Filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Mike Flanagan have gotten together for a meeting of the minds for the first time, courtesy ofNetflix. The two horror genre buffs discussed their upcoming series, the genre they mutually love, and more in the amicable 12-minute back and forth.
Cabinet of Curiosities(akaGuillermo del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight) is an anthologyNetflixseries created by del Toro that seeks to harken back to classical horror with a contemporary challenge, bringing together a collection of filmmakers to offer a sophisticated yet truly horrific experience. Possessing a much more grounded format,Mike Flanagan’sMidnight Clubadaptation tells the story of a group of 8 terminally ill patients at the fictional Brightcliffe Home facility on the outskirts of Seattle who come together to pass the nights with horror stories and come to share an eerie pact.
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Unsurprisingly, whenNetflixsat the two horror aficionados down for a conversation this week, these recent projects were front and center on both creators’ minds. Del Toro starts off the conversation by inquiring about Flanagan’s inspiration for the series. For his part, theMidnight Massdirector, who already hasThe Fall of the House of Usherlined up at Netflix, indulged both del Toro and the audience by hearkening back to his childhood enjoyment of the works of Christopher Pike, who wrote the originalMidnight Clubin 1994. Flanagan noted the potential that the premise had to serve as the couching for an anthology series and did just that with a collection of more of Pike’s works.
The two also discussed the joy they got from supporting other kindred directors, with both men coincidentally directing two episodes of their respective projects while letting other directors show their talents by shifting into a more supporting role, which del Toro especially set out to do explicitly withCabinet of Curiosities. While addressing the ideas that he himself injected into the anthology series, del Toro, who iswell-known for crafting sympathetic monstersand complex antagonists, discussed how the idea for one of his stories came to him from simply hearing the birds sing on a trip to Europe, giving a quick but powerful insight into how a master takes inspiration from myths and his surroundings to craft a compelling idea. Del Toro also shared the more comical inspiration for his second contribution, discussing how an inconvenience with storage led him to pen the concept.
The two delved further into their shared passion for horror, with del Toro making a remarkable distinction between the genre’s aesthetic and mechanics that is sure to give fans a newfound understanding of his previous work, which includes some truegems of the horror franchise likePan’s Labyrinth. The discussion took a turn for the philosophical, with the two discussing the appeal of horror and what it had to say about the nature of everyone. On a more personal note, Flanagan opened up about how horror gave him courage as a child that transitioned into his real life.
The brief conversation was very compelling, from the discussion of classical works like Frankenstein to the universal nature of fictional characters, and is sure to give viewers an appreciation not just for the two extraordinary men involved but also for the genre they love so much and cinema as a whole. This is especially fortuitous for Netflix, which hasa great collection of horror movies availablefor the spooky seasons and beyond.
The Midnight Clubis available for streaming on Netflix, whileCabinets of Curiositieswill be available for streaming on Netflix on June 26, 2025.
