User reviews

First ever IMDb review here. But I had to give The Mandela Catalogue some credit.

This webseries is one of the newest from the analog horror genre. In case someone doesn't what is analog horror, it's basically a web only (as of today at least) genre of horror. Its presentation is mostly something that look like lost VHS tapes, a tv broadcast, or other things in that type of thing, and we haven't seen much about it in 2021.

That is until the arrival of The Mandela Catalogue in June and its immense peak of popularity in November/December, and damn is this popularity well deserved.

This series flows in great ideas, incredible spooky ambiences and amazing horrific timing, while still restraining from using cheap screamers 24/7. The overall concept and the risks took by this series is what makes me believe the creator of this is a genius. He understood almost every tools of what makes web horror an underrated subgenre and the fact that you can watch this great series on YouTube for free feels awesome. One of the downside for me though is that the first video can leave the viewer confused, as he doesn't know the importance of it in the future, but I'll restrain myself from going into details, as you need to experience it to know what I'm talking about. Although I do think I'm just quibbling right now, the whole thing is just simply thrilling.

The Mandela Catalogue is also full of secrets, Easter eggs, and watching some fan theories and explanation videos of what it is also has been a blast in all honesty. The fact that this all project has been made with seemingly barely any budget gets me eager to see what the future of analog horror is, as anybody with the ideas could make one of these and leave the community amazed.

Oh, and of course I didn't mention it until now, but it is surprisingly scary, like, reaaaally scary, so hey, here goes your discretion advisement, viewer.

Anyway, great project, amazingly scary, can't wait for Volume 2!

A colleague at work suggested watching the horror known as 'analog' horror and this was one of the ones he suggested I watch. The first one I watched was Local 58 and I have to say I enjoyed it a bit more than this one, but this one had some moments that totally caught me by surprise and were very creepy. I must admit I also have freaked myself out a few times thinking of these as the beings in this thing known as alternates remind me of another tormentor the shadow people.

The story is a bit strange as I had a bit of a time figuring out which order to watch these things. I thought I had seen them all, then realized I missed a couple! I totally missed the first one with the religious short played and it was among the most spooky. Seems some force is invading Mandela County and it is taking the children and is enough to drive a person to madness and suicide! This is played out using old cartoons, strange messages and also phone calls and such.

The reason I prefer Local 58 is that it was a bit easier to get from point A to point B. This one has more creepy moments, but it also has some cringe moments as some of the people present are not doing very good at acting. Still, it was enjoyable and had more to it than Local 58 so definitely worth a look see.

So while this one had some things I thought that could be better and things made a bit easier it also left one feeling a sense of dread too. Funny how a lot of horror shorts you find on Youtube are much better than the stuff Hollywood churns out, but that is just the way it is. This is no exception as i would be absolutely horrified to see some of the stuff presented here staring at me when I awakened from a sound sleep!

The Mandela catalogue is a very well put together analog horror series made by Alex kister, it is very well made and has great suspense and horror themes in it. Overall a really good show. The improvement shown From episode 1 to 3 is amazing ( whilst typing this 3 main episodes are out ) is amazing and evident at how much effort the creator puts into this show. As a fan of the series since the first episode, I can say this series is a great form of analog horror. The three main episodes show off the antagonists in a suspenseful yet interesting and clear way. They are creatures who torment their victims and then take their places. The concept is skin crawling and really interesting. The themes are used perfectly through out the main series.

So good! I love the feeling of the Mandela Catalogue.

"If u see a person that looks identical to you, run away and hide". If you don't like this show then that's ok, but i love it. The second episode is the best. The second episode is really creepy. And my favorite character is Jonah Marshall. Jonah's my guy. "A cat alternate!" And Kister makes a good work playing Mark Heathcliff. And Overthrone is also a good episode. I like everything about the MC. If you have not seen MC, then watch it! You might also wanna watch the Mandela Magazine, a parody done by Sr Pelo. MC is creepingly good! Goodbye!

I need to start off by saying I understand the appeal of The Mandela Catalogue. However, it's just not for me; I simply cannot be bothered to continue watching the series. I don't think the execution is bad or anything. Maybe the only issue I have with the writing is that everything is a little hard to follow, though that seems to be a trait of all found-footage media. However, I've enjoyed other found-footage films before, so I don't know why The Mandela Catalogue seems to be the outlier. Maybe because it's a web series? In any case, I suspect my unflattering rating is all a result of my own interests and dislikes.

I did mildly enjoy the videos I watched, though. I might not finish the rest of the series but I also don't feel like I wasted my time, so 6 stars for that. In general, this was a slightly above mediocre experience for me.