Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) is on a quest to rescue his daughter Mina with the help of clairvoyant Vanessa Ives (Eva Green).  They recruit would-be actor Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadway) in the quest that Malcolm would tear down the world to get his daughter back from Dracula.

 

It is a slow burn Victorian Horror thriller created by John Logan which sucks you in and just gets you wanting to view the next episodes that you will end up being sad having to wait until next year for season 2 to come.   PENNY DREADFUL is one of those TV shows that would be great for binge viewing.  The eight episodes create a new take on the characters and stories of 19^th century Victorian horror.  John Logan has created a televised novel and I can’t wait to see what season 2 will bring and I wonder if they will include Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, and other literary characters of that era.  Each character fights their demons and guilt.  They aren’t heroes by any way as they are united in a common cause no matter what they have to do.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Nine video blogs-

WHAT IS A PENNY DREADFUL- John Logan and one of the show’s producers talk about the origins of the Penny Dreadful

LITERARY ROOTS- show creator John Logan talks about the Victorian works of fiction that inspired PENNY DREADFUL

COMING TOGETHER- a look at the pre-production work that went into making the show come to life

THE ARTISANS PART 1: SET DRESSING AND PROPS- a look at the props of PENNY DREADFUL

THE ARTISANS PART 2: PRODUCTION DESIGN- the production design of the series

THE GRAND GUIGNOL- a look at the set they built to create the atmosphere of the theatre for the Penny dreadful plays

 

SEX AND PROSTITUTION IN THE VICTORIAN AGE- Historian Matthew Sweet and Reeve Carney (the actor who plays Dorian Gray) explore the locations for prostitution (Empire Theatre) and pornography in Victorian London

BRITISH EXPLORATION & THE SEARCH FOR THE NILE- a brief history of British explorers and British exploration in Africa during the 19^th century that ahs interviews with historian Matthew Sweet and actor Timothy Dalton

THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE- historian Matthew Sweet is looking at Victorian medical science with Technical Curator Carla Valentine of the Barnes Pathological Museum

 

Also among the extras are the first two episodes of RAY DONOVAN

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  I love how John Logan has made the Victorian tales of horror his own with this new take on old literary tales.  PENNY DREADFUL is one of the best horror series of 2014.  I can’t wait for the tales that season 2 will tell next year.  The extras are brief (and have a wealth of knowledge about the show and Victorians times), but I hope they have more behind-the-scenes content for season 2.

 

This review is ©10-15-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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