In the Flesh
It is completely
unfair to make even the slightest comparison of “In the Flesh” to “The Walking
Dead,” although it is inevitable that this association will be made between the
two zombie television events. For one thing, “In the Flesh” is not a
post-apocalyptic storyline. We join the story after civilization has recovered
almost entirely, and it instead becomes a story about integration and
acceptance. The horror elements are all but removed and zombies instead become
a symbol for diversity and a metaphor for homosexuality.
The main
narrative decision to remove the horror from this story is the choice to make
the protagonist a zombie, and to make those monsters nearly indistinguishable
from humans. Normally this might add an element of fear, as if having them
hidden amongst us would make them dangerous in new ways, but not in this
miniseries. Instead they are integrated back into society in secret for their
own protection, with the humans being the monsters with the capacity for
destruction. My biggest issue with the zombies in Dominic Mitchell's “In the
Flesh” is that they don’t really resemble zombies in their monstrous form. The
storyline almost seems to insert the zombies simply because they are the
hot-ticket horror monster of the moment, although it seems to be a narrative
better suited for vampires or werewolves.
We follow
teenager Kieren Walker as a zombie returning home after being rehabilitated and
placed on medication which removes the flesh-craving tendencies of the undead
“disease.” His demise is somewhat of a mystery, involving a relationship he had
with a hometown hero. The homosexuality is even more of a secret than being
undead in this series, which is a metaphor which is a bit too transparent and
overdone for this day and age. It pounds the message in until the zombies are a
distant memory.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Disc Features: 2/10
The Secret of Crickley Hall
As difficult as
it is to compare BBC’s “In the Flesh” with the vastly different AMC series,
“The Walking Dead,” I find my memory of “The Secret of Crickley Hall” blending
with the first season of “American Horror Story.” This is a classic ghost
story, with a little more emotional integration and less of the visceral
thrills. Based on the novel by best-selling author James Herbert, “The Secret
of Crickley Hall” is moderately entertaining and mildly frustrating due to the
difficulty of a blindingly obsessed protagonist.
When Eve Caleigh
(Suranne Jones) loses track of her son Cam at
a public playground, his disappearance has a devastating effect on her and her
husband, Gabe (Tom Ellis). The guilt alone has Eve unable to accept that their
son is gone, even long after they must presume him dead. Moving into a new home
is meant to be a fresh start for Eve, Gabe and their two remaining children.
Their countryside home of Crickley Hall comes with a history, once housing
children who met an unfortunate demise.
When random ghostly occurrences
frighten the family, they only remain because of Eve’s insistence that the
spirit of the children will help her find her own child. She hears Cam ’s voice amongst the other spirits but refuses to see
this as a sign that her son is dead, and her blinded dedication to find the
lost child leads to a neglect of those remaining amongst the living. Though
there is a vengeful spirit with a cane and flashback storylines involving cruel
treatment of the children, these strengths in the film are overpowered by the
troublesomely selfish protagonist of Eve.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Disc Features: 2/10
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