I love Guillermo del Torro, so I was justifiably excited about his Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix. What should have been a weird and horrific anthology turned out to be less of a cabinet and more of a junk drawer. The series is a disappointing collection of uninspired and uninteresting stories that were mostly a waste of time.
The series does have its moments, but it suffers from the same affliction most of these horror anthologies do; not all of the stories are interesting. I would argue that the first two episodes hold up the best, but considering the quality of the rest of the show, it isn’t saying much. I would have published this review sooner, but it was a struggle to finish this series. I had to take multiple breaks in order to finish because I kept losing interest. I’ll be honest, I almost gave up, but I powered through and remember some of it. There are episodes in this series that didn’t leave any impression on me, so I can’t bother to remember any specifics.
It is always difficult to recommend horror anthologies because the quality between episodes is never consistent. While some episodes might stand out, the writing and acting aren’t always there for the whole series. Cabinet of Curiosities continues to prove this theory. If you are looking for quality horror set in the mind of Guillermo Del Torro, look elsewhere. Ultimately, this series holds nothing to be curious about, so don’t bother. But to the nonbelievers, you can stream it on Netflix.
Now as a shameless plug, let me tell you about my new partnership with Canva. Canva is an online photo and video editing tool that is easy to use. I have been using Canva since before my partnership, and I would have recommended it regardless. It is free to use, but there is a subscription service that unlocks additional features. I use the free version and find it is perfect for my needs. If you aren’t very creative, Canva has a vast selection of templates to help you create your next poster, logo, banner, and more. Go check out Canva today!
Image By Netflix – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYotKcx8rw8, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71536821
Thanks for the review. I used Canva before.
Thank you for reading! Yeah I just started using Canva recently, but got the partnership so I’ll be mentioning for a bit.
It’s always tricky with horror anthologies because episodes always vary in quality. I also found this show pretty underwhelming considering the amount of talent on board.
Each episode had it’s moments but most were too long, not scary and predictable. Majority went for cool visuals over story.
Yeah, I mean there’s always an episode or two that will b okay but I always find it hard to recommend because the quality isn’t there. I agree. There are some episodes that took forever to end, especially the last one with the birds. They should have taken money from their visuals and acting budget and gotten better writers. I wouldn’t have minded if it were ugly if the stories were good.
I have to agree with you here. This anthology, which seems to be trying to imitate the original “Night Gallery,” falls short. I think the worst was “Pickman’s Model.” H.P. Lovecraft was a master at creating atmosphere, and that’s one of the reasons why so many attempts to bring him to the TV and movie screen fail.
“Pickman’s Model” was the worst one, I agree. It was so boring. I was excited because I thought a Lovecraft narrative with Del Toro aesthetics would work beautifully, but it didn’t. I’ve seen anthologies with lower budgets tell better stories and that makes me sad.