with a Del Toro production.
The Graveyard Rats is the second episode released today. It is based on an story from 1936 by Harry Kuttner and directed by Vincenzo Natali. It deals with cemetery caretaker Masson (David Hewlett) who has to deal with a bunch of rats who eat into his grave robbing habits. It’s another story of debt, greed and a man who goes to suspenseful extremes, while being pulled towards possible doom.
As I am not a big fan of too much blood and gore, that’s fine by me. I like both these episodes, that run for about 35 to 40 minutes and play like half-brothers of horror.
These first two episodes of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities are aimed at a mainstream audience, that enjoys Del Toro’s movies like Crimson Peak and The Shape of Water.
But be careful, the final images of The Graveyard Rats are a kicker.
I’m sure the other six episodes are something to look forward too as well.1 Catherine Hardwicke directs Dreams in the Witch House, based on H.P. Lovecraft and released on Thursday. And Jennifer Kent, the acclaimed Australian filmmaker known for The Babadook and The Nightingale, directs The Murmuring, which will serve as the series final and stars Andrew Lincoln, Essie Davis and Hannah Galway.
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