by The Cowl Editor on November 8, 2018
Arts & Entertainment
by: Brigid Walshe ’19 A&E Staff
October, November, and December are always fun, exciting months, with the change of seasons and of course, all the fun holidays. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas taking place over the course of three months, there is almost always something to celebrate. In addition, Netflix is giving us even more of a reason to celebrate: new, spooky shows for Halloween, and new, festive movies for Christmas.
Last year, Netflix strategically released the second season of Stranger Things in mid-October, and their original films A Christmas Prince and Christmas Inheritance in late November/early December. This year, they have plenty of Halloween and Christmas shows and films lined up, and everyone is currently talking about their two new, original series which premiered within the last couple of weeks, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Haunting of Hill House.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina brings Sabrina Spellman back into the picture. The show is a reboot of the popular 1990s/2000s show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but with a spookier, darker twist. The show follows Sabrina in the midst of her 16th birthday, which marks the day of her “dark baptism,” where she becomes a member of the witch community, and a follower of the Dark Lord. In the midst of all of this, she also needs to choose between her two worlds: the world of magic and witches or the world of mortals, which Sabrina seems to prefer.
The show stars Mad Men star Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina, and Disney Channel star Ross Lynch as her mortal boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle. The show received very positive reviews, with the New York Times calling it a “blast.” It currently has a 90 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
On top of the success of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the other frightening Netflix original show is The Haunting on Hill House. The show is based loosely on the 1959 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson. The show is what some may call an old-fashioned ghost story, filled with family drama and guaranteed to leave the viewer feeling uneasy after finishing all 10 episodes.
The show follows the Crain family and their time at the Hill House, which is filled with paranormal activity and tragedy, and the story weaves in and out of the past and present, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. Critics and fans have been absolutely raving about this show, with Paul Tassi of Forbes saying that it “may be Netflix’s best original show ever” calling it a “horror home run.” The show currently holds a 92 percentage approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 8.9 out of 10 on IMDb.
With Halloween over, Netflix is already promoting their new original Christmas films, including The Holiday Calendar and The Christmas Chronicles, which will be released on Nov. 22. Since Netflix’s spooky Halloween shows were huge successes, it only makes viewers even more excited for their holiday films, which have big, haunted shoes to fill.