This is my first review on this blog, and it will be of the first chunk of everymanHYBRID. I hope you guys enjoy!
To start off, the first few fitness videos are not that great. Most of it is common sense, and some of the Slenderman shots are far too obvious, and amateurish. To start off, it looks pretty bad. It does kick into gear later, but the first impressions are not good at all. The fitness bits are mainly common sense, and it's far too easy to spot Ol' Faceless in the background, especially when Vince stares straight at it whilst he's pushing the car.
Of course, this makes a neat twist when they reveal that it was a fake Slendy, and the real one showed up at some point. It also makes for an interesting game, trying to guess which Slendy was real and which was fake.
'...', and the premise of 'hidden' videos that the cast can't see, is another creepy plot twist. The series is almost immediately propelled upwards in viewer estimations because of this particular twist, and the implications of what this unseen hacker can put up. First off, the man shows that Evan quite clearly has Slendersickness, and is obsessed with knives. It's probably hinting at something further down the line, as he's already acting incredibly weird.
Healthy Eating shows the first definitive Slenderman appearance. The
weird head bobbing is far scarier than it should be, as is the way he
disappears after the door closes. It's a fabulous entrance, and just as good an exit from our old pal Slendy. The levels of what-the-fuckery are high, and the way he gets so close to the boys before making his presence known is terrifying.
The characterisation of all of the cast is well done, and is showcased by A Day In The Life. It's a nice little trip through some woods, almost a breather episode (even though I'm sure I spotted something tall, dark and Slender in the background a few times). It shows off the acting talent of all of the people involved, from Ryan's general Pokemon love to Evan and Vince's bromance.
The Sleeping and Dreams trilogy isn't exactly necessary, other than the showing off of the weird shrine and Evan's Slenderdreams. It fits with the fitness and health series, but they wouldn't have lost too much without them, really.
'---' shows a lot of stuff, and it's hard to make sense of most of it. Other than Vince making Jeff continue, and Evan filming himself pretending to be Freddy Kruger (he's already insane), not a whole lot makes sense. The random shots from A Day In The Life don't exactly help, although it does look creepy.
Slushpops And Surprises doesn't show us too much, other than a sneak preview at what is to come in the fitness series, a creepy birthday card, and something about a 'tragic hero'. The end message is really weird (I assume it's hidden, but I'm not 100%), but it doesn't draw many emotions from the viewer. That makes me automatically think that it's some form of foreshadowing, but I can't be too sure.
Self Defense is another return to the health and fitness series, and I'm nearly totally sure that there's some kind of foreshadowing there. The lessons on fighting, and Evan being a martial arts teacher are details that are probably going to help the boys in some form during the series. There's some funny moments in it, and the quality of the fitness series appears to have improved (pretty sure that contest has ended by now), and it shows that the boys are letting Slendy get them down.
Joke's Over is where the series really gets it's arse in gear, and what a way to do it. The quality of the distortions, and Slenderman, is brilliant. He almost seems to roar to the camera as he appears. Evan laughing as the liquid (more on that in a moment) spills out of the bag is terrifying, and the defining insane moment for Evan.
By the way, the liquid is not blood. In the original mythos, Slenderman melted his victims and placed that liquid into bags, rather than just the organs. This is what appears to be the end result. With that in mind, the quality of that effect looks much better.
So far, it's a great series. It's engaging, the characters are all believable, Slenderman looks epic and there's some really creepy shit going on. I love it already.
Next time, the first few episode of the Sims Saga and The Tutorial. I hope you liked this review, stay tuned for more.
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