One of my personal favorite genres of movies or television has got to be the horror/comedy. In part, this is because it’s a genre that’s so hard to really pull off well. Sure, there are examples of campy horror movies, or scary movies that try to jam in some cheap laughs, but what I really like is something that’s truly funny and truly scary. Those don’t come around that often. You’ve got Shaun of the Dead, What We Do in the Shadows, and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Those are my favorites. Then there are good examples like Happy Death Day, Ready or Not, Cabin in the Woods (to an extent), and Zombieland. For television, all I can think of at the moment is What We Do in the Shadows, though that’s not really genuinely scary (at least, not that I remember).
Widow’s Bay (now playing on Apple TV) rocketed straight to the top of that list. It’s somehow able to be very frightening and very funny, often in the same scenes. Amazing.
The premise is simple: there’s an island off the coast of New England where the new mayor is desperate to get the tourist industry to take root. He dreams of it being the new Martha’s Vineyard. There’s just one problem: the island may or may not be cursed. And not just cursed a little. More “cursed as bad as the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.” It’s something that goes all the way back to the earliest days of the island being colonized by Pilgrims. The mayor (Matthew Rhys) refuses to give in to superstition and pushes forward anyway.
It doesn’t go swimmingly.
That’s all I’ll say about it. Before you think it’s not for you because it might be too scary, be aware that Denisa really enjoyed it as well. Think of it like . . . sweet and sour sauce, where the two extremes smash together to make something new and different. I loved it from start to finish, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.