Get Gone Smooth

CUSTOMER REVIEW



"The Strain" has potential to be an excellent summer horror series. It may be tempting to want to compare it to "The Walking Dead," but that's really like comparing apples and oranges. Just the atmosphere alone between the two shows is completely different. If you view "The Strain" expecting the same gravitas and bleakness of the Walking Dead, you may be disappointed. "The Strain" has a much campier, "fun" approach that tends to harken back to monster movies from the 1980's. Many of Guillermo Del Toro's movies have a fun, campy atmosphere to them- from the Blade movies, Mimic, the Hellboy films and Pacific Rim. There is a similar campy vibe noticeable in The Strain that will undoubtedly turn away viewers who are looking for more gravitas to their horror.



However, the pilot episode is incredibly entertaining. It's got all the right elements going for it: creepiness, grotesqueness, gore and high production value. There are some scenes that are scary and downright relentless, and will stick with you long after the episode has ended. For those who are tired of watered down vampirism like Twilight or the Vampire Diaries, you may like what Del Toro has in store.



The first episode, which runs over an hour in length, starts slow and introduces us to some of the main characters. It plays out more like a movie than a regular tv show, slowly building in steam as it moves along. I absolutely loved it. I have high hopes for the remainder of the season.



Episode 2: Okay, so am I as thrilled after the second episode as I was with the first? Absolutely! This episode spends more time on developing its central characters. The sense of fun from the first episode has grown a bit darker. It is evident that the show is not going to rush into apocalypse mode, but rather build up to it. Chaos has no erupted yet, but by the deliberate pacing I get the feeling that once chaos does ensue, the show will relish in it like a slow burn. Nothing as gory as the first episode's head-stomping scene, but it definitely ratchets up the seriousness and is more macabre and suspenseful. Overall, a solid second episode.