Archive 81 Review: A BingeWorthy Horror Series

Netflix has a brand new Psychological horror series with a mix of Sci-fi, Fantasy and thriller called Archive 81 and I believe it’s a great series to binge watch this weekend. This is my review of Archive 81.

Archive 81 see’s Dan Turner, an archivist hired to restore a collection of tapes owned by a filmmaker who was investigating a dangerous cult, he learns more about this cult but also about certain things patterning his personal life.

The series is based on a podcast with the same name, check it out that podcast here.

In this review (like my other reviews) I will be telling you what I loved and hated then whether you should check it out and my rating

Check Out My Review Of HBO Max’s Peacemaker Series here

What I Liked And Didn’t Like

What I Liked

The Story

The story, with a mix of so many genres starts off slow but is sort of interesting and has the psychological horror-ness throughout the first half of the first episode but when it starts revealing everything and adding the sci-fi and some fantasy elements you really get hooked.

There are a few stories being told in the series but they tell them in a way that does not confuse you and is easy to follow, you just get slowly spoon fed all of these story points and don’t feel like you’re being given too much. They just made it flow really well with so many genre combinations.

Although The series is based on a podcast it’s story is good enough for anyone to jump in and not feel like there’s something they should’ve known before watching which is what I liked.

It’s Pretty Scary

There are a few jump scares throughout the series but they are not the main things that make the series scary instead certain things like how the music intensifies the scenes and how close to realistic the series is, the series is mostly scary because it feels as though this actually happened to someone. The series doesn’t try to scare you but instead lets you get scared on your own with it’s music (which is great btw) and the shift in atmosphere, it’s really just great.

The Cast

This is not one of those series with a cast of Hollywood’s greats in fact I dove into this knowing none of the cast members but they all give great performances and delivered on their roles and in some instances were able to make me feel scared for their characters. The cast really impressed me here.

The series stars Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Martin Donovan, Matt McGorry, Julia Chan and many more.

The characters

There are a bunch of characters in this series and the character in the filmmakers story are all so well written with each of them having their own sort of weirdness and the actors that portray those characters do a great job at showing the weirdness of their characters which was creepy yet entertaining.

The Transitions

The series has these transitions that happen when we go from the real world to the the otherworld or the recording and those were really really well done and did not interfere with the viewing experience and just felt sort of natural, they were not just jump cuts but really smooth transitions that I found pretty satisfying and genuinely loved.

What I Didn’t Like

It’s Pretty Long

The first season is 8 episodes long with each episode being over 40 minutes and sometimes over 50 minutes and with it’s story being a slowly building up story I do wish they made episodes shorter somehow but then again it’s like nothing could have been cut out because a lot of it looks important and turns out to be important further down the line.

Apart from that There is nothing else I didn’t like.

Should You Watch It?

Yes you should, the series is a slow burn but it manages to keep you entertained in during the slow burn so If you’re looking for something with a good story and is pretty long then you won’t be disappointed but If you hate slow paced series or movies then I’d say stay away if you don’t want to try.

Out Of 10, I’m giving Archive 81 a 8/10. The series just needs you to be patient and you will be rewarded with a great story for your patients.

Stream Archive 81 On Netflix.

I just hope Netflix doesn’t cancel this because I really liked it and hope to see a second season especially because we were left on a cliffhanger but knowing Netflix…

Conclusion

Archive 81 more than anything is a series that requires it’s viewer to be patient while watching as it takes a little more time to stick it’s fangs into the viewer but when it does, it makes sure it does not let you go and after the 8th episode it has you hoping it does not get cancelled by Netflix.