The latest instalments of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities will make any slasher film look like a rom-com movie. The series is only midway through its first season, and I can already feel the discomfort in my guts (quite literally). For the unversed, the series follows a trajectory of some deepest and darkest horror fantasies disguised in the form of eight anthological episodes. Each of these has a different director and source material.
The cast of episodes 3 and 4 includes F Murray Abraham, Glynn Turman, Luke Roberts, Kate Micucci, Martin Starr, and Dan Stevens and are helmed by David Prior and Ana Lily Amirpour respectively. The latter is based on a short story by Emily Carroll, while the former takes inspiration from Michael Shea’s short story. The average running time for each episode is one hour.
-Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities Episode 3 – 4 Review Contains No Spoilers-
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities episode 3 finally gives us a taste of investigation and mystery and is aptly titled as The Autopsy. The story is set around the late eighties when a local town sheriff recalls his pathologist (played by F Murray Abraham) friend for a study on ten human corpses. The bodies of these men belonged to mine workers, who were ambushed by an insane guy named Joe Allen.
Allen also died in the process and is part of the corpses left to be examined by the pathologist. However, things are not as simple as they seem. All these deaths are somehow connected to one hideous creature, who is likely to haunt the living shit out of you.
The episode follows a linear shift in narrative, with the events circling around the evil force, rather than being generated by the greed of our protagonist. In fact, there is no such role of a leading figure in this particular episode, which makes it even more exciting.
The extreme graphic visuals, preceded by the photo-sensitive warnings might not be enough to prepare you for what’s coming. If the first two episodes peaked in horror, then the latest ones will give you some stomach-churning graphic visuals(again, quite literally).
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Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities episode 4 will leave you in awe of the show if you have the right amount of patience for it. At first, it might feel a little dragged and slow but the shockingly vile ending will make you realize the genius behind it. The fourth instalment features an underconfident lady, named Stacey (played by Kate Micucci), who gets influenced by a bunch of hyper-gossiping women and takes the help of a cream lotion to improve her skin quality.
Even after the multiple “you are enough” pep talks (given by her cop husband), she fails to backtrack from the endless self-criticism and ends up committing a heinous crime. All of which were born out of extreme peer pressure and random television talking figures.
The episode is brilliantly paced and has one of the most haunting endings that I have seen in a long time. It is also a commentary on negative obsession and appeasement, which almost reminded me of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream. All in all, the episode is a masterclass in depicting horror, fear and addiction on screen.
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities Episode 3 – 4 Final Thoughts
The latest episodes of the horror anthology will definitely have a strong impact on you, both horror and storytelling-wise. You will watch it for the scare, and appreciate the art.
You can stream the episodes on Netflix. Tell us your thoughts about them in the comment section below.
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