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Netflix’s ‘Locke & Key’ is a Dark Fantasy with Tons of Potential

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Locke & Key

Locke & Key is out on Netflix today! The series, based on the comics by Joe Hill, is a dark fantasy that will keep you guessing until the final episode.

After Rendell Locke (Bill Heck) is murdered, his family moves into his childhood home. Key House is a sprawling mansion that has been in the family for generations. The mansion is filled with secrets, of course, and soon mother Nina (Darby Stanchfield) and her three children Tyler (Connor Jessup), Kinsey (Emilia Jones), and Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) find themselves in the middle of a mystery that will test them to their core.

As in the source material, there are a series of mystical keys hidden inside the home, each with its own magical purpose. The Anywhere Key, inserted into any door, allows you to travel anywhere in the world that you can visualize in your mind. The Head Key, inserted into the back of someone’s neck, will allow you to step into their mind with them and experience memories, gain knowledge, etc. The Music Box Key, inserted into a magical music box, allows whoever turns the key to control the actions of another person.

What at first seems like a whimsical idea, however, soon turns dark as they realize a mysterious woman named Dodge (Laysla De Oliveira) is also after the keys and she’ll stop at nothing to obtain them.

Laysla De Oliveira as Dodge in Locke & Key, out on Netflix today!

Adaptation is always an interesting process, and the showrunners on the series seem to have mostly made the right decisions in the case of Locke & Key.

They give us just enough information to drive one episode to the next while holding just enough back to make us question where the path is leading. It’s a great balance except for multiple moments in the center of some episodes when the pacing seriously slows down. Exposition is key to this story, but it seems to come in a jerky fashion that I hope smooths out in a second season of the show.

The central cast is excellent and the characters themselves are fleshed out quite well. We understand their motivations and even their bad decisions and it’s hard not to root for the Locke family, in general.

It’s a bit of a cliche to say that Key House, itself, is a character, but it’s almost unavoidable in talking about the series. It whispers, tempts, and actively hides secrets from its residents. There are moments when it seems to almost breathe, and in those moments, it truly feels alive.

Unfortunately, most of the secondary characters within the series are not given the same treatment.

Aaron Ashmore (The Thaw) turns in a decent performance as Rendell’s brother, Duncan, but he’s given so little to do throughout most of the series that it is easy to forget he even exists until he shows up once again.

Tyler and Kinsey’s classmates are reduced to flimsy two-dimensional stereotypes–the smart brunette, the cute boy with a crush, the mean blonde–when they could have been so much more and actually contributed to the storytelling of the series. Again, hopefully, we will see more from them should the series be renewed for a second season.

Despite these minor setbacks, however, Locke & Key is a fun watch with genuine chilling moments mixed with just the right amount of family drama and trauma to keep the viewer engaged.

The showrunners also include a few Easter eggs and special appearances by a couple of horror legends…but I’ll let you watch to find them yourselves.

All ten episodes of Locke & Key are available on Netflix today. Check out the series trailer below and let us know if you’ll be watching in the comments!

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New ‘MaXXXine’ Image is Pure 80s Costume Core

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A24 has unveiled a captivating new image of Mia Goth in her role as the titular character in “MaXXXine”. This release comes approximately a year and a half after the previous installment in Ti West’s expansive horror saga, which covers more than seven decades.

MaXXXine Official Trailer

His latest continues the story arc of freckle-faced aspiring starlet Maxine Minx from the first film X which took place in Texas in 1979. With stars in her eyes and blood on her hands, Maxine moves into a new decade and a new city, Hollywood, in pursuit of an acting career, “But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.”

The photo below is the latest snapshot released from the film and shows Maxine in full Thunderdome drag amid a crowd of teased hair and rebellious 80s fashion.

MaXXXine is set to open in theaters on July 5.

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Netflix Releases First BTS ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Footage

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It’s been three long years since Netflix unleashed the bloody, but enjoyable Fear Street on its platform. Released in a tryptic fashion, the streamer broke up the story into three episodes, each taking place in a different decade which by the finale were all tied together.

Now, the streamer is in production for its sequel Fear Street: Prom Queen which brings the story into the 80s. Netflix gives a synopsis of what to expect from Prom Queen on their blog site Tudum:

“Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.” 

Based on R.L. Stine’s massive series of Fear Street novels and spin-offs, this chapter is number 15 in the series and was published in 1992.

Fear Street: Prom Queen features a killer ensemble cast, including India Fowler (The Nevers, Insomnia), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket, The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls, Above the Shadows), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Cinnamon), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias, American Pie), Lili Taylor (Outer Range, Manhunt) and Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From, Perry Mason).

No word on when Netflix will drop the series into its catalog.

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Live Action Scooby-Doo Reboot Series In Works at Netflix

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Scooby Doo Live Action Netflix

The ghosthunting Great Dane with an anxiety problem, Scooby-Doo, is getting a reboot and Netflix is picking up the tab. Variety is reporting that the iconic show is becoming an hour-long series for the streamer although no details have been confirmed. In fact, Netflix execs declined to comment.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

If the project is a go, this would be the first live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon since 2018’s Daphne & Velma. Before that, there were two theatrical live-action movies, Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), then two sequels that premiered on The Cartoon Network.

Currently, the adult-oriented Velma is streaming on Max.

Scooby-Doo originated in 1969 under the creative team Hanna-Barbera. The cartoon follows a group of teenagers who investigate supernatural happenings. Known as Mystery Inc., the crew consists of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and his best friend, a talking dog named Scooby-Doo.

Scooby-Doo

Normally the episodes revealed the hauntings they encountered were hoaxes developed by land-owners or other nefarious characters hoping to scare people away from their properties. The original TV series named Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ran from 1969 to 1986. It was so successful that movie stars and pop culture icons would make guest appearances as themselves in the series.

Celebrities such as Sonny & Cher, KISS, Don Knotts, and The Harlem Globetrotters made cameos as did Vincent Price who portrayed Vincent Van Ghoul in a few episodes.

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