New Netflix horror series Typewriter is a genre mish-mash that just about works
Typewriter, Netflix's latest Indian horror, blends pre-teen comedy, clever scares and ghoulish gore. It narrowly gets away with it.
The plot of five-part Netflix series Typewriter is incredibly busy. It involves school-age paranormal investigators, creepy-as-hell doppelgangers and a long-dead mass murderer looking to make a comeback from beyond the grave.
The scares, when they come, are arresting, but they're dotted inbetween gentle comedy and heartfelt character development. The supernatural mechanics at play may be elaborate, but at the heart of the series is Sam (Aarnaa Sharma) - a kid who becomes obsessed with ghosts in the hope of reconnecting with her deceased mother.
Sam leads a gang of preteen ghost hunters looking to "catch" a spirit they believe to be haunting the creaky Bardez Villa. Legend has it that, following the unexplained death of a celebrated writer in the house, his typewriter churned out his most famous work, The Ghost of Sultanpur, unassisted.
Sam's dad, Ravi Anand (Purab Kohli) in Netflix's Typewriter |
The kids' mission is complicated by the arrival of a new family in the sprawling house, including the granddaughter of the late writer, Jenny (Palomi Ghosh). As ever when a new family moves into a large house with a dark past, bad things quickly start going down.
Sam's ragtag gang of underage ghostbusters prevent the action from getting too serious - especially during the later episodes when plans get underway for a demonic ritual during the blood moon. The comedy reduces the stakes somewhat and stops a sense of dread ever properly taking hold, but it also makes the show's melodrama feel like fun, intentional schlock.
The series is properly entertaining and bingeable, although you sometimes can't quite shake the question of who it's exactly for. A lot of the hype for the series was along the typical lines of "will haunt your every waking second" and promised a tense, unrelenting viewing experience - yet most of the runtime is taken up with knockabout action and cute comedy.
We never seriously expect anything too bad to happen to the core characters; it's just not that kind of show. Both the plotting and the crescendo towards the climax feel much more akin to a family action film than a traditional horror outing.
As such, hardened gorehounds may turn up their noses at this rather tame offering, and if judged as a straight horror, Typewriter is definitely lacking in the chills department. Yet it brings to the table a bunch of elements normally missing from your average haunted house drama - likeable, developed characters; genuine delicacy where it's needed; and a sense of fun rather than an urge to shock.
Bardez Villa has some unwelcome supernatural residents |
As such, hardened gorehounds may turn up their noses at this rather tame offering, and if judged as a straight horror, Typewriter is definitely lacking in the chills department. Yet it brings to the table a bunch of elements normally missing from your average haunted house drama - likeable, developed characters; genuine delicacy where it's needed; and a sense of fun rather than an urge to shock.
Typerwriter almost definitely will not haunt your every waking moment. And, arguably, it's all the better for it.
Combing Netflix for some hair-raising streaming? You can check out our takes on other Netflix horror films and TV shows here.
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