DEADHOUSE DARK SEASON 1:
Inspired by recent social, cultural, and online phenomena, and created by Enzo Tedeschi, “Deadhouse Dark” is a boxful of six stories that all take place within the same world – a modern world driven by online connections, constant surveillance, insta-celebrity, and an ability to instantly gratify just about any need or desire, no matter how fleeting or dark. The mini-series premiered on Thursday, April 29, 2021, on Shudder.
For the most part, the film’s six stories share a predictable commonality: the suggestion that our desire for attention, as filtered through social media, is our greatest weakness. Explicit sources of danger include immediately trusting people met online, and craving approval from strangers. And Deadhouse Dark does have a bit of an afterschool-special vibe in the installments “No Pain No Gain” and “The Staircase.”
Deadhouse Dark starts off strong with “Dashcam” from director Rosie Lourde, in which two sisters returning home from a Halloween party come across an abandoned car on a forest road. Through the dashcam footage, we see the older sister get out and inspect the scene, while her younger sister takes pictures of the wreck from inside; the duality of the dashcam and the cellphone creates an unnerving sense of simultaneousness. “Dashcam” carries that doubling through to its surreal conclusion, which rearranges all those elements — the dark forest, a girl lurching along in a blood-covered dress, howls and screams reverberating through the woods — into an effectively creepy tableau.
Where can I watch “Deadhouse Dark”?
Exclusively available for streaming on Shudder, you can also watch the show on Prime Video (cancel anytime).