Tanya’s Score: Okay-and-a-half*
Rated: 14A
Starring: a bunch of kids and Hank from Breaking Bad
Plot: A group of teens find a haunted book that tells horror stories that come to life.
Tanya’s Verdict: Before I delve into this review, let me state for the record that of the five of us who saw this movie (me, my husband, our three kids), I am the ONLY one who wasn’t all that crazy about it. Everyone else thought it was pretty good. Perhaps I was in the wrong frame of mind for it; perhaps my lack of popcorn ruined the movie for me; perhaps I missed something. But I don’t think so.
Now on to my review.
This movie has a lot of positives going for it. It has a pretty good story; it has some pretty good characters; it has some pretty good scares. But in my opinion, they just didn’t add up to a good movie.
For me, the gimmick wore thin after the second or third scary story came to life. It got predictable and a bit humdrum. It started to feel like a horror movie put together like a paint by numbers. And there’s no twist – simply a gaping hole of an ending just itching for a sequel to put some closure to the entire thing.
But still – Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is better than a lot of quick and easy horrors out there. And if your kids are into scary movies – this is a good one for the family.
*Four score descriptions: Sh**; Okay; Good; Great