Movies
[TV] I’ve Seen the “Salem” Pilot Episode!
WGN America will debut their first scripted series, “Salem”, this coming Sunday, April 20th, at 10p/9c.
I was lucky enough to see the pilot presentation ahead of the premiere and wanted to share some brief thoughts before you guys head into a new series.
Tonally, I like what WGNA did here; “Salem” isn’t pandering to teens or playing it safe, they’re going all-in on being a softer version of an HBO series. I’d say the perfect comparison would be an FX series as “Salem” carries a similar tone in terms of blood, sex and violence as “American Horror Story.” I might even go as far as to say the sex is about as risqué as I’ve seen on the softer side of cable.
The settings and design were also strong, although it felt a bit constricted in terms of scope. I can only assume we’ll venture out of Salem in future episodes.
Something I’ve noticed here on Bloody is the obsession with “Bates Motel” mommy Vera Farmiga. I can assure those of you who fixated on Vera that you’ll be mesmerized by Janet Montgomery, the series lead. Much like Jessica Lange’s character in all of the “American Horror Story” seasons, it’s a bit unclear if Montgomery is good or bad; either way she carries a crazy strong presence that’s captivating.Another interesting note is that, between the gore and action, I could see shades of Sam Raimi.
But my biggest issue with the pilot is that the overall arc is extremely unclear (the witches are planning a civil war?), and I couldn’t really figure out what the characters’ goals were – why do they do what they do? It made me ask myself more than once, “Why am I watching this?” I want to know what we’re working towards.
Still, the first episode was “just okay,” which is my review for pretty much any series pilot. It’s way too small of a sample size to recommend, but it didn’t annoy me, so that’s something.
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
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