Episodes six and seven of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities have the biggest contrast. “Dreams in the Witch House” was released with the other H.P. Lovecraft story so it would have naturally paired well with “Pickman’s Model”. “The Viewing” was interesting because it is the most approachable thing Panos Cosmatos has done.
“Dreams in the Witch House” was directed by Catherine Hardwicke with teleplay by Mika Watkins based on short story by H.P. Lovecraft. It stars Rupert Grint, Ismael Cruz Córdova, DJ Qualls, Nia Vardalos, Tenika Davis, and Gaby Moreno. The set and costume design do an amazing job to ground it in the setting. The effects are as fantastic as they have been throughout the other episodes.
“The Viewing” was directed by Panos Cosmatos and was written by Aaron Stewart-Ahn and Cosmatos. It stars Peter Weller, Eric André, Sofia Boutella, Charlyne Yi, Steve Agee, Michael Therriault, and Saad Siddiqui. Like I said previously this is the most approachable thing that Cosmatos has made but the atmosphere reminds me of Beyond the Black Rainbow, his first movie. The costume design grounds the story in the proper time period. The effects in the episode are fantastic. This might have some of my favorite effects in any of the episodes that I’ve seen yet.
I give “Dreams in the Witch House” 8 keys out of 10. I give “The Viewing” 9.5 cigarettes out of 10.