I was interested in the works of Guillermo del Toro even as a child, when I saw “Blade 2” too late at night on Yes 2. If “Blade 2” was only a hint of what the mind of the Mexican director was capable of, “Hellboy” from 2004 was a turning point: the film Wasn’t a crazy blockbuster, but it did show del Toro’s extraordinary visual abilities. In 2006 he presented the brilliant fantasy “Pan’s Labyrinth” and in 2013 he showed Hollywood how to make kaiju movies (giant Godzilla style monsters) when he created monsters of enormous size, never before seen in the cinema, for “Pacific Rim”. Five years later, when the sequel directed by Steven S. Danite, it was impossible to ignore that the spectacular cinematic style that stood out in the first film was gone.
And now, Guillermo del Toro takes a break from directing and focuses mainly on the role of screenwriter, producer, and especially host in his new anthology series: “Guillermo del Toro Presents: Chamber of Wonders”. He took under his wing eight award-winning directors and adapted a short horror story for each of them, which is adapted into a chapter in a horror anthology. All the horror stories presented in the series are based on short horror stories (except for one episode), two of which Del Toro wrote himself, and no anthology pays respect to its directors like this anthology. At the beginning of each chapter del Toro walks into the cabinet of wonders, explains the theme of the chapter and pulls out of the cabinet a certain object related to the story. At the end of the monologue he places the object, says the name of the story and the director’s name, and next to the object he places a statuette of the director’s likeness.
This thing is unusual – even in anthology series like “Black Mirror” such a significant credit is not given to the director, and it gives the feeling that the creators were really chosen with tweezers – not only on the basis of the name, but mainly thanks to the cinematic style. However, del Toro’s fingerprint is felt in every chapter – whether it is a work of art made up of human hair, an alien bomb found in a meteor shower or a witch made of wood. Everything feels “del Toro”, but the work remains the other directors’ as well.
For example, the last episode of the series, “Hemia”, is directed by Jennifer Kent, the director who made the horror film “The Babadook” (which we also recommended in the list The best horror movies of the last decade). The episode, which is based on a short story by del Toro, tells about a couple of bird researchers who recently experienced a great loss, and move to a new house to study the way in which birds that are in the area of the house fly. Because the director manages to keep the style we knew in The Babadook within the story, it feels like it was almost written for her – along with how del Toro writes about dealing with loss through elements of horror.
All the episodes are well made, filmed in a way that characterizes del Toro’s style and talk about important issues – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t less good episodes. Along with excellent episodes (for example, “The Postmortem” and “Warehouse 36”) there are also weaker stories, such as “From the Outside” directed by Anna Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Alone at Night), and feels like “Dahmer – the female version”.
Stacey (Kate Micucci) is a banker who has trouble connecting with the women at the bank. She doesn’t look good, she’s strange and according to her own description, mostly “doesn’t fit”. But she feels like she’s going through a process when she starts using a diabolical body lotion. The story itself may not be bad in terms of photography and editing, but perhaps the choice of Mikuchi is too obvious and did not take her out of her comfort zone as an actress, especially in light of the fact that she usually plays an outsider. The big problem is mainly the ending, which was a bit predictable with a last scene that felt unnecessary. On the other hand, an episode later they return with an episode based on a short story by the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft – and immediately feel that the series is once again returning to its roots.
Even though it is an anthology, the order of the chapters is significant. A mystery in one story can come back in a different form in a different story, and as you progress through the series, Del Toro’s mystery cabinet opens up as well. And in general, it’s a great opportunity to get to know directors we may have heard less about, for example Guillermo Navarro who directed the first episode, who until now has mainly served as Del Toro’s house cameraman in films like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Pacific Rim”.
In recent years, anthologies have become quite common on the television screen: “Black Mirror”, “American Horror”, “American Crime”, “Love Death and Robots” – all TV series that set a bar for how stories can be told within a certain theme, and the new series of Guillermo raises the bar. It presents an interesting way of bringing lesser-known directors to the public’s consciousness, giving them a wide platform and yet retaining the producer’s artistic fingerprint. Most of the viewers who were waiting for this series probably came because of del Toro’s explosive name – after all, this is a well-known method of attracting the public, just like Martin Scorsese in “Empire of Crime”, and in some cases you don’t feel the legendary producer’s style at all. But here, if you came thanks to del Toro, you will not be disappointed – the series has everything that is fun about the Oscar-winning director. If you didn’t get to know the super talent, then this is a great way to get a taste of his style, and of the most promising names in the horror genre.
Guillermo del Toro Presents: Chamber of Wonders, now on Netflix