R-Rated Thriller Remake No One Seen In Theaters Now On Hulu

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 1 hour ago

Hollywood is full of remakes, to the point that even movies that seem original are actually remakes, by Keanu Reeves Knock Knock (1977’s remake Game of Death) even the animated Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (it is Ignition Saddles with anthropomorphic kung-fu dogs). In 2021, Guillermo del Toro brought his version of a classic to theaters, bringing the noir classic Nightmare Alley back to theaters as only the visionary director could do. Alas, history repeated itself, and just like it did the first time, the second time around the film was still a box office flop, despite the A-list cast.

Nightmare Alley In Classic Noir

Nightmare Alley stars Bradley Cooper as Stan Carlisle, a man who has hit rock bottom and finds himself working at a carnival, rubbed by Clem (Willem Dafoe) as part of Madame Zeena’s (Toni Collette) “clairvoyant” act, where she learns the act of putting on a fake psychic routine. Infatuated with one of the performers, Molly (Rooney Mara), Stan takes his act on the road and turns out to be a natural con man, except there’s a problem, two actually: one, there’s a bigger fish always, and two, he was warned about pretending to talk to the dead.

During one of his performances, Stan comes across Dr. Ritter (Cate Blanchett), a skeptical psychologist who tries to prove it’s fake, but it backfires and ends up knocking down the first domino towards Stan’s downfall. Secrets come out, a reading goes too far, and as with any good noir, there is murder, and no one gets out unscathed. Nightmare Alley the outer style may have the flourishes of Guillermo del Toro, but underneath, it’s still noir, with all the darkness that implies.

A Box Office Bomb That Asks Audiences to Think

Nightmare Alleyunlike most of del Toro’s best work, not a story about the supernatural. Instead, it’s a beautiful story about a man on the brink and his rapid and entirely preventable downfall as bad people do bad things to each other with unexpected consequences. Bradley Cooper gives a terrifying performance as Stan and shows a level of talent that no one would have ever expected from the jealous fiance in Wedding Crashers.

With a budget of $60 million, Nightmare Alley was a huge flop, earning just $39 million worldwide, and although this was slated for a December 2021 release, when COVID was still lingering and keeping older moviegoers out of theaters, it still a disappointment. Those who have seen the film enjoyed it, as evidenced, it has an audience rating of 68 percent Rotten tomatoeswhich is exceptionally good for such a dark film. It’s not an emotional experience, and the harrowing story will haunt you for days after watching it, but at the same time, there are a few del Toro trademark flourishes that remind you that he’s one of the best directors working today.

Nightmare Alley it is not for everyonebut with recent success Nosferatunow is a great time to go band another classic remake of a lost era in Hollywood. Not many noirs are made today, and consider modern sci-fi noir, Reminiscence also failed to find an audience in 2021, it is clear that no one will go to theaters for relentlessly dark films that contain much more dialogue than your standard blockbuster. Yet both films have recently found an audience streamingproving that once given a chance, they will win over fans and slowly, quietly become modern cult classics.

Nightmare Alley available to stream on Hulu.