Netflix Original (2022) – Season One
Trailer available here
Largely based on old stories, such as The Graveyard Rats by Henry Kuttner, this series is more of a collection of eight stand alone episodes making it easier to dip in and out or select ones that pique a particular personal interest.
There are a couple of Guillermo’s own creative creations thrown into the mix and these really help to add to the flow if you choose to watch them all in order. You can tell that the curating of the order, the directors selected for each one and the contents themselves were meticulously planned to provide the most fulfilling experience for even somebody deciding to spend a few hours binge-watching episodes.
Not only is it a fantastic anthology of horror stories it also sees brilliant screenplay from a wide variety of performers including Rupert Grint, Essie Davis and Elpidia Carrillo. With the combination of story writers, directors, cast and Netflix production offerings it is no surprise that this turned out to be a collection able to flourish and receive the celebration that it did on release.
Whilst none of the episodes are “scary” in the jump scare way or likely to psychologically haunt you they do get under your skin a little (some in the more literal sense) because of the possibility of them being reality. This certainly isn’t a statement that will apply across all of the episodes for everyone though as it depends on your personal beliefs, standpoints and approaches to ‘reality’ to how each piece impacts you and the resonance you may few.
Personally, it was the first offering “Lot 36”, that stood out to me the most. The careful merging of both old folklore, modern history and current societal norms provided for a thrilling combination of how things can be hidden for so long, how there can be that curiosity and those wanting to delve deeper but largely for their own gain. It shows how the past is a ‘treasure’ for many people but not for the right reasons and painfully how they will destroy or disrespect pieces and tales that actually have great meaning and will continue to gain value over what is already deemed to have value; Much like a lot of artwork is completely worthless or disrespected until years after a creator has died.
On further reflection that theme is also somewhat looked into throughout each piece, in its own way, and is mentioned during one of the setting the scene narrations of Guillermo of essentially beauty being in the eye of the beholder and it being very directly about artistic social movements and a specific creator with a distinct style not seen by peers of the era. It pinpoints how changing perceptions, regarding a whole wealth of subjects, is incredibly difficult to do and an incredibly scary and lonely place but how even these ‘new’ ideas are still often rooted in the past and previous experiences; The way that the present and the future can only exist with the building blocks of the past and that those blocks alone can appear to function perfectly but combined create an amalgamation of horror in which people do not wish to, or simply cannot, interpret through anything other than disgust.
A second season could very easily be done for this sort of show as there is no shortage of old literature and tales that could be explored around a number of overarching themes but at the same time it could become rather repetitive and lose it’s sense of novelty through doing so. In many ways this is something that brought a few hours of delightful viewing, each episode varies in length from 30-60 minutes, but if no more were put into production it wouldn’t be a complete disappointment. There is a reason why the rarer something is the more treasured it becomes, though of course if the ideas and thought processes exist that would bring joy to many is it something that should be vanguarded?
If you haven’t already watched it then I’d highly suggest it and if you have then I’d love to know which of the episodes or particular moment caught your attention or got you pondering the most.
DANNIIXBHRI 