Deadwax

Deadwax is pretty original and overall flows pretty well. The acting is good and the story is captivating. It's more mystery and thriller than horror.

In my opinion, where it falls short is that it leaves a lot to be desired. It feels rushed. Halfway through I already knew it was going to leave a lot of the stuff very open-ended. While I don't automatically hate the approach of leaving some elements vague and open-ended in a story, I felt Deadwax had too many of these elements.

The soundtracks of the series and the dark atmosphere sprinkled with psychedelic visual effects leave a good taste. I just wish they had extended the series at least by half to close some of the open-ended elements which would have more than likely provided a more fulfilling ending.

Overall though, I recommend it. I'm stuck between a 6 and a 7 so rounding up from 6.5.

Much to my surprise & horror, a lot of what's mentioned in the series/film (science wise) Is astonishingly pretty accurate. It led me down a long road of Wiki searches, and I feel smarter for it. I gave it 7 - mainly because the main actress is believable in her role, and to my astonishment, the theories presented in this film/series turn out to be more rooted in reality than that of science fiction. That alone made me appreciate it more than I would had it been too far fetched. It's a pretty smart/well acted low-budget horror/ Syfi flick.

I recommend this movie to all of my audiophile friends. The sound design is so good and as a collector myself, I love that someone made a move about a record that can kill you! When you only have a moment in the day for something creepy, these short episodes really hit the spot!

What intrigued me about Deadwax is that there is something indisputably and accurately mid-to-late 1990s about it which is what they're going for; even though the story takes place in the present (2018) the backstory spans from 1987 to 1997. I also felt some David Lynch vibes with the way the dark characters are presented (particularly Lilly Child) and the audiovisual effects of the forbidden lacquer.

However I may have enjoyed it, the story didn't make much sense unless it's supposed to be a cautionary tale about obsessing over collecting or art until you fall down a rabbit hole you can't ever emerge from.

Solid effort in terms of style but a little flawed in substance, at least from my perspective. I can see there's a definite appeal to a certain kind of person, I'm just not that person I guess. YMMV.

Deadwax is not a masterpiece of the genre but, it sure was fun. I saw someone who didn't care much for it compare it to the old "masters of horror episode cigarette burns" (loved that one btw!) Not a bad way to look at the theme, it is in a nutshell just another story about someone paid to go find something that should not be found. However I (and my wife who also really enjoyed it) thought it was more like a twisted version of "High Fidelity" you got your whole obsessive nerd used record thing going on meets "The Ring" with its "you watch it you die" theme. Only here you listen... you die.

If youre maybe a bit older (40+ or a fan of music on vinyl) it's got the whole nostalgia for music that came on big vinyl discs going for it. And two if like me you're like me and more of a fan of the storytelling before the gore (don't worry there's more than a few splashes of blood and body parts across your tv screen) Add a bit if sci-fi with some far out, though based in real science theories, worked into the story, you might like this.

Better yet since the episodes are only like 18-20 mins long watch the first one. Due to its short time Deadwax pretty much hits the ground running, if you're not hooked in the first 10 minutes it's probably not your thing.