The Corner Penthouse

Paramount Home Entertainment recently released the Are You Afraid of the Dark: Curse of the Shadows DVD. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

The members of the newest chapter of the Midnight Society - Luke (Bryce Gheisar), Jai (Arjun Athalye), Hanna (Beatrice Kitsos), Gabby (Malia Baker), Seth (Dominic Mariche), and Connor (Parker Queenan) - tell the tale of a curse that has been cast over their small seaside town, haunted by a villain named the Shadowman (Kyle Strauts). After their leader goes missing, it's up to the remaining members of the Midnight Society to break the curse and free the Shadowman's victims, before they, too, disappear into the shadows.

[ QUICK THOUGHTS ]

The original 1990s Are You Afraid of the Dark? was an anthology series in which each episode was a different story told by a revolving group of "host" characters, the Midnight Society, who usually were not in the stories themselves. For the 2019 revival, of which the "Curse of the Shadows" storyline is the second season of, each season is one single multi-part storyline in which the Midnight Society members are the main characters of the story. That makes this vastly different than the original series. Besides that, so far, each season of this revival features a different cast and a different Midnight Society. None of the members from the first season's "Carnival of Doom" storyline appear, or are even mentioned, in the "Curse of the Shadows" storyline. I'm guessing that if there's a third season, it will also be its own self-contained storyline with yet another cast of society members. I really wish they would go back to the anthology format, because this "single-story spread across multiple episodes" format just isn't cutting it. It was fine for Season 1 when there were just three episodes. Someone had the bright idea to make Season 2 SIX episodes long, but with a story that is best suited to three or four episodes, max! As I watched all six episodes, I kept feeling that the story was being padded out to fill the unnecessary six episode length.

The story itself was fine. It kept my interest, even though it's your standard boogeyman lurking in the shadows trope... literally. Since it's a "kids show", no one really dies. They disappear into the shadow realm. There's one scene between the real world and the shadow realm that reminded me of the 2013 video game Contrast. I would have liked to have seen more of this interaction between realms. Although the show is not rated, I would say that it's equivalent to a "PG". There are definitely frightening scenes you wouldn't want to show to very little kids, but I think it'll be fine for 12-year-olds and older. The young cast does a great job, with adorable little Beatrice Kitsos being the standout. If she sticks with acting, she could be a big star later in life. Keep your eyes open for a ton of references, including the return of an actor from the original series to reprise his iconic character in a cameo appearance.

[ EPISODE INFORMATION ]

The single-disc includes all six episodes that aired on Nickelodeon from February 12, 2021 to March 19, 2021. The episodes do not appear to be edited. The only licensed song used - "The Sign" by Ace of Base - is still present on the DVD.

1. "The Tale of the Haunted Woods" (February 12, 2021) (43:33)
2. "The Tale of the Night Frights" (February 19, 2021) (44:01)
3. "The Tale of the Phantom Light" (February 26, 2021) (43:22)
4. "The Tale of the Danse Macabre" (March 5, 2021) (43:16)
5. "The Tale of the Midnight Magic" (March 12, 2021) (43:46)
6. "The Tale of the Darkhouse" (March 19, 2021) (44:16)

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The show is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio in Anamorphic Widescreen. Audio languages include English (Dolby Digital 5.1) for all episodes, and Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) for just the first three episodes. There are no subtitles. I have no idea why they even bothered to include Spanish audio when they didn't have it for all of the episodes. What's the point of only including it for just HALF of the episodes? They should have left it off and included English and Spanish subtitles, instead of not including ANY subtitles at all!

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

There are no special features. Not even episodes of the original series, like the first season DVD had.

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

No Digital Copy voucher is included. The first print run includes a slipsleeve around the standard black DVD case.

[ PURCHASE LINKS ]

Are You Afraid of the Dark: Curse of the Shadows, which is the second season of the revival series, is available on DVD only. Yeah, THERE IS NO BLU-RAY RELEASE. Such a shame. The 2019 first season ("Carnival of Doom") is also available on DVD only. That DVD includes the original series episodes "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark", "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner", and "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float" as special features.

The original 1990s series is available across several DVDs (U.S. RELEASES): Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 (alt), and Seasons 1-5 Bundle.

The original 1990s series is available across several DVDs (CANADIAN RELEASES): Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5, Season 6, Season 7, and Seasons 1-7 + Freaky Favorites Bundle.



This item has been provided by Paramount Home Entertainment for review on this site.