Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

"They're not just stories anymore."

2019 1h 48m EN

😐

6.5

MID

🍅

78%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.2

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 2,951🍅78%Rotten Tomatoes●61Metacritic★6.2IMDB · 89,193

HorrorMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, Halloween night, 1968. After playing a joke on a school bully, Stella and her friends decide to sneak into a supposedly haunted house that once belonged to the powerful Bellows family, unleashing dark forces that they will be unable to control.

“They're not just stories anymore.”

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Cast

Zoe Colletti
Stella Nicholls
Dean Norris
Roy Nicholls
Michael Garza
Ramón Morales
Gabriel Rush
Auggie Hilderbrandt
Gil Bellows
Chief Turner
Natalie Ganzhorn
Ruth Steinberg
Austin Abrams
Tommy Milner
Austin Zajur
Chuck Steinberg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: André Øvredal
Writers: Rob Ballantyne, Patrick Melton, Guillermo del Toro
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, Hong Kong, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Canada, Hong Kong, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by André Øvredal, shot by Roman Osin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Patrick Larsgaard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Zoe Colletti and Dean Norris and Michael Garza carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

André Øvredal directs. Roman Osin behind the camera. Marco Beltrami scores. Patrick Larsgaard cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Canada, Hong Kong, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.
2Released 7 years ago.
3International production across 3 countries: Canada, Hong Kong, United States of America.
4Part of the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by André Øvredal, shot by Roman Osin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Patrick Larsgaard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Zoe Colletti and Dean Norris and Michael Garza carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "They're not just stories anymore.".
10IMDB entry: tt3387520 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "small town", "based on novel or book", "halloween", "haunted house".
12Released under 30 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Roman Osin
Original score: Marco Beltrami
Editing: Patrick Larsgaard
Production design: David Brisbin
Costume design: Ruth Myers
Makeup / hair: Trason Fernandes
VFX supervisor: Dennis Berardi
Sound: Ihor Kaniuk
Stunt coordinator: Darren McGuire
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $104,545,505
Return: 418% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes: 78% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 61/100
IMDB rating: 6.2/10 · 89,193 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

5 wins & 6 nominations total

Part of

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Collection

The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark film series, based on the short story compilations of the same name.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
2019 · this one

Also by

André Øvredal

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Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Manuel São Bento2019-08-19
★ 6/10
If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog :) This might be the very first film of 2019, which I knew absolutely nothing about going into the theater. Usually, I avoid trailers for most movies, but it’s almost impossible to not catch an image or a clip here and there. However, for Scary Stories, since it wasn’t heavily marketed in my country (at least), the only things I knew was that Guillermo del Toro was involved and that it was a horror flick. Knowing del Toro, I also remembered myself that this wouldn’t just be a straightforward horror story, filled with predictable jump scares, and a bland narrative. That’s my first advice to my fellow readers: if you expect a film similar to those of The Conjuring Universe, then you’ll be disappointed. It’s also not the other extreme. It doesn’t follow the ambiguity and weirdness of Jordan Peele’s installments, so if you’re one of those people that don’t appreciate that type of horror, you’re safe as well. Having in mind the latest movies released from the genre, it’s hard to find one that balances these two separate takes instead of choosing one of them. Scary Stories spends its first half slow-building their characters, but mainly its story. There’s a massive build-up to something that’s pretty much the premise of the film, so it struggles to reach the actual “action” without it becoming a tad boring or too long. It’s a “breath of fresh air” (in the genre, I mean) to have a good set up, with decent character development, and an exponential interest in the main story, instead of jumping into silly horror sequences fifteen minutes after it started. André Øvredal does an excellent job in directing. He really knows how to generate suspense and create a genuinely creepy build-up. There’s tremendous camera work involved in some fantastic sequences that don’t rely on jump scares to provide the “fear” factor. It’s the never-ending suspense, that feeling of claustrophobia even if the character isn’t in a confined space. Except for one scene, we can always see what’s happening. The “monsters” don’t appear out of nowhere, they don’t screech at you precisely at the third time a character looks another way, and the actual jump scares are rather efficient. However, they’re not scary, as well as the movie itself… It’s not simply a scary film. It doesn’t have that heavy and dark tone that we feel in other horror movies. At first, I thought it might be a bad thing, but Scary Stories establishes this distinct tone from the very beginning. Even without knowing a single thing about the film, I understood from the first few minutes that it was going to be “different”. I would advise caution to not judge this movie by its trailers if they indicate that this is one of those films to make you scream every five minutes. There’s definitely a message to be transmitted, and I think it was well-delivered in the ending. It might be too cheesy for some or lack impact for a movie that asks the audience for a bit of patience, but for me, it worked well enough. The acting is mostly good. Zoe Colletti (Stella) and Michael Garza (Ramon) are undoubtedly the standouts, and they do a good job of carrying the narrative forward. They both have compelling backstories, but for the time that the film spends developing its characters, I wish they went more in-depth with Stella. She has a particularly intriguing past, and I don’t think we get enough out of it. Gabriel Rush (Auggie) and Austin Zajur (Chuck) have great chemistry, but their comic-relief roles are a disservice to an otherwise pretty solid movie. Technically, there are some beautiful shots from the DP, Roman Osin. Usually, sequences at night in low-budget films suffer a lot with lack of clear visibility, but Osin does a remarkable job, playing with lighting in a truly unique way. I’m curious to know what audiences will think of this movie. If I had to bet, I think people will leave disappointed due to the lack of more generic jump scares, and a straightforward narrative. Truth be told, the slow pacing doesn’t help, especially when the character development only works for two. Finally, the “scary stories” that Sarah tells are entertaining and imaginative, and the whole concept of this film is incredibly captivating. All in all, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a distinct horror flick, with well-developed leads, and a creative approach to an unique premise. It doesn’t follow the rules of generic horror, by not relying itself too much on jump scares, and making the actual story and characters the main interest. Beautifully-produced by Guillermo del Toro and co. as well as brilliantly directed by André Øvredal. The “scary stories” are indeed dark and creepy, providing a whole second-half of excellent horror scenes. However, the first-half takes its time to set everything up, and the lack of more “action” might leave some viewers disappointed. Only two characters are genuinely engaging, which proves that the slow build-up didn’t entirely pay off as it should have. It’s meant to be a divisive movie, but I definitely recommend seeing it! Rating: B-
SWITCH.2019-09-25
★ 6/10
There’s just enough scares to appeal to the under-15s with disposable income, but very little for anyone else looking to get into the real Halloween spirit. ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ has the potential to be really unique, but is let down by its blandness and lack of originality. Yes, there’s a hint at a sequel at the end of the film, but I hope for our sake that the book is closed on any more of these scary stories. - Charlie David Page Read Charlie's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-a-harmless-tale-that-wont-haunt-you
Gimly2019-12-28
★ 5/10
I was a little bit disappointed by Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but I say that with the caveat of it being one movie that I went into with high expectations - something I generally try to avoid having if I can. There is a lot I liked, creature effects, probably top of that list, but the story feels disconnected and for me had an unsatisfying resolution. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.