William Lindsay Gresham’s novel Nightmare Alley was adapted for the big screen in 1948 to a generally good critical reception but to poor box office sales. This remake from Guillermo del Toro will probably do better business. It is a noir-ish tale starring Bradley Cooper as Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist conman at a travelling carnival who leaves to perform more upmarket shows. But when he agrees to work privately for wealthy clients, he steps into very dangerous territory.
As you would expect from Del Toro, the look and the stylised design are magnificent. Nightmare is indeed the word for the carnival setting. The first half of the film is suspenseful and engrossing as it is far from clear where the story is going. There are fine performances from Willem Dafoe and Toni Collette as carnival employees.
The second half works less well despite a great vampy turn from Cate Blanchett as a psychiatrist who teams up with Carlisle. His relationship issues with girlfriend Molly (Rooney Mara) slow things down and 150 minutes is awfully long when the ending becomes too signposted.
Rating: 7 out of 10