Guillermo del Toro’s Psychological Horror ‘Nightmare Alley’ Dives Into the Sordid World of Carnies
Guillermo del Toro’s latest – ‘Nightmare Alley‘ – is a noir that shows the underbelly of showbiz and the horror humanity is capable of.
This psychological thriller is based on William Lindsay Gresham’s novel, published in 1946. It’s set in a third-rate carnival filled with hustlers and grifters, and dives into the underbelly of showbiz. It focuses on Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies, deceit, and hunger for fame become his downfall. It’s filled with back stabbing, moral depravity, and is a grim view of humanity.
It got an adaptation in 1947 that’s considered to be one of the most haunting and perverse noir movies of the era. It is routinely grouped with Todd Browning’s Freaks due to its setting, tone, and unflinching look at human nature.
Guillermo del Toro is bringing it back to the big screen with an all star cast. If anyone were to remake this movie and do it justice, it’s del Toro. He spoke to Collider about working on the script:
“Well what it is is that book was given to me in 1992 by Ron Perlman before I saw the Tyrone Power movie, and I loved the book. My adaptation that I’ve done with [co-writer] Kim Morgan is not necessarily—the entire book is impossible, it’s a saga. But there are elements that are darker in the book, and it’s the first chance I have—in my short films I wanted to do noir. It was horror and noir. And now is the first chance I have to do a real underbelly of society type of movie. [There are] no supernatural elements. Just a straight, really dark story.”
The cinematography is dreamy and has that great classic noir lighting, and the visual design is sumptuous. I’m very glad he chose to stay in era and I can’t wait to see this new take.
In NIGHTMARE ALLEY, an ambitious carny (Bradley Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is.
It’s written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. The cast includes some amazing actors – Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper, Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, Ron Perlman, and Rooney Mara.
Nightmare Alley arrives in theaters December 17th.
