"Penny Dreadful"

ewalling · #1 08-22-2016, 05:31 PM

Has anyone else seen/been watching this series on Netflix? Talk about everything but the kitchen sink! Set in Victorian London, it has a band of characters which includes Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein and his male and female monsters, vampires, witches and Van Helsing (briefly!), and the wolfman. We also have requisite lashings of blood and bonking. The huge hotchpotch seems absurd, but absurdly enough, it works pretty well. At least my wife and I are temporarily hooked.

But you do have to wonder. Are the makers of such as Rome, Game of Thrones, and now this one pushing things to such extremes that a straightforward good story will soon no longer be enough? Time was when the Frankenstein or the Dracula stories could grip an audience. Are those times being made redundant by these utterly amazing extravaganzas of blood, booty, and all manner of wild happenings in between?

robj144 · #2 08-22-2016, 05:40 PM

Sure watched it from start to end on Showtime in real time. It's good.

HHP · #3 08-22-2016, 05:44 PM

I watched it as well. Really liked Wes Studi in his role. Plenty of more standard stories on cable series such as Ray Donovan, Black Sails, The Night Of, and even the similarly set BBCA series, Ripper Street.

wcap · #4 08-22-2016, 05:55 PM

We started watching it, but decided to quit before the end of the first episode. The gratuitous gore was just seeming a bit much, and there wasn't enough otherwise to compel us to watch despite the gore.

I can see that the series might have some potential (I could see this turning into something sort of like the best of the Dr Who series), but we weren't seeing that potential realized soon enough to keep us. Maybe if we gave it more of a chance we'd feel differently.

HHP · #5 08-22-2016, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wcap

We started watching it, but decided to quit before the end of the first episode. The gratuitous gore was just seeming a bit much, and there wasn't enough otherwise to compel us to watch despite the gore.

I can see that the series might have some potential (I could see this turning into something sort of like the best of the Dr Who series), but we weren't seeing that potential realized soon enough to keep us. Maybe if we gave it more of a chance we'd feel differently.

Considering the premise and characters, gratuitous gore could not have come as much of a surprise.

aknow · #6 08-22-2016, 07:06 PM

Any movie/show with Eva Green is watchable, even this one.

sweiss · #7 08-22-2016, 07:17 PM

I've watched the whole series so far on Netflix, and yeah, there's a lot of gore...but a pretty good story actually develops if you stick with it long enough.

There's also some very good acting by all of the actors, especially the woman who plays the main character. She can go from beautiful and sweet to demonic from one scene to the next. The sets are also well done, and really add a lot visually.

There are some sex scenes that I didn't care to see. If you watch it you'll know which ones I mean. They didn't add a thing to the story.

HHP · #8 08-22-2016, 07:17 PM

Off topic, just flipped on James Bond's "Die Another Day" and realized the villain in the movie is now the pirate captain on Black Sails.

ewalling · #9 08-22-2016, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweiss

There are some sex scenes that I didn't care to see. If you watch it you'll know which ones I mean. They didn't add a thing to the story.

Well, I don't think sex scenes are typically included to 'add to the story". I think they're there because they're racy and people like them. In many of the shows that we've watched on Netflix recently - Rome, Borgia, and Game of Thrones especially come to mind - the sex was ramped up for no other reason than to add extra spice, I think.

zabdart · #10 08-23-2016, 09:11 AM

Saw a couple of episodes while I was staying at a motel in Greenfield, Mass. and was instantly captivated. Wish I had Showtime on my cable system (but I'm too poor to pay for it) so I could follow it. Eva Green is really tremendous... so is the writing.

ewalling · #11 08-23-2016, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zabdart

Saw a couple of episodes while I was staying at a motel in Greenfield, Mass. and was instantly captivated. Wish I had Showtime on my cable system (but I'm too poor to pay for it) so I could follow it. Eva Green is really tremendous... so is the writing.

Yes, it is quite impressive how they manage to pull off such a preposterous amalgamation of literary figures and folk tales.

Sage97 · #12 08-23-2016, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aknow

Any movie/show with Eva Green is watchable, even this one.

Completely agree.

Bikewer · #13 08-24-2016, 07:54 AM

Big fan of the series as well. Green is not only "watchable"....She's a terrific actress. Some of those "asylum" scenes were really tough and physically demanding.
And the "seance" scene was pretty remarkable too.

I suppose I can see where some folks might be put off by either the sex or the violence, but I'm old, jaded, and tend to enjoy such things when they're well done. No complaints.

Ripper Street is not supernatural at all but very gritty.. An excellent production.

We are also enjoying Foyle's War... Very enjoyable and cleverly written. The guy playing Foyle is so low-key that it almost hurts but he never missses a thing.

zabdart · #14 08-24-2016, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewalling

Yes, it is quite impressive how they manage to pull off such a preposterous amalgamation of literary figures and folk tales.

Well, actually, what I like about the writing is that you never know just how far this woman's hallucinations go and just whether she's really INSANE, or just plain neurotic and driven to the edge of madness by doctors who are really using her as an experimental test subject. That's unresolved, and that's what makes it so interesting.