‘Nightmare Alley’ Teaser: A New Del Toro Thriller
For the first time in four years there’s a new Guillermo del Toro thriller coming to theaters. His last movie, The Shape of Water, went on to win the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards. His new effort is called Nightmare Alley, and it looks to be an interesting mix of film noir and horror.
It’s also got quite a cast, with Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett in the two lead roles, joined by Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, and David Straithairn. The first teaser for the film is out and it doesn’t entirely reveal the plot; it contains no dialogue and is narrated entirely by Dafoe’s character. But it looks beautiful in that macabre Guillermo del Toro way. Check it out:
The movie is based on a 1946 novel by author William Lindsay Gresham so if you really want more of an idea of what it’s about you could go read its synopsis. The material was also made into a movie before; back in 1947, 20th Century Fox made a Nightmare Alley starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell. That Nightmare Alley was a bit of a flop, but over the years it’s become considered a classic example of the film noir genre. Here’s the new film’s official synopsis:
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.
Nightmare Alley is scheduled to premiere in theaters on December 17.