The first episode of Showtime's new series Penny Dreadful is available early, on demand and online for free! As a more literary-minded monster mash it just might deliver the goods.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMZBirzYAY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMZBirzYAY)
On demand!? I'm watching that today!
A storm knocked out my cable/internet Tues. night- today, so I will finally watch this today! Wooohoooo! I can't wait!
I saw this on satellite. Overall it's a mixed bag for me. It's bit too gory for my tastes. It has tons of gothic horror atmosphere. The acting is good. It's like many modern TV though. There are several story lines going on at once so I found it to be unfocused. They did a vampire story along with Frankenstein.
I give it an A for atmosphere but a C for the script. Some of you will really enjoy it.
I've started to watch it twice, but got bored quickly. Third time's the charm, I guess.
I was impressed with it. It's like a classic monster mash, except with all of the monster-makers and victims. Guess I'll have to wait and see how much the DVD will cost, but the first episode piqued my interest.
I thought it was pretty damn good. Lots of good Brit actors, great atmosphere and and terrific sets. Look forward to episode two intensly.
A free weekend of Showtime was playing this past weekend, so I checked out Penny Dreadful. I liked it overall. The only thing I didn't like ***SPOILER ALERT*** was a certain "creature's" makeup being way to underdone.
Quote from: bromstaker on May 12, 2014, 11:46:37 AM
A free weekend of Showtime was playing this past weekend, so I checked out Penny Dreadful. I liked it overall. The only thing I didn't like ***SPOILER ALERT*** was a certain "creature's" makeup being way to underdone.
Wait 'til you see the second episode. The Frankenstein storyline goes in a rather unexpected direction as far as that certain "creature" is concerned.
Quote from: bromstaker on May 12, 2014, 11:46:37 AM
A free weekend of Showtime was playing this past weekend, so I checked out Penny Dreadful. I liked it overall. The only thing I didn't like ***SPOILER ALERT*** was a certain "creature's" makeup being way to underdone.
One further personal gripe: ***SPOILER ALERT*** I could've gone without seeing that certain "creature" in it's birthday suit. Thank goodness their were no stitch marks in the nether regions!
I'm enjoying it, the atmosphere is good and yes I agree even for "us" it is a little more gory than I've seen as of late but then again I'm a sucker for any vampiric angle and anything that's not "Twilightesqe". My take is, sit back and roll with it for awhile it has a lot of atmosphere.
It has a sort of League of Extraodinary Gentlemen feel to it, turn of the century and all.
Bravo to Showtime for trying something original !!
I like it but wish it were a bit more like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
in that the main characters were actual people from Victorian era literature-
I really wanted the Vampire in episode one to be Varney the Vampire! ;)
I am really enjoying it
I bought the season one DVD set of Penny Dreadful without watching any of it just because the commercials looked pretty good. I watched the whole thing in two nights and I must say i liked it tremendously. It started very strong but then meandered a bit towards the later episodes, never-the-less I was captivated. I can't wait for season two, but it is going to be a looooong wait I don't have Showtime and gotta wait for the next DVD release. :o I have had the same late Victorian world populated by literary characters in my head for years. I would have done a few things differently but overall I was pleased with their execution.
I bought the dvd last week and made my way through the 8 episodes in just a couple of days. Outstanding acting, particularly by Eva Green and Billie Piper. Good, imaginative writing and engrossing drama. I was apprehensive that this was going to be a True Blood-esque skinamax humpfest, but thankfully the show didn't really go too far down that avenue. Can't wait for season 2.
Anyone else watch the premiere last night?
I like the series and think it has a lot of potential.
I'm disappointed though that they don't show the Count. When I saw the three she-creatures attack Vanessa, I though for sure they were Dracula's brides. But I was wrong.
I hope they make room for Dr. Jekyll and the Invisible Man. They should 86 Dorian Grey character IMO and bring in the Count, Jekyll or Invisible Man.
It looks like series will feature strong witchcraft theme this season. That's fine but I'm going through witchcraft fatigue. True Blood and American Horror Story did that, and there's an entire series (Salem) devoted to the topic. So I'm not crazy about PD going there.
I think the Frankenstein's Monster character steals the show. Hopefully we'll see more werewolf this season too.
Caught the last few minutes but I did record it so will have to watch it soon. Your right about the Monster being the most interesting part of the show and now there's his mate. Be interesting to see where this goes.
I was also really frustrated that Dracula didn't show up in the flesh. I'm sure they're saving him for later. I just hope they're as respectful of him as they've been to the Frankenstein characters.
I'm kind of hoping that the "Devil" that is occasionally taking hold of Vanessa is in fact Dracula. I know possession isn't in the his usual repertoire of powers but considering he's often depicted as having mind control powers it's not that big of a stretch. It also plays into his modus operandi of being a abusive sexual predator that turns womens' sexuality against them. Weirdly enough the NBC series kept this aspect but decided to portray it as romantic/enticing instead of horrific.
(http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/clint.gif)
And sadly, this is probably the closest thing we're going to get to a proper Universal Monsters revival. Even if it does draw more from literature than cinema.
I'm trying to like this show but I find it hard to watch. Some of the story arcs are interesting, like the Frankenstein story, but others are boring like the Vanessa Ives story arc. Great Victorian Gothic atmosphere which is what attracted me to it in the first place.
Quote from: ScreamingSpider on May 19, 2015, 05:49:14 AM
"I'm kind of hoping that the "Devil" that is occasionally taking hold of Vanessa is in fact Dracula."
I've been thinking the same thing. When they talk about "the Master" I hope they mean the Count.
Quote from: Gory Glenn on May 19, 2015, 11:34:28 AM
I'm trying to like this show but I find it hard to watch. Some of the story arcs are interesting, like the Frankenstein story, but others are boring like the Vanessa Ives story arc. Great Victorian Gothic atmosphere which is what attracted me to it in the first place.
I have similar feelings about the show. I always say it has "a lot of potential." I really dig the premise of the show and enjoy the set and costume designs. Some of the characters are very interesting, but the writing is uneven IMO. To me, the Frankenstein arch and werewolf story lines are the best. Yet they get interrupted by the Vanessa witch situation. The Dorian Gray character doesn't work either. You could develop a pretty cool story line around him, but instead he disappears for multiple episodes. Then they'll throw him in some gratuitous hyper-sexual scene, and move on. Last season they put Vanessa in these gratuitous hyper-sexual situations too. Believe me, I'm not a prude. But if a show is trying too hard to make things 'sexy-chic,' it usually doesn't work. It's too obvious and the scenes end up looking banal.
Real good episode last night. Things were moving a bit slow, but great stuff last episode.
*I thought they abandoned Dracula story-line, but after last night I feel like the Count's appearance is imminent.
*Dorian Gray character starting to get interesting. And they finally showed the portrait last night.
*The scene between the Monster and the Bride was excellent IMO. The Bride could end up being the coolest character on the show.
Seems like there may be confrontation between Monster (or the Bride) and Dorian Gray. That would be awesome. I hope Vanessa et al. recruit the Monster at some point. I really want to see some monster against monster fight scenes.
I hear the show gets low ratings, but Showtime is giving it at least one more season. Penny D isn't perfect, but I support it cuz how many Gothic horror shows are there on TV? Shows with these great characters??
I haven't seen any of the second season, I don't have Showtime and watched the first season on DVD. Will have to pick up second season this way too. Hopefully it is still as intriguing and promising as the first was. I too felt like the Vanessa Ives story line seems to dominate too much of the story line overall and was outright shocked when the monster was destroyed by the first after just developing empathy for him, well played writers. Detracting was when van Helsing was abruptly slain before he became a "cast member" leaving me dismayed and on edge. Maybe that is what the writers were going for, don't get too comfortable, but it seems they wasted a good deal of built in legend potential with the demise of that character. Overall I am pleased and it certainly has more exciting promise as a series. What is your speculation for the third season's story arc?
http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/penny-dreadful-season-three-renewal-for-showtime-series-37137/ (http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/penny-dreadful-season-three-renewal-for-showtime-series-37137/)
Quote from: ravenloft on June 24, 2015, 01:52:44 PM
I haven't seen any of the second season, I don't have Showtime and watched the first season on DVD. Will have to pick up second season this way too. Hopefully it is still as intriguing and promising as the first was. I too felt like the Vanessa Ives story line seems to dominate too much of the story line overall and was outright shocked when the monster was destroyed by the first after just developing empathy for him, well played writers. Detracting was when van Helsing was abruptly slain before he became a "cast member" leaving me dismayed and on edge. Maybe that is what the writers were going for, don't get too comfortable, but it seems they wasted a good deal of built in legend potential with the demise of that character. Overall I am pleased and it certainly has more exciting promise as a series. What is your speculation for the third season's story arc?
http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/penny-dreadful-season-three-renewal-for-showtime-series-37137/ (http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/penny-dreadful-season-three-renewal-for-showtime-series-37137/)
Yeah I watched the first season on blue-ray. The only reason we have Showtime now is we switched cable providers and they threw it in as part of the deal.
I think you'll like Season two though. In terms of season three, I hope they stop teasing us with Dracula Easter eggs and just show us the Count. And I hope he becomes a primary character. I agree with you about Van Helsing. That was disappointing the way they wrote his character off right away. So if they show Dracula it better not be a cameo like VH.
The show's creator said in interviews he'd like to introduce Dr. Moreau as a character. That would be cool, but I think Dr. Jekyll has to be there. In terms of the Big 4 of Gothic horror literature, he's the only one missing from the PD universe. The Invisible Man would be cool too. I would go deeper and feature character based on Bram Stoker's "Jewel of Seven Stars." In other words have a female Mummy character.
Ethan Chandler's real name was revealed last episode and it's a doozy: Ethan Lawrence Talbot. It's interesting too, in that his werewolf makeup is deliberately based on the earlier Werewolf of London.
I just bought season one off Amazon unseen just based on overall reviews. Probably do a two day marathon next weekend.
Ooh goody! I just picked up season 2 on DVD so now i can catch up to the rest of you since I don't have Showtime. I plan on marathon watching the whole damn thing tonight (if i can make it), getting up tomorrow for work is going to be rough...
well i finished season two. I certainly enjoyed the whole witch shack on the moors training and whatnot but felt the other plot lines dragged or even detracted a bit. Seems like they ended it not expecting to get picked up for a third season, now what do they do plot-wise when the cast is scattered to the four winds at the start of season three...
Quote from: ravenloft on October 27, 2015, 09:28:06 PM
well i finished season two. I certainly enjoyed the whole witch shack on the moors training and whatnot but felt the other plot lines dragged or even detracted a bit. Seems like they ended it not expecting to get picked up for a third season, now what do they do plot-wise when the cast is scattered to the four winds at the start of season three...
I dunno, but they're bringing in Dr. Jekyll (and presumably his nasty little counterpart too). So.
Sorry to go on this kick again but as a real big Dark Shadows/Classic Horror kid of the 70's it's what I dreamt the reboot of Dark Shadows "could" have been. It's unfortunate that they had to go all Beetlejuice with it when there are plenty of creative story lines as well as re-imaginings out there. Well I can dream......
The third season premiere has been made available for free on YouTube, nearly a week in advance. If you've been watching the show, they take the characters into some interesting places. Plus there are some new faces as well, including one Dr. Jekyll, and, well...a character I've been waiting to see for a while in this show has also joined the fray. It's nice to see someone treat such an icon with the kind of respect and reverence he's clearly being shown here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=808ymK3sJdk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=808ymK3sJdk)
Yeah I read somewhere that PD is finally going to reveal Dracula too. Not sure how true that is. Unfortunately Showtime is no longer part of our cable package. Have to wait till blue-ray comes out.
Just finished binge watching Penny Dreadful season 3. WOW!!!!! IMO the best season of the three. I was blown away. Really, really, really enjoyed this season. Totally action packed this year. And we were able to finally to see the big D. It was worth the wait in my view. Dr. Jekyll was an excellent addition as well. They showed a lot of awesome werewolf footage and I think the actor who played Renfield was outstanding. I'm pretty disappointed the creator decided to pull the plug on PD. My understanding is Showtime really wanted to continue the series.
Here are some story lines I think they could have developed for an imaginary season 4:
*Obviously Dr. Jekyll's character would have played a significant role
*Ethan and Sir Malcolm chase Dracula across Europe
*Really develop the Catriona Hartdegen character (a great addition this season)
*Introduce the Invisible Man
*Lastly, they cold have developed new story lines for the Frankenstein Monster, Bride (Lilly), Victor Frankenstein, and Dorian Gray
Just finished the entire series. Wow... It played like an on-screen Gothic novel. Really, really well done. I enjoyed all of the characters and even grew to like the Monster, a character which I despised in Season One. My least favorite part was the Coven of Witches, though I liked the two main witches when they were alone. Wish the vampires would have been more prominent throughout, though I think they did a fine job of incorporating them in the last season.
Favorite characters:
Victor Frankenstein
Ethan Larry Talbot
Dorian Gray
Vanessa Ives
Dracula
Joan Clayton
Sir Malcolm
Mr. Lyle
Dr. Seward
Renfield
Characters Who Grew On Me:
The Monster
Lily
The Witches