Events at Hemlock Manor (2024) TV Review
There’s no trick to blending comedy and horror and being effective at the same time. When it works, it’s usually because writers and directors balance the genres in a clever storyline where one doesn’t exceed at presenting its stronger elements above the other. You should laugh, but you should also feel disturbed by what you’re laughing at.
Events at Hemlock Manor is an outstanding proof of concept that, using a running time of less than 15 minutes, provides enough laughs to make you forget about your mundane life for a while. It’s stupid, schlocky, and not scary. But this time, it doesn’t need the horror element. It’s all about serving as a backdrop that gives authenticity to its original story. The scary element is circumstantial, and that’s where it should stay. Nevertheless, in future follow-ups, it will probably bring more scares. Hopefully.
In Events at Hemlock Manor, the crew at a haunted house have yet to find a way to make their year-round business thrive. No one seems to want to get scared in the spring. That’s why, as they throw around some ideas to pursue something else and point the business elsewhere, they get surprised when someone books the attraction and location.
The problem is that the event booked is a baby shower—the most non-scary event of all time. The crew at the manor doesn’t know exactly how to entertain a pregnant lady and her friends with all the emotional tension that such a situation brings. Nevertheless, their next step is declaring bankruptcy, so they decide to accept the gig.
What follows is the most bizarre, most violent, and most hilarious baby shower you’ll ever see. Cringey jokes, gore, and the unexpected reaction by a future mother who needs to let loose and laugh for a while.
The cast is led by Daniel Yaiullo, Katie North, and Michael Gardiner, and it’s possibly the best thing about the pilot and the essential element to the story being as compelling and funny as it is. Yaiullo, with his ability to portray a flawed leader whose position was possibly forced on him, stands out as a performer with enough theatrics to make the absurd TV pilot worthwhile.
The TV show is based on a concept that not many connect with. Not everyone digs the comedy/horror premise. But Events at Hemlock Manor is interesting enough to make you look. The same way some TV shows like Los Espookys or What We Do in the Shadows, do an excellent job at balancing their genres, Events at Hemlock Manor could work in a future execution if it confidently stays within the boundaries of the dynamics of its cast and their stories. You don’t even have to like horror to like this one; you just have to laugh at the joke about Marlon Brando that I spent all day laughing about.
The pilot for Events at Hemlock Manor premieres today at Dances with Films, Los Angeles’ largest indie film festival. The event will take place at TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.
