Chapelwaite

When I stumbled upon the 2021 TV series "Chapelwaite", I must admit that I was immediately interested in watching it. Why? Well, I read that it was based on Stephen King's "Jerusalem's Lot" and also it had Adrien Brody on the cast list.

I have to admit that I had actually not heard about the show prior to getting to sitting down to watch it. But let me just be the first to say that I am very happy that I did sit down to watch it, because "Chapelwaite" turned out to be really enjoyable and entertaining.

The storyline is certainly based on Stephen King's "Jerusalem's Lot", but at the same time creators Jason Filardi and Peter Filardi managed to make "Chapelwaite" so much more. If you think "Jerusalem's Lot" and add a good sense of gothic atmosphere and Lovecraftian influence, then you have the end result that is "Chapelwaite", and believe me, it works. The storyline is well-written and just as nicely brought to life on the screen.

"Chapelwaite" has a great ensemble of characters that are portrayed well nicely by a good group of actors and actresses. And the fact that there is paid a good amount of detail and attention ot the backstories and motivation of the characters really adds to the overall feel of "Chapelwaite".

It should be said that Adrien Brody is phenomenally cast for the role of Captain Charles Boone, and he is joined by the likes of Jennifer Ens, Ian Ho, Sirena Gulamgaus, Emily Hampshire, Gord Rand Hugh Thompson, Julian Richings and Steven McCarthy. But lo and behold actor Christopher Heyerdahl playing the role of Jakub. Wow, talk about an impressive character and an equally impressive performance of said character.

Visually then "Chapelwaite" is rather impressive. The atmosphere throughout the entire series is just spot on, and definitely adds a great element to the presentation of the show. And the appearance of the vampires is just fantastic and definitely is in tune with "Jerusalem's Lot".

If you enjoyed "Jerusalem's Lot" and maybe have an interest in Lovecraftian things, then you should definitely check out "Chapelwaite".

My rating of "Chapelwaite" lands on a well-deserved nine out of ten stars.

There's plenty said already about this series' negative and positive aspects so rather than repeating them for the sake of sharing my own views, I'll simply add that there's barely enough story to cover 6 episodes, let alone 10.

There's large sections of unnecessary dialogue and the pacing is just far too slow. It would be fine if there was enough plot going on but there isn't. I think it was a big mistake to make this story 10 episodes. It really feels as though there was a management decision to make it a 10 parter when there simply wasn't enough story there.

Episode 7 for example contained 20 minutes of completely unnecessary dialogue before anything actually occurred. The rest of the episode was good. It was a chore to sit through at times. It does make one un-invest in the story and characters. Just get on with it. It's all building to a rather predictable confrontation and yet we must wait so long for it.

Personally, I felt that the first two episodes were the best when we didn't quite know what was going on. Once the reality of the story is uncovered it lost much of its intrigue as this has been done many times before, going back to King's original Salem's Lot.

Well made but is visually consistently gloomy to the point of being silly.

Adrien Brody's confident but one note performance was not enough to hinge the series on. There's really no other characters of note to care for unfortunately.

Worth watching and might feel fresh if you haven't seen a lot of films of this type before but its certainly nothing new.

Midnight Mass, which was released at approximately the same time and covered some similar ground and is also slow and wordy in parts, is far more interesting, with less episodes and is better made. Recommend that one over this.

Failing that, check out some classics like Near Dark, Interview with the Vampire, Dracula from 1992 or even Fright Night from the mid 80s, which is a lot of fun. No need to watch 10 episodes when you can watch several films and be hugely entertained.

At least they didn't freaking sparkle.

On episode 4 (but IMDb won't let me rate it yet for some reason) where it seems the show begins to really pick up. Haven't ever read any Stephen King, and I've liked some of his previous TV adaptations, some not so much. In this one, so far, things have been layered on to the drama/mystery very nicely, creating a very dark cool & creepy atmosphere.

No complains about the acting/dialogue from me at all yet, some people will complain about anything though.

Very very much looking forward to how it proceeds!

Only 3 episodes in so will update later.

Huge fan of the original novella and author-and not disappointed in the effort so far. Slow burn into madness is the perfect pace for this Lovecraftian gothic nightmare. I think the house could have been better treated as a character itself-it is a little plain and has no discernible menace. Indeed much of the landscape which is so rich usually in King's books hasn't really been given much graft. But Brody and the rest of the cast have given the characters a wonderful brooding interpretation.

It's best to ignore the review bombs by whinging, bed-wetting incels claiming 'wokeness', being upset by what a character says does not a review make...I have a feeling they haven't read much literature, studied film or studied any actual history beyond reddit and 4chan. If they are to be believed...apparently Hawaii doesn't exist (it does), there were no African Americans in Maine during the 1800s (there were) and women didn't have aspirations, go to college or weren't authors (They did and were. Colleges for women were first established in 1831 in the US . The story is set in 1850). Fairly puerile critiques of a fantasy horror show only 3 episodes in but hey, talent-less losers, unable to create anything themselves gotta be talent-less losers.

Good adaptation of the stephen king short story Jerusalem lot.

Who is not averse to the setting of the 19th century. Will have a good time on the show.