With Halloween just days away, Netflix brings us the perfect treat Guillermo del Toro’s cabinet of curiositiesa delightfully macabre horror anthology.
The Guillermo del Toro name has long been synonymous with excellence for horror enthusiasts, a reputation he forged with The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, and other Cronos.
So a horror anthology that the Mexican-born filmmaker created from scratch? It was enough to pique our curiosity.
Because if horror anthologies are legion on the small screen, American Horror Stories, Into the Dark and other Fear Itself have followed one another on our TVs without leaving a particularly pleasant, or at least satisfying, aftertaste. But Guillermo del Toro comes as a game changer with his collection of divinely dark and sinister stories.
Eight Universes
It therefore deploys eight bleak and grim universes in as many episodes starting today, streaming online at a rate of two per day through Friday. The filmmaker acts as master of ceremonies here, presenting each of these vignettes entrusted to various masters of horror like a modern-day Hitchcock.
On the menu: the work of celebrated directors of the past, such as Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), David Prior (The Empty Man), Keith Thomas (The Vigil), Vincenzo Natali (Cube) and Jennifer Kent (The Babadook).
The latter may hail from different schools and continents, but they manage to create a surprisingly homogeneous and cohesive anthology while lending an undeniable uniqueness to their episode. Whether they take us to the graveyard, the attic of a haunted house, an autopsy room, or even the studio of a painter with disturbing works, these directors all work towards a common goal: to instill powerful emotions for the thrill-seeking telephile.
And everyone succeeds excellently.
► The first two episodes of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities are now available on Netflix.