If you weren’t aware penny dreadfuls were cheaply made
British weekly magazines made at the turn of the century that depicted lurid
tales of adventure and sensationalized fiction that sold for a penny, thus the
name. The stories were more in tune with the readers of the time as low cost
examples of fiction they could enjoy but never care too much about. The same
could be said of this series.
I truly wanted to love this series. It had such a great look
to it right from the start. Timothy Dalton is Sir Malcolm Murray, an
aristocratic adventurer in Victorian London who is searching for someone we
later learn is his daughter. Helping him in this task is Vanessa Ives (Eva
Green), a woman in tune with the supernatural, a good thing since the evil
beings that have absconded with his daughter are almost all supernatural in one
form or another. As the show opens the two of them recruit an American
gunslinger named Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) from a Wild West show to be the
muscle and weapon expert they need in certain circumstances.
As the series progresses we’re introduced to a number of
characters taken straight from the pages of gothic horror novels that took
place during this time period. It’s difficult to explain the series any further
without revealing who these characters are but I’ll do my best to work around
that problem. One is a doctor whose past comes to haunt him as the show moves
forward. Another is a man whose debauchery seems to know no bounds. And the evil
that haunts the world of Sir Murray is an evil that has seen his portrayal on
screen done for decades now. Their stories intertwine with that of the search
for Murray’s daughter as well as
events that take place in the lives of the three main characters.
Dalton does well
with his role here, offering the once mighty warrior in his prime now older and
wiser, using every means at his command to rescue the one thing that means the
most to him. Green plays the mysterious woman well but as with anything involving
her eventually resorts to removing her clothing. I’m beginning to think she
insists on this in her contracts. Hartnett is perhaps the weakest of the three
doing little more than shooting his six guns now and then and bedding down a
local prostitute he falls in love with.
I’m sure I’m in the minority here but this series does what
nearly every pay channel series does these days. It feels the need to push
front and center nudity and sex scenes that involve nearly everything
imaginable. It’s as if they feel the need to insert this to make sure that
people know they can’t get this on regular TV. For me this gets boring. I will
commend this program though for not diving in only seconds from the main
credits but waiting at least a few minutes before we get a glimpse of
Hartnett’s posterior as he slams into a young fan up against a wagon in broad
daylight. I’ve always felt that if your story was solid enough you don’t have
to resort to this repetitively. Apparently the makers of this show don’t think
they can hold you week after week without tossing it in.
While being a show that takes place in a time when horror
fiction was at its peak and involving some of the greatest creations of that
time, it rarely if ever feels terrifying or even surprising. A few good special
effects sequences are well done and when the story is actually there involving
the battle between good and evil it is to be commended. If those in charge
would get rid of the time wasting material and stick with the story perhaps
this could be a great show. As it stands it is only a decent one. I wouldn’t
say it isn’t worth watching because of the good parts but know going in what
you have to sit through to get to those moments. If Victorian filled horror is
your cup of tea then this is for you…as long as your morals aren’t along the
Victorian era type.
Click here to order.
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