Archive 81

I'm not sure why this got such low ratings. I didn't find it slow at all. In fact, it reeled me in pretty quickly and I was hooked after the first episode. It's not your average slasher type of horror, it's more psychologically thrilling than cheap jump scares.

I also don't understand why people complained about not being able to understand the lead actor's voice. I can understand him just fine, he just has a deep monotone voice like Adam Driver.

Don't let the reviews turn you off, give it a chance!

I really liked the grainy 80s aesthetic and oppressive, isolated atmosphere. The show starts out very strong with a slow mystery revealing itself reminding me a lot of Lost (2004), the framing of the story, largely through replaying of VHS tapes is clever and disorienting leaving you questioning the reality you're seeing. The 2 leads and very good as is the best friend character and there is a strong emotional undercurrent as well as paranormal and horror elements. However, as I often find with shows like this, it is exceptionally difficult to deliver on the mystery. As the show builds to conclusion I felt some level of repetitiveness as well disappointment as more is revealed and the subtlety is gradually replaced with propulsive action and characters become more archetypal. That said, overall I still really enjoyed it and love that stuff like this is being made with a good budget behind it.

Great slow burn show that builds the mystery and has this omnious dread that builds with every episode.

Solid acting, eerie music and visually appleazing. Satisfying pay off near the end too, with a few annoying cliches and character choices that slightly held it back from greatness for me.

Overall a good show that ended up being better than I was expecting. If you don't have patience or like slow world building id probably recommend giving it a miss.

Archive 81 is the most watchable series I have come across for some time. It manages to combine so many genres into 8 very different, but very entertaining episodes.

We are given sci fi, horror, thriller and surreal elements, no two episodes are alike, it really is the most incredibly varied show.

For me, this peaks in the middle, where they really deliver several scares, in the last few parts it takes you on a somewhat different journey.

Very nicely acted, with two very strong leads, it's very well presented, with some nice special effects. Part 7 in particular looks great.

You could easily lose interest part way through episode 1, but stick with it, it takes a little time to open up, by episode 3 you'll be binge watching it.

It seems likely we'll be getting a second series.

Overall, a very good watch, 8/10.

Daniel Turner works as a restorer of damaged film and video tape. One day he is approached by Virgil Davenport who wants him to undertake a project for him. It will involve working in a remote house in the Catskill Mountains; here he is to restore a set of fire damaged Hi-8 video tapes. They were shot in 1994 by PhD student Melody Pendras. She was working on a project concerning the inhabitants of the Visser Building. She is now missing but it is assumed that she died in a fire that destroyed the building. As Dan works through the tapes he learns more about Melody, the Visser Building, its inhabitants and a strange cult active their... he starts to feel a connection to Melody and even feels that somehow he may be able to save her!

I rather enjoyed this series. In the early episodes I was intrigued to see which way it would go; especially after Melody discovered the cult... would the cultists be misguided or would they be tapping into something supernatural; and if so what. The way the series switched between Dan's work in the present and Melody's in 1994 was effective; it would have got irritating if we'd only seen her footage of her research. There are some impressively creepy moments and a few shocking scenes; nothing too disturbing though. The cast is solid; especially Mamoudou Athie; who is frequently in scenes by himself as Dan and Dina Shihabi who impresses as the increasingly perturbed Melody. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody who likes a good chiller. I hope we get a second season.