DEL TORO'S 'CABINET': FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Do we need another horror anthology TV show? Yes! Especially if it comes from the imaginative mind of Guillermo del Toro. By the time you read this Netflix will have released all eight of the episodes of what promises to be an exceptional new series, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES.

I have watched the first few and they are all, in varying degrees, pretty damn well done. The first thing that struck me is how great the visuals are. Gorgeously filmed with interesting color palettes, as well as light and shadow all superlatively utilized. Second, the choice of stories are a pleasant surprise, with the first one, "Lot 36" penned by del Toro himself. Second is "Graveyard Rats", originally published in WEIRD TALES (March, 1936) by author, Henry Kuttner. The third is "The Autopsy", written by Micheal Shea. It is interesting to note that both Kuttner and Shea were involved with furthering the so-called "Cthulhu Mythos". Kuttner was a contemporary of H.P. Lovecraft and corresponded with him as well as wrote numerous tales of Lovecraftian "Cosmic Horror". Shea wrote his own tribute to Lovecraft in the novel, THE COLOR OUT OF TIME in 1984. Science fiction editor and author T.E.D. Kline compiled a list of "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories" -- Shea's "The Autopsy" is number eleven.

If there was a weakest story out of the three, I'd have to say it was "Lot 36". Still an absorbing story, the acting was a bit overwrought for my taste. Kuttner's "Graveyard Rats" has to be the creepiest of the trio and "The Autopsy" was over-the-top gory that rivals some of the worst seen in the new film, TERRIFIER. That it starred the great F. Murray Abraham helped it immensely. And, man, the monsters in these are awesome, CGI'd or not.

All-in-all, I enjoyed these as much and in many ways more than all the other TV horror anthologies that have come before it, and I am looking forward to viewing the rest of the series, especially the Lovecraft adaptations.

Oh, and in case you are wondering what T.E.D. Kline's thirteen most terrifying horror stories are ...

THE 13 MOST TERRIFYING HORROR STORIES, Selected by T.E.D. Klein from THE TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE (August, 1983)

1. Casting the Runes by M.R. James
2. The Novel of the Black Seal by Arthur Machen
3. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
4. The Dunwich Horror by HPL
5. Bird of Prey by John Collier
6. Who Goes There? by Don A. Stuart (John W. Campbell) Antarctic horror, the genesis of The Thing.
7. They Bite by Anthony Boucher
8. Stay off the Moon! by Raymond F. Jones
9. Ottmar Balleau X 2 by George Bamber
10. First Anniversary by Richard Matheson
11. The Autopsy by Michael Shea
12. The Trick by Ramsey Campbell
13. To Build a Fire by Jack London

And a peek at a review of the Lovecraft story, "Pickman's Model", from Nerdist.com (spoilers ahead!):

CABINET OF CURIOSITIES OFFERS ONE OF THE BEST LOVECRAFT ADAPTATIONS OF ALL TIME

by Kyle Anderson | Oct 27 2022 | Nerdist.com

H.P. Lovecraft is a, shall we say, divisive literary figure. Largely a shut-in during his life, he harbored deep xenophobia and racist beliefs that couldn’t help but work their way into his writing. Because he was terrifying of everything, he pioneered a kind of all-encompassing horror that many, including me, find undeniably fascinating. Guillermo del Toro is a similar Lovecraft enthusiast and in his anthology series Cabinet of Curiosities, he’s given us two adaptations. While Catherine Hardwicke’s “Dreams in the Witch House” is a suitably macabre affair, it’s Keith Thomas’ “Pickman’s Model” that stood out the most. It is one of the very best Lovecraft adaptations I’ve ever seen.

The thing about Lovecraft and his fiction is that it’s easy to focus only on the giant tentacled monsters aspect. They’re giant and have tentacles; it’s easy to get distracted. But the crux of his version of horror is not that there are massive, incomprehensible monsters, it’s what knowing the truth would do to the puny human mind. What is the implication that hideous eldritch abominations lurk just outside of our field of perception? Knowledge isn’t power; it’s debilitating terror.

The episode—based on Lovecraft’s 1926 story of the same name—follows Thurber (Ben Barnes), a collegiate art student and well-to-do chap whose life and sanity find themselves on the rocks after meeting Richard Upton Pickman (Crispin Glover). Pickman is an artist of rare skill but whose works seemingly horrible nightmarish fantasy creatures and events. Macabre, gory, generally upsetting. To most in the realism-focused art world of the 1920s, the paintings are flights of dark fancy. To Thurber, they are profoundly upsetting.

Pickman recognizes Thurber’s keen eye and wishes for his “friend”‘s opinion. Pickman tells us that his many-times-great grandmother was a witch who died of hanging in Salem during the trials. His portrait of her “last supper” is particularly gruesome. Thurber then experiences terrible dreams and visions. From the very first time Thurber sees Pickman’s “stronger work,” it’s as though a veil lifts and he sees the darker aspects of the world. Thurber sees a man (whom he later learns is his fiancée’s father) in a carriage with a woman. The woman’s chest is covered in black veins while a mysterious gash bleeds from the back of the man’s head. Thurber can no longer pretend not to see the rot just underneath the pleasant surface of the world.

Years go by and Pickman turns about in Thurber’s life again. This time, Pickman is even more determined for Thurber to come see his new paintings. He even makes a surprise appearance at Thurber’s house, talking to his wife and son. Thurber, of course, knows Pickman’s art is cancerous, but little does he know how much. Eventually, Thurber goes to Pickman’s house and enters his cellar to find a well in the floor. From the well, the creatures Pickman painted actually appear. They signify a new dawning, Pickman says. They are his family. Pickman’s model is a real creature.

This revelation is one of Lovecraft’s best, up there with the endings of “The Outsider” and “The Rats in the Walls.” The horrible creatures aren’t imaginary. Pickman’s power as an artist is that he can perfectly depict reality, the rot and horror underneath the veneer of modernity. The more he hones his craft, the closer he gets to absolutely reality. Pickman thinks Thurber will understand, but obviously he does not. Or maybe he does too well. Either way, Thurber shoots Pickman.

This doesn’t end the horror, of course. The episode’s grand finale is that it continues on just a little bit more than the written story does. Thurber’s colleague has gone mad staring at Pickman’s art and, very soon after, so does Thurber’s wife. She gouges her own eyes out and cooks their son in the oven. It’s a truly disturbing final act, and proof that the art (in this case, depicting eldritch horrors beneath the surface) doesn’t die with the artist. Thurber could withstand this truth; others not so much.

It’s this that really makes this version of “Pickman’s Model” so powerful. The truth of these horrible creatures and their eventual rise is there, whether Pickman paints them or not. Unlike what G.I. Joe used to say, knowing is not half the battle. Knowing either brings madness or despair. Cosmic horror at its very finest.