¡QUÉ HORROR! 2016
The Preliminaries
So yeah, you know the drill: another
October, another ¡Qué horror!
rundown.
I
think the most notable thing about this year’s crop is, for the first time in a
while, there is no TV entry, which is not to say that there was no good small
screen horror in the past 12 months, but rather, that the film entries were
simply much more clearly “horror” than the TV Candidates.
Now,
while I just did not find the time to give these shows their own Candidate
posts (apologies to all involved), I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention them here,
so, without further ado, please consider these ¡Qué horror! 2016 Candidates #19 through 21…
LES
REVENANTS (THE RETURNED)
Season 2
(October 2015)
There
was nearly a 3 year gap (!) between the initial airing of the final episode of Les Revenants’ first season, and the
premiere of its second season, and though its sophomore run did answer some of
the lingering questions, it also had its own fair share of mysteries and
ambiguity, all cloaked in the dreary and somber atmosphere the show has always
sported.
And
though it did seem to wrap the main narrative up, the second season also left
certain questions unanswered. But as to whether there’ll be a third season,
that would be anyone’s guess at this point.
Perhaps
we need to wait another 3 years to find out…
PENNY
DREADFUL
Season 3
(May 2016)
The
fact that this third season also wound up being its final one was, perhaps, the
biggest surprise for the show’s audience.
It
was sad, and certainly sudden, to see that end title card, but those were the
narrative choices made, and if the show did have to end, at least it ended on
its own terms.
It
was also a bummer to have the always welcome Simon Russell Beale downgraded
from his Season 2 regular status to two (!) brief appearances.
That
loss was partially alleviated with the upgrading of Patti LuPone to regular
status, in what was also a cheeky bit of Starbucking.
And
then there was Billie Piper, who continued her blazing performance as Lily,
giving Eva Green a run for her money.
Sniff.
Penny D, ye shall be
missed…
THE
LIVING AND THE DEAD
Season 1
(June 2016)
“We talked a lot in
pre-production about what this was going to be and I was really keen that it
wouldn’t be horror. The word we used was eerie.”
It
was this quality--summed up by series creator Ashley Pharoah in the above
quote--that initially made me waffle on the show’s inclusion here. This wasn’t
just “quiet horror” for most of the narrative; more mute or silent horror.
In
the end though, the overall tone and mood throughout its half-dozen episodes, the
intriguing angles from which the idea of ghosts are approached, plus some key
moments where you think, “Oh, well, things will be fine now, won’t they?” when
horribly, things don’t turn out fine at all, won the day, and here The Living and the Dead is.
Plus,
anything that gets the Cocteau Twins’
Liz Fraser back in the recording studio needs to be celebrated! (Fraser does
the vocals on “She Moves Through the Fair” from episode 1, and “The Lover’s
Ghost” from the episode 4 end credits.)
Though
I’ve no word on the possibility of a second season, this one ends on an
incredulous “Well, they can’t leave it like that
now, can they?!” note.
“I was thinking a lot
about what hauntings actually are. Are they echoes from the past or something
else?”
--Ashley Pharoah
(Les Revenants & Penny Dreadful OS’ courtesy of impawards.com; The Living and the Dead DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.co.uk.)
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