We open to a tale of being buried alive, and swiftly shows Lore will not disappoint.
Aaron Mahnke‘s Lore is one of great uniqueness in the television world. Yes, anthology has been done before but never in such a truthful and terrifying way. Mahnke takes history and shows that sometimes fact is way scarier than fiction.
In the first episode alone we are greeted with the history behind the “saved by the bell” phrase, in which bells were placed where a grave has just been dug in case the person was not dead and could be saved from suffocation if that was the case.
And from there things just get scarier.
Mahnke’s purpose with the series is to shed life on our worlds odd and horrific history, while making it fun for the viewer to soak in. Through his narration, and the expert writing, the series brings his podcast to life in the best ways possible. It is terrifying, yet simple, historically accurate, yet entertaining.
It’s like PBS met SYFY and made a very talented child.
In addition to this, the cast itself, including Holland Roden, Kristin Bauer, and Robert Patrick, truly brings to life these tales of terror without acting campy. The final episode of the series, which takes on the myth behind Robert the Doll, the doll that inspired all other possessed doll films like Chucky and Annabelle, expertly builds upon this as things can get campy quick when acting with a doll, but they keep it real and very scary.
Lore is everything that is right with television nowadays, and it gives Amazon a leverage in the streaming game. It is a terrifyingly satisfying series, with truth and horror on its side, and shows us that if you really want to be scared…look in a history book.
Rating: 9 out of 10
