“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” Movie Review

    It is getting around the time of year when studios start releasing spooky films in hopes they might have legs until Halloween, however some studios release their films around summer in time for a Halloween release on home video.  “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” decided to gamble on a late summer release so it will be interesting to see if the film does better on DVD and Blu-ray than it did at the multiplex.  The film is based on the book series by Alvin Schwartz and the illustrations by Stephen Gammell.

    The film tells the story of friends Stella, Auggie and Chuck as they get their revenge on bully Tommy on Halloween night only to have Tommy chase them to a local drive in theater where the trio hide in the vehicle of Ramón.  The group decides to check out the Bellows haunted house after and they discover a secret room where Sarah Bellows was supposedly locked away.  The group get locked away in the room when Tommy finds them.  Upon discovering the diary of Sarah Bellows, they are eerily set free and each go home.  The diary begins to add a scary story by itself about the bully Tommy and a scarecrow.  Once Tommy goes missing, the group realize that maybe something is going on with the diary and they are write, for the book begins to write scary stories about them all.  Now they must race to figure out how to stop the diary before it is too late.

    Let me start by saying this is an enjoyable horror film geared towards the pre teen demographic.  The film contains plenty of jump scares and twisted visuals but nothing too graphic either.  The creepy visuals might by too much for some younger visuals but young adults will no doubt enjoy the frights.  It’s amazing how the drawings of the book seem to come alive and the visual flair of Guillermo del Toro is easy to see in the movie.  It is definitely a creepy experience.

    The story plays out with plenty of scares but not much character development.  The four main characters aren’t given a lot to do except seem scared.  Gabriel Rush reminds me of a young Jason Sudeikis but that was about all I took away from his performance, while Austin Zajur seemed to channel Shia LaBeouf throughout the film.

    One aspect that I thought took something away from the movie slightly was that the film shared a plot that was very similar to the recent “Goosebumps” adaptation.  Seeing as how both films were also based on popular young adult horror books, it slightly took away from an overall enjoyable film going experience.  They just needed to change up the plot device a bit more in my opinion.

    “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” will probably never be considered a classic but it has such a unique style that it shouldn’t fade away completely either.  It is an overall enjoyable popcorn flick and I have a feeling the film will be destined to cult classic status at the very least.

Grade: B-

”The Art of Racing in the Rain” Movie Review

    It probably isn’t much of a shock to learn I went to see “The Art of Racing in the Rain” last week since it’s a movie featuring a dog.  I mean, of course I would go see this because it’s a dog movie.  That being said, I also knew I was probably in for an emotional rollercoaster and that I might end up crying like a baby by the end of the movie.  Regardless of how many tears I might shed, I decided to go see the movie anyway.

    The film tells the story of professional racer Denny as he adopts a dog he names Enzo.  Denny and Enzo share a bond and friendship as Denny tries to make his way through the ranks of professional racing.  Racing, and to an extent Enzo, take a back seat a bit when Denny meets Eve.  Denny and Eve end up marring and while Enzo doesn’t like having to share Denny’s attention at first, Enzo begins to warm up to her when she becomes pregnant, even hoping their baby looks like him.  What happens next would spoil too much of the movie so I will just say things get very sad and it would be hard not to cry by the end of the movie.

    The film, based on a novel written by Garth Stein, was received with mixed reviews but that couldn’t keep me from a good dog movie.  I really enjoyed the film but the film was a real tearjerker for dog lovers.  The film succeeds largely due to the performance of the dog who plays Enzo.  The human actors, primarily Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried, do a decent job but Enzo without a doubt steals the show.  Kevin Costner provides the perfect voice actor for the mature Enzo in the film.

    The film does have it’s flaws despite my enjoyment of the film.  The film is fairly predictable throughout most of it’s runtime and while the movie still remains enjoyable, it undercuts some of the drama slightly.  I also thought some of the moments of levity were out of place, like the moments with the stuffed zebra.  The zebra hallucination was cute but took me out of the movie.

    “The Art of Racing in the Rain” isn’t for everyone but maybe it should be.  The film can be sappy and emotional but sometimes that is just what an audience needs.

Grade: B+