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Reviews
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
HP Lovecraft inspired short stories
I originally discovered this show because I heard my favorite new director (Panos Cosmatos) directed one of the episodes, so had to renew my Netflix subscription just to see it. The episode he directed ("The Viewing") was among my favorites in the series, though like all of his work I can see how it's not everybodies cup of tea. The rest of the series is brilliant as well, each episode is a horror short story very reminiscent of an HP Lovecraft style short story (I believe a couple of episodes are even direct adaptations of his stories). Most stories center around some sort of demonic other-worldly entity or theme, and each episode has its own specific director who put a great level of artistic detail into their story and directing style. The stories are well crafted with interesting themes and elements.
My favorite episodes in no particular order were probably The Viewing, Pickmans Model, Graveyard Rats, and the Autopsy. The Outside and Lot 36 are next, great episodes but slightly lower on the heirarchy. Then Dreams in The Witches house, which I also still really enjoyed but it just felt a bit less dark and twisted than the other stories. The only episode I didn't like very much was The Murmering, simply because it didn't seem to fit the theme as well as the other episodes. It lacked any twisted demonic element, to me it just felt like a generic ghost story. I thought the birds were going to tie into the story more somehow too, but at the end I didn't feel like the main story elements had much of anything to do with the birds, I think if the entire story were rewritten without "the murmuring" component, it would not have affected it much. So it just felt somewhat slapped together, not as well crafted as the other stories.
Interestingly a lot of the reviews seem to have the exact opposite opinion, where a lot of people really liked The Murmuring and didn't like The Viewing. So that just goes to show that each episode took its own unique artistic approach that resonates differently with different people. If I could describe The Viewing, I would best describe it as a bizarre, meandering heavily drug fuelled dip into the strange world of an eccentric super rich person. It makes you kind of feel like you are a part of the experience sitting around the table with everybody else, and bounces between each characters unique individual reactions to the situation. It's almost like there are multiple "viewings" as the conversation drifts between the different objects in the room and the different people around the table. It ultimately leads up to one final "viewing", and the story very rapidly hits its climax and the payoff in the last few minutes is very rewarding.
To me this anthology series is the best screen adaptation of what I would consider to be the "HP Lovecraft short story style" story telling. I believe the choice to use different directors for each episode really helped as each episode has its own unique flavor. I will definitely be revisiting a lot of these episodes, I hope to see more seasons and that the stay just as strong as the first one.
Strange, Stranger (2012)
Bizarre and unique
I somehow stumbled across this movie a few years ago when the entire movie was up on youtube for a little while, but shortly after it got taken down (I assume because some of the scenes in the movie are pretty explicit). I was captivated by what was happening from start to finish and I've been searching for it again ever since. Unfortunately this movie is really not easy to find. Glad I had a chance to experience it once, however still very interested in finding this again. I feel like a lot of artistic effort went into this movie and the right audience of people who like wierd movies would really appreciate it, however unfortunately a lot will miss out on this gem.