Hey movie fans, Slick Dungeon here! It’s Oscar week so I’m going to give my best shot at reviewing all of the best picture Oscar nominees this week. I’m not sure if I will get through all of the movies before Oscar time but I will review all of them. The first one on the list happened to be the 2022 version of All Quiet on the Western Front. Do be warned there will be some mild spoilers in this review so if that sort of thing bothers you, watch the movie first and come back to read the review. This one is available on Netflix at the moment.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a German film adaptation of the novel of the same name from 1929. It follows a group of young men thrown into the horrors of war near the end of World War I. The book, and the film, make strong statements about the futility of war, the carnage it inflicts, and shows how decisions outside of the control of anyone on the ground impacted vast numbers of those who fought.
While this is certainly an ensemble film, we mostly see the story through the eyes of Paul Bäumer. He signs up to fight on the side of the Germans before he’s actually of age to go to war. He and several of his friends are young, idealistic, and inspired by the leaders of their country. But as soon as the group make it out to the front lines it becomes clear none of them were ready for the harsh realities of war.
The film is gory, even for a war film. The movie portrays death in nearly all of the possible forms it could have taken on the front lines, from bullets to mortar shells to death by gas and anything in between, it’s shown here. For most of the movie we get small snippets of each character’s life. Some we learn a little bit about only to see them die seconds later. Others make it further along in the war but as this is war, no one is safe from harm.
We do see a bit of a relationship develop between Paul and a man named Kat who is a bit more experienced in the world than most of the other soldiers around him. This is the strongest attachment Paul forms but even this relationship feels tenuous as both men know either one of them could be gone in an instant. Throughout the movie it seems focusing for even a moment on the future can be fatal. All involved must survive this moment to get to the next and nothing more.
There is also an interesting contrast when we see some of the diplomats and generals who are not on the front lines, making decisions from their safe sanctuaries, knowing men are dying and not caring.
And while the movie is about German soldiers, who are considered the aggressors in the war, it’s absolutely clear, this war was horrible for everyone who fought in it. The viewer feels no less empathy for Paul and his companions than if they fought for the French. And since the film was made by German filmmakers, it has a realistic quality to it which might not come through from any other creators.
This film is utterly brutal and heartbreaking at every turn. I remember reading the novel in High School but it doesn’t sink in the same way as actors portraying these scenes on film can. The book, in my opinion, has a lot of dead space without much happening. There is still some of that in the film, but those moments of stillness and quiet, are jarringly interrupted when action takes over.
This film won’t be for everyone. If you don’t have a fairly strong stomach when it comes to bloody depictions, most definitely sit this one out. If you can’t stand war films, again this is not for you. But, as the book does, this movie really sinks home not only how brutal humans can be to one another but also how meaningless it can all seem.
I don’t know if this is the most Oscar worthy film on the list but it’s one I can easily recommend you should watch. There is some slow pacing which can get annoying but there is enough here to keep one interested and there are some genuinely shocking moments worth sticking around for.
Dream is captured in episode 1 of the Netflix series The Sandman
Hello dreamers, day dreamers, and nightmare watchers! It’s Slick Dungeon here and I am back to review the first of The Sandman episodes. This one is titled Sleep of the Just. Before we get too far into this review, it’s my duty to warn you there will be heavy spoilers for the episode and some spoilers for the early issues of The Sandman comics. If you can’t stand spoilers then go watch and read and come back here for the review. I do plan on going pretty deep into the material so tread cautiously if you are not into that sort of thing.
In order for me to go as in-depth into this series as I want to, we need to take a little trip back in time to 1988 when the first issue of The Sandman comic book began. Back then, Neil Gaiman, the author and co-creator of the series was trying to revive a series about a character called The Sandman which was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Neil pitched the idea to his editor Karen Berger but she had one change to it. She wanted the series to be about a brand new character. This decision proved pivotal, allowing Gaiman to take a ton of creative license with how he handled his series.
It’s important to remember that this series, at the beginning especially, was tied to DC comics. While it was printed under a line meant for mature readers called Vertigo, DC characters do walk in these pages. I mention this because in the show, there are some things that absolutely had to be changed from the comics due to licensing issues and copyright problems.
While I may point out adaptive changes in the series, I don’t necessarily think one version is superior to the other. They were made in different times and much like the character Morpheus himself, the world has changed since the comics came out. Each telling of the story is what it needs to be. There are definitely things that would be changed in the comic if it were made now (there truly was not enough diverse representation in the comics) and if the show was made at the time of the comics it would be much different than what we have (and probably not a very good adaptation as Neil Gaiman himself would likely tell you). I’m absolutely not going to dwell on casting choices that certain portions of the internet have raged about. Gender swapping or casting actors who are a different race than what they were in the comics makes absolutely no difference in how well the story is told. And both the comics and the show tell a great story.
Okay, stepping off my soapbox now. After all that setup, let’s talk about the episode itself.
Much like the comic, this first episode is what you might consider the closest to conventional horror. It deals with old men in creepy old houses doing magic to gain power for themselves. If that was all this series was, I could recommend any number of shows exactly like it. It will take some time but both the show and the comic transcend the horror theme eventually.
The episode starts off with a bit of exposition from Morpheus, who declares himself, “the king of dreams” and we see a raven fly over a car and into the world of the dreaming. This is where Morpheus lives and it’s as fantastic as the real world is mundane. This immediately sets up Morpheus as other than ourselves and he seems to know something we don’t as he dismisses our notion as mortals that dreams make no difference in the choices we make.
We really only get the briefest of glimpses into this world of the dreaming but we are introduced to some key characters and the villain of the season is immediately established. The librarian of the dreaming, Lucienne, has a conversation with Dream, while Dream is looking at a stained glass representation of a nightmare of his own creation. This is a character called The Corinthian. In the comics we don’t even get a hint of him for quite a long time. I do think this change was smart because it shows Morpheus will have an adversary. Lucienne also tells Morpheus she has a feeling Morpheus won’t be coming back because in the real world, dreams don’t survive long, but nightmares seem to thrive.
I’d say that’s a rather pessimistic worldview but of course, it might not be wrong either. The story gets going with a group of people who seem to run a cult of some sort and their goal is to trap the angel of death. The time period is 1916 and the location is Wychcross England. In other words, war is breaking out and the world does indeed look bleak at this time. At this point in the show the timeline matches what we see in the comics but it won’t stay that way for long.
In the comic series we don’t find out much about this cult. But in the show we get a little window into what is going on. There’s a man who calls himself the Magus (meaning sorcerer) who will go to any length to bring his eldest son back from the dead. We also see his second born son, Alex, who seems to have a kinder heart than his father.
As Dream is about to confront the Corinthian and bring him back to the dreaming, a spell is performed by the cult. Instead of trapping Death like the Magus hoped, he has Morpheus, also known as Dream. But the Magus really has no idea what it is he’s captured.
There is another interesting change here. In the comics we essentially see the Magus flail about trying to figure out who he has. But in the show, the Corinthian shows up almost immediately to tell the Magus what he has and how to keep Dream from escaping. This gives the Corinthian a whole lot more power and reason to be there than the comic does.
One consequence of Morpheus being locked up is a “sleepy sickness” breaks out. There are a bunch of people who can’t sleep, always sleepwalk, or simply will no longer wake up. One of the most interesting things about this is this incident actually reflects a real illness that did break out at the time. If you ever wonder if Neil Gaiman did his homework for this story, that’s all you need to know.
We are also very briefly introduced to a character suffering from this sleepy sickness named, Unity. She’s an incredibly important character but we won’t know more about her until future episodes.
While the Magus may not have captured who he wanted, he does take what are called Morpheus’ vestments. A ruby, a bag of sand, and what amounts to a gas mask but is referred to as a “helm.” These items are exceedingly powerful so you know there will be trouble with them down the line.
One bit of kudos to the show runners here is the way they make Tom Sturridge look as Morpheus while he is trapped. He’s thin and weakened but also looks otherworldly. I’m guessing there was a good amount of CGI and a lot of messing around with lighting to get the look just right but they nailed it.
Dream is more than a god. He’s one of “The Endless” so Morpheus is able to play the long game against his captors. This allows us to move the story past the Magus and a simple revenge plot. While there are hints of Alex being kind and even potentially letting Morpheus out, he never does, either from fear of his father, or fear of what Dream might do.
Before the Magus dies, a woman named Ethel Cripps who is pregnant with his child absconds with Dream’s vestments and a small fortune in cash. This event is probably the most significant event in this first season. It leaves Morpheus with no knowledge of where his tools are. Ethel does escape the Magus and has the baby. This baby will also be a huge part of the series in episodes to come.
There’s also a moment where it almost seems Dream will escape with the help of his raven but the bird is shot by Alex. This gives Morpheus a strong reason to distrust Alex once the Magus is dead. And Morpheus still has all the time in the world to wait. All he needs is for someone to fall asleep near him.
Things were probably not easy for Alex as an out gay man in the 1920’s but that’s no excuse for keeping someone locked up in your basement. Ultimately, once Alex is old and no longer mobile, it’s his partner Paul who allows for Morpheus to escape. He pushes Alex’s wheelchair across the magic circle which traps Dream. This is all the opportunity one of the Endless needs to escape.
Morpheus is soon able to walk through the guards dreams and right out of his magic cage. Dream confronts Alex and as punishment grants him the gift of, “eternal sleep.” Presumably he’s given Alex the Sleepy Sickness.
If there was a single thing I could change from this episode it would be this adaptive change. In the comics Morpheus also gives Ales a gift. But this gift is the gift of eternal waking. Have you ever had a nightmare and when the worst thing you can imagine is about to strike you wake up and then you feel relief but then another nightmare comes and you realize you haven’t actually woken up? Take that feeling and imagine having it forever. Always a brief moment of relief before being once more terrified in an endless loop. That’s severe punishment.
While I understand why they made the change, I still think the original idea from the comic would have been better. They changed it because as the viewer we do get to know Alex a little bit and understand he has some kindness to him. He really does sympathize with Morpheus, even though he doesn’t allow Morpheus to escape.
My problem with the change is it humanizes Morpheus too much. Morpheus is Endless and in the comic series he certainly does have a character arc but his change is slow. Centuries spanning slow. To have Morpheus show any bit of kindness to his captors shows him identifying with humans too much at this point in the series.
Here is also where the timeline diverges between the comics and the show. In the show we advance all the way to our time. The comic advanced to its present time of 1989. I think there are a lot of reasons for this change, not the least of which would be having to film a period piece with only stuff from the 1980’s and 1990’s would bring the cost up on the whole production and it’s already an expensive show.
The episode ends with a very murder-y Corinthian realizing Morpheus is out of his cage. Morpheus goes back to the Dreaming where Lucienne finds him. But the realm of the king of dreams has changed. It’s a mere shadow of what it had been at the beginning of the episode and it’s clear Morpheus is going to need his stuff back in order to fix anything. Apparently, this disarray and decay is what happens when Morpheus is away for too long. There’s also a very small hint of something having happened to another one of the Endless in the past. If we find out what all that is about, it won’t be until later seasons.
Oddly, the end of the episode is a preview for what’s going to happen this season on The Sandman. It really feels out of place and I’m not exactly sure why they put it there but you can skip it if you’re watching the show because, well, you’re already watching the show.
All in all, this episode is probably the weakest of the series but it’s essential to have it so we can really get into the story. I think it was well told, superbly acted, and brought us into a world full of a lot of complex things going on rather seemlessly.
My biggest regret for the episode is this is the only episode we get to see Charles Dance who plays Roger Buress, aka, the Magus. You’ll likely recognize him as Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones. And just like in that show, every minute he is on screen, he is fascinating to watch. But we’ll have lots of other star power and phenomenal performances in future episodes so I can’t complain too much.
Well, that’s my take on the first episode. I’ll have plenty more to say about future episodes (and hopefully future seasons). Until then, did you watch this show or read the comics? If so, let me know what you thought about it in the comments below. If you could change anything about the adaptation what would it be? Or do you think it is perfect as is?
Hello internet, it’s Slick Dungeon here. I’m going to give my initial impressions of the screen adaptation of the comic book series The Sandman. This review will be for what I think of the series overall but in future posts I will do an in-depth review of each individual episode and talk about how the show relates to the comic book series.
I have to be honest to start here. This was a review I dreaded doing. A lot of people who are into comic books had the experience I did with Sandman. When I was a kid I absolutely loved comic books, especially super heroes. But when I went to high school these books dropped off my radar for the most part. Until I started to hear about a series called The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. It had a horror feel to it with some amazing art, a bit of a connection to the DC heroes, but still stood all on its own as a story. And, upon reading the series, it felt like this was one of the series that would help the medium of comics to grow up and be taken seriously. In a phrase, I loved The Sandman and I probably wouldn’t still be reading comic books now without it.
In my mind, the only thing worse than having no adaptation of the series would be to have a bad adaptation of it. It’s the one series I’ve always wanted to see but been much too afraid it would get screwed up. If that happened, I knew people would come to dislike the comic series and we’d never get another good Neil Gaiman story adapted. So, with all that in mind, I was very hesitant to watch this series. I would not be able to take it if it was done poorly.
I’m beyond happy to report this series turned out to be utterly phenomenal. That’s not to say there are no things I would change if I could, but there are so few that this is a nearly perfect series. And there is one episode which I think is maybe the best episode of television I have ever seen.
What’s more, this series is not only grand for those of us who love the comics, but also works exceedingly well for those not at all versed in the lore of The Sandman comics. I think the show will makes comics readers out of a good portion of the audience.
For this review, I really don’t want to get into spoilers in case anyone is wanting to watch but has not. The basic premise is that Dream, played by Tom Sturridge, is captured by mortal man and, let’s just say he is not happy about it. To say much more in this review would either be confusing or lead to spoilers.
The series is by turns dramatic, horrifying, fantastical, and brilliant. The acting performances here are knocked completely out of the park by everyone involved and I just felt like I was living in the world of Dream and his siblings the whole time I was watching it. Some episodes are more terrifying than others and some are slower paced than others but never did I feel bored while watching. There’s too much story here for there to be down time and I guarantee this is a series which will live in your mind long after you have finished watching.
What I want you to take away here is that the series is extremely watchable and a much better adaptation of a brilliant work than I could have hoped for. If you have not yet watched this show, put it at the top of your queue because it’s going to be better than anything else out there.
Next time I will get into the first episode with a deeper review, full of spoilers, but for now, if you watch the show, enjoy the ride because you are in for a fantastic time.
Hello horror fans, it’s me, Slick Dungeon! If you’ve ever seen a slasher horror film you know the title of the film I am about to review is good advice. Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is a camper/slasher from Poland in the storied traditions of movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Be warned there will be some spoilers in this review so be warned before you read.
After a small intro scene from the past, the movie starts like most slashers. We have a group of campers out in the woods and the audience is pretty sure not all of these people are going to make it through the night. The people camping are here due to some problem or other they’ve had with technology. This is a sleep away camp where cell phones and other electronic devices are not allowed. The point is for them to get away from technology.
This is especially bad when there is a killer on the loose. While no one at the camp seems to know this is the case, there are some rumors of bad things that happened way back around World War II. We get to know the campers a little, most of them are not really surprising stereotypes. There’s a jock, a kid who is an online gamer, one who’s addicted to social media for the fame and influencers on there etc.
It’s not too far into the film we get the first real hint of something bad out in the woods. And soon students go missing. The audience knows what happened because we get to see the death before the other characters find the body. The film progresses like most of these where one by one people get picked off.
But, there is enough originality here to make this one stand out. While the film leans into the horror tropes, it does a decent job of twisting them just enough at the right moments to make it fairly disturbing. While not everyone is going to be impressed with the makeup and the look of the killer you can’t deny it’s an original take, even if it is a bit mashed up with other types of horror.
There are enough characters we come to care about for this to be worth watching if you want a pretty enjoyable horror film that’s never quite breaking entirely new ground. I may be a little biased because my favorite type of horror is films like these but I found it pretty entertaining overall and it’s nice to see a horror film that’s not American give it a go.
If you like stuff like Friday the 13th, the Fear Street films or any movie about campers who are in danger from lethal killers, this will be right up your alley.
Hey horror fans, it’s me Slick Dungeon! I’m back to review another creepy film. This time I watched Choose or Die and I’m here to give you my hot take on it. Do be warned there will be mild spoilers so if that kind of thing kills your ’80’s nostalgia, go watch the movie first and come back here to read the review.
Alright, for those of you who are still with me, let’s get into it. Choose or Die is about a cursed video game. Think Ring but instead of a video tape it’s an old copy of a text based game you might have found for computers in the 1980’s. While I think Ring is a fair comparison there are some major differences so even if you’ve seen Ring it doesn’t mean you can predict what will happen in Choose or Die.
The premise is pretty simple. A man finds an old copy of a game called CURS>R. It seems to be a game where there was the potential for prize money that is still unclaimed to this day. Beat the game and you might win $100K dollars. Whether or not the company which produced the game will pay up is anyone’s guess.
About three minutes into the movie things get pretty weird and bloody. While playing this game, the man who bought it at a clearance sale is asked to choose between a face and a tongue. See, his wife and son are loudly arguing upstairs. While the choice is a little weird the guy chooses “his tongue” and seconds later, the wife is cutting her own son’s tongue out, seemingly unable to stop herself. It’s a pretty disturbing scene and there are a few scenes like this so if you don’t like a bit of gore in your horror this is probably not for you. However, this is by far not the most bloody movie I’ve ever scene.
Next we see Kayla, who seems unconnected with the events of the game in any way, going about her day. She’s a wannabe computer programer who is played by Iola Evans. Her best friend, Isaac, played by Asa Butterfield is also an aspiring programmer but happens to be in love with Kayla. Kayla’s home life is pretty rough. She lives in a sketchy neighborhood, her mother is essentially checked out of life, and her little brother died at a tragically young age.
Isaac finds a copy of CURS>R and pops it into his computer where he hears the voice of Robert Englund start talking about the game. That’s right, good ol’ Freddy Krueger himself is in this. Well, his voice is anyway.
Kayla takes the copy of the game and starts playing it late that night in a cafe. Very quickly she realizes the game itself is affecting reality, and not in a good way. As you can imagine, the terror increases and Kayla and Isaac have to figure out a way to beat the game without doing major damage to themselves or others.
I don’t want to give too much away so we’ll just say it’s like a lot of movies where there is haunted technology. But, the end does come with a bit of an interesting twist making it worth staying for the end.
Some of the effects are not stellar here and it relies a bit too much on jump scares and silly tricks at times but it’s still a fun watch. While there are better horror movies on Netflix this one isn’t bad and it kills a bit of time if you just need a good fun horror movie. Just don’t look for anything super original here.
Hey all, this is a re-post of an Oscar movie review. When I posted it this was before it was nominated but I still stand by what I said here. Enjoy the review!
——
Hello out there internet people, it’s me Slick Dungeon. I’m back to review another movie for you. I watched Don’t Look UP on Netflix. Fair warning that there will be spoilers below so if you haven’t seen it and want to, have a look first and then come back here.
Stop me if this sounds familiar. There is an impending global crisis, almost certain to wipe out all life on the planet. There is solid, irrefutable scientific proof of this event. However, due to political considerations, a distracted public, and enormous financial interests on the part of the wealthy, the clear reversal of this problem is completely ignored. The wealthy get to come up with alternative solutions more friendly to them at the cost of everyone else. Don’t Look Up is a disaster comedy that hits way, way, too close to reality.
The whole film is an obvious allegory for climate change but really it could apply to any number of impending global crises we have going on now. The film is chock full of big name stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill.
While the subject matter of the film would make anyone who believes in science uncomfortable, there are laugh out loud moments that are impossible to ignore. As usual Leonardo DiCaprio puts in a fantastic performance but the lines that keep sticking in my mind in this movie come from Jonah Hill and Jennifer Lawrence. There’s also a really funny sequence involving a four star general and some snacks that cracked me up.
It’s also a very American film. The basic premise is straight forward. There is an impending comet heading toward Earth, large enough to be an extinction level event that will wipe out not only humans but a good chunk of the planet itself. The science is solid and the group of scientists who discover the comet have to go convince the president to do something about it. But, political times being what they are, the president is more focused on her poll numbers than committing to a real solution. Because of this inaction there is a wide swath of the population that simply doesn’t believe a comet exists at all. Soon people are on both sides of the issue, the media doesn’t want to cover it because there are stories that get better ratings, and the scientists are trying to get people to understand doom is actually impending.
All in all it is a brilliant film, if a bit on the nose. If you watch it, I promise there are laughs to be had but don’t go in expecting this to be a feel good movie. It’s just so close to the surface of reality it’s genuinely frightening.
Hello horror fans, it’s me, Slick Dungeon. I’ve finally made it through the last episode of the Netflix hit horror show Archive 81 and I am here to give the episode and the whole series my final thoughts. Just in case you have not yet finished the whole series yourself do be warned I may be spoiling the entire show for you. If you haven’t watched it, give it a view and then read my reviews.
Alright, now that we have that business taken care of let’s talk about this final episode. Throughout the show Dan and Melody have been on opposite ends of a timeline. Dan is in our present and Melody is in 1994. We’ve been watching events that connect the two through archived footage Melody shot and Dan is restoring.
There’s a lot more backstory to it but basically, there is a cult who wants to open a door into an alternate dimension and doesn’t really care who they have to hurt to make that happen. Twice in the show we’ve seen the ritual to make this happen and we know both times things did not go as planned.
Dan feels a strong connection to Melody and realizes she’s stuck in this alternate reality. This final episode deals with Dan attempting to bring Melody back. I guess if you’ve seen a ritual fail twice, the logical thing to do is try it again? Anyway, that’s Dan’s idea. Considering this is a horror show where weird things happen I don’t think any one is surprised when *spoiler* things go poorly. Dan essentially ends up switching places with Melody and he ends up in 1994. Melody is saved which is one thing the audience was rooting for the entire time but of course we didn’t want to see Dan stuck. Ah well, things happen I guess.
While I think some of the episodes of this show were exceptionally good, especially the early episodes, I don’t think the show reached the level of great. If you are a horror or suspense fan there are definitely worse shows to watch. This is a good show for a weekend binge but I wouldn’t get too invested in it. If they come out with a second season I doubt I will care enough to watch. But on the other hand I don’t regret the time I spent watching it at all. I don’t feel like the show cheated me of anything. The acting is really solid throughout the show and it’s able to take itself seriously without getting bogged down in the ridiculous. There are one or two twists which are genuinely surprising but the end of the show isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. While clever, it’s not amazing.
If you’ve watched this whole show, I’m curious what you thought of it. Was it worth the time or do you wish you had watched something else? Also, if you know of a great show (especially horror or suspense) I should check out next give me your recommendations in the comments.
Horrifically yours,
Slick Dungeon
Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Hello horror fanatics and aficionados, it’s me, Slick Dungeon, back to review the penultimate episode of the Netflix horror hit Archive 81. There may be spoilers for the first seven episodes in this review so if that sort of thing bothers you go watch the show first and then come back to read.
The first six episodes of this show really tell us the story of Dan who is in our present and Melody who is in the 1990’s. Throughout the story we’ve been getting little tidbits of a cult that seems to have taken up residence at a place called the Visser building, once an old manor and then an apartment building in New York city. While the portions of Melody’s story would still be considered somewhat of a period piece, the seventh episode goes the furthest back in time so far all the way to 1924 to become a proper period piece. We get more context of the videos Dan has been restoring from that era which were a series of shows called the Circle. Turns out the circle was a straight up cult who seems to worship a demon/alien/god or something tied up with a comet.
I’ve said all along this show is going to hinge on its final episode for me but again if it is aliens, I’m kind of over it. Still, whatever this thing is, strange things are definitely happening and we’re about to get the really big reveals in the next episode. The show has done a good job maintaining the tone and the pace enough to make this fairly interesting and this episode still delivers but I’m not sure it’s as impactful as the makers of the show would like. Because we’ve been seeing what Dan sees and experiencing what Melody experiences, it was already pretty clear there is a cult involved and at least one of the shocking moments is not shocking because, well, we already saw it in the restored footage.
Whether or not the show can wrap all this up in an interesting way remains to be seen but I’m looking forward to the final episode to see how it ends.
Horrifically yours,
Slick Dungeon
Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Hey TV bingers, it’s me Slick Dungeon. I’m back to review the sixth episode of the horror hit Archive 81 currently streaming on Netflix. Just a fair warning that there could be spoilers for any of the first six episodes of this show in this review. If you’re all caught up or you simply don’t care about spoilers, feel free to read on!
For the first five episodes of this show things have gotten increasingly strange. Melody is in the past trying to find out what might have happened to her mother at a building called the Visser. Dan is restoring footage with Melody on it in a remote location. Dan does have some access to the outside world and Melody is free to leave the Visser any time she wants. Yet their fates are intertwined and Dan and Melody seem to somehow be communicating through time. Through it all strange and horrifying things keep happening. Any time Dan or Melody explain what is going on they sound downright disturbed mentally.
Thus we reach the sixth episode where everyone becomes exceedingly hysterical. The episode begins this time with footage of what looks like an old film of a show Dan has been restoring called The Circle which is also the name of this episode. Melody wakes up in an unfamiliar apartment without any recollection of how she got there or who’s apartment it is.
The bulk of the episode is spent with Melody who is understandably freaked out, especially considering her friend is missing and she saw someone jump to their death the night before. As she goes on her quest to find more answers she seems more and more like she’s wildly out of control but of course the audience knows she is completely sane.
Dan, meanwhile stumbles onto some tapes made by the last guy who tried to restore the same videos he is working on. Let’s just say it seems like it didn’t go well for that guy. This does reinforce for us that Dan is also sane but sounds like he is not when he describes what is going on to his friend on the outside.
The show does feel like it’s starting to come to a bit of a conclusion as we seem to know at least who all the key figures are. Exactly what they want and how they are attempting to accomplish getting that remain a mystery. And as in most of the episodes there is a big twist at the end. I won’t spoil it here but it does have something to do with the footage Dan has been watching and some of the footage we saw very early on in the series.
It’s a little hard to tell if it’s possible but this episode does leave the audience hoping Dan could somehow save Melody even though that should be completely impossible.
There are only a few more episodes to go and I still think this whole show hinges entirely on the last episode. If they can tie things up and connect the story this could be a great show. If not, then there are some great episodes but it might not be worth a full watch. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Horrifically yours,
Slick Dungeon
Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Hello internet world, it’s me, Slick Dungeon. I’ve just finished watching the fifth episode of the horror hit Archive 81 which is currently streaming on Netflix. I’ll be talking about this episode and the episodes before it so fair warning there may be spoilers below. Otherwise, put your cameras down, lock yourself in a secluded archive and come along with me for the review!
This episode is almost fully focused on Melody and we don’t really see Dan until the very end. Much improved from the last episode, there are fewer horror tropes we’ve all seen, although some still exist. Melody continues her pursuit to find out what happened to her mother and once again the episode opens with a bit of television. This time it’s a news report about someone getting hit by a train. This does come into play later but I won’t spoil why in this review.
The mood and atmosphere increases in creepiness this time as Melody desperately tries to find out what happened to her friend. To find out she has to go to the sixth floor of the Visser, which, of course, was the floor she was warned to stay away from in the very first episode. I thought I had an idea of what might be going on but I was completely wrong. The fact it wasn’t what I was thinking was a refreshing development.
Melody is getting more desperate and her behavior, to an outsider, would seem erratic and like she might be capable of doing a lot of strange things. As the audience, we know she’s sane and there are just strange things happening all around her. She gets some vital information about one of the tenants of the building, which I won’t spoil here but let’s just say, it’s a pretty big reveal.
The last ten minutes of this episode are totally what make it worth watching. There’s a huge reveal and a bit twist which just makes everything more complicated.
I will say this about this show. It’s good at slowly doling out complicating factors and having decent twists. However, if the end is lackluster, that could definitely sink the show overall. I hope their final episodes will keep up the weirdness without succumbing to something like Lost where too many things were simply left unexplained. In order to do that they are going to have to fit a lot in to the next few episodes. We’ll see where it goes.
Horrifically yours,
Slick Dungeon
Like these reviews and want more content like it? Sign up for my newsletter below.
Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Slick Dungeon's Dusty Tomes and Terrible Films 