I know that Supernatural is a TV series and not a movie (yet) but I wanted to throw out a few thoughts I had on season 8 without breaking the whole flow of the 31 Days of Horror Movie Reviews. Further, season 8 just began so this is only a review of the first couple of episodes.
I was wholly unimpressed. I found the writing formulaic and obvious, the acting was phoned in completely, and the directing was radically different from anything we've seen in the series up to now. I do not dislike the directing, it's just different - as is the overall direction.
I was reminded of tabletop gaming a lot, as the brothers were well-armed, had glyphs tattooed on themselves to deter possession, and more along those lines. In a tabletop RPG, this kind of fast and loose playing with the "rules" of the genre is expected, but it's a little much in a TV show. This kind of thing is cheesy to begin with, even in tabletop gaming, but for whatever reason, I find it easier to accept in a gaming environment than on TV.
John Showalter directed this episode and he is best known for his mainstream TV work going back to the 90s. I don't think he had any connection to the series or genre and it showed on the screen. The second episode played far more like an 80s action flick than anything else, which would actually be okay were it not for the over-the-top tattoos and other nonsense.
Of course, Supernatural could film a steaming turd for 45 minutes and I'd still tune in so I'm not jumping ship just yet. Season 7 didn't really get me interested until the end but it did get there. The new "hardcore" action direction could be a good thing if handled correctly, I just don't think it has been so far.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
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