So, there's going to be this TV series with Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and vampires...
When I heard this I thought it was going to be awful. It sounded more like an Abbot and Costello movie, or a straight to video Scooby Doo extravaganza from the nineties.
What an amazing surprise. The writers have manage to fuse these disparate Universes in a most believable way, creating a story that is as dark as it is sensual. This is no Dracula, with its picture of Victorian England which included aristocratic ladies in low cut dresses showing far too much top-boob, let alone their ankles. The London of Penny Dreadful seems authentic; grimy, illness-ridden, poor, over-crowded and filled with real seeming people. And the effects that form the backdrop of this scenario are top-notch, on a par with the likes of the latest Sherlock Holmes movies.
If the writing creates a believable Universe, it the the quality of the actors that brings it to life. Notable mentions include the venerable Timothy Dalton as Sir Malcom, a seasoned explorer and adventurer whose daughter, Mina, has been taken by a coven of vampires. Eva Green is icily commanding as the psychic Vanessa Ives, and Josh Hartnett is a refreshing addition as the swarthy Ethan Chandler, a token, gun-toting American.
The acting cannot be faulted, and the there seems to be a twist at the end of each episode that leaves me genuinely agog. We've just had the end of episode 4, and lets just say you had better stay off the absinthe if you want leave with you masculine purity intact.
This series is an absolute must-see for horror fans and lovers of drama alike.
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