Plot: When a beloved varsity quarterback disappears during the “Satanic Panic” of the late 1980s, a struggling high school heavy metal band of outcasts realize they can capitalize on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band, until a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings, and reported “supernatural activity” triggers a leather-studded witch hunt that leads directly back to them.
Review: There have been many 1980s-set retro horror movies in recent years, ranging from My Best Friend’s Exorcism to Totally Killer and more. The 80s were a bastion of paranoia about the impact of Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal, a thread used in Netflix’s Stranger Things. The new series Hysteria! goes back to the heart of the Satanic Panic to see how one small town in Michigan deals with its own devilish challenges. Led by genre legend Bruce Campbell along with Julie Bowen, Anna Camp, Garret Dillahunt, and more, Hysteria! has a sense of humor but is at its heart a creepy horror romp through a period in recent history that eerily parallels our contemporary culture of fake news, misinformation, and widespread panic about what our neighbors could be up to.
Set in the town of Happy Hollow, Hysteria! centers on Dylan Campbell (Emjay Anthony), a mild-mannered and somewhat nerdy teen who is part of a heavy metal band with his friends, bass player Jordy (Chiara Aurelia), and drummer Spud (Kezii Curtis). When a popular football player disappears and a pentagram is painted on his family’s garage, the town begins to suspect evil may be lurking in their suburban paradise. Dylan decides this may be the time to lean into the Satanic side of their musical tastes, which conjures attention from his crush, Judith (Jessica Treska). Dylan’s mother Linda (Julie Bowen) is not sure how to feel about her son’s new style nor is local religious zealot Tracy Whitehead (Anna Camp). Heading the investigation is Chief Dandridge (Bruce Campbell), who must quell the fears of his constituents while addressing the seemingly supernatural goings-on in Happy Hollow.
I can say with sincerity that Hysteria! caught me off guard. Based on the trailers and the cast, I anticipated a comedy, but this series is a dark and semi-serious horror story involving demons, exorcisms, and the danger of crowdthink. The eight-episode series starts with some tongue-in-cheek moments, gradually giving way to some truly scary imagery and a more complex web involving most of the ensemble cast. Anna Camp echoes great horror zealots from Carrie‘s Piper Laurie to The Mist‘s Marcia Gay Harden, while Julie Bowen delivers a performance I did not think she had in her. Equally, the great Bruce Campbell is deadly serious as the lead law enforcement officer without any hint of Ash lurking in his demeanor. Hysteria! plays it straight, accentuating the horror while adding to the sense of dread as the story goes in a direction I did not anticipate.
The benefit that Hysteria! has over other period-set horror projects is the multiple narratives, none of which feels weak compared to the rest. While the adults focus on blaming Satan and trying to find a scapegoat, there is a sinister plot lurking underneath. Meanwhile, the three main teens, Dylan, Jordy, and Spud, get to play Harry Potter and investigate both to clear their names and figure out what is happening in their town. There is also another thread involving the teens and the cult they manufacture as the paranoia grows. All of these stories culminate in the final episode, which offers closure to the story without leaving anything hanging. Some of the plot elements are wrapped up too neatly, but they work overall.
Creator Matthew Scott Kane makes an impressive debut as a showrunner with this project influenced by the last decade of political and social division in the United States and around the world. There is most definitely an ulterior motive hiding in this story that is not too in your face to detract from the horror of Hysteria! but helps drive it home. Hysteria! includes a solid writer’s room, including Mike Flanagan’s sibling Jamie, who boasts a writing credit and appears in a supporting role. Longtime Seth MacFarlane collaborator David A. Goodman is involved as a writer and producer, but don’t let his resume fool you, as Hysteria! is not a Family Guy-style project. The series also boasts a top crew of directors led by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, director of Kong: Skull Island, who directs the first and final episodes.
Full of classic rock tracks from the 1980s and a neon aesthetic full of big hair, acid-washed jeans, and Reagan-induced fear, Hysteria! has just the right amount of fun to complement the scary. This series unfolds and teases a lot of relevant themes while doing so in a fun and entertaining way. You may be looking for just pure terror this Halloween season, but you will get your fair share of blood and jump scares from Hysteria! but this series is possessed of something altogether more terrifying: a message. Enjoy Hysteria! for the scares, you may learn something eerily true about how easy it can be to convince the world the sky is falling or even that the Devil is among us.
Hysteria! premieres on Peacock on October 18 with a simulcast on USA Network and SYFY. USA Network will air episodes each Friday.
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