Hysteria! Season 1 Blu-ray Review
“Hysteria!” is an underwhelming horror-comedy.
Released during the Halloween season in 2024, Peacock’s single season 8 episode horror comedy series “Hysteria!” is set in 1989 in the small town of Happy Hollow, Michigan. The series begins with the kidnapping of high school students Ryan and Faith. Townspeople believe that a satanic cult is responsible. Wanting to capitalize on the craze, 3 outsider teens in a band (Dylan, Jordy and Spud) rebrand themselves as a satanic metal called Dethkrunch (and start a “cult”) in order to get attention and launch their music career. When Ryan winds up being found dead, Dethkrunch become people of interest. Outside of this plot, there are stories about Dylan’s mom Linda allegedly becoming possessed, the deeply religious Tracy starting a sort of mob rule, Police Chief Dandridge investigating the murder, Dylan and Judith’s relationship, the mysterious Reverend who saves people, and The Devil.
It feels like there has been an overabundance of satanic panic stories as of late and “Hysteria!” is the latest entry. This Matthew Scott Kane created series labels itself as a horror-comedy, but it’s really more of a mystery-thriller that dips into teen melodrama territory. The series is neither funny nor scary and frankly overstates its themes of fear and paranoia. “Hysteria!” also happens to be the type of small town 80’s throwback that tries too hard to replicate the era to the point of coming across as phony. Had the series been a film instead, it might have fared better. As is, the show’s central mysteries really drag on longer than necessary especially since they aren’t all that complex.
The show’s young cast is entirely bland and their storylines are the least compelling aspect of the series. Thankfully, there are several veteran actors who salvage the series including Julie Bowen (Linda), Anna Camp (who is wonderfully deranged as Tracy), Garrett Dillahunt (Reverend) and Allison Scagliotti (Officer Olsen). But wait, there’s more! You can’t forget Bruce Campbell as the Chief who single handedly makes anything he is in better. It’s just a shame his talents were wasted in a lackluster series.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? The hi-def transfer of the episodes is top notch.
Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? From the music to the dialogue, this 5.1 track delivers the goods.
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