Scary Story to tell in the Dark

Scary Story to tell in the Dark

Director: André Øvredal. Cast: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows ,Austin Zajur.

A horror story for teenagers I guess, which depending on what mood you’re in, you’ve got equal chances to love it or hate it.
The setting is your typical suburban American town in 1969, obviously at Halloween. Iimagine a cross between all the classic 80s horror B-movies (Creepshow, Children of the corn and so on), mixed with a bit of Stephen King’s It (and consequently, Stranger things too) and a hint of “Final Destination”. In other words, there is absolutely nothing original in this film. You could plot pretty much everything before it actually happens but maybe that’s part of the fun. In fact the first half at least of this film holds on quite well, proving that sometimes you don’t need to be completely original to create a suspenseful story. A few jumps scares here and there, some creepy imagery and fun-gory bits.
It often does feel like a collection of little segments put together and I do wonder whether at some stage this was meant to be an anthology film. However for what it is “Scary Stories” definitely outstays its welcome and after a while all the genre tropes become a bit tiresome. The last 20 minutes are insufferable and left me with a really sour taste, almost sorting enough to push it all down to “2 stars”.