"Scarlet Cinema" is padded, mostly with footage of the '41 movie 'The Wolf Man'. The padding works here, as it didn't in 'Face of Evil', because a) the footage is from a classic movie rather than a mediocre episode, and b) because it shows something. That Darius is basically what today would be considered a "nerd".
The footage is also used to shortcut the onscreen transformation of Darius into a wolf man, by showing Chaney's transformation. The episode isn't so much "borrowing" from the movie, as it is using it to make a point. It's a weird thing for Darius to obsess about, but aren't most obsessions?
The use of the '41 footage also makes an effective comparison between the relative "innocence" of the old movie, and the more modern-day gore of the TV series and horror in general. Like the comparison between the '41 Wolf Man neatly killing the undertaker, and Jack's shock at how his friend McDougall was torn to pieces by the current-day wolf man. All while not showing any of the violence, but having Jack (and Wiggins) sell the gore and horror.
The episode, and writer David Winning, also provide some subtle commentary on voyeurism. And there's the clever part, where Ryan strangles the Darius/Wolf Man with the silver nitrate in camera film. Nicely enough, they don't gaslight the significance of the silver nitrate-coated film earlier. It just... is.
The silver-coated film is the same kind of cleverness that writer Winning displayed in his earlier episode "The Sweetest Sting". The fact that the camera gives Darius a message via writing on a strip of film is also clever. You don't usually see the antiques explaining how they work to their users. It was implied in "And Now The News", but it helps to vary the formula a bit to have it done here. As does the fact that Darius doesn't have to kill his victims, but just film them and then the Wolf Man kills them.
The Wolf Man makeup looks cheesy in a 1941 sort of way. But that's presumably the idea, as is using the '41 footage to accompany Darius' transformation. The bit where Darius kills the Wolf Man after it bites him, is both unexpected and another one of the clever little touches that Winning tosses into the episode. It makes sense that Darius would kill the Wolf Man... in retrospect. It still comes across as unexpected in the moment.
And that's why 'Scarlet Cinema" shines. It's filled with little moments of cleverness. I wouldn't call Jonathan Wise's performance as Darius "great". Not like Art Hindle in "The Sweetest Sting". But Darius is a more sympathetic bad guy than McCabe was in that episode. Wise does well enough with what he's given. The regulars actually have something to do, and it's the best "shop under siege" episode that we've had so far.
Overall, "Scarlet" is another solid season 2 episode: Darius is sympathetic, but not "too" sympathetic. The regular are smart, the way of killing the transformed Darius with the silver-nitrate film is smart.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The footage is also used to shortcut the onscreen transformation of Darius into a wolf man, by showing Chaney's transformation. The episode isn't so much "borrowing" from the movie, as it is using it to make a point. It's a weird thing for Darius to obsess about, but aren't most obsessions?
The use of the '41 footage also makes an effective comparison between the relative "innocence" of the old movie, and the more modern-day gore of the TV series and horror in general. Like the comparison between the '41 Wolf Man neatly killing the undertaker, and Jack's shock at how his friend McDougall was torn to pieces by the current-day wolf man. All while not showing any of the violence, but having Jack (and Wiggins) sell the gore and horror.
The episode, and writer David Winning, also provide some subtle commentary on voyeurism. And there's the clever part, where Ryan strangles the Darius/Wolf Man with the silver nitrate in camera film. Nicely enough, they don't gaslight the significance of the silver nitrate-coated film earlier. It just... is.
The silver-coated film is the same kind of cleverness that writer Winning displayed in his earlier episode "The Sweetest Sting". The fact that the camera gives Darius a message via writing on a strip of film is also clever. You don't usually see the antiques explaining how they work to their users. It was implied in "And Now The News", but it helps to vary the formula a bit to have it done here. As does the fact that Darius doesn't have to kill his victims, but just film them and then the Wolf Man kills them.
The Wolf Man makeup looks cheesy in a 1941 sort of way. But that's presumably the idea, as is using the '41 footage to accompany Darius' transformation. The bit where Darius kills the Wolf Man after it bites him, is both unexpected and another one of the clever little touches that Winning tosses into the episode. It makes sense that Darius would kill the Wolf Man... in retrospect. It still comes across as unexpected in the moment.
And that's why 'Scarlet Cinema" shines. It's filled with little moments of cleverness. I wouldn't call Jonathan Wise's performance as Darius "great". Not like Art Hindle in "The Sweetest Sting". But Darius is a more sympathetic bad guy than McCabe was in that episode. Wise does well enough with what he's given. The regulars actually have something to do, and it's the best "shop under siege" episode that we've had so far.
Overall, "Scarlet" is another solid season 2 episode: Darius is sympathetic, but not "too" sympathetic. The regular are smart, the way of killing the transformed Darius with the silver-nitrate film is smart.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
