Brosnan chills to the bone in TV series

Published May 28, 2015

Share

VIEWERS should brace themselves, especially those partial to horror and the supernatural. There are several shows of that ilk bound for the small screen.

First, Pierce Brosnan is back on the box after bagging the lead role in Bag of Bones, which is based on Stephen King’s 1998 novel.

He plays Mike Noonan, a best-selling author who develops a serious case of writer’s block following the untimely death of his wife, Jo.

Escaping to their summer home on Dark Score Lake in Maine, he ends up befriending Mattie Devore, a young widow, and grows fond of her 6-year-old daughter, Kyra, having never had any kids himself.

While helping her deal with her vindictive father-in-law, he also finds that his constant nightmares aren’t without substance – his wife’s spirit is still with him. And then there’s the ghost of Sara Tidwell, a singer from the ’30s, who reveals her last days to him.

In the ensuing madness, Mike uncovers a shocking truth about the town, where several men, in a trance of insanity, drowned their daughters. And it is all tied to Sara’s murder and her dying curse.

As this is a mini-series, Mick Garris had more leeway to explore all the twists buried in the novel. Of course, casting was important too. And Brosnan does a remarkable job.

In an interview with Collider.com, Garris revealed: “I never imagined that Pierce, who is a movie star and hadn’t done television in 15 years, would be interested until he was suggested by his agency, which also represents Stephen King. I loved the idea. First of all, there’s an intelligence about him. You accept that this is a writer. He may not be exactly the guy in the book because he has a touch of a British accent. But, there’s something really great about him that I saw in The Matador, and it’s his willingness to go for it. The best actors in the world are the actors who don’t keep the walls up all the time and allow themselves the potential to be embarrassed. Fighting the wild branches of a haunted tree is not something that every actor is confident enough to attack, literally and figuratively.

“He’s got a sense of humour, he’s really smart, and he’s really vulnerable, in a very real world way.”

 

• iZOMBIE will pique the curiosity of comic book fans as it is a loosely-based adaptation of one. It is centred on Olivia “Liv” Moore, a medical resident who, after being turned into a zombie at a party, develops an appetite for human brains. Of course, it isn’t on the menu at restaurants so she ends up working at the King County Morgue.

Now for the twist – she inherits the personality and has flashbacks of the victims she feasts on. And she uses this insight à la Psych to help the Seattle Police Department solve their murders.

 

• THE Messengers has a more paranormal feel. Sadly, the cast are nothing to write home about – and the storyline it seems. This series was canned after the first season. But, not to be dismissive, it might be worth checking out.

The premise centres on five strangers who “die” during a shock wave caused by a mysterious object crashing into Earth. They awaken shortly afterwards and find their lives intertwined as they discover their super-natural gifts and set about fulfilling a Biblical prophecy to prevent an impending disaster.

 

• FANS of True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and The Originals will enjoy the award-winning horror-drama, Penny Dreadful.

Set in the 19th century, it draws on iconic illusory characters from Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray) to Mina Harker and Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and Victor Frankenstein (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein).

Season two sees Dr Frankenstein work on bringing Brona back to life. And Sir Malcolm returns only to find that Vanessa is being hunted by a whole new evil.

 

• Bag of Bones airs on Lifetime (DStv channel 131) tonight at 8pm. iZombie airs on Vuzu Amp (DStv channel 114) tonight at 9.30pm. The Messengers airs on Vuzu Amp on Wednesdays at 9pm. Penny Dreadful 2 is on M-Net Edge (DStv channel 102) on Mondays at 9pm.

Related Topics: