If you like your horror trippy and freaky, ‘The Viewing’ is the Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities episode for you, as Panos Cosmatos’ dark tale plays like a streaming sequel to his psychotropic horrors Beyond the Black Rainbow and Mandy.
Indeed, of all the films in Netflix horror anthology Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, ‘The Viewing’ most obviously belongs to a specific director, with framing, lighting, and music all recognisably Cosmatos.
But as ever, the episode begins with Del Toro himself addressing the audience, hinting at what’s to come, in ultimately quite ominous fashion…
“What happens when the collector becomes the collected. When a ruthless wonder hunter finds someone or something with a will – a hunger – far greater than his own. Printed in heavy paper, embossed, not quite pocket-size, an invitation to a viewing. A night of pleasure for like-minded folk. A night that may also prove to be their last.”
What happens in Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities ‘The Viewing’ about?
The year is 1979, and the story begins with four disparate characters meeting in a car park at the behest of a rich and mysterious man called Lionel Lassiter, to be taken to a viewing at his Sandpiper House.
The group is made up of an astrophysicist, a novelist, a psychic, and a music producer. Other than receiving the same invitation, the only thing these individuals seemingly have in common is the fact that they’ve all appeared on late-night talk shows.
The quartet is taken to the stunning house in question, which is all 1970s futurism, featuring gorgeously chunky analogue technology. They are then shown to a circular couch in a circular room by their host’s equally mysterious doctor, before the host himself enters the fray.
All hell breaks loose
What follows a lengthy conversation around a circular table, as Lassiter pokes and prods his guests, while his doctor plies them with booze, weed, and pure Peruvian cocaine.
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Not everyone wants to partake of the stimulants, but Lassiter insists, needing his guests to be “in sync”, and functioning at the peak of their capabilities for what he has planned.
So when the party is high as hell, Lassiter takes his guests through to the Obelisk Room, for the viewing of an object that he acquired with the utmost difficulty, and at great expense. Which is when all hell breaks loose.
Visual tour de force
What follows is a tour de force of make-up and visual effects that’s reminiscent of the gore gags at Raiders of the Lost Ark’s end. It’s worthy pay-off to a lengthy set-up that delivers visually, while matching up with Panos’s past work thematically.
And this episode of Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities succeeds because the talented cast have convincingly sold the story up to that point. The guests are played by Charlyne Yi, Steve Agee, Michael Therriault and Eric Andre, all actors with comic chops, who bring lightness to the dark subject.
While Robocop himself – Peter Weller – is Lionel Lassiter, a suitably terrifying presence, whose intentions are unclear until the bitter end. Weller is clearly having a blast as the somewhat deranged collector, making this his best performance in years.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities ‘The Viewing’ score: 9/10
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities has been consistently good, mostly scoring 7s and 8s. But ‘The Viewing’ is the only 9, as it feels like something special. Panos Cosmatos and co-writer Arron Stewart-Ahn having fun with form and structure to throw the audience off guard, then conclude the hour with a truly horrific climax that’s metaphorically – and in some cases literally – mind-blowing.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is streaming on Netflix.
