Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

The tension builds, the special effects are gruesome, and most of all the film is fun for both young and old moviegoers.

Blame the high expectations, but this adaptation feels bland and vague. Trailers should never be better than the actual movie. In this case they were. [Full review in Spanish].

The plot is fun, the stories are creepy, and I enjoyed every minute of it. But just as is often true, the books were better than the movie.

By couching all of the original shorts in the over-arching small-town kids' story, this adaptation short-shrifts the shorts. There's not enough of them here, and that makes them feel sketchy.

If you're thinking this seems to be a list of horror clichés and stereotypes, that's not an uncharitable suspicion. The filmmakers' skill rests in the way these stereotypes are reanimated in a narrative that contains a surprising number of layers.

You'd have to be part of that treasured horror movie demographic who jumps with fright whenever somebody spills a box of popcorn to get much spook value out of this slice of sub-Stephen King schlock.

A gothic horror story made with trade and knowledge, with the ability to scare through the noblest tools of cinema. [Full Review in Spanish]

The content feels too meek and derivative of other shows and movies and doesn't justify the criticism of the books.

This is a solid horror movie, thanks to its source material, its freakish monsters, its definite jump scares and good performances by Colletti and Garza.

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark gets under your skin like a good campfire story should.