Helstrom

I just finished binge watching and it got better with each episode. Easy to follow and understand. Great acting. It had a Prodigal Son/Evil feel but it is it's own show. I wish there was a season 2 following straight after because I'm excited to see the next season. Well here's hoping for that season 2!

So I have never written a review before. I read the professional critics reviews and honestly I think most of them have forgotten how to just watch a show and enjoy it. Was it the best I've every seen no - was it entertaining yes. So if your looking for something entertaining and supernatural your thing you should check it out. I really hope Hulu reconsiders a season 2

I admit I don't know much on the original source material, so I can't speak to its overall accuracy. In general I think the show has its moments. I appreciate that it doesn't shy away from the brutality of its content and stays relatively true to the horror and fantasy elements of it. The show is pretty simple in its execution which I think is fine. The Helstrom siblings are interesting and seem to give a decent performance with the mostly average script. The side characters feel pretty two-dimensional.

The real quality in the show lies in the members of the Helstrom family themselves who, thankfully and rightfully so, carry the show. I know the show won't be renewed and this is a one time thing, but it's mostly decent and I think worth your time.

Upto Episode 5, a decent show if you are a fan of Supernatural in nature shows, such as supernatural, Evil, Constantine. It a little slow paced, and drip feeds character development which is not necessarily the best way to do it, as it feels the writers are using a lot of filler. It seems to take it self very seriously so far, which is fine if your going for horror, but it lacking in some needed lore/ exposition in a few areas for those of us that do not read comics

The story may not be overwhelmingly unpredictable, but nor is that the point. This is about Ana and Damon and the people around them--who they are and what they go through. The acting and direction is mostly strong, as is the attention to detail. The dialogue is smart and reasonably natural. While the production is generally solid, it sags notably in the make-up department--where the work ranges from good to perfunctory and outright incongruous. (A strange area for a reasonably high-profile production to flounder, these days.) The FX work is all right albeit very derivative--as is the soundtrack, which thankfully never slips into being overly bombastic or loud.

When it comes to writing, the series definitely could have used a more coherent approach. The fact that there were twelve (12) different writers for this ten-episode run bleeds through and muddles the narrative. In some episodes (the sixth one in particular) trite, traileresque exposition overwhelms the otherwise stark and intimate narrative style, making for an awkward and ironically comic-like detour.

As for the story's adherence to the original--well, which original? Daimon's inception was in the early seventies. Both he and his sister (who has a considerably smaller role in most of the comics) have been portrayed in various ways through the years. The '75-'77 run is vastly different to the later two, which in turn don't entirely align either (and that's not even getting into the disparate appearances the characters have made in other comics.) Marvel loves alternate universes, and this is an accomplished, more restrained and human version which I think works really well. (I admit, though--while I really like Austen's and Lemmon's portrayals, I would've preferred for the siblings to at least have been redheads. Also, that title sequence is just off.)

If you like sombre, portentuous horror drama series with a focus on character interplay, this is probably for you. If you come in expecting Hollywood spectacular or a straightforward comic adaptation, you are going to be sorely disappointed.