Hysteria! Review: ‘80s Small-Town Horror Delivers Some Devilish Fun

The easiest way to describe Peacock’s latest teen horror series Hysteria! would be something like this: Stranger Things meets heavy metal and satanism. But that surface-deep description wouldn’t do total justice to the eight-episode show that proudly exhibits a horror-laden ensemble cast (Bruce Campbell! Julie Bowen! The girl from Hereditary!) accompanied by a banger rock-n-roll soundtrack and an overflowing adoration for classic genre tropes. Creator Matthew Scott Kane’s first big project is a fervent love letter to ‘80s nostalgia, rock legends, and small-town horrors.

As soon as we enter Happy Hollow, the fictional town of Hysteria!, familiarity kicks in. In the very first scene, “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” plays as we immerse ourselves into 1980s suburbia, thrown right into the bedroom of a hot teen girl who’s about to have sex with a handsome high school football player. But before they can get into it, a masked man breaks the door down, grabs the couple, and tosses them into a van that screams “serial killer.” If that doesn’t tell you upfront what to expect from the kind of show you’re about to watch, then nothing will.

The disappearance of the popular jock hits the news (the girl isn’t mentioned for a reason), and the reporter at the scene points to an inverted pentagram painted on the family’s home. Satan is in the air, and everyone can smell it. Including our unpopular high school trio, Dylan (Emjay Anthony), Jordy (Chiara Aurelia), and Spud (Kezii Curtis), who are struggling to get their heavy metal band Death Krunch off the ground. Inspired by a comment that “Satanists are cool,” a lightbulb goes off in Dylan’s head. What if Death Krunch was a devout Satanist formation, and playing into the missing person case was the opportunity they needed to finally gain some traction for their music? After some convincing, Jordy and Spud buy into the idea, too, and the three go all in on becoming Devil worshippers.

What they don’t see coming, though, is that the town’s Jesus freaks and the chief of police (horror icon Bruce Campbell playing it cool) also take notice and draw the connection that their newly-formed “cult” might have something to do with the kidnapping. It’s a fun premise to toy with, but Hysteria! doesn’t stop there — thankfully.

There are obvious signs (an earthquake, visions experienced by locals that leave them with nasty skin rashes) suggesting that some sort of evil indeed lurks around town. But instead of targeting the kids, it attacks the adults. It’s a refreshing approach that Kane pays equal attention to the parents beside their children and gets the best out of the drama by pitting them against each other. Conflicts abound in Happy Hollow, and they revolve around high school popularity as much as they do around religion. Even though this is a much lighter show than Midnight Mass, for instance, it doesn’t mean there aren’t profound moments that explore the depths of fanatic Christianity and its harmful practices. In fact, it’s not always entirely clear how serious Kane wants us to take what we see here and how much of it is played for campy entertainment.

To that effect, Hysteria! is most appealing when vague hints at forthcoming plot twists and keeps us in the dark instead of revealing all of its cards at once. Kane has a knack for mixing well-tried clichés in a way that doesn’t necessarily birth something innovative and original yet avoids falling into mediocre B-movie trappings. Thanks to his smooth storytelling style, the gradually unfolding mysteries and past secrets allow the characters to grow and shine over time, and for us to establish a connection with them. And the multifaceted, thematically picked cast (we have familiar faces from Hereditary, Fear Street, Evil Dead, and more) does an excellent job delivering equally fitting and memorable performances.

Yet even with all that smartly concocted flair and adequately creepy cinematography, there comes a point when Hysteria! can no longer hide that it’s mostly built around one principal twist. And once that’s revealed midway through, it becomes more and more apparent that the show doesn’t have much left to offer in its final stretch. Though the “cult” goes into more dangerous territory with every additional bonkers move to turn fantasy into reality, the writing can’t fully commit to the vicious and eerie cruelties it foreshadows. The same rings true for the “demonic possession” aspect of the series, which offers some juicy and stylish CGI work in a grand finale but seems to lack the idea of what to do with it exactly. Essentially, the story misses a vital element that could bring what we’ve seen to a more elaborate and satisfying conclusion.

Instead, we get some heartfelt moments of friendship between our trio (Death Krunch forever, baby) and also see the downfall of nearly every heinous, idiotic, and mean-spirited character (whether teenager or adult) who earns their comeuppance in one way or another. Still, once the final credits start rolling, you’ll feel the full potential of Hysteria! has remained unfulfilled. But even if the series isn’t a home run for first-time creator and showrunner Matthew Scott Kane, it’s a neat showcase of his talent and knack for horror (not to mention his refined taste in music) that he’s unequivocally in love with. With some luck and the hope that Hysteria! finds its right audience instead of quickly sliding into obscurity, I’m almost sure we can expect some great things from Kane in the future. Personally, I’ll be on the lookout for what he does next.

All eight episodes of Hysteria! premiere on Friday, October 18 on Peacock.