The success of Goosebumps made it clear that there's still an audience for horror movies aimed at an even young audience than the usual teen crowd. And with the combo of a beloved trio of books and the producing acumen of Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark looks like it could be a chiller for the children (and everyone else). Check out the new teaser trailer.
Adapting Alvin Schwarz's work (which had a big effect on teenage del Toro) is Troll Hunter's André Øvredal, who directs here. The likes of Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman and John August joined del Toro to hash out which of Schwarz's stories would make for good adaptations. Among the tales picked were The Big Toe, Harold and The Dream, which features the creepy Pale Lady. Yet it's not an anthology film, the plot instead weaving the characters into one singular narrative.
According to the synopsis: "It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind... But seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time – stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying home." Empire had a chance to see some footage and view the new trailer, with del Toro, Øvredal and some of their cast talking up the film. The producer emphasized how they decided to go for stories that highlighted character and the push was always to go for practical effects where possible.
With Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Gabriel Rush, Natalie Ganzhorn,
Dean Norris and Gil Bellows among the cast, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark will be out in the US on 9 August, and should be on our screens around the same time.
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