Amy: Determined and beautiful, she cannot be talked out of
making this trip even though it is clear that she will be walking into danger.
Amy goes on quite a journey throughout this story and learns a great deal about
her family that she was previously aware of. How Sabrina and Chris managed to
keep the fact that he was a werewolf from her remains a mystery but to learn
that her brother was a slavering vulpine that killed innocent woman has got to
be a massive shock to the system. She's smart enough to see the situation for
what it really is and even throws in a little marriage guidance counselling as
she does so. Some couples are stronger together, even if they don't realise it
and Amy can help to give Dominic and Isobel a push in the right direction.
Standout Performance: Sheila Steafel can hardly be said to
be giving a restrained performance but when you are given dialogue like 'I'm coming
after you...wooooo!' (I exaggerate only slightly) how is that even possible?
Isobel is mad and bad and dangerous and Steafel goes hell for leather with her
performance, clearly having a wail of a time. If you cut your critical
faculties for a moment and put yourself in the mood for a Lady Adastra/The
Rani/Cassandra style villainess then you might take a great deal on enjoyment
from this. I personally am on the fence as to whether high camp is an area that
this series should go into (because one of things that I like about this series
is that it is so much darker than Doctor Who on audio...and Doctor Who does
high camp all the time) but I still found Isobel to be quite a fun spook of the
week. Isobel even calls herself 'The Witch of Wall Street.' It doesn't get much
camper than that.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'The sun is setting, Isobel. Why don't
you go back to hell where you belong?'
Great Ideas: As unsubtle as it might be, the opening did
manage to drag me in because it is further elucidation of Sabrina's story from
The Enemy Within. It reveals the wedding between the poor woman and Chris...and
a rather unholy intruder. It is nice to be able to continue the story from the
point of view of somebody that was mentioned in the previous tale, Amy picking
up the narrative of leaving Sabrina after her brother died. It's building a
bigger picture of the events that were the catalyst of the last story. There's
a dark soul afoot, evil made manifest...but that is largely becoming the norm
in the Dark Shadows universe. Salt is the ultimate weapon against supernatural
forces. Dark souls are vengeful spirits and Dominic's wife Isobel must be
haunting them to be able to right some wrong. A pendant hand crafted by a 17th
century warlock in Salem for protect from the powers of darkness...or to
contain them. I could imagine how that would come in very handy in this series.
A demon hat is using both Dominic (getting him to kill Isobel) and Isobel
(trying to get her spirit to finish him off). Feeding on their mistrust and feasting
on both their souls. That's rather clever. A demons bargain is always based on
deception...but there is always a way out if you can find it. A demons strength
is in its name. Know it and you can break its spell.
Musical Cues: As you can imagine in a story this
melodramatic, the music follows suit.
Isn't it Odd: This story throws an awful lot at you right
from the start; a girl lost and alone, whispery voices, evil laughter, thunder
and lightning, a child singing a sinister rhyme, crazy organ playing...it is
oddly unsubtle for a series that usually builds up to its scares. Is it my
imagination or does the Devil laughing sound just like his namesake from the
South Park movie? The laughter is insanely over the top. The opening five
minutes seems to be little more than a bunch of screaming and loud sound
effects (mostly laughter)...I was wondering when the narrative was going to
kick in. Isobel assumes Amy should be on her side just because she's a woman? I
hate sexism...even more so when it comes from the fairer sex. I have a real
aversion to hysteria on audio. I just don't think there is any need to screech
at the top of your voice to create drama. It bothered me in The Rapture
('Haaaaaacccceeee! Dorothy! McShane!'), it bothered me in Cradle of the Snake
(the final episode was basically a shouting match) and it bothered me here too.
I understand that Amy is going through a traumatic time but I don't need her to
pierce my eardrums to prove it. Dominic talks about Amy not betraying him and yet
at points he sets out to scare her and then confesses his infidelity without
apology. He's hardly the sort of man that I would invest my time in, even as a
friend. He's blatantly manipulative, trying to part her legs whilst she is at
her weakest. When he reveals his true colours it makes Amy look very
naive...when she screams that she isn't a child you do have to wonder if she
has gotten this self reflection lark right.
Standout Scene: The nugget of information about Chris' death
at the climax. His condition led to his death...but it wasn't the cause of it. And a reunion between Amy and Sabrina...a good lead-in for the next adventure starring these two, methinks.
Result: 'You're next you little harlot!' The weakest
Dark Shadows story that I have listened to to date but still fairly enjoyable
if you are in the right mood. This is camp horror all the way complete with a
madly over the top villainess (played to the hilt by Sheila Steafel), devilish
laughter, a haunted house and some hysterical, melodramatic reactions to all
the madness that ensues. It's a huge diversion from the creepy storytelling I
have seen so far but it does show that the range is diverse enough to
experiment with different styles. The direction is unguarded too, throwing
everything at the listener and hoping that some of it will make an impact. The
best moments were those that concentrated on Amy's journey and the revelations
about her brother. These Dark Shadows audios are standalone but some of them
are linked in ways that adds greater to depth to each other. The Lucifer Gambit
and The Enemy Within are well placed next to each other, feeding in to each
others story and building an overall picture of the Sabrina/Chris/Amy triangle.
It is a strange reversal of the usual formula, which features a functioning
relationship at the beginning and poisons it throughout the course of the
story. Pleasingly, The Lucifer Gambit brings two people together in a very
positive way and reminds them of why they fell in love. I think it's best to
consider this story like one of those holiday specials, a madcap adventure that
pushes everything to the extreme but one which can be a hoot if you are willing
to run with it. I enjoyed it, but it was a step down from the other stories
that I have listened to so far: 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment