As soon as you see that at the beginning of each episode Gyro himself appeared to host, the new fantasy horror highlight drama "The Whimsy of Guillermo del Toro" is worth saying a few words.
Once upon a time, in that era when fantasy horror thrillers in the form of anthology (each episode tells a completely separate story) were prevalent and led the peak of ratings, the main creators who were not actors were also the most enthusiastic about making cameos in the show.
The most familiar "Hitchcock Theater" by Chinese audiences will appear in each episode of the palace-level director Hitchcock's fat figure, he introduces and summarizes the deep meaning of the episode through a series of punch words, prop mechanisms, and special effects tricks, and plays a funny meme by the way.
All future fantasy science fiction dramas imitated "Yin and Yang Demon World" and "Night Gallery" were presented at the beginning and end by the show's main creator, suspense giant Rod Serin, his literary description, often distilled the thought-provoking points of each episode's story.
In addition, "The Veil" is hosted by Golden Age horror superstar Boris Karloff, while "Ray Bradbury Playhouse" and "Anecdotes of Surprise" are two well-known authors, Bradbury and Roald Dahl, who appear in person to introduce the audience to adaptations of their respective works.
If you haven't watched and heard these dramas, it is not surprising, after all, it was a long time ago. Nowadays, fantasy dramas in the form of highlights are difficult for audiences to favor (think of how much cannon fodder has been drowned in a "Love Dead", and it is still an animation), and few literary bigwigs in the film industry are willing to be permanent guests.
In this era, if there is anyone like Hitchcock and Rod Serin in the past, who has made extensive achievements in the field of creation, and has enough affinity and playfulness to unveil it in front of the stage, Guillermo del Toro, a fat otaku with a big beard and likes to dry figures and shoot monsters, is indeed one of the few preferred.
Although his opening remarks in this play are not outstanding compared to those predecessors, the return of fine traditions is enough to make people excited.
However, I also have to complain that "Guillermo del Toro's Whimsy" is actually a very misguided translation, which is very different from the original text, and at first glance it will make people misunderstand that this play is the original of the top, and predict a huge number of gods and monsters, gothic evil, steampunk, mutated humans, a sea of blood and endless horror romance.
In fact, the specific choreographer and director work of the gyro is very small, and the main creators of each episode have their own people, and their temperaments are often very different.
There are eight episodes in total, and in my opinion, the first four episodes are essentially oversized prank scenes, whether the characters include desperate debtors, foreigners living in the body or housewives anxious about appearance, and whether the tone is humorous, suspenseful, thriller or irony, all with a nostalgic black humor, paying tribute to the glory days of fantasy horror dramas. If you look at them and feel like a certain passage wasn't born in this era, that's normal.
There will always be an unlucky egg in these episodes. Some put this label on their brains at the beginning, others don't reveal their identities until the last minute, but no matter how you look at their bad luck, the process is just as wonderful.
The theme is also more straightforward, often exciting, greedy, indifference, stupidity, shallowness, etc., and adding the old-school causal cycle of retribution, forming a delicate and grotesque fable.
However, although the theme of the story has a certain innocence, their scale is not small, the monsters, zombies, beasts, and madmen sneak out to scare you, various forms of corpses occupy the screen with a grin, and bloody knives and axes suddenly attack, in short, they are definitely not among the family rewards. Of course, because it is shrouded in strange fun, the cartoon meaning will dilute the physiological stimulation and appear less open-minded.
Just when I thought I would spend an entire season licking a layer of black icing, the style of the last four episodes changed abruptly.
The first is the two episodes adapted from Lovecraft's novel, both based on the indescribable conqueror from another world, presenting a morbid and distorted psychological state, and the two episodes that are the closest to the work of the gyro director aesthetically.
If you like Lovecraft, these two episodes are quite detailed, and if you are not familiar with this Cthulhu master, then these two episodes are also a very suitable starting point.
Episode 7 pushes Cthulhu vibes to a more direct and ferocious end of the spectrum. The background is placed at the end of the 70s closer to the current time and space, so the sense of post-apocalyptic oppression is also stronger. This episode plays retro photoelectric tricks, and the nihilistic psychedelic atmosphere that envelops the whole film will make countless people blurt out the "drug-like experience".
In fact, the director had already expected this, not only arranged for the protagonist to collectively knock out, but also made the awakening of the otherworldly demon inseparable from this matter. The whole episode plays like a life-like appetite, and the ambiguity of the ending makes it more like a joke with a strong sense of metamise.
The final episode returns to the haunted formula of the historic mansion, with cool tones that will remind you of countless similar works. Although the scary scenes of this episode cannot be compared to those masterpieces, there are all the necessary elements, including late-night noises, malfunctioning electronic devices, the origin of ghosts, traumatic family scenes (the lines and emotions of some couples quarrel are so real that it makes people's backs chill), and it is not difficult to make it into the latest season of "Ghost Invasion".
The Whimsy of Guillermo del Toro has bolstered confidence in a fading live-action drama that restores many of the form's ancient traditions and brings back the essence of its prime.
Specific to the frame, color palette, art style of each episode and deliberately different, this deviance makes it seem like a collection of mini-movies concocted by different directors and more uninhibited in creation.
This will undoubtedly discourage fans who are looking forward to seeing "a whole season of gyroscopic TV series", but it can also stimulate the desire of more fans of fantasy horror to watch: even if you are not satisfied with one episode, you don't have to abandon the show, and the next episode is likely to get you excited again.