A new trailer for Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities series reveals new monsters. Del Toro is the renowned, Oscar-winning director of movies like Hellboy, Pacific Rim, Pan's Labyrinth, and The Shape of Water, amongst others. Now, del Toro is venturing into the world of streaming with his new original anthology series Cabinet of Curiosities, which will be a collection of eight unique horror stories told by the director himself and some of the best horror creators working today, including Jennifer Kent, David Prior, Panos Cosmatos, Catherine Hardwicke, Ana Lily Amirpour, Keith Thomas, Guillermo Navarro, and Vincenzo Natali. Del Toro wrote two of the episodes for the series, and serves as both host and showrunner (alongside J. Miles Dale).
In addition to the directing talent on Cabinet of Curiosities, the cast for each individual episodes features a wide range of talent, including Andrew Lincoln, Ben Barnes, Sofia Boutella, Tim Blake Nelson, Harry Potter's Rupert Grint, Peter Weller, F. Murray Abraham, Eric Andre, Crispin Glover, and more. Del Toro is expected to introduce each episode, which harkens back to shows like Tales From The Crypt or Vincent Price Presents. Del Toro has called the show "genre-defining" and "meant to challenge traditional notions of horror".
A new trailer for del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities has arrived (via Netflix) and showcases the many visions that are contributing to the series and the horrific creations they are bringing to it, including monsters, fantastical creatures, and the like. The trailer is narrated by del Toro as he says Cabinet of Curiosities is something he "always wanted to do" and that because of the anthology format, he gave "ownership" of the episodes to each director. Del Toro says that they wanted to create "beautiful, practical creatures ... with all the artistry that goes into creating a great monster." The trailer also teases the individual episodes, giving a taste of what to expect from each director. Watch it below:
From this trailer, it's clear that Cabinet of Curiosities' monsters and creatures are drawn directly from the mind of del Toro, with horror inspirations from Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water clear from the outset. Interestingly, del Toro published a book called Cabinet of Curiosities in 2013, which features his notebooks, collections, and obsessions, but does not have a direct correlation to the series. While it could be viewed as a companion piece of sorts, it's more in the vein of the concept than the actual show. Del Toro isn't directing any of the episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities, but does have the stop-motion Pinocchio movie debuting on Netflix in December (which he co-directed with Mark Gustafson), and also wrote the new script for the new Disney adaptation of Haunted Mansion, which is expected in 2023.
It's been a while since such a high-budget horror anthology series has come around, and del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities may well scratch that itch for viewers seeking such a show. Del Toro feels like the perfect creator to help steer a project like this, and having him act as host to each story adds an extra spooky charm to the proceedings. Hopefully, Cabinet of Curiosities delivers on what del Toro is promising, opening up the door for more creators and talent to tell their stories through the new show for many seasons to come. At the very least, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities is set to introduce a slew of terrifying new monsters when it debuts on Netflix on October 25th, 2022.
Source: Netflix