1968 was a landmark year in US history, with the civil rights movement in full swing, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the election of Richard Nixon as President of the United States, and the escalation of the Vietnam War. That volatile time period is the setting for ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’, and that’s no accident. In the film, Ramon, portrayed by Michael Garza, finds himself drifting through an unfamiliar town, because he is on the run to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam. However, that fate might have been better than what he actually runs into.
Producer Guillermo del Toro explained the decision to set ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ in 1968:
“It’s a coming-of-age story set in a crucial point in American history. This is the end of childhood for the kids, and awakening time for the United States. The movie is not in any means a political statement, but the movie has that background that makes it really interesting and really compelling. I think people are expecting the scares and the creatures and fun, but I think they’ll find the characters are memorable.”
For a little more info about the upcoming horror movie– based on the books by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell– Zoe Colletti, who was at San Diego Comic-Con to participate in the Master Class presentation for the film, stated:
“It starts with this dynamic between my character, Stella, and her two best friends that she’s always going around town with, riding bikes and wreaking havoc: Chuck (Austin Zajur) and Auggie (Gabriel Rush). Then a little bit in, without giving away too much, we stumble across this boy, Ramon, who is just moving through town, and we pick him up in our gang. That ends up being the dynamic you see throughout the movie: me, Chuck, Auggie, this character Ramon we befriend, and we also throw into the mix Chuck’s sister, Ruth (Natalie Ganzhorn), who gets into a bit of trouble.”
If you have read the books, you may have an idea of what kind of trouble they find themselves in.
Directed by André Øvredal, ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ opens on August 9.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
