Guillermo Del Toro’s new horror anthology, Cabinet of Curiosities, continues with a macabre story in which a grave-robber gets his comeuppance in truly terrifying fashion.
Cabinet of Curiosities is a horror anthology series curated by Guillermo Del Toro, with the first run consisting of eights episodes directed by eight of his favorite directors, including Catherine Hardwicke, Guillermo Navarro, Jennifer Kent, Panos Cosmatos, and Ana Lily Amirpour.
This second episode – which launches on Netfix tomorrow (October 25) – belongs to Vincenzo Natali, based on a 1936 short story by Henry Kuttner. Though while Kuttner’s work has been turned into episodes of sci-fi TV like The Twilight Zone, Tales of Tomorrow, and Out of the Unknown, this is a simple scare-fest, and so has more in common Hammer’s House of Horror, or the more lurid Tales of the Unexpected instalments.
Del Toro introduces the episode by describing graveyards and cemeteries as the ultimate collections, with their soil “full of secrets and treasure.” Then we’re into the episode proper.
Cabinet of Curiosities: What is ‘Graveyard Rats’ about?
The location is a graveyard in Salem, Massachusetts, where a pair of grave-robbers are digging up a corpse to relieve the dead body of jewellery. But the dastardly duo are stopped in their tracks by Masson, steward of this particular Garden of Remembrance.
Having explained that the first burial was both the birth of civilisation and the moment man stopped being an ape, he sends the perverse pair packing. But Masson isn’t as honourable as he first appears, returning to the casket to rob it himself.
He pulls a gold tooth from the mouth of what remains of the woman, before accidentally dropping it in the grave. A rat then bites him before he can retrieve the treasure, and we soon learn that rodents have been scuppering Masson’s plans by stealing both the booty, and the bodies. Which is no good as thanks to one night of misfortune at a card table, Masson owes money to some dangerous people. And lots of it.
Masson’s nightmare begins
Hope arrives at the local coroner’s, and comes comes in the shape of a dead dignitary, as the nobleman in question is about to be buried alongside a priceless sabre that was gifted to him by King George.
So following the funeral, Masson breaks into the man’s final resting place, and makes a grab for the sword, only to see said prize whisked away by his four-legged enemies.
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Masson follows them into the earth, and that’s where his nightmare starts, being crushed, and poked, and buried alive. Before the horror really begins…
The influence of Indiana Jones
We won’t spoil the rest of the story, but what happens to Masson owes as much to Indiana Jones as it does to classic gothic horror, as the stealing of antiquities comes with consequences. Those consequences revolve around creepy creatures appearing out of the dark. And similar to the Indy movies, they lead to something supernatural, or at least a horror that’s not of this world.
Masson isn’t brave like the archaeologist adventurer however. Rather he’s a coward, and one who’s hilariously brought to life by David Hewlett.
The English actor has worked with both visionaries responsible for this episode, appearing in Cube and Splice for Natali, and The Shape of Water and Nightmare Alley for Del Toro. But he’s rarely been better here, with Hewlett imbuing Masson with just the right combination of loathsome greed and slimy likability.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities ‘Graveyard Rats’ score: 6/10
It’s always fun to watch a bad man get his what’s coming to him, and Graveyard Rats nails that set-up and pay-off. Trouble is, it’s very similar to what happens in ‘Lot 36’, the other episode that Cabinet of Curiosities launched simultaneously. As that too was about a man who owes money, and whose greed gets the better of him, with horrific consequences.
Taken on its own terms, ‘Graveyard Rats’ is a simple tale, with a brief run-time (less than 40-minutes) so there isn’t opportunity for character development or twists and turns, which makes it feel somewhat slight.
But the episode is nevertheless both taut and tight, and concludes with a truly horrific image that gives Masson – and his story – the ending it deserves.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is streaming on Netflix.
