Lot 36

The classic horror tropes "don't listen to advice" and "I'm so indifferent it drives me to my doom" further the plot in this episode. These tropes can be done well but they made the story unbelievable and too convenient. I agree with the other reviews on the ending coming too soon.

My stars come from the visuals, CGI and atmosphere. Tim Blake Nelson was also convincing as a racist and unlikable army vet. His character is a bit of a caricature though and the script felt rigid at times.

Guillermo Navarro has been a part of the Night at the Museum-saga and I got the same vibe from this episode: narrow storage spaces filled with old stuff.

First episode of this anthological series that brings various horror and suspense stories in a completely disconnected way and with almost always an obvious underlying moral. This episode has a very clear moral about greed and treating others well, the episode is not a good start for the series because despite the beautiful special effects the rest of the story is very flat and does not even manage to disturb, not to mention the final which is of an unspeakable banality and ruins even more something not as brilliant as this episode. Despite this, the episode is still watchable even if not excessively beautiful.

The idea and execution of the episode is pretty interesting, but I believe it was a mistake to have the characters speak in political jargon from 2022. If the episode was set in the current year it would have been more effective and poignant. I just don't see people from the 80s or 90s using the term "white rage" That aside I did enjoy the episode, it has very solid acting and the premise is genuinely creepy. But I must admit that my favorite part was the introduction by Guillermo del Toro it just hit all the right notes with me. His look and voice are very iconic and I wish we could see him acting more often.

It may be the short runtime or the writers did not know how to finish the story in a satisfying way but it feels like it's missing something.

While there is some story development, it is mostly done through dialogue (exposition) and not by showing the audience, making it hard to relate to any of the characters. This is exacerbated by an unlikable protagonist (though the acting is quite good) and mostly unlikable secondary characters.

I believe the intent was to create a "be careful what you wish for" or a "greed is bad" story but in the end that is not what I was left with, I was left with "it's okay to be an a#-hole as long as you do it to a bad person, even if you cause their death". By the time the credits rolled all i could say was "that's it".

Weak start, hope it get's better!!

'Lot 36' was a decent start to the 'Cabinet of Curiosities', but did not quite meet my expectations. Contrary to what many reviewers think, I loved the slow, grounded approach to this story, however I agree that the pacing should have been adjusted to avoid cramming that ending into the last few minutes. At its best, 'Lot 36' was tense, suspenseful, and somewhat intriguing. The episode has an interesting yet basic concept, and I found almost all of the performances to be pretty solid. I didn't understand why the protagonist was made to be an absolute jerk... it really made him not relatable and prevented me from rooting for him in the end. 'Lot 36', coming from Guillermo Navarro, a cinematographer, was really nicely shot and overall the soundtrack was unsettling and subtle.

I rate this one a 6.5/10, because it just took too long to get good and just when it did... it ended. I cannot say I did not enjoy this, but there was really no scare factor and this concept could have executed much better. I am sure there are better entries to come but 'Lot 36' was not just there yet.