Iwan Riley

I’ve never written a review before however I thought this series needed to be defended a bit after reading some of the other reviews on here! This review is intended to contrast the frankly crude remarks of other less favourable reviews I’ve seen about this series. Often people claim that the downfall of a series is one or more personal, entirely subjective matters that realistically have no bearing on the effect of the general viewer, however it’s clear to me that Archive 81 (particularly up until around episode 5) is an extremely competent and well paced horror story. One of the main points of approval I found with this show was its gorgeous set design and camera work, which really add to the mood of every scene. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of brutalist architecture and minimalist sets to encourage a feeling of isolation mirrored by the main character (not to mention it’s a fresh take on the “alone in a spooky house” trope that’s oversaturated the horror industry for so long) Quite a few people took umbrage at some of the acting performances throughout the show however I found that quite a few of the scenes were particularly good at conveying fear simply through facial acting alone. The sound design for this series is another aspect that I thought stood out. The sound design seamlessly blends with the more ethereal soundtrack that accompanies most of the episodes and often times the music will bleed into the natural horror sound scapes to create an unnerving and unsettling atmosphere. Lastly I want to mention the pacing. I thought that the structure of each episode up until around episode five (where there’s a clear change in the pacing of the script) was well done. The mysteries of each main character compliment a revelation the other discovers. Every time someone decides to reveal more information it’s never the full picture and you’re continually left guessing how and why these puzzle pieces fit together. As a quick addendum I thought I would mention the fan favourite doctor who episode “blink”. The ideas toyed with in that episode (particularly the VHS tape idea for those of you who know what I’m talking about) are explored more during this series and I thought it was a cleaver, refreshing way to revisit some of the themes brought up in “blink”. If you’re a fan of that episode I’m sure you’ll enjoy Archive 81. :)