Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Hope springs eternal...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown November 25, 2014

What begins as a stiff nod to -- or a thinly veiled knockoff of -- Alan Moore's "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" soon becomes something much more compelling and much more intriguing, offering hope of a second season that's more focused, confident and fully realized from the get-go. Penny Dreadful is at its best when sticking to the shadows, bypassing hunter-v-monster action and delving into the unsettling, often tragic psyches of the series' feral beasts and very, very flawed antiheroes. With each episode, it closes in on its true prey: smart, gripping horror. With each turn of the knife and twist of the plot, it becomes a more effective killer. With each clever reimagining of a familiar character from classic horror literature or film, it makes its gothic melting pot that much more fascinating and frightening. And with each scare, shiver and jolt, it quickly surpasses American Horror Story, True Blood and other genre contenders to become a series worth watching. The first season's execution is occasionally lacking (particularly when swords and guns are drawn and vampire brides attack), but the sloppiness and camp that creeps in is mercifully short-lived and, in the end, overshadowed by richer, darker, more engrossing psychosexual drama.

From three-time Oscar nominee John Logan and Oscar winner Sam Mendes comes Showtime's 'Penny Dreadful,' which weaves together classic horror origin stories and completely reinvents some of literature's most famous creatures. Icons of terror join a core of original characters in a dark and brutal quest to save a soul, even as they grapple with their own monstrous temptations. Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) races to save his daughter from an ancient vampire and a fate worse than death. Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) wages a personal battle against an evil demon determined to possess her. Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) must face the consequences of his successful death-defying experiments and deal with his first creation, a reanimated corpse that calls itself Caliban (Rory Kinnear). Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) falls for the unapproachable Ms. Ives and grapples with immortality. Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) becomes enmeshed with a group of London vampire hunters and falls for a doomed local prostitute, even as his own mysterious past threatens to catch up with him. And the beneficiary of his affections, Brona Croft (Billie Piper), confronts her imminent demise from consumption.

Penny Dreadful elbows past True Blood and plunges bravely, at-times impulsively into the darkness, unafraid of whatever it might find. For all its missteps, there's a thrilling sense of discovery around every moonlit street corner, in every dank, dusty catacomb and behind every sinister force haunting the series' Victorian cityscape. Greene is bewitching, losing herself in a performance that grows more bold, unflinching and nuanced as Ives descends deeper and deeper into madness and demoniac despair. Treadway and Kinnear are just as magnetic; Kinnear especially, whose Caliban, like Frankenstein's Monster, is a creature of duality, pathos, rage and damaged humanity. Dalton is strong, as is Carney, even if both Murray and Gray are a bit one-note at this point in the mythos. Piper is put to good use, despite the fact that her first season arc is pure setup, relegating any real payoff to the series' next go-round. Only Hartnett disappoints, though primarily because his American gunslinger is a rather routine audience surrogate who, in addition to endlessly moping, brooding and losing himself in love, serves as the series' exposition herald. (If the season finale is any indication, that thankfully stands to change rather dramatically come Season Two.)

Just be warned: the bulk of the season is the product of a somewhat loose premise firming up. At a lean eight episodes, creature-of-the-week filler is thankfully nowhere to be found, with Murray's search for his daughter serving as the sole catalyst for Logan's uniquely gifted hunters and mystics coming together under one roof. But there is a bit of pawn shuffling and piece shifting as the writers hurriedly move everyone into the proper place at the proper time, despite some contrivances that seem much too convenient. Still, Logan and company exercise commendable restraint on the whole, balancing the needs of an ensemble drama with the sometimes competing genres wrestling for dominance. To their credit, the results are far from formulaic. Two of the season's finest episodes -- "Resurrection" and "Closer Than Sisters" -- take a break from the super-horror team-upping to explore a single character's backstory, while subsequent episodes take every opportunity to shake things up, keep viewers guessing, ratchet up the chills, tease new mysteries, and, above all, to shatter expectations and do something different. Whether Penny Dreadful can sustain itself remains to be seen, but its first season is promising enough to warrant a second. And a third. With some tightening and refining, this could be Showtime's next top series.

Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's lush, Victorian decadence to be found in Penny Dreadful... just not a whole lot. The series' palette doesn't embrace color and light as readily as it celebrates darkness and shadow, and Paramount's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation stays true to the showmakers' intentions. Black levels are muted and prone to crush, but other issues are absent. Macroblocking, banding, errant noise, ringing and other compression beasties are held at bay, without any serious distractions to report. Detail is on point, with crisp, revealing textures and clean, well-defined edges, and the show's costumes and production design are given every opportunity to impress, which they certainly do. Several times over. (Delineation isn't remarkable by any means, but all is as it's meant to be.) Contrast and saturation are exacting too, with relatively lifelike skintones, warm hearth-fire hues and vivid splashes of red only enhancing the series' bleak, desolate aesthetic.

Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Penny Dreadful is heavy on atmosphere and dialogue, though more horror-driven effects and elements certainly make their presence known. Voices are clear and carefully prioritized, without any lines slipping too far beneath the sounds of swarming spiders, babbling demoniacs, screeching vampire brides, thundering gunfire or cackling mediums. LFE output is strong when utilized, but silence, haunting stretches of score and subdued sonics are more crucial to the first season mix than anything more aggressive. Rear speaker activity follows suit, despite several terrific sequences in which the soundfield works wonders, immersing the listener into eerie, all too convincing environments that are home to unspeakable evils.

Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Season One Mini-Featurettes (HD, 20 minutes): No audio commentaries, no lengthy production documentaries. Instead, Paramount and Showtime have assembled a collection of short 2-4 minute featurettes that touch on elements of the production that beg further exploration. It's better than another barebones Blu-ray release of a Paramount/Showtime television series, but I would have loved to listen to Logan and his cast and crew dig through the episodes, scene by scene, and reveal all the little details, tidbits, film and literature references and easter eggs that aren't readily apparent. Featurettes include:
  
  
  • What is a Penny Dreadful?
  • Literary Roots
  • Coming Together
  • The Artisans: Part One Set Decoration & Props
  • The Artisans: Part two Production Design
  • The Grand Guignol
  • Prostitution and Sex in the Victorian Age
  • British Exploration and the Search for the Nile
  • The Science of Medicine
• Ray Donovan Episodes (HD): The first two episodes of Season One.

Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Penny Dreadful is off to a solid start, with plenty of intriguing possibilities and promises on the second season horizon. It's not a flawless opening effort, but it's addicting, well-written horror that deserves an audience. If the writers continue to find new ways to make familiar characters fresh, while keeping the new additions to the genre compelling (like Greene's Vanessa Ives), the series will quickly emerge as one of the must-see series of 2015. Paramount's Blu-ray release is quite good as well, with a terrific AV presentation. It's light on special features, but no matter. Available this holiday season at a great price, it will make a fine addition to any horror junkie's gift list.