GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube

Since Covid has left the future of “Black Mirror” episodes lying dormant for longer than expected, the mantle of horror anthology king has been left unclaimed. Along comes visionary director and frightmare king Guillermo Del Toro, whose idea to commission an 8-episode series of short stories in the form of Gothic and Grand Guignol, called “Cabinet of Curiosities”, has reignited the passion of the fanbase, all the while affording Del Toro the chance to pay homage to TV series from his childhood that have inspired his strange and unusual stories of grotesque horror that have made him a pioneer in the industry. Del Toro’s investment isn’t just limited to a producer’s capacity, as not only does Guillermo pen two of the episodes featured in the series, but he also introduces every episode by appearing out of the surrounding darkness and shadows, with an ominous air of uneasiness that Alfred Hitchcock persisted through during his weekly anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents…”.

Del Toro also knows that the light of opportunity is far too big and imposing, even for his own titanic shoulders, so he uses the opportunity to shine a light on some of the most promising up-and-coming directors in the world of horror today, rounding out a who’s who dream team of storytellers that each cement their own uniquely vital personalities towards each episodic chapter. For my money, this decision is admirably selfless, but beyond that fruitfully illustrating of what truly makes horror the deepest and most versatile offering of any categorical genre, with each of them varying in visual and thematic storytelling to supplant something uniquely invigorating towards each of the eight respective installments. Among them, but not limited to, are David Prior, Keith Thomas, Catherine Hardwicke, Panos Cosmatos, and especially the great Jennifer Kent, whose work on The Babadook and The Nightingale has left me with the kind of spellbinding intensity that continuously kept my eyes glued to the screen.

As with any anthology series, the episodes sift through a wide variety of subject matters on the surface level, but with each conveying a deeper message of social commentary lurking just beneath the surface. This makes each of the screenplays thick with entertainment value, but beyond that intellectually enhanced by thought-provoking wisdom in dissecting through provocative subjects like greed, superficiality, and impact of the arts, to name a few, with each attaining an often times unforgiving element of unpredictability to their respective conflicts and enveloped characters, in turn nearly always making the most of their 38-65 minute offerings that might not justify the extent of a fully-fledged cinematic run time. Also as expected, the episodes themselves vary in quality, with “Pickman’s Model”, “Dreams in the Witch House”, and “The Murmuring” being my absolute favorites, and “The Viewing” being my least. While the latter of those films is certainly a visual siesta, conjuring Cosmatos’ signature hypnotically entrancing visuals, the story itself unravels to frustrating and underwhelming levels of disappointment, leaving it a noticeable drop-off in quality from the emotional prowess of the previously mentioned trio of episodes, which each conjured feelings of sentimentality, grief, and even overwhelming bravery.

The episodes themselves are also benefitted by a lucrative production value, which when compared to anthology series like “Creepshow” or the recent incarnation of “The Twilight Zone”, feels like a refreshing change of pace that provides emphasis for what horror can be at its very best. The sets and corresponding designs vividly mirror and echo the atmospheric dread conjured by the creativity of their conflicts, and the special effects of both computer-generated and practical varieties prescribe a seamlessness to believability that continuously pushes the envelope, all the while carving out some of the coolest creature designs during the opening two episodes that I simply couldn’t get enough from. The lone disparity in this sentiment is in a rat/human hybrid character during “Dreams in the Witch House”, but thankfully it’s only shown in close detail once throughout the duration of the episode, and never something that still takes away from the artificialities of the fantastic aspects of the episode that certainly make it one of the more creatively ambitious of the entire series.

But a horror series is nothing without the frights, so what about “Cabinet of Curiosities” makes it a consistently unsettling and unnerving watch? Well, besides the magic of its capabilities in story, which allude to literally anything being possible in the dark of night, the series also intensifies in the tragedies of its many character losses, with even the innocent being subjected to the unshakeable horrors that they often times have nothing to do with. Aside from this, the duration of the series never settles for the lowest hanging fruit in cheap, timely jump scares, instead investing in the ambiguity of long, lingering shadow-play, as well as the thickness of its atmospheric dread, which never for a second shakes the hopelessness and helplessness of its characters while playing towards the fly on the wall accessibility of its consistently picture-perfect direction.

As a whole, “Cabinet of Curiosities” is among the very best of horror anthologies ever put to print, with a murderers’ row of enticing filmmakers and a grab bag of assorted stories that will fright and delight with exceptional production values of the most believable variety. This one feels perfect under the ominously atmospheric glow of a candle permeating within the enveloping darkness that Del Toro continuously emanates from, in turn solidifying a harbinger of hope for the future of horror that serves as this generation’s unlocked doors to the monsters and ideas that originate in the depths of our imaginations.

My Grade: 8/10 or A-