CHAPELWAITE: SEASON ONE (2021)
Label: Via Vision Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FreeRating: MA+
Duration: 516 Minutes
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Directors: Burr Steers, Jeff Renfroe, Jeff Kosar, David Frazee, Michael Nankin, Rachel Leiterman
Cast: Adrien Brody, Emily Hampshire, Jennifer Ens, Sirena Gulamgaus, Ian Ho, Eric Peterson, Christopher Heyerdahl, Julian Richings, Steven McCarthy, Gord Rand
Based on the Stephen King short story “Jerusalem’s Lot”, a prequel to King's "Salem's Lot", the Epix TV series Chapelwaite is set in the 1850s, where after the tragic death of his wife aboard a whaler ship Captain Charles Boone (Adrien Brody, Predators) gives up life at sea and relocates along with his three young children; Honor (Jennifer Ens), Loa (Sirena Gulamgaus, Orphan Black) and Tane (Ian Ho, The Expanse); to the sleepy seaside village of Preacher’s Corners, Maine, a place where he has inherited an ancestral home from estranged cousin Stephen Boone (Steven McCarthy, The Expanse).
Based on the Stephen King short story “Jerusalem’s Lot”, a prequel to King's "Salem's Lot", the Epix TV series Chapelwaite is set in the 1850s, where after the tragic death of his wife aboard a whaler ship Captain Charles Boone (Adrien Brody, Predators) gives up life at sea and relocates along with his three young children; Honor (Jennifer Ens), Loa (Sirena Gulamgaus, Orphan Black) and Tane (Ian Ho, The Expanse); to the sleepy seaside village of Preacher’s Corners, Maine, a place where he has inherited an ancestral home from estranged cousin Stephen Boone (Steven McCarthy, The Expanse).
Arriving at the village they discover they are unwelcome from the very start, the Boone family is strongly despised in the village and surrounding area for reason that are vague at the start, and when his cousin Stephen was found dead the village practically threw a celebration. As he attempts to reinvigorate the family lumber mill and rehabilitate the Boone name he finds himself at odds, and sometimes blows, with the prejudiced community, who would rather see him and his bi-racial children driven from the village... and of course its a prequel to Salem's Lot, so there's the threat of vampires to contend with on top of everything else.
The show is a bit of a slow burn, beginning quite quite sluggishly initially, with King's short story expanded upon and spread a bit thin, but it builds such sweet Gothic atmosphere and small town tension that I forgave how long it took to get to the blood and indeed bloodsuckers of the story. The adapted vampiric tale has elements of Poe mixed in the a Lovecraftian vibe involving a entity called "The Worm" and a wicked book called the De Vermis Mysteriis which is sought by the bloodsuckers to summon The Worm which will bring with it eternal night. It's all quite intriguing story and eventually it does blossoms into something quite good, but be forewarned it does take it's sweet time getting to the good stuff.
A definite plus is the cast, the always solid Adrian Brody does a lot with a role that on paper probably wasn't all that great, infusing the character with a lot of depth and pathos by way of grief for his late wife and concern for his family. Then we have the children's nanny Rebecca, played by Emily Hampshire (Schitt's Creek), she's terrific as one of the few locals willing to work for the Boone clan, but she does so with ulterior motives that play out over the course of the season. Other characters of note are a conflicted Constable Dennison (Hugh Thompson), a sinful Minister Burroughs (Gord Rand, Orphan Black), and the master bloodsucker, Jakub (Christopher Heyerdahl, Peacemaker).
I enjoyed the design and look of the vampires, it's not quite the Nosferatu style from Salem's Lot, but creepy and cool, and the way they tease them in the earlier episodes as as cloaked figure in the fog has a very Jack the Ripper feel to it with visceral moments of bloodletting thar were quite well done. One of my favorite moments of carnage during a siege on the Boone home by bloodsuckers one is harpooned and then decapitated, it's quite a memorable scene.
The series also has some terrific looking sets and locations that add to the Gothic dread, the dreary depiction of the doomed seaside village sets a definite tone, it's oppressive and lingers heavily. The rickety Boone home is a shadowy crypt riddled with hidden passages, a frightful basement, and creepy sounds emanating from within the walls, its got lots of that old dark house appeal to it. The production values are high and it sells the era, the location, and the feel of the period set vampire tale, which helps draw you into the mood even when the story seems a but flat at times.
Audio/Video: The three disc set arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Australian distributor Via Vision Entertainment. All ten episodes are presented in 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1). It looks decent in HD but not great, the encode struggles to resolve the shadowy interiors and the darkness of nighttime exteriors, this is a very dark series, but persistent black crush saps shadow detail. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English PCM 2.0 stereo and lossy 5.1 Dolby digital, but absent of any subtitles.. I preferred the more robust uncompressed stereo option but the lossy surround does offer a wider soundstage with some nice atmospheric touches. Sadly, there are no extras on the disc whatsoever, this is a bare-bones release. The 3-disc release arrives in an oversized clear keepcase with a slipcover featuring the same artwork as the wrap.
Special Features:
- None
The first season of Chapelwaite was a bit slow and spread thin but at it's heart the story delivers the Gothic vampire goods I was looking for. In my opinion the series seems to have flown a bit under the radar, I only stumbled upon it by chance, but it has been renewed for for a second season, and I recommend giving the first season a chance if you missed it. It's a Stephen King adaptation that deserves more eyes on it, and this region-free Blu-ray from Via Vision Entertainment is the only way to see it on Blu-ray at the moment.
Screenshots from the Via Vision Blu-ray:
