Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Do you remember the 1990s TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch? If so, forget everything you’ve seen. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is nothing like its predecessor

And no matter how much Riverdale wants to be a supernatural drama in its third season, it has nothing to do with that either, even though it is a spinoff and the town is mentioned a few times.

CAOS, as the show is known for in short, is a retrolicious homage to classic horror and simpler times, and that’s what we’re here for.

Granted, it is very much on the side of political correctness. Sabrina has more than once been described as a “woke witch” and it can be a mite on the social-justice warrior side. I will say that the way they deal with gender nonconformity and LGBTQ characters is refreshing and hands down fantastic. But if that’s not your thing, there is still an actual plot that unravels expertly.

All the retro elements are well done and the entire atmosphere, which I like to describe as a cross between Bloody Mallory and Tales of the Crypt, is heartwarming.

The characters are well developed and they are portrayed incredibly well. They all feel like real people, not like marionettes rattling off lines, which is a problem with a lot of TV shows these days.

The diesel-style feel of a lot of the show’s elements — even though this is by no means a dieselpunk show — alone makes this worth your time.

For those a little worried about the horror side, this is jumpscare-free and very much horror-lite, so very unlikely to give you nightmares. The monsters have a distinctive classic horror feel to it, and it’s amazing to see that such a big budget production has not taken the lazy way out with CGI and instead went for practical SFX, meaning that the monster looks are to die for!

If you’re up for a ten-episode commitment straight away, watch the Christmas special (episode 11) instead. The spoilers to the rest of the season are minimal, so the entire show won’t be ruined if it turns out you like it.

I for one am looking forward to the second season, which airs on Netflix on April 5th 2019!