First Impressions: ARCHIVE 81

 

What is ARCHIVE 81 about?

Dan Turner restores old photos and videos. He has just returned from rehab following a breakdown after his split from his girlfriend that dug up memories of his family that he didn’t want to face. 

His only friend Mark runs a show based on horror stories that Dan digs up from restored VHS. It’s a simple, satisfying life for Dan until one day he’s hired by Virgil Davenport to work on a secret project.

 

The project in question is restoring some tapes a woman called Melody Parabas made when she lived in the Visser Building which burned down twenty-five years ago. 

At first, Dan declines the job offer which is set to pay him $100,000. All he has to do is restore some tapes in a facility provided by Virgil. But he has second thoughts about it because Virgil seems to know things about Dan that he had not made public. 

Nevertheless, Dan is contemplating the mysterious job offer while also working on one of the initial videos Melody made prior to going to live in the Visser Building. He sees a photo of her with a dog and realizes it is the same dog he had as a kid, Cleo. 

Dan believes he is being led to investigate the truth as to what happened to Melody Parabas. 

The trailer is captivating and promises to deliver a thrilling TV series. Horror master, James Wan serves as the executive producer for this show so it has to be good, right? 

Well, I am currently on Episode 5 and I have to say, I cannot stop watching it. It is definitely binge-worthy and doesn’t have a single dull moment. The acting is not bad and of course, Melody comes off as a character you want to sympathize with and along with Dan, want to learn what happened to her. 

I’m avoiding spoilers online at the moment. 

Usually when a show is that good, the ending turns out to be a little disappointing. Here’s hoping Archive 81 is consistent with its thrills and plot twists and has a satisfactory ending. 

The show currently holds 95% critics rating and 68% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

My rating, even though I am only halfway through, is: 

Scare Scale: 4/5

I’ll review the show once I am done watching the last episode. 

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