That portly magical man of the macabre introduces a handful of twisted tales with varying degrees of terror.
Lot 36
dir: Guillermo Navarro tp: Regina Corrado
Based on a story by Guillermo del Toro
S01 E01
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Looking to pay off an extensive and dangerous debt, a desperate and miserable man (Tim Blake Nelson, playing a loser in his usual terrific manner) gets his hands on a storage unit filled with some old crap. We already know something ain’t right about the damn thing, as the now deceased owner used to visit daily with a box full of animal meat. Not good. As Nelson goes through the abandoned belongings, he discovers some troubling history, disturbing antiques and a false wall. An exceptional cast (Sebastian Rosché as an antiques dealer and Demetrius Grosse as the caretaker of the storage facility and Nelson’s partner in whatever semi-legal scheme they’re into) adds fire to the familiar story as it draws to its inevitable ending. Lovecraftian nightmares await when a magnificently-realized demon is discovered and all hell breaks loose. Nothing new but still enjoyable and a fine introduction to the series.
Graveyard Rats
dir/tp: Vincenzo Natali based on a short story by Henry Kuttner
S01 E02
Graveyard Rats
dir/tp: Vincenzo Natali based on a short story by Henry Kuttner
S01 E02
⭐️⭐️1/2
David Hewlett plays a cunning and sleazy grave robber whose greedy eye is focused on a wealthy corpse recently interred at the cemetery where he works as caretaker. The titular rats have made his living quite difficult and some gambling debts have made him quite desperate, which leads to him getting trapped in the underground tunnels below the graveyard, attempting to get at the deceased man’s riches after the pesky rats drag everything into the catacombs they call home. Confined in the tight spaces and surrounded by rats is a real nightmare which gets even worse when something far more terrifying is revealed. The set design and lead performance steal the show but it still feels a bit lackluster in presentation.
The Autopsy
dir: David Prior tp: David S Goyer based on a short story by Michael Shea
S01E03
The Autopsy
dir: David Prior tp: David S Goyer based on a short story by Michael Shea
S01E03
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
A medical examiner (an excellent F. Murray Abraham) is called in to a small town by his old-friend/town-sheriff (an equally excellent Glynn Turman) to look over a dead body discovered in the woods. He shares with his friend the strange shit that has lead up to his arrival. The culminating death of a handful of miners and their murderer is what brings the coroner to town as he works on the cadavers through the night. Things get weird and the answers appear to be unbelievable. The less said the better when it comes to this magnificent bit of nightmare fuel.
The Outside
dir: Ana Lily Amirpour tp: Haley Z. Boston based on a short story by Emily Carroll
S01 E04
The Outside
dir: Ana Lily Amirpour tp: Haley Z. Boston based on a short story by Emily Carroll
S01 E04
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Stacey (Kate Micucci) is a mousy and awkward young woman who wants desperately to fit in with the awful women she works with, even if her cop husband (Martin Starr) likes her just the way she is. A Secret Santa party leads to her getting some exclusive lotion which causes a bad allergic reaction. Things get weird when the late night commercial for the very lotion that caused her face to break out begins talking to her… in the form of a white-haired Dan Stevens, stealing the show as usual. Her reaction keeps getting worse but the commercial convinces her she is well on her way to the “new you”. Skin peeling, a stellar mustache, taxidermy and murder all play out in a familiar but expertly crafted descent into just how shitty it can be when you’re born with two X chromosomes.
Pickman’s Model
dir: Keith Thomas tp: Lee Patterson based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft
S01 E05
Pickman’s Model
dir: Keith Thomas tp: Lee Patterson based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft
S01 E05
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
We finally get to Lovecraft and it’s a tale that holds a special place in my heart because it’s the first Lovecraft I read. Such a lovely innocent time before finding out he was super racist. Anyways, William Thurber (The Punisher’s Ben Barnes) is an art student who crosses paths with an introverted artist by the name of Richard Pickman (holy hell, it’s Crispin Glover) who’s breathtakingly terrifying works begin to have an effect on Will. Will begins obsessing over Pickman’s nightmarish images, which he seems unable to master but that may be because Pickman’s family history is a solid mix of terrible and supernatural. That latter part is going to start fucking with Will and things will only get worse when several decades pass and ol’ Dick Pickman comes back into Will’s life, bringing more than just his unsettling works. Successfully draws out the pretty thin original and pulls off being somewhere along the lines of a really good episode of Tales from the Darkside… that’s not an insult.
Dreams in the Witch House
dir: Catherine Hardwicke tp: Mika Watkins based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft
S01 E06
We finally get to Lovecraft and it’s a tale that holds a special place in my heart because it’s the first Lovecraft I read. Such a lovely innocent time before finding out he was super racist. Anyways, William Thurber (The Punisher’s Ben Barnes) is an art student who crosses paths with an introverted artist by the name of Richard Pickman (holy hell, it’s Crispin Glover) who’s breathtakingly terrifying works begin to have an effect on Will. Will begins obsessing over Pickman’s nightmarish images, which he seems unable to master but that may be because Pickman’s family history is a solid mix of terrible and supernatural. That latter part is going to start fucking with Will and things will only get worse when several decades pass and ol’ Dick Pickman comes back into Will’s life, bringing more than just his unsettling works. Successfully draws out the pretty thin original and pulls off being somewhere along the lines of a really good episode of Tales from the Darkside… that’s not an insult.
Dreams in the Witch House
dir: Catherine Hardwicke tp: Mika Watkins based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft
S01 E06
⭐️⭐️1/2
Researcher Rupert Grint witnessed his twin sister’s death and then her abduction into a strange dimension when he was a child. Now, he spends his time looking for some way to bridge into the beyond and get his sister back. His work with the Massachusetts Spiritual Society has lead to nothing but charlatans until he’s introduced to a Navajo drug which allows him access into what’s called The Forest of Lost Souls. The reunion happens but only lasts as long as the drug does and on his last visit he figures out he can bring things back with him. This leads him to investigate the former residence of a witch who could gain access to other worlds. The house is now a decrepit boarding house, home to a landlady, an artist who our hero has already come across getting kicked out of the Spiritual Society and glimpsed in the freaky forest, a creepy-ass tree-like witch with glowing eyes, a rat with a man’s face, and a disturbing stain on the ceiling. Of course, evil is a-scheming and sometimes you shouldn’t dig too deep into strange things. There’s a good amount of Lovecraft that just doesn’t feel suited to anything but the printed word, and I’ve always felt Witch House was one of them. This does a better job then some of the others I’ve seen but that’s sadly because it veers pretty far off course from the source, which would be fine if it didn’t feel so damn lazy as it limps to its climax. It’s not bad, it just hit after a string of better episodes.
The Viewing
dir: Panos Cosmatos wri: Panos Cosmatos Aaron Stewart-Ahn
S01 E07
Researcher Rupert Grint witnessed his twin sister’s death and then her abduction into a strange dimension when he was a child. Now, he spends his time looking for some way to bridge into the beyond and get his sister back. His work with the Massachusetts Spiritual Society has lead to nothing but charlatans until he’s introduced to a Navajo drug which allows him access into what’s called The Forest of Lost Souls. The reunion happens but only lasts as long as the drug does and on his last visit he figures out he can bring things back with him. This leads him to investigate the former residence of a witch who could gain access to other worlds. The house is now a decrepit boarding house, home to a landlady, an artist who our hero has already come across getting kicked out of the Spiritual Society and glimpsed in the freaky forest, a creepy-ass tree-like witch with glowing eyes, a rat with a man’s face, and a disturbing stain on the ceiling. Of course, evil is a-scheming and sometimes you shouldn’t dig too deep into strange things. There’s a good amount of Lovecraft that just doesn’t feel suited to anything but the printed word, and I’ve always felt Witch House was one of them. This does a better job then some of the others I’ve seen but that’s sadly because it veers pretty far off course from the source, which would be fine if it didn’t feel so damn lazy as it limps to its climax. It’s not bad, it just hit after a string of better episodes.
The Viewing
dir: Panos Cosmatos wri: Panos Cosmatos Aaron Stewart-Ahn
S01 E07
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
From the maniacs that blessed us with Mandy, we get ourselves an original piece of insanity. In the year of our lord 1979, a wealthy and reclusive collector of things beyond the norm invites a quartet of strangers to a once-in-a-life-time viewing at his mansion. Lionel Lassiter is played by Peter Weller so you know things are about to go bad for his guests. The only thing the guests have in common is that they have all appeared on late-night talk shows, so they have no idea what the hell is going on. Following their arrival, they only have more questions… even after their host greets them and conversations start up… as well as the consumption of an increasingly mind-altering bevy of drugs. Nice and toasty, Lassiter finally shows them why the hell they were all invited and it doesn’t take long before otherworldly chaos unfurls. An excellent cast elevates what could have been a dull opening along with some wonderful visuals and a thumping score before the endgame is revealed and shit gets interesting, icky and darkly humorous. Steve Agee, Eric André, Charlyne Yi and Michael Therriault play the guests and Sofia Boutella plays Lassiter’s assistant, Doctor Zahra, who keeps him hopped-up on whatever he pleases and has some secrets of her own.
From the maniacs that blessed us with Mandy, we get ourselves an original piece of insanity. In the year of our lord 1979, a wealthy and reclusive collector of things beyond the norm invites a quartet of strangers to a once-in-a-life-time viewing at his mansion. Lionel Lassiter is played by Peter Weller so you know things are about to go bad for his guests. The only thing the guests have in common is that they have all appeared on late-night talk shows, so they have no idea what the hell is going on. Following their arrival, they only have more questions… even after their host greets them and conversations start up… as well as the consumption of an increasingly mind-altering bevy of drugs. Nice and toasty, Lassiter finally shows them why the hell they were all invited and it doesn’t take long before otherworldly chaos unfurls. An excellent cast elevates what could have been a dull opening along with some wonderful visuals and a thumping score before the endgame is revealed and shit gets interesting, icky and darkly humorous. Steve Agee, Eric André, Charlyne Yi and Michael Therriault play the guests and Sofia Boutella plays Lassiter’s assistant, Doctor Zahra, who keeps him hopped-up on whatever he pleases and has some secrets of her own.
The Murmuring
dir/tp: Jennifer Kent based on a short story by Guillermo del Toro
S01 E08
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The mind behind The Babadook offers up another macabre study of grief. Mourning ornithologists retreat to an old and secluded island house to study a fascinating avian species with a unique pattern of flight. The home appears to have a past and with that past comes something from the other side of the veil. Wife Nancy seems to be the only one the supernatural is reaching out to and her relationship with her husband is straining. Some mysterious behavior from their feathered research subjects only adds more questions. Further investigating leads to some disturbing history (because it always does) and inevitable tragedy (because it always does). Essie Davis is excellent as usual and Andrew Lincoln seems happy as hell to not be sweating it up in the zombie apocalypse. Melancholy and the kind of cold fear one would find in a late-night reading of M.R. James add up to a lovely and dark spectral slow burn that earns its somewhat corny ending.
The mind behind The Babadook offers up another macabre study of grief. Mourning ornithologists retreat to an old and secluded island house to study a fascinating avian species with a unique pattern of flight. The home appears to have a past and with that past comes something from the other side of the veil. Wife Nancy seems to be the only one the supernatural is reaching out to and her relationship with her husband is straining. Some mysterious behavior from their feathered research subjects only adds more questions. Further investigating leads to some disturbing history (because it always does) and inevitable tragedy (because it always does). Essie Davis is excellent as usual and Andrew Lincoln seems happy as hell to not be sweating it up in the zombie apocalypse. Melancholy and the kind of cold fear one would find in a late-night reading of M.R. James add up to a lovely and dark spectral slow burn that earns its somewhat corny ending.
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