Urban Gothic

Urban Gothic is a little rough round the edges but an entertaining show nonetheless. As with all shows of this format, the quality of acting and scripts vary, though in this show's favour it's usually above average. As the series goes on, the shows show marked improvement as the dialogue becomes more natural and far less stilted.

There are germs of good ideas here, though only a few are developed sufficiently enough to raise this beyond the level of 'Hammer House Of Horror' to something approaching the class of 'Ultraviolet'. In particular, episodes such as 'Old Nick' and the astonishing 'Boy's Club' break free of the usual formula to show us that horror and evil aren't just about blood and gore. True horror is corruption of the soul, of the heart, and in these two episodes we get to see a darker side of the City that will linger uncomfortably long after the TV set has been turned off.

if you have never heard of urban gothic then i cant really blame you, channel 5 isn't exactly associated with high quality entertainment, or a good picture quality for that matter. its one of those little gems that you happen to catch one late drunken night while flicking through the channels. it has some top rate performances from little known/haven't had a job in a while actors and the scrpits contain some of the darkest humour around (the frog in the blender scene comes to mind)urban gothic has filled the gap that there seems to be in true horror TV (im not counting buffy etc as true horror) it is pure student television and some of the episodes are true genius. one of its main strengths though, is that each time you see it it gets better and develops new and even more twisted hidden meanings and social comments. if only it had the money of a primetime bbc show it could have been one of the best television shows around. however maybe the reason it is so special is because it is so hidden and unrestrained by ratings and strict corporate bosses. long live urban gothic, spread the word and lets all hope that it gets a third series.

A hauntingly horrible, haemoglobin-heavy, toothsome bite of blood-thirsty Terror-telly, mayte! Jinkies!!!! There still be some sinisterly supernatural, sordidly shuddersome horrors herein!!! And if y'all are looking for lurid, late-night fright-filled delights, 'Urban Gothic' is the sensationally skewed cornucopia of small-screen creepiness that still can't be beat!

This long-buried, gorgeously grisly-looking, sublimely skin-crawling, corpuscle corrupting compendium is only worth digging up if your steely nerves can stake it! But don't slay I didn't warn you, as for the more timorous-minded fright-fans, these terminally toxic tales of stylishly sinful suburban terror might shatter their sanity, rudely rupture their reason, and bloodily burst their B-Movie hearts! As once trapped inside this evilly eviscerating, lividly licentious labyrinth of macabre madness they'll be nowhere to formaldehyde, as the blood-slick TV shocker 'Urban Gothic' is an ominous one-way shriek to the grave! Old school ghouls, voluptuously vulpine vamps, fearsomely funky fiends, and murder-mad millennials alike are sure to be equally transfixed by these trope-twistingly original, perversely penetrating, spiky stories of magnificently menacing metropolitan misanthropy!

It's almost impossible to describe the beauty of Urban Gothic to those strange individuals that are not attracted to the most wonderful genre we know as horror. Sure sometimes the desperate need to fit in a last twist before the final credits leaves an audience just a tad confused but its worth it for the rare feeling of freshness that the series in general delivers.

Some of the more note worthy episodes include Pineapple Chunks, Be Movie, Seratoin Wild, in fact all of them in one way or another manage to accomplish more than Hollywood has in the past 30 years.

Maybe I'm biased but if you ever get the chance WATCH THEM ALL. The naff ones are always balanced out so stick with it and i guarantee you'll be rewarded. Unless of course you're not into horror then i suggest you watch a nice Hugh Grant movie although to me that would be Terrifying.

it's all good Z

I really like Urban Gothic in a number of ways.

It's wildly uneven and you never know what you're going to get. Half the episodes are boring, predictable or just plain funny (see the episode called 'pineapple chunks' and you'll understand.) The other half are brilliant, unusual and original.

It's violent and doesn't pretend it has a moral reason to be that way. The fact is that gut wrenching violence can sometimes shock and horrify. We're not talking 'video nasty' proportions here, but you'll wince at some of the scenes. Because of this capacity for violence and its cheapness, you're always on the edge, wondering if something horrible is about to happen. This is no sanitised hollywood production and it's all the better for it. It feels grubby - the title sequence really demonstrates what the show is about.

This is really cheap on DVD - I managed to get series one for about 9 quid.

I'm off to order series 2!