Scary Stories (from a Dark Allie)

I have to admit, I’m a bit disappointed by this movie. Okay, a lot disappointed.

This was another fun holiday horror movie, and I’m kind of glad I waited to watch it until it was Christmas this year. Merry Christmas, by the way, if that’s your thing.

I loved this movie. I mean, of course I loved this movie. It’s got Ray Wise and Lin Shaye and a strange, silly plot. What better present for Christmas Eve?

Remember how I said I hoped the cast of this one could hold a candle to the cast of the original? Of course you do; that was yesterday.

I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. I shouldn’t have been, because I love Christmas and slasher films, but for some reason I had low expectations for this. I’m happy to say it exceeded those expectations.

Tonight’s the longest night of the year, so I figured it was only appropriate to celebrate with this movie. And if you like horror movies, it’s a great movie to celebrate with.

I figured I was going to be in for a ride when I saw Graham Skipper’s name and I wasn’t let down.

This movie starts out simple enough: your typical boy meets girl, girl rejects boy, boy kidnaps girl and keeps her in a cage in a basement story.

I watched this movie not knowing what to expect except for Kevin Zegers. I definitely got a lot of Kevin Zegers (I secretly/not-so-secretly love him) along with a steady parade of other familiar faces. I think Katharine Isabelle was the most surprising face to see – which is silly, because she’s popped up in a lot of the movies I’ve watched this year. And there’s not even the pretense of secrecy around how much I love Katharine Isabelle.

Can you believe there are only two weeks left in the year? Maybe it’s just me, but 2016 as a whole somehow seemed to rush by all at once while each moment within 2016 seemed to drag on and on and on. Like many of the movies I’ve reviewed this year, in fact.

There’s a lot I like about this film. It loses some of its charm after the first viewing (as I learned tonight), but it’s still pretty great.

I forgot how long this movie was. I don’t think it’s the longest movie I’ve watched so far, but it may be the longest that wasn’t originally a TV miniseries adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

I’m still pretty tired, and there’s a lot to process after watching this movie, so this will likely also be brief.