Into The Dark Season 1 Review: Hulu's Horror Anthology Series Is A Mixed Bag

Beginning last October, Hulu released a horror movie each month, Overall, the series has been a mixed bag with some great hits but also some major misses. See my previous reviews here

The episodes (and the holidays they're based on) :

The Body- Halloween
Flesh & Blood- Thanksgiving
Pooka- Christmas
New Year, New You- New Years
Down- Valentines Day
Treehouse- International Womens Day
I'm Just F*cking With You- April Fools
All That We Destroy- Mothers Day
They Came Knocking- Fathers Day
Culture Shock- Independence Day
School Spirit- school starting
Pure- Father- Daughter Day

My favorites are: "Culture Shock" (definitely a gut punch-- especially giving the current political climate), "Down" (yes its just 2 people in an elevator but I really enjoyed it), and "New Year, New You" (hold onto your seat action). "The Body" is also a fun take on Halloween.

The ones I least liked are: "They Came Knocking", "School Spirit" and "Pure". They are too predictable, too slow and just plain uninteresting. Also "Pure" seriously creeps me out. It has a very incest-y vibe to it. And what does any of this have to do with Lilith?

Grade: 3 1/2 Monsters (out of 5) Hulu's anthology series is definitely a mixed bag. I loved a few of the installments ("Culture Shock", "Down" and "New Year, New You") but I REALLY, REALLY hated others ("Pure", "They Come Knocking" and "School Spirit). There are some interesting elements in many of the episodes but not enough to create a compelling movie. For example, "All That We Destroy" has a mother creating clones so her serial killer son can kill them instead of the real thing. Interesting premise but they dont stick the landing. Many of the episodes could also have benefited from a rewrite or two. I know it's hard to maintain consistent quality over 12 episodes but I was hoping for a bit more from this series. Hopefully they'll iron out the problems in the upcoming season. Season 2 episode 1 will drop October 4.