(CNN) 导演/合著者吉尔莫·德尔·托罗 (Guillermo del Toro) 在“梦魇巷”中偏离了他惯常的小巷，这是一部外观华丽但叙事有缺陷的电影，它在最好的情况下唤起了 1940 年代骇人听闻的惊悚片，同时在两者之间徘徊太多。布拉德利·库珀扮演了中心角色，但凯特·布兰切特以芭芭拉·斯坦威克风格的蛇蝎美人的身份抢尽风头。
改编自一部 75 年历史的小说（之前曾与 Tyrone Power 拍成电影），这部电影的重点是一个年轻的陌生人，他留下了伤痕累累的过去，偶然发现了 1930 年代的旅行狂欢节（ HBO剧集《嘉年华》强），最终从吊装毕业，到精通心术表演。
Cooper 的 Stanton Carlisle 看起来应该更年轻一些，一开始需要一定程度的怀疑。撇开这一点不说，这部电影直到 2 ½ 小时的运行时间大约进行到一半时才完全启动，因为斯坦顿决定离开并在大城市用他的通灵程序赚钱，与睁大眼睛的莫莉一起逃跑（鲁妮玛拉）。
正是在这种情况下，斯坦顿遇到了莉莉丝·里特（布兰切特），她是一位酷酷而迷人的心理学家，有可能在富人和强权之间敞开大门。他也无视他那些狡猾的老板的警告，以避免通过假装对死者说话来避免“幽灵表演”，利用他的阅读技巧安抚情绪受伤的精英，她向他介绍了他们想听的关于已故亲人的信息的，一种越来越危险的欺骗行为。
德尔托罗以其可追溯到电影《潘神的迷宫》和最近获得奥斯卡奖的《水形物语》等电影的视觉风格而闻名，他在狂欢节和斯坦顿的豪华环境中都放松了，前者带来了请注意蒂姆·伯顿 (Tim Burton) 对花哨图像的天赋。
尽管如此，“噩梦小巷”花了太长时间转动轮子，然后才开始对欺骗错误的人的危险以及所有相关人员的阴暗动机进行更相关的曲折。
因此，这部电影以其华丽的外观和复古的氛围而被证明是最令人愉快的，当布兰切特出现在屏幕上时，包括威廉·达福、大卫·斯特雷泽恩、托妮·科莱特、理查德·詹金斯和朗·普尔曼在内的众多演员都会受到震撼。 （这是她本月第二次华丽的配角，以及 Netflix 的讽刺剧“不要抬头”。）
最终真正的挑战将是，丰富的明星力量和著名导演是否提供了足够的激励让卢布斯（用肉体的话说）交出他们的硬币，尤其是对于一部难以描述且并没有真正落入的电影德尔托罗闻名的流派。为更成熟的人群担任新“蜘蛛侠”的反编程的前景可能是它最好的希望，这似乎和斯坦顿的小胡子一样渺茫。
德尔托罗的电影不可避免地是郁郁葱葱的，这里的演员阵容和氛围为黑色电影爱好者提供了重要的支持，随着时间的推移，他们很可能会赶上《梦魇巷》。至于眼前的挑战，这种宣传在吸引人们进入剧院帐篷方面可能没有那么有效。
“噩梦小巷”将于 12 月 17 日在美国影院首映。评级为R。
'Nightmare Alley' veers into a different lane for Guillermo del Toro and Bradley Cooper
(CNN)Director/co-writer Guillermo del Toro veers out of his customary lane in "Nightmare Alley," a gorgeous-looking but narratively flawed movie that at its best evokes the lurid thrillers of the 1940s while meandering too much in between. Bradley Cooper fills the central role, but Cate Blanchett steals the show as a Barbara Stanwyck-style femme fatale.
Adapted from a 75-year-old novel (previously turned into a movie with Tyrone Power), the film focuses on a young stranger who leaves behind a scarred past and stumbles into the company of a traveling carnival in the 1930s (the vibe of the HBO series "Carnivale" is strong), eventually graduating from lifting and hoisting to mastering the mentalist act.
Cooper's Stanton Carlisle should seemingly be younger, a bit of casting that requires a certain suspension of disbelief at first. Putting that aside, the movie doesn't fully kick into gear until about halfway through its 2 ½-hour running time, as Stanton decides to leave and cash in with his psychic routine in the big city, running off with the wide-eyed Molly (Rooney Mara).
It's in that setting where Stanton encounters Lilith Ritter (Blanchett), a cool and alluring psychologist who has the potential to open doors among the rich and powerful. He also ignores the warnings from his carny bosses to avoid doing a "spook show" by pretending to speak to the dead, using his reading skills to soothe the emotionally wounded elite to which she introduces him by saying what they want to hear about departed loved ones, an increasingly perilous grifting act.
Del Toro is renowned for his visual style dating back to movies like "Pan's Labyrinth" and more recently the Oscar-winning "The Shape of Water," and he turns that loose both on the carnival and Stanton's posh surroundings, with the former bringing to mind Tim Burton's flair for garish imagery.
Still, "Nightmare Alley" spends too long spinning its wheels before getting to the more pertinent twists about the dangers of conning the wrong people, as well as the shadowy motivations of all concerned.
The movie thus proves most enjoyable for its sumptuous look and throwback atmosphere, with a loaded cast -- including Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins and Ron Perlman -- receiving a jolt of electricity whenever Blanchett's on the screen. (It's her second showy supporting performance of the month, along with the Netflix satire "Don't Look Up.")
The real challenge, ultimately, will be whether the abundant star power and celebrated director offers enough of an incentive for the rubes (in carny speak) to hand over their coins, especially for a movie that's hard to describe and doesn't really fall into the genres for which Del Toro is known. The prospect of serving as counter-programming to the new "Spider-Man" for a somewhat more adult crowd might be its best hope, and that seems as wispy as Stanton's mustache.
Del Toro's movies are inevitably lush, and the casting and atmosphere here provide a significant come-on to film noir aficionados, who will probably catch up with "Nightmare Alley" over time. As for the immediate challenge, that pitch might not be as effective in luring people into the theatrical tent.
"Nightmare Alley" premieres Dec. 17 in US theaters. It's rated R.
