By Clay Thompson | Intern
Of all of the shows Netflix released in January, I never expected a horror as part of the lineup. Yet, “Archive 81” intrigued me with its unique premise and take on the subgenre of analogue horror, so I decided to give it a try.
I first noticed the actors in “Archive 81.” Dina Shihabi and Mamoudou Athie made a terrific pair of horror protagonists separated by time, yet their shared chemistry felt real to me as a viewer. Being able to see their unique yet similar reactions and breakdowns of the horrific events going on around them made for an entertaining and disturbing horror viewing.
Other than the actors, I found the basis of the show to be unique and interesting. Sharing some characteristics with “The Shining” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” the show still found a way to keep its story fresh and scares sudden and shocking, even if a little muted.
My first critique of the show was that the scares seemed to be less of a factor than the mystery the story presented itself as. While the mystery of what happened to those at the Visser Apartments in 1994 was certainly interesting, it seemed to take the wheel of the shows as the horror elements took a back seat for a majority of the time. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, with the show being marketed as a horror and being based on a popular horror podcast, it was a bit disappointing to not see as many satisfying scares as I was expecting.
Another critique is the confusing lore behind the story. Personally, I felt the analogue nature of the horror was what the mystery centered around, but as it turns out, there’s another factor of the mystery that comes into play near the end. This leaves the analogue factor at a loss to me, as to why it existed in the first place.
Overall, the performance of the actors and the premise of the show made it strong in my opinion. Although scares and supernatural logic took a back seat, the mystery the show created and the questions it still needed to answer made it a notable release in the new year.
