It’s fun to check out a few of the first-season “Archive 81″ podcast episodes, just to see where and how the basics have been amplified, revised, imagined for the eyes as well as the ears. Shihabi and Athie, their eyes full of dread and wonder, are reason enough to watch.
“Archive 81” is amateurish in spots, and not in a self-aware way. .. But the long-haul effects of “Archive 81” are worth the time spent on this series. Unlike many a mystery streamer, there is a satisfying payoff at the end of the analog mystery.
“Archive 81” is not especially bloody, nor does it contain many jump scares. It is the lack of these elements, and the thought that they could happen at any time, that the show excels at.
"Archive 81," the Netflix series "loosely inspired" by the podcast of the same name, is a worthy addition to the catalog. ... The showrunner, Rebecca Sonnenshine, makes the right move. The casting is first rate. ... Are there a lot of narratives at work in "Archive 81"? Yes, but think of them as tentacles.
Like most horror series and movies, Archive 81 requires some suspension of disbelief, but just give it time and it will slowly rope in the non-genre fans with its poignant specificity and drama.
Generously, this bounty could be viewed as a love letter to the genre. In execution, though, Archive 81 somewhat lacks a prevailing identity of its own, even as it masters slow-burning dread.
At its best, “Archive 81” taps into that sense that there’s something truly malevolent hiding in plain sight. ... When the writing has to disappointingly pull back from the questions to provide answers in the final pair of episodes, it’s less powerful, but the journey has been satisfying enough by then that it can be forgiven, and the finale takes some risks that should be divisive.
“Archive 81” starts strong with creepy atmospherics, gets a little confusing in its mythology around episode six but then clears everything up in time for a cliffhanger in the eighth episode.
The brisk, tense, efficiently told first episode gives way to later installments filled with padded-out incidents, red herrings, and dead ends. Anyone hooked by the beginning won't be let down by the end, and the mood of unflagging dread helps keep the suspense high even when the story hits a lull. Just be prepared for some narrative dry stretches along the way.
Based on a podcast of the same name, “Archive 81” uses old ingredients to yield something that feels fresh and new. So stick around. Your patience will be rewarded.
Archive 81 is an easy 9/10 for me — one of those rare horror shows that doesn’t rely on jumpscares but gets under your skin with atmosphere, weirdness, and that constant “something is VERY wrong here” feeling.Spoilers (all episodes):What makes it work from the start is the structure: Dan restoring old tapes alone in that isolated facility while Melody slowly unravels in the past. The dual timelines feel like they’re talking to each other long before the characters do. Every new piece of footage feels like a warning he really shouldn’t be **** Visser building is basically a character of its own — the creepy tenants, the secret rituals, that cult built around Kaelego… it all feels like you’re slowly peeling back layers of a nightmare instead of solving a mystery. Jess’s storyline makes everything even more unsettling, especially the idea that the building “chooses” people.Melody’s desperation to help the girl, her frustration with the therapist, her weird chemistry with Samuel — it all builds toward that point where you realize she’s completely trapped, even before the supernatural stuff kicks ****’s timeline is just as eerie. The isolation, the weird rules, Davenport hiding things, Mark trying to reach him… the slow reveal that the whole “get the tapes restored” job is basically a setup makes every scene feel **** final episodes go full cosmic horror in the best way. Melody being pulled into Kaelego’s realm, Dan jumping after her, the reverse-rescue twist — and then that ending. Dan waking up in the past, in the real world version of 1994, while Melody escapes into the present? Such a good, cruel cliffhanger. It flips everything they were fighting for.That’s why it hurts that the show was canceled. You can feel they were building toward something bigger — the aftermath, the crossover timelines, the cult fallout, the reunion — all of it was right there.Still, as a single season, Archive 81 is moody, weird, unsettling, and genuinely original. That slow-burn dread sticks with you long after the final shot.
Shame it got cancelled. Eventhough the show is a slow burner, it's both creepy and intriguing. Would have loved to see more of this eerie tale
Really enjoyed this one. Stayed engaging throughout the whole show and sent me down a road searching for dark, mysterious scifi horror crossovers - which are actually a bit difficult to find, as it turns out! Kinda bummed it got cancelled.
I would give this an even lower score if I could .. Dear Hollywood; there is a difference between creating suspense with minimalism and just plain have absolutely NOTHING TO SAY and zero sense of atmosphere. This is one of those shows that starts out with the painfully slow pacing that is a technique to create suspense but then other methods are used to suspend the suspense. Here its just like watching a superstitious friend stare into an empty closet convincing her self that there is something in there when there is nothing. The pacing and pathetic offerings serve to be nothing more than annoying. Its like watching The Blair Twitt project mixed with Paranormal.. all a bunch of idiots bumbling around in collective hysteria. Come on baby, do the camera shake! Thats excellant story telling technique right there.
It's a decent mistery serie. Fist five episodes are really good they keep you hanging on the rest it's no that great.
I’m usually not a huge fan of the horror genre, but this was a welcome homage to the slow burn horror films that came out of the mid to late 20th century. The plot kept me on the edge of my seat and the acting was superb with a hell of a cliff hanger that sets up season 2 nicely.
Dope show. Slow burn, rewarding ending. Good setup for a second season, definitely worth a watch
I watched the whole thing because I thought that watching something different would be interesting, but the mysteries ended up being meaningless and I really regret giving a chance to this show. Most episodes were bad. The motivations of each characters are unclear, which makes it impossible for us to feel engaged to them. The story, the screenplay, and the dialogues are so full of plot holes and non-sense that it is also nearly impossible to intellectually or emotionally engage with the series. I wish Netlix would bring back The OA instead of this. Also, other series like Dark are WAY better when with sci-fi, drama and investigation. Some professional critics wrote that the show relies on our suspension of disbelief, but I think it relies on us switching our brain totally off. What a bad series! I kinda hope it get cancelled otherwise it's an insult to the OA.
This was oh so close to an 8 or even a 9 out of 10. I was hooked by the end of episode 1. I watched three episodes one night and couldn't wait, so I watched the rest of the season the next day - finishing the series in one weekend. There were so many good characters, good acting, a preferred blend of atmospheric scares (lots) vs jump scares (enough to enjoy without getting bored/cheap), and several great mysteries. Outside of the finale, my only complaint was some of the dialogue. I'm not offended by swearing. However, there were several instances in the show where the swearing felt out of place. One of the main characters would be talking to another character - either someone trying to help them or a creepy "bad guy," but regardless, this character would be calmly talking to the main character - and rather than keeping their cool and keeping control of the conversation in order to get the answers to their questions, the main characters would scream/yell "WHY THE F--- blah blah blah?!" These moments would almost always pull me from being immersed in the show. Even so, not a huge concern and nothing that impacted my review. Now, the finale did cause me to lower the rating of the show. It failed to execute. It answered just enough questions, but in incredibly lazy ways. By the end of the finale, I had more questions criticizing the finale than I did about the rest of the series. How/Why did Virgil - a man who owned a DNA/Ancestry business so he could find out about people's lineage - end up hiring the mom of the woman who he thought murdered (or caused the disappearance of) his brother? I may have missed it, but how did the portal open without a sacrifice (the caretaker/mom cut her hand to bleed on the statue and they took a jar of blood from the fridge, but I didn't see them spill any blood from the jar)? At the end, there were two rooms with lights (presumable portals), Melody was pulled into one by Samuel, then the light faded (presumably meaning the portals shut). Dan wasn't in a portal before the light faded, so how did Dan end up in 1994 (the writers have confirmed he IS in 1994 and not the other world)? Why did Melody arrive in the present but not Samuel when they were clearly in the same portal? So - after 7 hours of wondering who or what burned down Samuel's house with his family in it, which was eerily similar to how the Voss mansion burned down and the Visser apartment complex - the writers expected fans to be satisfied with Virgil's explanation for how Samuel's house burned down?! "The cult would do anything to bring the demon to our world, the coven would do anything to prevent it - and your family got caught in the crossfires." Sounds like a lazy excuse to avoid providing answers, most likely because the writers didn't think that far out in advance. Lastly - the finale neutered the primary antagonist. The demon's parallel world was essentially just a maze and instead of killing, torturing, or anything malevolent related to the people who get trapped there - he simply lets them exist and doesn't want them to leave because he's lonely? He poses no threat to the any of the characters and barely even attempts to prevent them from leaving. Kind of makes the entire conflict between the coven and the cult - who cares, let Kaleago into our world. Dude is just lonely and looks like a mouthless predator. Let him move to Vegas and be a magician. At least then the cult and coven will stop sacrificing people and burning down buildings. The writer's have said they will address Samuel not being in the room at the end and the true cause of Samuel's house burning down in season 2 if it's greenlit - but I still believe these were errors (a mistake and a case of lazy writing) on the part of the creative team behind the show. And now that it's being called out as the shows only big flaw, the writers are scrambling to tease future corrections. NOTE: Even after all of that is said... this show was obviously very enjoyable as I gave it a 7 out of 10. I would 100% watch a season 2 and hope they fix a lot of issues created by the finale.
It's gripping and engaging. Twists and turns that one wouldn't expect. A perfect mix of horror, thriller and the psychological. It's fresh and captures the viewer from the get go. It's impossible not to binge watch, the acting performance was flawless and the visuals add to the total immersion. A throughly impressive show from start to finish, the wait for season two will be a hardship.
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