Dante's Cove

DANTE'S COVE is a two disc DVD release of a TV series for Here! TV that had everyone on the waiting list to see just how far the 'new television' market would/could go. Now that the mystery is over with the public release of the DVDs, the comments and responses are bound to be mixed: there are those who whoop that gay themed and photographed stories are finally on television, and there are those who will wonder why a series could make it through the year with little to no storyline and a production that is essentially soft porn - for both men and women! The 'plot' is based on the traditional haunted house with a mysterious history dating back to 1840: the 'story' revolves around the folk who inhabit the house cum hotel in present day time and the aftershocks of lifting the door off the secrets hidden with the subsequent effects of the 'curse' on the inhabitants. Sounds like a 'been there, done that' bit? Well, it is. The difference lies in the fact that the main characters are gay and the hotel inhabitants are pretty guys and gals who spend the majority of their time topless, swimming or en flagrante.

The cast is attractive (and we see a LOT of them!) but the lack of plausible story and the mercilessly poor writing and quality of acting keep the show grounded. This is a film for a special audience and one that would benefit from watching it with sound turned off. Maybe next season will improve....

Make no mistake: Dante's Cove is targeted primarily for the gay male audience. Its young, cute, hunky and beautiful male actors aren't cast by accident. While their acting doesn't quite hit the mark, the main characters, Kevin and Toby, do well, and I suspect may improve further in the remaining segments. In their scenes together, they represent a plausible young gay couple in love–refreshing and what most gay (and straight) people need to see. Sure, the great bodies and handsome faces are wonderful, but we all want love, and this show provides the chance to vicariously jump head first into more than just sex.

For those not tuning in to see guys, take heart--there are lesbian scenes; beautiful, scantily-clad young women, and just a nice bunch of young people kind of lazing around white, sandy beaches doing what most of us would enjoy: not much and having a hell of a good time. There's also a strong Gothic and macabre element reminiscent of Dark Shadows from '70s television.

Roll all of the show's elements together, and you have an entertaining, albeit exaggerated plot, that adheres to the show's preternatural basis. Dante's Cove is not about BEING gay, but more pointedly that gay people find themselves in everyday AND extraordinary situations--trying to navigate life's labyrinth and survive (Wow! exactly like straight people do!).

Take a look at Here!'s new miniseries. This genre and its audiences are here to stay; get used to it, folks.

God, how I love this programme.

They say that if you put a thousand monkeys in a room with a thousand typewriters then in a thousand years they will write the works of Shakespeare.

Some years ago a group of producers put one monkey in a room with an etch-a-sketch and the result was: Dante's Cove.

It's genius. A parallel world where concepts that we accept as normal just do not exist. Like "acting". And "shirts".

But goodness me, what a wonderful place to live. An entire island populated by beautiful, young, sexy people. And Tracy Scoggins.

It's a place where someone called Reichen Lehmkuhl (who apparently won a reality TV show and dated Lance Bass) must atone for his sins by submitting to living his life under a sheen of baby oil.

It's where we marvel at the "performance" of Charlie David - possibly the most wooden actor who ever lived. (Let me put it this way - that chiselled torso isn't so much the result of Gold's Gym as it is a carpenter's workshop. No really, you can see the other actors batting away the splinters.)

In short, a masterpiece. I wouldn't miss an episode.

I loved Queer As folk because the characters were complex: it was not simply about gay characters but about flesh and blood people. Besides, all the actors were excellent. But Dante's Cove is so ridiculous and funny, though not voluntarily...

The Gothic background is a caricature, with witches having red, glaring eyes when they curse their victims, and people turning into dust all of a sudden. Harry Potter sounds like Kierkegaard compared to that rubbish of hidden manuscripts, pentagrams and undead people... The acting is below awful, so much so that I couldn't help laughing most of the time. And the sex scenes so conventional, the men looking all more or less alike. A real waste of time! (and money if you have been unfortunate enough to buy this series)

When I saw the first season, I posted a review and commented on the bad acting and sub-par writing. But, I really enjoyed the show anyway. I'm glad I stuck with it, because it's gotten better. A LOT better.

It has all the basic elements I like - Gothic plot line, romance, and skin on screen. The writing, acting, and directing have come a long way since Season 1 - in fact, I would have to say Season 3 is by far the strongest yet. The writing is tighter, the performances turned in by series veterans have improved enormously (Charlie David in particular is giving substantially-improved performances) and the show is just plain FUN! Gothic Horror is a genre I love, and Dante's Cove delivers that. Especially in Season 1 (the show moved shooting locations to Hawai'i starting Season 2) there are great locations with old architecture and some spooky native locales. The cast is hot, the sex is getting hotter by the season, and the plot lines are engaging - covering all the territory from "jealous boyfriend" to "jilted fiancée" to "mind-controlling warlock" as time rolls on in the show. There is humor (both intended and not, I think), drama, and by Season 3 the camp atmosphere feels more intended than accidental and the show has finally hit its stride.

One ding - every season the show appears to move. Between Season 1 and 2, shooting moved to Hawai'i (O'ahu, to be exact) so some established locations either just changed (The Hotel Dante) or "closed for renovations" (the Historical Society building.) Between Seasons 2 and 3 we've moved locales again! For reasons I won't get into here, we're not spending any more time at the hotel. The feel of the locales has moved from Gothic to Paradise Beach - while Hawai'i is gorgeous, it's a bit sunny and fun for the feel I got from the first season. Personally, I find the constant venue changes jarring, and hope we'll get to see some of the same locations for Season 4 when it arrives, or perhaps return for a bit to some older ones.

In any event, I love this show. For those who haven't figured this out yet, it does feature full-frontal nudity (male) and lots of sex - gay, lesbian, and IIRC a straight scene or two. The show (with the sole exception of the opening five minutes of Season 1) doesn't show full-frontal with erection, which occasionally looks strange given what's supposed to be going on, and which seems strange given where it went in the show's opening five minutes of Season 1. A couple of the actors are obviously not planning on full-frontal, and occasionally contort to avoid it, while extras are frequently (and occasionally pointlessly) nude, and soft even when horn-dogging someone. Perhaps more creative set staging or action blocking could help them cover up without looking so odd doing it, or maybe they'll decide one day that full-frontal in a gay soap is not career-ending. While I'm not looking for pornography here, a touch more realism would help with "suspension of disbelief" quite a bit.

All in all, if you like horror, and like gay themes, give "Dante's Cove" a try. Try to watch at least two seasons, and I really recommend going for the third - it's the strongest yet, and starts to deliver on the promise of the premise that we've been waiting for from the beginning.