Penny Dreadful Episode 1: A Preview

It’s very hard to do a horror drama nowadays, and do it well. With such classics as The Exorcist to live up to, writers wouldn’t be blamed for avoiding this genre like the plague. But these writers have stepped up and delivered something which feels fresh and original.

 

With the suspense and intrigue growing all the way through the first episode, Penny Dreadful is as dark as it is genuinely frightening. From a family being discovered ripped apart (I thought the blood was overdone until I realised how violent that death was) to the fight scenes with the monsters to loads of little insects seemingly emerging from a cross (the scariest bit for me. Really not keen on insects in that quantity).

 

The best thing? It’s not all horror. There are some good character scenes and laugh out loud moments to fill in between the violence and gore.

 

The protagonist Ethan Chandler is a genuinely likable guy, which is a requirement since we see almost everything from his eyes. He’s a charmer who’s good with guns, and a quick thinker especially when it comes to the physical scenes.

 

My favourite character personally was the mysterious Vanessa Ives. A mysterious figure draped in black who is known to smile occasionally (twice in one episode! We’ll see if that’s a record), she intrigues us and Ethan. With a couple of hints that the whole situation (notice I’m not going into details here. It would be very hard to without giving the whole plot away!) is her fault, plus the scenes of her praying in a chapel where weird things happen (like the aforementioned insects emerging from a cross), she proves to be a very interesting, possibly demon-possessed character.

 

Finally we have the older, more mature character Sir Malcolm Murray a famed explorer whose motivation is as clear as the sun on a cloudless day - he wants to find his daughter who has been kidnapped by a monster. His declaration that he would ‘murder the world,’ to find her endears him to me. Murray could just as easily be the main protagonist here so I find it interesting that the showmakers choose to keep him on side.

 

Those who are familiar with my previous blog posts may have guessed by now that I try and find something bad to say about each programme or episode I review, not just because I’m evil (although that is a contributing factor) but because it stops me gushing and sounding like an out-of-control fan. (Just wait until I review the next series of Downton Abbey, you’ll understand what I’m talking about). But I genuinely cannot find anything bad to say about this first episode.

 

It really was a fantastic debut episode, and if this is the way the horror genre is going then more please! Definitely a series to get stuck into, and well deserving of all the hype.