NINETOES VS THE DEVIL IN SILVER

Mrs. Ninetoes suggested they watch AMC’s second season of their anthology series, The Terror, with an adaptation of Victor LaValle’s Devil in Silver. Who is Ninetoes to refuse his lovely wife?

Pepper, a mover, finds himself in a psychiatric hospital filled with society’s forgotten. To get free, he must face the evil thriving on suffering, proving his inner demons are the worst.

Directed by Karyn Kusama

Written by Victor LaValle

Starring Dan Stevens, Judith Light, Aasif Mandavi

Hey there, television lovers. It is your old pal, Ninetoes, coming to you from Ninetoes HQ. Today I am looking at The Terror: Devil in Silver. I have coffee in my system, and my thinking cap on, so let’s get to it!

Before I start this, I have to tell you, in the spirit of total transparency, that I am a former psychiatric technician, basically a nurse’s aide in a mental health setting. Whenever a show comes on set in a mental health setting, I am hooked, but there is also a part of me that will pull apart everything that they are doing wrong.

So, we have the story of Peter “Pepper” Coffin, a mover who has incredible anger issues. After an altercation, he is hauled off to a mental institution, New Haven Hospital. The police did not want to get into overtime beefs back at the station, so they dropped him off. There is something off about this hospital. A malevolent entity resides here, and it wants to escape, and Pepper might be its ticket out…for better or worse.

I have to admit that the former psych tech in me saw a lot in this show that would have never flown, but then again, I was not the writer behind it. Stuff like a patient having an in pen, or wire hangers in the closet, just to name a couple. Once I set that part of me aside, I got into the show. It is six episodes long, at around fifty minutes per episode. Easily bingeable in a weekend (or a day, depending on how hard you get into it).

The story is engaging. For the first four episodes, you are wrapped up in the mystery of what is behind the silver door at the end of the hall. With everything else that goes on in the show, this mystery is the driving force. AFTER you find out what is there, the mystery deepens for the last two episodes on what can be done about it.

The acting surpassed what I was expecting, considering some of the low ratings I have seen for this show. Dan Stevens rocked as Pepper. He was the driving force of the show. After he got over himself, he became the savior of the people…sort of. The one to watch is Judith Light. She steals the show as Dory, the long-time resident of the hospital. She was absolute perfection in her role. Watching her was like taking a master class in psychiatric acting. Her performance was sublime. Sure, a decent part of it was costume and make-up, but she embraced that and made Dory hers, and I felt for the character.

The special effects were really good for a television production. Yes, there is blood, gore, and goo, but I did not feel like I was drowning in it. Some things were done off camera, and that had more of an effect than if they just showed what happened: for instance, what happens to Dr. Badger (Stephen Root). You know it is going to be bad. It is amping up to be really, really disgusting, but at the last minute, it cuts away as a door slams, and it is left to your imagination.

This show is perfect for anyone who likes a show set in a hospital setting and/or a mental health setting. Think One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets The Shining.

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing, nor do the views or opinions of Crystal Lake necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or its staff. Thank you for understanding.