Chapelwaite Review: Last Five Episodes

The second half of Chapelwaite leaves the source material far behind as it develops an interesting and disturbing tale, but one that lacks much originality and probably should have been two or three episodes shorter.

It can be viewed on Epix in the United States and the Sci-Fi Channel/CTV in Canada.

Titles: “The Offer,” “De Vermis Mysteriis,”Hold the Night”, “The Gathering Dark”,” “The Keeper”

Cast and Crew

Directors: Rachel Leiterman, David Frazee, Michael Nankin
Writers: Scott Kosar, Declan de Barra, Jason Filardi & Peter Filardi

Loosely inspired by a story by Stephen King.

Adrien Brody as Captain Charles Boone
Christopher Heyerdahl as Jakub
Emily Hampshire as Rebecca Morgan
Julian Richings as Phillip Boone
Jennifer Ens as Honor Boone
Sirena Gulamgaus as Loa Boone
Ian Ho as Tane Boone
Eric Peterson as Samuel Gallup
Allegra Fulton as Ann Morgan
Devante Senior as Able Stewart
Gord Rand as Minister Burroughs
Trina Corkum as Mary Dennison
Dean Armstrong as Dr. Guilford
Michael Hough as Daniel Thompson
Steven McCarthy as Stephen Boone
Sebastien Labelle as Robert Boone
Joanne Boland as Rose Mallory
Jennie Raymond as Alice Burroughs
Glenn Lefchak as Fletcher
Charlie Rhindress as Carl Cutler
David Rossetti as Joseph Palmer
Acadia Colan as Marcella Boone
Matthew Del Bel Belluz, Noorin Gulamgaus eta al as vampires
Briony Merritt as Faith Pringle

Premise

Charles Boone and his associates must face down the undead, and then rally the town against Jerusalem’s Lot.

High Point

I like how the series takes its lore, both traditional and invented, seriously, without attempting to explain how it makes any sense. Giving the cursed book to a vampire– even a captive one– restores Charles’s sanity. Vampires follow conventional rules. When they staked and hauled a prominent vamp up to a second-storey window (Charles’s background as a whaler put to good use) and decapitated him, my wife’s reaction was along the lines of, “well, they did invite him in.”

A certain setback that occurs when they rally the folks in Preacher’s Corners demonstrates how frightening the walking alive can be.

Low Point

The pace of the show is slower than it should be, and I’m disappointed that we never receive that disturbing glimpse of the Worm that works so well in the original story.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6 This is an odd adaptation. It’s original in that it departs almost entirely from the source material, but unoriginal in its choices. Basically, we have the entire history of vampire fiction (minus the sparkly period) condensed into one mini-series that recalls more than a little The Walking Dead.

Acting: 5/6

Story: 5/6 Slow pace aside, the story follows its own internal logic, and the ending works.

Effects: 6/6

Production: 5/6 Chapelwaite is well-made, if visually very gloomy.

Emotional Response: 4/6 Some of the scenes are excellent, but the show, overall, proves inconsistent.

Overall: 4/6

In total, the second half of Chapelwaite receives 31/42

Notes and Observations

I would not be interested in a second season, unless it eschews this cast and jumps ahead to Salem’s Lot, which deserves a good mini-series. This incarnation of “Jerusalem’s Lot” leans heavily into that novel, to which the original story only nominally connects.