Sadly it has been over eight years since Buffy was last on
our screens and frustratingly in the meantime we have been left with no real
series to oppose its reign as the all supreme defender against the forces of
darkness, let alone fill the void it left in out lives when it ended. Personally
I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we wouldn’t be getting a
show to fill that void, even though the Buffy and Angel universes had continued
to expand via the graphic novel series, a format which to date has also given
us the closest candidate with the incredible “Hack / Slash”. Then one night I
stumbled across “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil” on SYFI a series which was not
only reminiscent of the glory days of Buffy, but by the end of its first season
had also become a strong contender to its throne.
Set around Crowley High, a high school based in a small town
secretly founded by Satanists. Its here stoner and lifelong metal head Todd
(Alex House) and his one armed best friend Curtis (Bill Turnbull), have teamed
up with feisty Goth Jenny (Maggie Castle) and the super intelligent nerd Hannah
(Melanie Leishman), to track down the book of evil. A book which not only has a
mind of its own, but also grants the wishes of those who process it, often in
much darker and sinister ways than they intended.
Based on the short film of the same name written by Max Reid
and Craig David Wallace who returned to develop the short into a series
alongside Charles Picco and Anthony Leo, while aiming to retain the feel of the
original short as he expands on his original idea, as the mismatched team fight
a new evil each week as different student stumbles across the blook and in turn
unleashing a new terror on the school. Still unsurprisingly for a show being
spearheaded by SYFI, this show seems to have flown under the radar of most
folks, but when you showing it on a channel better known for DTV movies and
questionable series which no one else really wants to show, it’s not going to
be too surprising that most folks missed it. I know I for one was surprised
that the channel had managed to pick up a show of this quality.
The group of questionable heroes are all born misfits, who
have all in one way or another embraced their own individual social statuses,
be it through a fierce exterior or sheer delusion, yet the quest for the book
unities them together despite their differences, as it forces them to work
together as what could be seen as a slightly less polished version of Buffy’s
scoobies. However unlike the scoobies, none of them process any kind of special
powers or abilities with the sole exception of Hannah’s intelligence, which
largely provides the solutions to each weeks problem and in many ways it makes
for a refreshing change from just having a group of super powered individuals
saving the day each week, while in many ways it almost feels like a throw back
to the equally cult and much fondly remembered “Eerie, Indiana”.
One of the main problems for any show of this type will
always be trying to find a fresh new way of spinning the material, let alone
giving the audience something they haven’t seen done a hundred times before and
to this extent, the show delivers in spades for not only is our supposed hero
grossly incompetent and more of a danger to himself, but the creatures he that
he faces with the rest of the gang are truly the main strength of the show with
this 13 episode first season seeing them battling a monster made of human fat,
a giant baby aswell as a monster sized talking penis to name but a few, with
the show constantly managing to surprise you with each episode with just what
they are going to come up with that week. Still it has to be said that compared
to Sunnydale High, it is slightly more hazardous to be a student at Crowley
high especially if your in possession of the book, as it ultimately marks you
out for a grisly demise like a red shirt on “Star Trek”. Still such frequent
deaths is but one of the many tricks which the show keeps up its sleeve with
the gore quota being one of its key draws, especially as this show certainly
has no qualms about killing off characters and even less so if it means that
they can do it in some form of spectacularly gory way and with the deaths
including a deep fat fryer, being torn apart by a rabid mob and even being
crushed by a giant baby, the show really ensure that each episode has atleast
one pay off moment
Despite the
surprisingly short episodes for a series of this type, with the episodes only
running for 30 mins, it hasn’t stopped the writers from cramming in as much
profanity, graphic violence, snappy dialogue and random horror nonsense as
possible, in an intoxicating combination which leaves you not only craving the
next episode, but also wishing that they were being given a more substantial 45
min run time.
The cast are all great in their various roles, with House
and Turnbull making for a great comedy pairing, while completely believable as
the clueless stoner heroes. Leavins however is the real draw of the show, with
his almost permanent sarcastic tone, especially when dishing out his
questionable advice as the school councillor and it was fun to see him go from
being a mole for the local Satanists sect to finally becoming one of the team,
before finally turning a full 180 by the end of the first season. Still despite
having a cast with zero star power, it’s safe to say that like the Buffy cast,
it’s likely that they will soon become house names, especially once the show
finds the audience it truly deserves, especially with its decidedly cult status
at present, though it is great to see Jason Mewes finally getting a regular
role as the school cleaner and dispenser of slacker wisdom Jimmy, which allows
him to finally break away from his all to well known role as “Jay” in best
friend Kevin Smith’s films.
In these days were it constantly feels like you have six or
seven different shows on the go, it can be hard to find the time to see every
new show, but this is one which is really worth making the time in your viewing
schedule for.
If you like this show I am sad to inform you it was canceled. But there is hope! Email fearnet and ask them to pick it up for a new season as they are already airing reruns. Also sign our petition at http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/space-channel-bring-back-todd-the-book-of-pure-evil
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