Director André Øvredal's Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark is one of our most highly-anticipated films of the year here at Birth.Movies.Death., and why wouldn't it be? Øvredal's The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of our favorite horror films of the past decade. Executive producer Guillermo del Toro is on the record as being a huge fan of the source material, which means they've probably done it justice. And that source material? Hell, Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell's iconic short story collections were integral in turning us into the die-hard horror nerds we are today. To say we're hyped is an understatement.
Today, the Movie Gods have smiled upon us by delivering a new Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark trailer, and while it doesn't appear to introduce any monsters we haven't seen in previous trailers, it's certainly the best one we've seen thus far (and gives us our best look yet at what this movie's actually about).
Take a look:
Here's an official plot synopsis, in case any of the above was unclear:
"It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind...but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying home."
The decision to make the film a period piece is interesting, isn't it? One assumes this has everything to do with keeping smart phones out of the hands of its teenage heroes, but perhaps there's a narrative reason for dialing the clock back that far? Of course, we knew Scary Stories was set in the past already, but the time period really shines through in this new trailer.
At any rate, we're super excited to see this one, and will be there when Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark hits theaters on August 9th. How 'bout y'all?