After Archive 81 premiered on Netflix, it grabbed viewers and fans as quickly as it went on to become the streamer’s most-acclaimed and watched horror series. With an abundance of jump scares, this found-footage series has a compelling narrative that is made terrifying by the sensibility of James Wan, the creator behind The Conjuring, Insidious, Annabelle and more.
Inspired by a titular fictional 2018 podcast that recorded three seasons of psychological horror stories, the series revolves around an archivist who must restore damaged tapes left abandoned in 1994. In this endeavour, he finds himself putting together the work of a filmmaker as she investigates a sinister cult.
This ignites in the archivist to find the filmmaker and save her from a fated ending. Helmed by Rebeca Sonneshine, the series stars Dina Shihabi, Ariana Neal, Evan Jonigkeit and others.
Sonnenshine recently opened up about how they wanted to provide a “new twist” to the genre, “while keeping a dark, deeply emotional romance as its core”. She added, “I’m excited to take Netflix viewers on a terrifying and visually thrilling adventure.”
Upon release, viewers have been enamoured by this engrossing show. They have been terrified by the ominous premise, with some even talking about how they have not seen something this scary in a while as the series makes the viewers question reality.
The series has also been compared to some of the most heavyweight names in the horror genre, including Rosemary’s Baby, Blair Witch Project, Midsommar, The Omen, Hereditary, Get Out etc.
Even Hideo Kojima, the iconic video game developer, has praised the plot and called the narrative “promising”.
Watch Archive 81 on Netflix now.
