Wreck : Croisière sanglante

I'm so glad to see this series starting to catch some fire. It was a surprise of the year. I caught it late night on the BBC and then went to watch the rest on iPlayer. Wow - there are some snobby, mean-spirited people leaving user reviews on IMDB. "I sat through all 6 hours but I didn't enjoy it" smells off to me. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but some people get a kick out of being rude. Maybe it's an older crowd who don't get it? (I'm 34) Lighten up. Anyway, on with the review...

Horror comedy is extremely difficult to get right as both can be objective in their own ways, but this show managed it for me, and did it with aplomb. Leads Jamie (an excellent Oscar Kennedy) and Vivien (Thaddea Graham, also excellent) are living and working in the bowels of an ocean liner. But, Jamie is secretly there to find out what happened to his missing sister. She had been working on the ship previously but had gone missing. It's a simple enough setting but it works very nicely. I wasn't going to watch at first, as a lot of reviews said it was a duck hunting people for six episodes and that did sound a little too daft for me...this was not at all what the show was. It's so much more than that! It's a slightly slow starter, but it sets the scene in a fun way and it had me hooked from the end of the first episode - an inspired move to kill off who they did in episode one. Episode 4-6 were the strongest for me, a rollercoaster that had me on the edge of my seat. I liked the way the show grew with each episode and wasn't just crazy from the off.

What follows are six episodes of blood, laughs, and genuine heart. That was perhaps what I loved most about this show. Despite all of the silliness, it has characters that feel real and vulnerable. They could have done a Scream Queens or Harpers Island and killed someone every 5 minutes, and although there is a fair body count (4 or 5), they smartly opted to invest in the characters more, which paid off with the stakes being raised higher. The bond formed between Viven and Jamie was especially beautiful. It was nice to see a male/female friendship without romance. I'm happy to hear the show has already been renewed as I want more of this dynamic duo ASAP. The performances from everyone were stellar. American actor Donald Sage Mackay really stood out for me as the Cruise Director - he gives a really fun and often terrifying performance.

I won't spoil the plot, but it is genuinely surprising and there are at least three big twists that caught me way off guard. The writer really played a blinder with that very last reveal. It kind of goes to a political place near the end but is never preachy, and perhaps the messaging isn't new, but it does need repeating and I appreciated it.

Wreck showcases its knowledge of horror history with amazing references and easter eggs throughout, and it was a lot of fun spotting them (although very occasionally distracting; but I imagine viewers less horror obsessive wouldn't mind). I think the friends I watched the show with were tiring of me pausing to point something out in the background.

Is Wreck perfect? No. It's a really good time that keeps you guessing, tensing and laughing from start to finish. It felt like it had shades of Edgar Wright but also a little Giallo and even some Romero when it came to the social commentary. It really is a show worth binging.

Bring on series two.

This was such a surprisingly great watch. Initially I thought it was just going to be another cheesy teeny horror but it was actually fantastic. The story was clever (albeit kind of done before) with great casting, acting and soundtrack. It was exactly the right mix of comedy moments, suspense and slasher. Harriet Webb's character in particular was hilarious and had some fantastic one-liners. We were gripped right from the start and loved every second. Watched it all in a one go and felt it got better as it went along. Satisfying, gripping, just the right length and very easy to watch. Would definitely recommend.

After noticing a few negative reviews for this series, I felt the need to share a more positive perspective. It always amuses me when someone claims they didn't enjoy a show but still sat through 12 hours of it. If you really disliked it, you wouldn't have stuck around that long!

Wreck is a delightfully macabre teen horror series that masterfully blends horror and comedy, echoing the wit of "Shaun of the Dead." Set aboard a cruise ship, the show follows a group of young misfits as they unravel the mystery behind a series of sinister disappearances. The blend of absurdity and tension is quintessentially British, with clever dialogue and biting social commentary. It's a quirky series that both chills and entertains, perfect for fans of offbeat, genre-twisting tales.

Jamie buys the identity off a guy named Cormack, to get a job working on board a ship called The Sacramentum, his mission, to discover what happened to his sister Pippa, who vanished on board three months back.

It's an enjoyable six part series, it's clearly aimed at teenagers, it's a mix of comedy, horror, mystery, with shed loads of LGBTQ themes thrown in.

Episode one is very good, I loved Quacky, it provided a very different killer, no scary costumes or grim masks, this guy is soft and fluffy, it presents something a little different, it worked.

The disappointment for me came in episode 6, Part 5 offered so much, it just all fell a little bit flat.

You can tell it's from The BBC, it's a wonderfully diverse cast, in terms of the good guys that is,.

The baddies are still white and straight, it's amusing enough, but I liked the characters, I liked the diversity of it. You can see the demographic they're going for, my sixteen year old self would have loved this.

It's well acted, Thaddea Graham and Oscar Kennedy are both very good.

I look forward to series 2.

7/10.

If you're watching this thinking it's going to be a hardcore comedy then you're in for a disappointment. However, as a mystery thriller with horror and comedy elements then I really enjoyed it.

Six episodes was the adequate amount of time to introduce, investigate and resolve the case (but leave enough left to lead into series 2 which I am looking forward to).

The writer has also peppered the script with callbacks to famous films of the last 30 years, which is a fun little Easter egg to keep an eye on.

I wasn't really familiar with any of the cast beyond Liam from Ladhood, but they all played their parts well (even if you hated them).