CABINET OF CURIOSITIES: A Review Of The New Guillermo del Toro Anthology Series

Introduction

The Halloween season is over. However, there is still plenty of creepy and horrific content available to stream on any of the numerous platforms. One anthology series that is currently making the rounds on Netflix is Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. This fantastic series showcases eight horror stories that are told in the stylings of the Gothic and Grand Guignol genres. While del Toro didn’t direct any of the installments, two of them are co-written by him. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities premiered on October 25, 2022.

Synopsis

Lot 36

Nick (Tim Blake Nelson) is a xenophobic and bitter war veteran desperate to earn quick cash. In deep with local mobsters, he ekes out a meager living buying repossessed storage units. Nick is reselling their contents in the hopes of finding something valuable. He buys the aforementioned Lot 36 at auction and is soon confronted by Emilia (Elpidia Carrillo) who informs him that her unit was sold by mistake. Nick disregards her and discovers valuable and occult-like antiques in the lot. This leads the warehouse owner, Agatha (Martha Burns), to call Roland (Sebastian Roché), a collector of rare and valuable occult paraphernalia. When three volumes of demonic books are discovered, Roland presses Nick to find the missing fourth volume. Nick is told that all four volumes would be worth $300,000. The two search Lot 36 and subsequently find a secret passage leading to a demonic chamber and untold horrors.

Graveyard Rats

Graveyard Rats tells the tale of Masson (David Hewlett), who is desperate for money. Masson, a grave robber by profession, owes money to an unnamed criminal organization. Much like Nick, in the first installment, he needs money fast. However, his attempts at stealing the recently deceased’s possessions are constantly thwarted by rats. Subsequently, Masson finds out about a recently buried aristocrat. He sets about finding him and stealing his valuables and paying off his debtors. When Masson finds his grave, he discovers that the rats have dug a massive hole and dragged the corpse deep into the catacombs beneath Salem, Massachusetts. Crawling into the labyrinth of tunnels in pursuit of his treasure, Masson encounters an enormous Queen rat who turns the tables on the graverobber.

The Autopsy

Sheriff Craven (Glynn Turman) calls on his friend Doctor Carl Winters (F. Murray Abraham) to perform some autopsies on short notice. This is because a mining explosion has caused the untimely deaths of several miners. One of the miners, Joe Allen (Luke Roberts), has apparently caused the explosion by detonating a mysterious and alien-like object in the mineshaft. It turns out that Allen used to be Eddie Sykes, This was before he disappeared nine months earlier into the woods after going to watch a meteor shower. As Winters begins to perform and record the autopsies, Allen’s body comes back to life. He is inhabited by an alien host that is hungry for human blood and desperate to stay alive. Doc Winters realizes it’s up to him to stop the alien from destroying life as we know it.

The Outside

Stacey Chapman (Kate Micucci) is an introverted and awkward outsider, yearning to become a part of the click of materialistic and vapid co-workers she spends her days with at the local bank. At a Secret Santa party that she attends, Stacey is gifted a tube of the wildly popular and disgusting-looking Alo Glo lotion from Gina (Kylee Evans). Desperate to become ‘beautiful, she begins to vigorously apply the lotion all over her body, while ordering more from a  man on the television (Dan Stevens) that speaks to her. While the lotion gives her horrific body rashes, Stacey soon begins a transformation that will alter her life, as well as the life of her extremely concerned husband (Martin Starr). The result is a horrific tale that further exemplifies the age-old adage that beauty truly is, skin deep.

Pickman’s Model

An adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft short story, Pickman’s Model tells the tale of William Thurber (Ben Barnes). A talented young artist in Boston’s thriving art community in 1909, Thurber becomes artistically involved with Richard Pickman (Crispin Glover), a brooding and sullen artist. Pickman’s renditions of a posing half-naked man are horrifying and brutal. However, Thurber is enamored by Pickman and his drawings, especially considering their teacher instructs the class to “paint what you see.” Pickman is ridiculed and made fun of by his fellow students for depicting such graphic and hideous renditions. Shunned by his classmates, he pleads with Thurber to visit his home and appraise his work. Thurber reluctantly agrees and views the disturbing works of art adorning the rooms and walls of Pickman’s home. When Thurber begins to experience horrific visions, it’s only a matter of time before all hell, literally, breaks loose.

Dreams in the Witch House

Another adaptation of a Lovecraft story, Dreams in the Witch House features Walter Gilman (Rupert Grint), an investigator into all things related to the occult. As a young child, Gilman witnesses his twin sister, Epperley (Daphne Hoskins), die from an unknown disease. Before she is taken away for proper services, Gilman sees her spirit dragged to the forest by unknown malevolent forces. Years later, as an adult, Gilman seeks entry into the Forest of Lost Souls. He hopes that he may finally save his sister’s soul and bring her back to the land of the living. Frank Elwood (Ismael Cruz-Cordova), Gilman’s only real friend, agrees to help him but has doubts. Gilman also hires Mariana (Tenika Davis) – a local painter with supernatural visions – to assist him. Renting a house belonging to a dead witch (Lize Johnston), Gilman takes a local drug called “liquid gold” giving him access to the forest. However, bringing someone back from the dead has its consequences.

The Viewing

Lionel Lassiter (Peter Weller), a reclusive billionaire gathers a group of supremely talented experts to his undisclosed lair in order to have a mind-expanding experience. Accompanied by his physician, Dr. Zhara (Sofia Boutella), Lassiter summons musician Randall Roth (Eric Andre), physicist Charlotte Xie (Charlyne Yi), best-selling author Guy Landon (Steve Agee), and psychic Targ Reinhhard (Michael Therriault). They are all encouraged to tune in, turn on and drop out. Drugs are soon dispensed and the group begins to adjourn to another chamber where a mysterious and alien-like meteor is the centerpiece of the room. When the group falls into a trance-like state, the meteor splits open, revealing an oozing entity. All parties involved quickly realize that money and power can’t save you from that which you can’t understand.

The Murmuring

Nancy Bradley (Essie Davis) and Edgar Bradley (Andrew Lincoln) are ornithologists and scientists who have tragically and recently lost their daughter Ava. When they travel to an out-of-the-way country estate to escape their pain and continue their studies, ghostly images start appearing. Since they are scientists, both Nancy and Edgar, at first, believe this is due to the stress and grief they are both going through. Nancy, however, starts to investigate the house they are in and finds out that the former owner, Claudette (Hannah Galway), murdered her son and then committed suicide. Nancy and Edgar soon realize that the real terror they are battling comes, not from the ghostly images that they are seeing, but from the torment that manifests within.

Analysis

Much like his predecessors Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock, del Toro steps out of the darkness and into the frame to introduce each installment of Cabinet of Curiosities. He does so in a macabre and mysterious-like manner, which is a perfect intro to each of these delightful featurettes. The visual addition of the incredible-looking ‘cabinet’ – replete with miniature props that summarize each episode – is another nice touch. Del Toro doesn’t direct any of the installments, but his influence is clearly seen throughout. The high-quality production design. The incredible color palettes. The gore and gothic themes. All of this is a reflection of del Toro’s previous works.

All of the tales in Cabinet of Curiosities revolve around characters dealing with either fear, obsession, or jealousy. In some instances, a combination of all three. These flawed character traits then manifest themselves into the external demons and monsters they must try to stave off. Much like Lovecraft’s work from a century ago, the internal becomes the external as the horror is explored through the human mind. While the incredible creatures – led by Mike Hill and his design team – are truly stunning, the true horror here is each character’s descent into madness and insanity.

Guillermo del Toro is one of the planet’s very best filmmakers when it comes to horror, and Cabinet of Curiosities is the reflection of an artist that has spent years dedicated to honing his craft. It also helps to have source material from such masters as H.P. Lovecraft and an impressive lineup of directors. This includes Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home At Night), Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), David Prior (The Empty Man), and Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), to name a few. The production design is also top-notch, which has come to be expected from a Netflix production. Some of the stories, such as Cosmatos’ The Viewing may run a bit long in the tooth, but the payoff is worth the wait.

Performances

A film or series can look good and sound good and have plenty of gore and guts. Yet, if the performances aren’t there, they will never hold up over time. Twenty years from now, people will still be revisiting Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. A big part of that is due to the fantastic and, at times, over-the-top performances of its leads. Tim Blake Nelson, forever in the hearts of the Coen Brother’s worshipers, is at the same time detestable and sympathetic as Nick in the first featurette, Lot 36. Not to be outdone, Kate Micucci is by far the absolute standout of the series, starring as Stacey in The Outside. Micucci’s comedic background is in full effect in this surreal and psychedelic performance. Amirpour’s direction is also fantastic here with the ‘fish-eye’ perspective and bright colors put to good use.

Veteran actor Peter Weller in The Viewing delivers an over-the-top performance as well as showing off a very strange hairdo. In a narrative-driven role with pages and pages of dialogue, Weller, who’s been acting for five decades, is up to the challenge. His rapid-fire delivery is something that David Mamet or Aaron Sorkin would be proud of. F. Murray Abraham, another fifty-year veteran of stage and screen also delivers a tour-de-force performance as the coroner in The Autopsy. Del Toro was smart to put the onus of several of these episodes in the hands of veteran actors who could convincingly emote this type of gothic and dramatic dialogue.

Crispin Glover, who has made a career of being eccentric both on and off the screen, delivers another weird and creepy performance in Pickman’s Model. Rupert Grint, who gained global fame at such an early age, has quietly been going about carving out a solid career as a character actor and supporting player. Here, he has a chance to shine, and takes full advantage, as his turn in Dreams of the Witch House is both powerful and heartbreaking. Andrew Lincoln and Essie Davis both deliver fantastic performances in the final, and possibly best episode of the series, The Murmuring. Written by del Toro, this final chapter in the series may be the slowest and least ‘horrific,’ yet the two leads both deliver dramatic and emotional performances.

Conclusion

Anytime you present an anthology series to the public (and critics), there is going to be a wide-varying debate as to which installments stand out. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is no different. Some episodes, such as The Outside, Lot 36, and The Murmuring stand above the rest. This is largely due to the towering performances of its leads. Regardless, all the installments are worth watching as this is a Netflix limited series of the highest order. Even The Viewing, which moves along at an extremely slow pace, before a gory and brutal conclusion, is visually stunning and well-acted. 

The monsters all throughout Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities are incredibly inventive and genuinely frightening. The creepy factor in this series runs extremely high and the gothic elements run strongly throughout. Cabinet of Curiosities is a varying mix of themes and stories that is perfectly linked by del Toro’s introductions of each chapter. The series is very much in the format of Rod Serling’s iconic The Twilight  Zone series and viewers are all the more satisfied because of this. If you are looking for intelligent, thematic horror with high-production value, Cabinet of Curiosities is one of the very best series currently streaming on Netflix.

Read more Cinema Scholars reviews!

HOUSE OF DARKNESS: A Review Of Neil LaBute’s New Horror/Thriller

THE CELLAR: A Review of the Atmospheric Horror Film

If You Don’t Want To Miss Any Of Our Content In The Future Like Us On Facebook and Follow Us On Twitter and Instagram!