Good morning, House of Madness mutants:
Anthology movies and TV shows are often like sifting through your neighbour's trash; sometimes you need to hold your nose and endure the stench of last week's tuna casserole, until you finally find that 'World's Best Dad' coffee mug you've been eyeing for three straight summers, knowing it was just a matter of time before you took what was rightfully yours. This is totally hypothetical of course! I don't have a neighbour (I have several), I may have the occasional (daily) coffee, and if I were to ransack someone's trash, I'd most certainly not brag about it on the internet. Can we move on please? I have children that look up to their #1 dad to attend to. Thank you!
Now that we've cleared up that misunderstanding, what I meant was if you have prior experience with anthologies, often times you're lucky to get one or two enjoyable segments in the entire feature. Gone are the days of tuning your television to "The Twilight Zone", "Tales From the Darkside", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", and "Tales From the Crypt", as well as anthology films such as "Body Bags", "Cat's Eye", or "Creepshow". I'm well aware these projects still get made, but what I'm trying to iterate is that they used to be done so much better, with the audience's full attention the focal point of each and every segment. Yes, I enjoyed "V/H/S" and a couple of its sequels. Yes, I enjoyed "Southbound", "The Mortuary Collection", and "Black Mirror". While those mentioned and others I've certainly enjoyed, parts of them have left me wanting more, leaving my anthology appetite hungry for something with a little more substance. To me, there's nothing more frustrating than sitting through a 20+ minute episode, only to be left with a "WTF!?" feeling that I could have easily achieved watching "Fuller House". I'm not asking for or expecting four masterpieces in a 90 minute anthology, but what I am asking for and expecting is that each episode hold my attention, and is not simply a sketch someone threw together to augment the project's running time.
This brings me to "Cabinet of Curiosities", which is very much a breath of fresh air and felt almost like an homage to all the anthologies of old, while still exuding its own unique style, feel, and delivery as an anthology series. With each episode (there are 8 in total) ranging between 37 and 64 minutes, I won't spoil the fun and break down each one, but I will tell you that while each tale may not tickle your terror bone, there are absolutely zero duds that I felt wasted my time, wishing I had instead used those minutes scrubbing the toilet in the bathroom of madness. I would also be comfortable divulging that episode 3: "The Autopsy" is head and shoulders superior to every other installment in "Cabinet of Curiosities", but I assure you that is praise for its individual excellence rather than me alluding to any shortcomings of the other chapters.
If you still haven't checked out "Cabinet of Curiosities" you can find it over on Netflix, and now that every episode is available, you can choose to binge the entire season, or you can do as I did, and watch every story in deafening Dolby Atmos while your evil children fight over the last raspberry Pop Tart.
Madness Meter: 7.1/10
NB
