Way better than it has any right to be. It took the original concept that fans of the books and original TV series know well, adapted and updated the premise from an anthology into longform storytelling, and gave it heart.
Genuinely decent performances from most of the cast, the teens and of course Justin Long, our comedic-horror heartthrob. Finally there's a modern show about generation-z that seems watchable and not cringey. It's been a long time coming. As a huge fan of the original series, this exceeded my expectations and better utilised the property than the film series. The show does a good job of tying each story / prop that us 30-something fans know, into the fabric of the story in a smart way.
I didn't really buy the parents' delivery all that much and their story points did more to detract from the overall arc. Obviously leagues better than the 90s' show's acting which is laughably poor, but could have been downplayed more to focus on the teens.
Honestly, not too much to fault from this first outing. Seems like other user-reviewers here, on RT and on IMDb are either complaining it's "too woke" if they're conservatively-minded or "too offensive, lacking in diversity and stereotypical" from liberals. You really can't please anyone these days. Guess this was made for me? The first Disney+ thing I've genuinely enjoyed. Bring on more.
Review by RdWdBlockedParent2023-11-17T23:05:49Z
Way better than it has any right to be. It took the original concept that fans of the books and original TV series know well, adapted and updated the premise from an anthology into longform storytelling, and gave it heart.
Genuinely decent performances from most of the cast, the teens and of course Justin Long, our comedic-horror heartthrob. Finally there's a modern show about generation-z that seems watchable and not cringey. It's been a long time coming. As a huge fan of the original series, this exceeded my expectations and better utilised the property than the film series. The show does a good job of tying each story / prop that us 30-something fans know, into the fabric of the story in a smart way.
I didn't really buy the parents' delivery all that much and their story points did more to detract from the overall arc. Obviously leagues better than the 90s' show's acting which is laughably poor, but could have been downplayed more to focus on the teens.
Honestly, not too much to fault from this first outing. Seems like other user-reviewers here, on RT and on IMDb are either complaining it's "too woke" if they're conservatively-minded or "too offensive, lacking in diversity and stereotypical" from liberals. You really can't please anyone these days. Guess this was made for me? The first Disney+ thing I've genuinely enjoyed. Bring on more.