Movie Review

MOVIE REVIEW👻

THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA SPELLMAN HAS ARRIVED NETFLIX A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO AND YET I HAVE FINISHED THE FIRST SEASON. TODAY I'LL MAKE A REVIEW ABOUT THIS SERIES.

Sure, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has its roots in the ham-fisted world of children’s stories (the original Archie Comics iteration is more in-line with the ABC version of the show), and some of that cornballery permeates this adaptation, but this version is based on the 2014 comic run of the same name, created by the series showrunner (and Riverdale EP) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. As with Riverdale, the tone here is decidedly dark and full of spooky unknowns. But where Aguirre-Sacasa’s CW show may have to zig to skirt the limits of broadcast television, Sabrina is allowed to fully zag without worrying about the censors or concerned parental groups who may be verklempt over Aunts Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Zelda (Miranda Otto) frequently exclaiming “hail Satan!”

Sabrina Spellman has never been one to suffer fools. The witchy tale of a magical teen depicted as a wholesome, safe-for-broadcast spellcaster portrayed by Melissa Joan Hart in the late 90s and early aughts has gotten a decidedly darker update in its Netflix iteration. Death and deviance dominate this playfully spooky new take on the witches of Greendale, giving us a reason to divinate a few hours to watching this glossy new tale. After finishing Season 1, I'm dying to dig into the show’s already-announced Season 2, and flit more fully down the Path of Night.

KIERNAN SHIPKA

The main players are all the same Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka), the titular teen witch, her Aunts, and her boyfriend Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch) but pretty much everything else about the series is different. Sabrina is a scant few days out from her Sweet Sixteen and subsequent Dark Baptism (like a communion, but for witches who love Satan), which will bring her into the fold of the Dark Lord as an acolyte in the Church of Night, sworn to do his bidding (and occasionally eat people. Seriously).

But Sabrina, who is half human, half witch (on her father’s side), doesn’t want to give up her human life, dubious of the claims that hers is a religion of freedom. So naturally, Satan and his various minions waste no time trying to convince Sabrina that walking the Path of Night is what’s absolutely right. (And, as is often the case in these sorts of stories, there may be A Prophecy and A Chosen One involved.)

Sabrina's greatest strengths lie within its witchy world, a place that gives our hero an arena in which to mess up with fantastical consequence. Going up against the Devil (yes, literally), Sabrina doesn’t shy away from that which may be called blasphemous, but that’s exactly what makes it so fun. Perverted and subverted in the most devious ways, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is sure to fill the retro-spooky hole left in your heart by the lack of Stranger Things this year and does Riverdale a few shades better.

I give this movie 10/10 rating because of the "chilling adventures" that this movie brought me