Google News Netflix: A terrifying nightmare from Guillermo del Toro, "Cabinet of Curiosities"
by FARUK IMAMOVIC | VIEW 143
The anthology series "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" is based on the famous Oscar-winner's short story of the same name, and it takes us to a world where a dragon's tooth, a Fijian mermaid and a unicorn's horn are quite common occurrences.
Symbolically, the first two episodes were released a few days before Halloween. The famous Mexican director, who is remembered for the Oscar-winning titles "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Shape of Water", appears at the beginning of each episode of the Netflix series "Cabinet of Wonders" and, like Alfred Hitchcock, gives hints of what awaits us in the story.
The charismatic director, elegantly dressed in his XXXL suit, opens the drawers where mysterious books, pictures, and objects from the (super)natural history of horror are hidden. A cabinet of wonders could also be called a kind of luxury piece of furniture that was created in a time when traveling was rare.
Its content reminds us of our secrets, sins, and darkness. Every time Guillermo opens a compartment and takes out an item related to the theme of the story, an impressively produced episode begins. It contains a lot of violence, rating 16, but not so much horror.
It's some kind of exotic nightmare filled with demons, occult rituals, and graves. The series is actually a departure from traditional horror, and each episode is entrusted to a director tried in this genre, such as Vincenzo Natali ("Cube"), Jennifer Kent ("The Babadook"), and Ana Lily Amirpour ("A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night").
Two episodes are based on short stories by the American author H. P. Lovecraft.
Take a peek. Smell it. That's all you can do.
The first story is "Warehouse 36", which was directed by Guillermo Navarro (director of photography of "Pan's Labyrinth") and whose action takes us back to the Bush years and the Gulf War.
On television screens, the American president calls for peace and the establishment of a New World Order, while a man disposes of dead animals, after which he falls to the floor and dies. In the frame, we see a key with a pendant with the number 36 on it.
Netflix announced the series as a unique horror experience. Eight stories created by the best horror minds span four consecutive nights, and the second episode was directed by Vicenzo Natali and is called "Graveyard Rats".
The paranormal is contrasted with the moral darkness in which Americans live. Everything is tinged with racism, and actions are determined on a daily basis mostly by an unfair race for money. So there is not too much difference in behavior between humans and rodents.
This dark world is possessed by demons, although few believe in them. The less they believe, the easier they get hurt. The anthology series "Cabinet of Wonders" is an unusual visual experience, which would be a shame to miss, even though Del Toro did not direct it.
This is Netflix's suggestion for all those who have a hard time enduring "jump scare" scenes, have a bad heart or easily slip into nightmares.