Netflix’s horror series Cabinet of Curiosities is only convincing in one episode – you can forget the rest

When Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities was announced 5 years ago, the anticipation was high: Genre master Guillermo del Toro put together a series of talented horror directors who tell individual spooky stories? Brilliant! But the end result stuck with me unfortunately only one exception little enthusiasm.

Whether it’s Love, Death & Robots, American Horror Stories or Black Mirror: anthology series that tell a new story in each episode are very popular. Especially in the sci-fi and horror genres. Here we can incorporate stories bit by bit. The advantage: we are surprised by a new flavor every time. The downside: we sometimes have to get through it lots of forgettable episodes munch through to find the really good chocolates in the series box. This is also the case with Netflix’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

Why The Autopsy is by far the best episode in Cabinet of Curiosities

David Prior’s autopsy stands out from the 7 other mostly mediocre episodes. If you only watch one episode of the horror series, please watch this one.

We climb immensely atmospheric in Episode 3 of Cabinet of Curiosities: Without much explanation, David Prior inducts us into the oppressive working environment of several miners. The rural ambience looks realistic after just a few pictures. Working underground would be grim enough on its own, but it’s all the more devastating when disaster strikes shortly after.

The autopsy carefully unrolls hers narrative layers: The mine accident from the beginning draws a bow to the old friendship of a police officer (Glynn Turman) and a coroner (F. Murray Abraham). We still don’t know how all this is connected. But soon the pieces of this horror puzzle come together to finally culminating in an ominous autopsy.

Colouring, music, the smacking soundtrack when dead bodies are opened and the long-delayed twist: everything counts on the neck slowly crawling goosebumps a. if dr Carl Winters ends up on his autopsy table himself, pull the strings together in a chilling revelation. It lives not only from a simple horror show value, but rather from the idea of ​​a narrative work that stands behind it.

An entire universe opens up here in 57 minutes. There’s more at stake than just a cheap final shock or targeted disgust effect. The unexpected tragedy of the horror episode that finally came to light lingers on for a long time.

Ever since The Empty Man, horror fans have had David Prior on their radar as a filmmaker. That its very special Existential horror crime thriller mix also found in his Cabinet of Curiosities contribution is a stroke of luck.

What’s the problem with Netflix’s other Cabinet of Curiosities episodes?

Of course, it’s nice that Netflix is ​​giving Guillermo del Toro’s collection of curiosities a chance to hear different voices of horror that can be lived out experimentally for an hour. But this is exactly where the problem lies: Most of the consequences come beyond their experimental character.

It can be found in the other stories individual persuasive elements: like the emotional poignancy of Andrew Lincoln’s bird episode The Noise (Episode 8), the suspenseful location of Camp 36 (Episode 1), or the eerie monster of The Sightseeing (Episode 7). Ultimately, however, none of the episodes add up to his so coherent overall picture together as The Autopsy.

Whether it’s giant graveyard rats (eps. 2) or a horrific beauty cream (eps. 4), most of the Cabinet of Curiosities episodes feel unfinished. It stays in the beginning. The consequences grant us only that insight into an idea, without bringing this idea to a satisfactory conclusion. That’s going to be a challenge in 60 minutes of course.

But the horror film genre is one of the few that has retained its short running times in the film sector. And the autopsy shows that a 1-hour, all-round successful horror trip very well possible is.

The 20 best series starts in November: 1899, Wednesday and Teletubby horror

Need more fresh streaming tips? The most exciting series that you can stream in November on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and more can be found here in the monthly preview:

We have checked the long starting lists of the streaming services and present you the 20 big highlights of the month in the Moviepilot podcast stream trawl. Featuring fantasy highlights like Wednesday and Willow, as well as 1899, the highly anticipated new puzzle series from the Dark Team.

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Which episode of Netflix’s Cabinet of Curiosities would you choose if you recommended one to a friend?