By Boo A-C

***A Spoiler Free Review***

 

Castlevania Review: Can Netflix make a decent video game adaptation?

The answer is empathically yes. Netflix’s newest show, which dropped on The 7th of July, is a dark, cynical and fantastic adaptation of the much-loved video game series. What drew me to this was that Adi Shankar (the man who produced Dredd, The Voices and made The Bootleg Universe shorts) is the Executive Producer and that Warren Ellis (of Planetary and Transmetropolitan fame) is the writer.

The entire series is set in Wallachia, Romania as Dracula turns the hordes of hell on the human race after they burn his human wife at the stake. What follows is a hell on earth at night and the villagers of Wallachia getting more and more paranoid by day.

Enter the washed out, depressed and generally drunk Trevor Belmont (voiced by Richard Armitage), who is a man from a family that used to hunt evil but were wiped out after being excommunicated from the church. He’s a disaster but one of the only people that can possibly help. He can also fight like a bat out of hell.

I don’t want to spoil too much, but there are some fantastic side characters that come up as well. This show has everything from big nasty battles with demons to Cyclops’ and very awesome machine sequences.

Netflix has finally cracked the code as to how to adapt a video game and I don’t think anyone should miss it.

 

Should I Binge it?

It’s four episodes, each half an hour long. It’s only a bit longer than an episode of Sherlock so yes, definitely. Although you’ll probably feel really sad at the end when you run out.

Should I watch it with kids?

NOPE. Well, you can if your kids like swear words and big beast battles, but I’m going to go with no.

Will there be more?

Yep Netflix and Adi Shankar have confirmed a second season with double the amount of episodes!!

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Boo A-C is a blogger/ freelance film critic from the UK. She likes to write about strange bits of film history and has written for numerous sites and the occasional online journal. She spends most of her time watching cheesy vampire movies and going on adventures. You can read her blog Tonight We Are Dinosaurs here.