Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (TV Series) Dreams in the Witch House (2022) User Reviews

Don't be fooled by the title.

[c_hookham · 6/10 · 27 October 2022]

Had been looking forward to this episode as this is one of my favourite of Lovecraft's short stories. Typically though I was left disappointed. Instead of the nightmarish, hallucinatory tale of other dimensions, child sacrifice and unknowable Alien gods, here we have a rather run of the mill ghost story that only borrows a title, a setting and some characters from the source material, while pretty much ignoring all the interesting details of the source. Given the author's utter disdain for what he saw as the childish notion of 'souls', the afterlife and any form of spirtual redemption this is a very frustrating watch.

Anyway...Rupert Grint ( in very good form) plays a spiritualist desperate to bring back his dead sister and in the house of the title he seems to have found a way to the 'other side' but must now fight off a long dead, vengeful witch and her horrific familiar. As a stand alone horror for those with no knowledge of Lovecraft's wider Mythos this is decent enough, If derivative, slice of scares. If, like me, you were hoping for something a bit more grown up from a series helmed by avid Lovecraft disciple Guillermo Del Toro you will be disappointed and a tiny bit annoyed.

Great Effects but ruined the story.

[hjwuj · 5/10 · 28 October 2022]

If you are an avid Lovecraft reader, as I am. The you will be as confused on this episode being called "Dreams in the Witch House" Does it have a Witch? Yes. Does it have a rodent with a man's face? Yes. But other than the names of characters that's about it. No geometric studies of an odd room, that opens a door way to another dimension as the story goes. What you get is a chopped up story of a lost twin and drug use to another dimension. The scene in the church carries on way too long and honestly has no substance to the rest of the story. It's not a bad story but it shouldn't carry the moniker of the Lovecraft tale. If you've never read the story it will be a great episode but it fell flat.

Doesn't quite work.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 4 November 2022]

Years after seeing his twin sister die, and her ghost transported to a dark forest, Walter Gilman vows to get her back.

I was so excited to see this story adapted, and was even more excited when I saw Rupert Grint's name appear, I figured for him to feature that it was going to be something special.

Sadly this came as something of a disappointment, I was expecting something bleak and macabre, but was instead faced with something a little more Alice in Wonderland.

Some things worked, the visuals, the acting, Grint in particular was great, and there was some atmosphere.

Sadly there were more detractors, the story itself just didn't work on any horror level, it lacked tension, it lacked excitement, it needed to be more bleak. Pacing was poor, it was just too pedestrian, the script was distinctly average, at times if felt a little amateur.

The biggest disappointment so far this series, this was the one I had high hopes for, 5/10.

and the award for least faithful adaptation goes to...

[Ar_Pharazon_the_golden · 4/10 · 1 November 2022]

Good visuals. Rupert Grint did his best. That's all the good things I can say about this episode that audaciously claims to be based on the story of the same name by H. P. Lovecraft and with which it shares truly, next to nothing.

Was it at least a good ghost story that just isn't faithful to the source material? No. It is a rather poor (not terrible but poor) ghost story in its own right, but the complete disregard of Lovecraft is flabbergasting. It looks like whoever adapted this thought 'witch, check, rat with dude's face, check, good to go'. I can maaaaybe accept that the character has a completely different background and motivation even though that adds absolutely nothing to the story. I could begrudgingly stomach the absence of any discussion about non-Euclidean geometry. But for the love of god, there is exactly one dream in this witch house, and the other dimensions are not the alien cities of unfathomable beings but...afterlife! Have you EVER read anything by Lovecraft? If whoever wrote this had, they would know Lovecraft's horror is cosmic, it is the void, it is the realisation of human nothingness before the enormity of the universe. And here, you have someone entering a 'forest of lost souls' trying to bring back his sister? No Azathoth, no Nyarlathotep, just a generic, pseudo-indigenous spirit world. I expected better from Guillermo Del Toro than accepting this. How utterly, utterly insulting.

Not the Lovecraft Story

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 29 October 2022]

A young guy is there when his twin sister dies. Her spirit is dragged off into a copse. He loves her so much that he spends the rest of his days trying to see her and get her back. He becomes part of a ridiculous agency that should be helping him. This place is a sham and he is the only one really trying to do something they are setting out to do. He ends up in a house, drinking a kind of elixir that brings him close to his sister, but she can't leave. Meanwhile, a witch shows up and gets in the way. This seemed endless and his quest really unclear to the viewer. It just didn't work for me. It's sad because the Lovecraft stories hold up well on their own.

Lovecraft does not approve.

[ladyvashj · 2/10 · 30 October 2022]

You are a huge Lovecraft fan for decades and you love Dreams in the Witchhouse? Go read that book or listen to the audiobook, because there is no Lovecraft found in this episode. Someone took the name of the story and some of the characters, mushed it up with a master trash idea of a generic ghost story and put it all in a blender.

Keziah is the poor mans version of a fire atronach from Skyrim, Brown Jenkin is way too small and does nothing at all and by the way, there are no visits to another alien dimension at all, just some lame forest, labeled as Limbo. Lovecraft didn't create a sense of afterlife in his whole work.

Lovecraft does not approve to this utterly disgrace.

Im all for Rupert Grint

[ladyliliroche · 6/10 · 28 October 2022]

It was more of a pleasant surprise to see Ron aka Rupert Grint (hehe) in this episode.

The premise was somewhat intriguing and started simple. Brother felt helpless as he was unable to save his sister and that guilt carried over to his adulthood.

Overall the episode was alright. It got a bit draggy in the middle. The added villain with its disgusting rat and that house felt a bit random and pushed in. Especially since it is the villain that caused the ripple.

The ending was somewhat a downer but acceptable. Disgusting for sure.

But if it keeps rupert grint back, im all for it. Nice seeing Ron again in the screen.

Boo.

[TVTimdb · 2/10 · 29 October 2022]

This is the first in the series I disliked. Not only does this do a disservice to the source material, it is completely antithetical to lovecraftian horror philosophy. The idea of an afterlife, or purgatory, are not concepts that feel right in the Lovecraft universe. They're too optimistic. It's as if the writer or director took an existing story and we're told to make it fit within a Lovecraft framework. The middle of the road ghost story we're left with would be better told without the restraints of fitting it into the vague framework of the original Dreams in the Witch House.

Bad bad bad. Acting was fine.

The Disneyfication of HP Lovecraft

[esoxlucius-62073 · 31 October 2022]

The original short story by Lovecraft is an absolutely terrifying nightmare, and might be one of the better works of the master of cosmic horror.

This adaptation however is completely neutered and Disneyfied, like many things are these days... For examples of this, look no further than Rupert Grint's cartoony hair-do and the fact that the villain of the piece has an actual Disney-style sidekick in the form of a broad-accented, human-faced rat. A truly embarassing hour of television. The Harry Potter generation might get a slight kick out of this, who knows, but this should be avoided at all costs by lovers of the writings of HP Lovecraft.

Episode 6

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 6 November 2022]

I feel like this is a broken record, but it was another episode that started off really strong and then simply went off the rails. What is a little bit different about this episode though was that the off the rails stuff was not necessarily un-entertaining. A laughing and scheming mouse and a witch that sort of half flew/half ran was kind of amusing from a comedy standpoint.

This show is not delivering epic, 1960's Twilight Zone quality episodes, but it is a fun anthology series and I hope that Netflix picks it up for more. Too many of these shows are simply one and done when it comes to TV these days.

Episode 6 (UK ; Netflix; 27 Oct)

[StudleyDave · 2/10 · 27 October 2022]

Possibly the episode I'd been anticipating the most... And, unfortunately the worst in the series so far. It presents much like a Theatre stage production, which isn't a bad thing. It doesn't give enough attention to character development to stand up on screen, instead focusing more on setting and lighting. The relationships between characters aren't strong enough either, so you don't really care what's happening to them. Some of the acting is woody, too, which doesn't help things much. With the story being quite familiar, it needed all other elements to be strong for the story to shine. And let's not even talk about the rat with a human face! Or the ending!

Not all of us care about Lovecraft

[astosic · 8/10 · 19 December 2022]

I've never read any Lovecraft works and it seems that the extremely negative reviews here all come from dedicated fans upset about something. If you look at the episode on its own, it's pretty solid... Very good, even. Rupert Grint anchors it well as the lead character, not that this should surprise anyone, and the episode itself is filmed well and structured well. The real sense of a brother's desperation is palpable from Grint as he continually searches for a way to connect to his long lost twin sister. As with other episodes the attention to visual detail is excellent. The story carries a message, I think, of "life being for the living". To grieve is one thing, to obsess is another, often damaging our lives deeply.

Nightmarish...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 9 November 2022]

The sixth episode of the "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" series takes us onto yet another interpretation and adaptation of an H. P. Lovecraft short story, and this time it is "Dreams in the Witch House".

This story, originally written by H. P. Lovecraft, also sees some additional detailing by Mika Watkins and Guillermo del Toro, and it puts director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm.

This was also a good adaptation of a classic H. P. Lovecraft short story. And similar to "Pickman's Model", "Dreams in the Witch House" is a slow paced narrative.

Not that it is a bad story, but I wonder why they opt to tell this particular story, and not something with the cosmic dread that H. P. Lovecraft was and is known for.

The acting performances in this sixth episode were good, and I will take my hat off for Rupert Grint (playing Walter Gilman) in the leading role, because he handled himself rather well here, casting aside that Weasley mantle. This episode also have Ismael Cruz Cordova (playing Frank Elwood) on the cast list, which was also nice to see.

Visually a great episode, but this one is definitely for us true fans of H. P. Lovecraft. Lots of interesting and out-of-this world visuals. The CGI was rather good here, as it has been all throughout the episodes thus far.

My rating of "Dreams in the Witch House" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Wasted potential.

[seedsuffering-16987 · 2/10 · 28 October 2022]

This was the episode I was most excited about and it was a complete let down. The only good I can say about it is it looks good, set design was good, acting wad and The Witch looked cool. That's all. The story is entirely changed except for there being the 3 core characters, the house and dreaming. Instead of a story about traveling to other dimensions (including an Elder Thing city and the Center of Chaos) and trying to stop The Witch, Jenkins and Nyarlathotep from sacrificing a baby, we get a generic evil witch story with a ghost sister and the theme from Outlander randomly popping up through out the episode. I'm fine with changes to a story. I mean Stuart Gordon's The Masters of Horror version was closer to the story, they just didn't have the budget to do the traveling to other dimensions and he added some stuff. But this version had a budget and there's no reason they couldn't of done those sequences, let alone completely change the story.

Woah, this is bad

[ebeckstr-1 · 1/10 · 2 November 2022]

Literally one of worst hours of filmed "entertainment" I've ever seen. Terrible script, terrible acting, terrible directing, a nonsensical score to match the nonsensical plot. I've never seen such a randomly stitched together bunch of plot elements. Lacks any internal logic and follows no cause and effect, despite the writer seeming to believe it does. And, to be clear, none of this nonsense has anything to do with them trying to create a dreamlike narrative or something like that. It is just utter nonsense that can't be rationalized away by citing some kind of intent. They don't even have the tone right, with some parts apparently supposed to be humorous, including an idiotic opening and closing, while much of it apparently meant to be some kind of pulse pounding monster movie. This thing fails on every level and in every way. I rarely give anything one star - I've probably done it on three or four occasions out of thousands. This is simply terrible, and del Toro did his protege a disservice by not stepping in to offer guidance and try to help redeem some of this mess. (The fact that it bears absolutely no resemblance to anything Lovecraft is beside the point. I don't care if an adaptation is different from the source material as long as it's well done and at least uses some core ideas. Not in any way the case with this appallingly bad episode.)

Watch the Masters of Horror adaptation instead.

[BA_Harrison · 20 December 2022]

Director Stuart Gordon gave us a fun adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror Dreams in the Witch-House for Masters of Horror in 2005; it was far superior to this Cabinet of Curiosities version, which dispenses with many of the original story's more interesting elements (the strange non-mathematical geometry of the house being the most obvious), and adds new, ghostly stuff that is bound to upset Lovecraft fans.

Rupert 'Ron Weasley' Grint stars as Walter Gilman, who dedicates his life trying to cross dimensions after witnessing the spirit of his recently deceased sister being dragged into a supernatural forest. After knocking back a drug that enables him to enter the forest and talk to his sister, Gilman rents a room in an building that once belonged to witch Keziah Mason, suspecting that the secret to rescuing his sister is held within the walls of the old house.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, of Twilight fame, this episode is not just unfaithful to the source material, but told in a muddled, talkative fashion that makes it a chore to watch. Hardwicke also relies too heavily on CGI, is unable to generate any suspense or tension, and delivers a witch who looks less like an evil old crone and more like Raggedy from Rupert the Bear (only Raggedy was scarier).

High tension

[fireworksness · 7/10 · 8 November 2022]

Perhaps it's nostalgia and childhood familiarity but I immediately was rooting for Grints' character. I wanted him to find what he was looking for and to win out in the end.

I did not know this was also an adaptation of a Lovecraft story.

Overall it was chilling in all the right places, building suspense and keeping my interest.

The plot moved along quickly and my guesses changed throughout.

I never thought there would be a happy ending and in a way there kind of was, it's just from a different point of view.

I would have been intrigued to learn more about the other world or the woman in the room beside, or perhaps more about the bodies in the cupboard. I don't know if these are even expanded on in the original story but it would have added to the spooky bits very well.

The design of the witch is excellent and scary !

Why?

[movies-92804 · 1/10 · 7 November 2022]

This story has nothing to do with H. P. Lovecraft or the story it stole the title from. It is so bad I skipped to the next episode after 35 minutes.

Completely unwatchable. Why not give your stupid story it's own name? No, pretend to adapt a Lovecraft tale and only use the names. A very cheap way of selling an episode and draw attention to the series as a whole.

That this Twilight director completely ruins this doesn't suprise me. I mean come on 'Twilight'. But what really dissapoints me is that Guillermo del Toro added this soppy episode to the series. The other episodes are between not-bad and good. But this.... sigh.

Waste of source material.

[saulweeden · 1/10 · 3 November 2022]

My friends and I have been placing the episodes in an order of enjoyment and it is safe to say that I refuse to put episode 6 even into the runnings.

To even say that was even slightly based on any HP Lovecraft is a discredit to his works, The Autopsy was more Lovecraftian! Pickman's model was a really great episode but the writing for Dreams was just plain awful and could easily be mistaken for a season 11 episode of Doctor Who. It is a shame to discredit the acting but it felt like a drama clubs first play.

I would like to say that I am actually enjoying the other episodes thoroughly and this was an outlier that will be pushed down into the recess of my memories and forgotten when reminiscing about this TV show.

A disgrace towards the source material

[andresaabye · 3/10 · 30 October 2022]

I was really excited to watch this one, since I really enjoy H. P Lovecraft's writing, though I was prepared for the fact, that the writer would interpret the story in their own way.

Unfortunately, this is not just an interpretation, it is a completely different story. The writer took Lovecraft's story, chose to use the same name, and that's pretty much where the similarities ends.

The story has been turned into a "horror" story for children, which does not even touch upon the lovecraftian theme of cosmic powers, which are unfathomable for the human brain.

Does that mean, that it is all bad?

No, not at all! It is a great episode for kids aged 11-13, but that's not really what I am reviewing it on. I, as well as many other fans of horror or Lovecraft expected a feeling of unease, and cosmic powers which belittles humankind. A task that the writer simply cannot go through with.

I would probably rate it like this:

Horror: 2/10 Lovecraftian: 1/10 Children's "horror" story: 7/10

If a new season comes out, I definitely hope to see more lovecraftian stories, but I truly hope, that they will choose a writer, who is up for and capable of the challenge!

Credit to the actors though! They really did the best they could with that writing!

Enjoyed it!

[junolecter · 8/10 · 5 November 2023]

There are a lot of negative comments towards the episode and if I am understanding right it is because of the original short story. Maybe because I did not read the short story, I actually quite liked this episode. To me ,without knowing the original story, characters, plot, acting etc. Was all so good. I understand that difference between the episode and short story might upset readers (they have every right to be!) But I disagree with bad acting comments. From our main character to the artist I enjoyed them all. Him thinking about his twin and wanting to help her is understandable at some point. But when it gets to the point of obsession, it got dangerous.

Absolute garbage

[kirstylouiserich · 1/10 · 2 November 2022]

Joined IMDb just to rate this tv show and in particular, this episode. Had such high expectations for this series and was looking forward to it so much. What a let down. Can't believe Del Toro would put his name to such drivel. I couldn't wait for the episode to finish and when it eventually did (which seemed forever) I felt I wasted 40mins or so of my life. Such potential for decent story telling with depth, scares and intrigue but falls super short from the mark. Perhaps Del Toro is winding down for an easier life or needs the extra cash for his energy bills, who knows. Wish he hadn't bothered with this one though.

Shouldn't be allowed to use that title

[jolovell-61394 · 2/10 · 3 November 2022]

In true form Hardwicke taking a story and destroying it.

Barely related to HP Lovecrafts short story bar the characters names. Truly disappointing.

Its a real shame as Rupert Grint is wasted on this story.

The storyline itself is watered down and diluted to something that barely resembles the original story and lacks the powerful build to the main character being drawn in and the real fear of her. Even the depiction of Keziah resembles a burnt tree rather then a terrifying old crone.

Even if you separate it from the title it's still a weak story, no spooks and predictable.

Disappointed in Del Toro even putting his name to this.

Where did you go wrong, Guillermo?

[Reviewenstein · 1/10 · 14 November 2022]

Del Toro didn't write it, but the series is his baby so he's getting his share of the blame. In this episode's introduction he calls H. P. Lovecraft "the author of tonight's story." I assume he recorded that before he saw the script, because it would be hard for an adaptation to be any less like Lovecraft's story than this... thing.

Disappointing as it is that they tossed out the entire plot and substituted their own, it's even worse that what they created is so fundamentally lackluster. It was bland, uninspired, childish, and thoughtless. It's hard to imagine the screenwriter had previously done something that made the producers confident she could produce a solid horror story, and looking at her credits I have no idea what it would have been.

Of course, no contemporary Lovecraft adaptation would be complete without the director making a statement about their disapproval of the long-dead author's personal beliefs. Judging from the script, I'm guessing the extent of her knowledge was Googling his name and being suitably aghast by his xenophobia. As a result, she took pains to include as many different ethnic groups as possible (creating something of an improbable population for Boston in the 1930s), and added a feminist twist in that the titular witch is no longer evil but an innocent victim of persecution. Why people who dislike an author so intensely keep adapting his work is anyone's guess, but the effort they put into changing it into something he would have hated seems misplaced since, again, he's dead and isn't likely to get his feelings hurt.

Otherwise... The performances varied from excellent (disappearing/reappearing accent aside) to comically unconvincing, and the CG-heavy visuals were a low point for a series that's been so dedicated to practical effects.

All in all, I'm baffled by why Del Toro, a Lovecraft devotee whose efforts to film the author's work have often been frustrated by a lack of creative control, when finally given the chance to do whatever he wanted would produce such unfaithful adaptations. It seems like a massively wasted opportunity.

What a disappointment

[gaildunbar-85646 · 3/10 · 2 November 2022]

The story was silly. I honestly thought, if this is Lovecraft, I'm not a fan. But my husband, who's a big Lovecraft fan, assured me it is not. Apart from Rupert Grint, the acting was awful - the artist and nun were particularly bad. It felt Grint he'd stepped into an amateur dramatics production to help out a friend. The special effects had great potential and they're were moments that made me squirm in delight but the overacting and questionable direction were too distracting for even those to save it. I gave this three stars and that was being generous. This was easily the poorest episode so far.