Rupert Grint left a handprint on our hearts as boy wizard Ronald Weasley, and I’m delighted to announce that he’s essentially revived the character in Netflix’s new horror anthology series, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Thanks to del Toro and co-writer Mika Watkins, there’s fresh fun with menacing magic in episode six, where it feels like Hogwarts is back and it’s absolutely bonkers!
Based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Grint’s episode, “Dreams in the Witch House,” follows Walter Gilman (Rupert Grint), a young man on a quest to prove the afterlife’s existence and save his deceased twin sister from its premature clutches. The episode is a jump-scare fest brimming with ominous occults, scornful sorceresses, and, most importantly, nonstop Harry Potter nods.
« Dreams in the Witch House » teases familiar figures and places.
Cabinet of Curiosities kicks off each episode with del Toro as host, cryptically introducing the episode’s director, premise, and an important prop that ties the whole thing together. In “Dreams in the Witch House,” he brings forth a figure of helmer Catherine Hardwicke and a wooden dagger that looks suspiciously like a wand. In fact, if the prop wasn’t described as a dagger in the episode, I fear its wand resemblance would be all too canon.
The episode then spirals into a hellish nightmare that’s peopled with Hogwarts’ analogs. Walter’s best friend, Frank (Ismael Cruz Córdova) is a supportive and smart hero who wears a lovely little pair of circular glasses and never leaves his side. Remind you of anyone?
Meanwhile, Walter’s twin sister, Epperly (Daphne Hoskins), is a freckled redhead who’s steadfast, strong, and ridiculously courageous for her age, even going so far as to stab a horrifying witch right in the face. Lest I be redundant, but: Remind you of anyone??
Finally, a magical rat with a human face (voiced by Eric Woolfe) plagues Walter nonstop and is more or less a walking still frame of Scabbers turning into Peter Pettigrew. He even boasts Pettigrew’s painfully annoying personality. At this point, the only person left missing from Ron’s old entourage is Hermione.
Apart from wands and familiar friends, “Dreams in the Witch House” has settings that recall the Forbidden Forest and the Shrieking Shack. Walter’s journey takes him to the Forest of Lost Souls, a purgatorial home for those who aren’t ready to move on. The forest is eerie, dreary, and oh so foggy, much like Hogwarts’ dreadful Forbidden Forest. And Walter’s crudely advised to not leave any “ripple” behind upon entering the forest. It’s a warning that would befit a journey in the wilderness surrounding Hogwarts as well!
Then, Walter seeks out the house of Salem’s worst witch, Keziah Mason (Lize Johnston), and spends the lousiest possible night of his life there. Keziah’s house is on the cusp of collapse, with everything from mold to satanic inscriptions painting its walls. And with its immediate aura of terror plaguing every one of its nooks and crannies, it might as well be the Shrieking Shack’s sister.
Names, nemeses, and never-ending magic tie Cabinet of Curiosities to Harry Potter’s world.
Gilderoy Lockhart, Madame Levine, Rita Skeeter, Keziah Mason — who are the Harry Potter imposters within this list? It’s hard to tell, isn’t it? Even the characters’ names are reminiscent of the Wizarding World’s vernacular. (It’s Madame Levine (Nia Vardalos) and Keziah Mason, by the way.)
While Walter (aka, Ron) is fighting alongside comrades who might as well be the Order of the Phoenix, he’s also essentially on a quest to prove that magic is real. Yes, the character Rupert Grint plays wants to prove that mysticism exists among us Muggles. Epperley’s mysterious disappearance into an unknown vortex in their youth prompts Walter to go on a life-spanning quest to prove that demons, witches, blood magic, and all those occult obscurities are real. He becomes so obsessed that he’s willing to take liquid elixirs (drinkable drugs) to transport himself to the Forest of Lost Souls. Severus Snape would be so proud. From there, he spends the night at Keziah Mason’s house, only to square up against her in a battle of life or death.
Yes, his biggest enemy in the episode is a literal witch. She may be more ghoulish in appearance than the witches in Harry Potter, but she’s no less powerful than they are. Keziah is able to contort Walter’s body and control him, turn rats into weird amalgamated mini-humans, and perfectly orchestrate sacrifices to ensure her return to the living world. She’s a Death Eater’s dream woman. And Ron’s — I mean Walter’s —greatest nightmare.
Plopping Grint’s familiar face into a witchy premise, it’s impossible not to recall all the Hogwarts antics that came before. And so with some clever casting and familiar character types, Cabinet of Curiosities gives us a creepy tale of magic that feels like a Ronald Weasley from another time and place.
In a past life set in 1933 Boston, Ron might have been Walter Gilman, a lovely young lad who had no idea just how many adventures were ahead of him. But Harry Potter hyper-fixations aside, “Dreams in the Witch House” is actually a deliciously creepy episode to get you into the Halloween spirit. Three cheers to this rambunctious Rupert renaissance!
