Moryah DeMott

I really wanted to like this movie. I have been a huge fan of the books since I could get my second grade hands on them. These stories gave me nightmares; they gave me fun Halloween theme ideas; they introduced me to some of the most popular urban legends out there. This movie? It did none of the above. If anything, it left me a little disgruntled. I want to make sure that I point out how beautiful the film looked, and I loved the call backs to the original illustrations. Those were some of the best parts of the film. The young cast also did a great job with their characters. That, sadly, is where my praise ends. I understand trying to fit the stories into a unifying narrative, but I just wasn't that impressed with the overall plot of the movie. It was over used, and at some points, down right corny. And corny should have worked for this, especially considering the source material, but it just fell flat. I feel that some of the most interesting scary story plot points where muddled. This is particularly true with how Harold handled his abuser, which could have been handled in the same way as the book, while avoiding any gore the movie seemed desperate to avoid. I also feel like the setting of the 1960's was unnecessary. If anything, the constant mention of the Presidential election, and the issues the characters had with Nixon brought about a certain political agenda that mirrors issues today and was extremely out of place in a movie like this. There was no reason for it. I also found it a bit jarring that the only truly brutal death shown on screen was the death of a haughty and racist police officer. Again, I felt this was pushing an agenda, and that the scene was meant to insight both cringe and cheers. This just wasn't the movie for that kind of message. There is a time and place for political commentary in movies, and I love a good political drama, but only when I want to watch a political drama. All this movie did was put a bad taste in my mouth, while making me realize that I love the simplicity and horror of the original stories, and they are something too great to accurately translate to the screen.