Chapelwaite (2021–2023) User Reviews

Classic gothic horror makes a comeback.

[scootmandu-662-305600 · 8/10 · 29 August 2021]

After seeing the first 4 episodes, I am happy to report that "Chapelwaite" is one of the most satisfying gothic horror series I have seen in some time.

I was worried about how Emily Hampshire would make the transition from comedy to drama after "Schitt's Creek," but she is truly excellent. From her narration monologues, with just the right amount of breathiness, to her scenes with the impressive Adrian Brody, Hampshire has been a joy to watch. Even her occasionally awkward body language is perfectly suited to her character.

Not just the 2 stars, but the entire cast, are extremely strong. Not a weak link in the bunch.

I especially like the consistent somber, and grim, tone throughout, and the way "Chapelwaite" languishes over these brooding moments to capture the mood. For those who like a ton of gore and a rapid pace, this may not be for you. However, there are enough scary moments to keep you locked in.

I also think that it is a plus that this series tries to be socially conscious, as well. Let's face it, "The Crucible" was an attempt to equate the Salem witch trials to McCarthyism, so it is not out of place to include social commentary in the story-telling. And no, they don't hit you over the head with it, either. Where it comes into play, it makes sense.

Bottom line....this is a fun series for anyone who liked to settle in with a good old-fashioned horror tale. While I read "Salem's Lot," (one of my favorite King works), I had never read the "Jerusalem Lot" short story that this was based upon. So I do not have to spend any of my critique worrying about how it may have deviated from the script. I am just judging it on its own terms.

For anyone who has ever curled up with a good scary, gothic horror tale, punctuated by vampires, specters, and a touch of madness, you are in for a treat.

Missed this type of horror

[baharuka · 7/10 · 19 December 2021]

If you're looking for classic horror and you're not a fan of scare scenes like me, you can give this one a try. I like Adrian Brody, haven't watched him in a long while and I enjoyed it. A good actor is a good actor! The show has this beautiful gothic atmosphere. The story is cliché and could definitely be much better, and the pace is pretty slow but I did watch the whole ten episodes in the end. I missed this kind of show, got tired of horror that tries to shake you and get you almost sick. There are still many gore scenes in this, beware, but nothing that made me want to turn my screen off. Halfway into the show, there's a revelation which I didn't expect but liked, and the ending was pretty good and interesting to me, part of it reminded me of an older show that I liked. Maybe better casting for some of the characters could have been done but it was still good.

Slow suspense & mystery until episode 4 or so.. BUT does pay off nicely!

[tmartine-889-677082 · 8/10 · 8 December 2021]

Lots of suspense, mystery, character & scene development for the first 3 episodes.. after that, mysteries start to slowly be revealed. I'm glad I stuck with it.. pays off nicely!!

Six episodes stretched to ten

[anthonyjlangford · 7/10 · 28 October 2021]

There's plenty said already about this series' negative and positive aspects so rather than repeating them for the sake of sharing my own views, I'll simply add that there's barely enough story to cover 6 episodes, let alone 10.

There's large sections of unnecessary dialogue and the pacing is just far too slow. It would be fine if there was enough plot going on but there isn't. I think it was a big mistake to make this story 10 episodes. It really feels as though there was a management decision to make it a 10 parter when there simply wasn't enough story there.

Episode 7 for example contained 20 minutes of completely unnecessary dialogue before anything actually occurred. The rest of the episode was good. It was a chore to sit through at times. It does make one un-invest in the story and characters. Just get on with it. It's all building to a rather predictable confrontation and yet we must wait so long for it.

Personally, I felt that the first two episodes were the best when we didn't quite know what was going on. Once the reality of the story is uncovered it lost much of its intrigue as this has been done many times before, going back to King's original Salem's Lot.

Well made but is visually consistently gloomy to the point of being silly.

Adrien Brody's confident but one note performance was not enough to hinge the series on. There's really no other characters of note to care for unfortunately.

Worth watching and might feel fresh if you haven't seen a lot of films of this type before but its certainly nothing new.

Midnight Mass, which was released at approximately the same time and covered some similar ground and is also slow and wordy in parts, is far more interesting, with less episodes and is better made. Recommend that one over this.

Failing that, check out some classics like Near Dark, Interview with the Vampire, Dracula from 1992 or even Fright Night from the mid 80s, which is a lot of fun. No need to watch 10 episodes when you can watch several films and be hugely entertained.

At least they didn't freaking sparkle.

Atmospheric, potent.

[chaakar · 9/10 · 30 August 2021]

On episode 4 (but IMDb won't let me rate it yet for some reason) where it seems the show begins to really pick up. Haven't ever read any Stephen King, and I've liked some of his previous TV adaptations, some not so much. In this one, so far, things have been layered on to the drama/mystery very nicely, creating a very dark cool & creepy atmosphere.

No complains about the acting/dialogue from me at all yet, some people will complain about anything though.

Very very much looking forward to how it proceeds!

Slow but enticing.

[sthomo12 · 7/10 · 24 August 2021]

Only 3 episodes in so will update later.

Huge fan of the original novella and author-and not disappointed in the effort so far. Slow burn into madness is the perfect pace for this Lovecraftian gothic nightmare. I think the house could have been better treated as a character itself-it is a little plain and has no discernible menace. Indeed much of the landscape which is so rich usually in King's books hasn't really been given much graft. But Brody and the rest of the cast have given the characters a wonderful brooding interpretation.

It's best to ignore the review bombs by whinging, bed-wetting incels claiming 'wokeness', being upset by what a character says does not a review make...I have a feeling they haven't read much literature, studied film or studied any actual history beyond reddit and 4chan. If they are to be believed...apparently Hawaii doesn't exist (it does), there were no African Americans in Maine during the 1800s (there were) and women didn't have aspirations, go to college or weren't authors (They did and were. Colleges for women were first established in 1831 in the US . The story is set in 1850). Fairly puerile critiques of a fantasy horror show only 3 episodes in but hey, talent-less losers, unable to create anything themselves gotta be talent-less losers.

Adrien Brody King

[yusufpiskin · 9/10 · 26 August 2021]

Finally someone who understands the spirit of the Stephen King books has arrived. I was very happy when I saw the name Adrien Brody as an actor in this project. My impatience increased when I found out that he was the producer. The quality of Adrien Brody shows itself in the first two episodes.

Waiting for season 2!

[sevplanet-119-485901 · 7/10 · 21 October 2021]

I cant wait for season 2. This is a very good series although it diverted its storyline from the original short story by Stephen King. It may be slow paced, but the thrill and suspense was done superbly.

Phenomenal show...

[paul_haakonsen · 9/10 · 18 October 2021]

When I stumbled upon the 2021 TV series "Chapelwaite", I must admit that I was immediately interested in watching it. Why? Well, I read that it was based on Stephen King's "Jerusalem's Lot" and also it had Adrien Brody on the cast list.

I have to admit that I had actually not heard about the show prior to getting to sitting down to watch it. But let me just be the first to say that I am very happy that I did sit down to watch it, because "Chapelwaite" turned out to be really enjoyable and entertaining.

The storyline is certainly based on Stephen King's "Jerusalem's Lot", but at the same time creators Jason Filardi and Peter Filardi managed to make "Chapelwaite" so much more. If you think "Jerusalem's Lot" and add a good sense of gothic atmosphere and Lovecraftian influence, then you have the end result that is "Chapelwaite", and believe me, it works. The storyline is well-written and just as nicely brought to life on the screen.

"Chapelwaite" has a great ensemble of characters that are portrayed well nicely by a good group of actors and actresses. And the fact that there is paid a good amount of detail and attention ot the backstories and motivation of the characters really adds to the overall feel of "Chapelwaite".

It should be said that Adrien Brody is phenomenally cast for the role of Captain Charles Boone, and he is joined by the likes of Jennifer Ens, Ian Ho, Sirena Gulamgaus, Emily Hampshire, Gord Rand Hugh Thompson, Julian Richings and Steven McCarthy. But lo and behold actor Christopher Heyerdahl playing the role of Jakub. Wow, talk about an impressive character and an equally impressive performance of said character.

Visually then "Chapelwaite" is rather impressive. The atmosphere throughout the entire series is just spot on, and definitely adds a great element to the presentation of the show. And the appearance of the vampires is just fantastic and definitely is in tune with "Jerusalem's Lot".

If you enjoyed "Jerusalem's Lot" and maybe have an interest in Lovecraftian things, then you should definitely check out "Chapelwaite".

My rating of "Chapelwaite" lands on a well-deserved nine out of ten stars.

brooding

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 November 2021]

It's 1817 Massachusetts. A boy named Charles Boone barely escapes his father's murderous rage about the Worm. 33 years later, Captain Charles Boone (Adrien Brody) has his three children who have lived all their lives on his whaling ship. On her death bed, his wife pleads for their children to settle down and find a home on land. Charles receives an inheritance after his cousin's death. It's the mansion Chapelwaite and a saw mill in the small town of Preacher's Corners, Maine. There is a darkness there and the Boone family is hated by the locals. Rebecca Morgan (Emily Hampshire) is hired as the children's governess but she's secretly writing an expose on the family. There be worms.

There is some good brooding and it has the great Adrien Brody. I've recently finished Midnight Mass and there is a marked difference between the two. This one is less and is mostly atmosphere. It's based on the Stephen King story "Jerusalem's Lot". It's a bit slow and could probably be squeeze into a 6 or 8 episode series. It could have been done more with the racism. More could have been done with the worms, the book, and the everything. There is suppose to be a saw mill and we never get there. The story feels rather thin despite having so many elements. The thinness can be solved by simply having fewer episodes.

Best horror serie of the year

[rodolfocalzadilla · 9/10 · 5 September 2021]

Well done, excellent acting, music, locations. Is very mature and perfect classic horror.

Not flawless, but would recommend it

[muchobliged · 7/10 · 6 December 2021]

If you're a fan of Stephen King, this certainly has the right vibe. Adrien Brody is very compelling as the main protaganist and he has the right material to work with. The performance of some of the supporting cast was a bit hit and miss, but overall pretty good. I liked the story for the most part. There is some unnessecary fluff here and there that could've been trimmed from the script, maybe even one or two minor characters, but the show doesn't lose track of the main plot and keeps it's momentum. If you're a fan of a bleak, desaturated visual style, you're in for a treat: everything looks delightfully gloomy. In a couple of scenes, the moon looked cartoonishly large though. The finale wasn't that great, but not bad either. The ending didn't make all that much sense, and overall, I feel that this could've been great, but instead it's just pretty good.

Meh

[Vercingetorix09 · 3/10 · 17 September 2021]

Trying hard to like it but there are somethings that are making it hard to do so:

1. Brody's gravely "I'm Batman" voice. Half the time you can't understand what he's saying.

2. The modern dialogue and accents are distracting. It's 1850 in rural Maine for God's sake. Four episodes in and I have yet to hear anyone attempt a Maine accent.

3. The constant sour, disgusted look on the younger daughter's face. She looks like she stepped in dog poo.

4. The 2020 political agenda in a series set 170 years in the past. People are sick tired of politics 24/7. TV used to be our escape.

Dark and promising, worth to watch!

[Almost_Soldout · 10/10 · 22 August 2021]

Usually I am not into darker historical series but this one looks very interesting. Intriguing from the first episode. Some twists looks awkward but will see where that take us. Recommended if you are into dark, moody, scary and mystery shows.

Whispering makes it hard to finish. I sleep every episode.

[darrel076 · 6/10 · 8 November 2021]

I don't know if I'll ever finish. I sleep every episode because of the non stop whisper talking. The show is cool and would be great, if only they stop whispering!

Hits The Horror-Bone

[JoshuaMercott · 8/10 · 3 December 2021]

As soon as I heard this show was based on the short story "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King, I knew I had to see it. In the 'writing for TV' room for Amazon Prime Video's "Chapelwaite" sat Jason and Peter Filardi along with Scott Kosar and Declan De Barra. They adapted the book well for the small screen.

Directing two episodes each were David Frazee, Rachel Leiterman, Michael Nankin, Jeff Renfroe, and Burr Steers. They infused each episode with consistent technique and style - the ideal cross-directorial collaboration.

"Chapelwaite" enjoyed Mark Korven's musical scoring - he truly set a grim and dire tone throughout the series. Cinematography duties were divided between Miroslaw Baszak and David Greene - both did great work on this project.

The teams who worked on art direction and set decoration brought the 'place' from the books to life. Their work complemented what production design brought to this project for Amazon Prime Video. Costume design and hair-makeup were just as keen on details. Together, they enlivened the 'period piece' sequences prevalent throughout the show.

When it came to performances, Adrien Brody as Captain Charles Boone was a scene-stealer. His co-star Emily Hampshire, who played Rebecca Morgan, gave a strong performance - she was a writer who started out penning a scoop on the Boones but later became emotionally involved in their future. The kids Honor Boone (played by Jennifer Ens), Loa Boone (played by Sirena Gulamgaus), and Tane Boone (played by Ian Ho) were all natural and amazing in their roles.

Minister Burroughs, played by Gord Rand, was quite good. His wife Alice Burroughs, played by Jennie Raymond, was amazing. Constable Dennison, played by Hugh Thompson, and his wife Mary, played by Trina Corkum, set an interesting tone. Daniel Thompson, played by Michael Hough, was remarkable. Able Stewart, played by Devante Senior, did good work in this series - he was closest to the Boone family, working to keep the mill on their estate in order. Samuel Gallup, played by Eric Peterson, was so annoyingly good.

Phillip and Stephen Boone, played by Julian Richings and Steven McCarthy respectively, both gave 'turning point' performances - they were later discovered to be the vampires who were secretly plaguing the town of Preacher's Corners. One of the other vampires included a nameless woman with a fondness for apples, played by Genevieve DeGraves - she was good in her role.

Leading the blood-suckers was Jakub, played by Christopher Heyerdahl, who was brought to Maine by Rebecca Morgan's father. If those letters she found in the Chapelwaite library were anything to go by, he and the Boones had dark dealings. Christopher was enthralling in his role.

Faith Pringle, played by Briony Merritt held plenty of suspense value - she and her strangely malformed infant. Her affair with the town priest Burroughs held dark intent for the plotline as it progressed.

The entirety of the story in this series took place in Massachusetts in the early 1800s, capturing the superstitious vibe and dark flourish of that era in North America. The show borrows its name from the house/estate that features prominently in it. They also included several significant events from the late 1700s - involving the travails and atrocities of the Boone family - that filled key holes in the overall plot of "Chapelwaite" Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video.

The town of Preacher's Corners was not as sleepy as it appeared. Strange mysteries came to light, most of them not good, especially for Charles Boone and his family who recently came to reside in Chapelwaite. They moved into a place where none of the other townspeople trusted or wanted them. The townsfolk didn't quite care for any of the Boones who resided there before Charles and his children.

It dawned on Charles that he had no choice but to face the dark secrets of his family, whom he never quite knew. Only then could he hope to end the ill reputation that hung over his bloodline. He also had to find a 'book' - occult, leatherbound, titled 'Mysteries of the Worm' in Latin, can only be discovered by a human Boone and not any of the undead - that held special importance to the Boones, and to the core vampiric storyline in the show.

Speaking of which, a different kind of 'vampire' theme - tucked away neatly within the folds of each episode - played out in this series. I especially liked the way these vamps were made to resemble the classic Nosferatu style creature.

The old mining town of Jerusalem's Lot - the one on the title of Stephen King's original story that inspired this series - later became the focus of dangerous 'Old God resurrection' events that promised to break the Boone family.

"Chapelwaite" contained suspense and chill in almost every frame. A handful of visceral and grotesque elements were also present - I loved those, and their realism. The otherwise beautiful song of the 'Whip-Poor-Wills' (birds) held dire portent. The vampires called themselves 'The Promised' and worshipped an ancient deity called The Worm - creepy indeed, and adequately explored.

Charles Boone's sacrifice in the finale episode was overwhelming and surprising. He chose to do something horrifying, all so he could take on the burden of safeguarding the book of the Worm from any future misusers.

The show came close to capturing the frightening tone of Stephen King's short story. This series was certainly worth watching.

"The Worm That Doth Corrupt."

Enjoyable except for one thing

[elizrug · 7/10 · 6 October 2021]

Apple Girl was played by an actress that would be better off in Sharknado. Her looks and mannerisms don't fit the story at all. Everyone else looks like they could be from that era, while Apple Girl gives me plastic vibes, like is the actress the girlfriend of one of the producers? And she had eye makeup on. Come on. Way to ruin the ambiance with her closeups.

It might become a classic

[Dr_Coulardeau · 10/10 · 24 January 2022]

This series is adapted from Stephen King's short story "Jerusalem's Lot," the first short story of the first collection of short stories by Stephen King, Night Shift (1975-1978). That was also the first short story or novel or story about vampires. It is the root story for the later novel Jerusalem's Lot (first published as an illustrated book in 1975) and as a novel under the title Salem's Lot in 1975 too.

The series is very well done, and the story is full of suspense, though we more or less know what is going to happen. There might be differences with the short story I have retrieved from my library but that is not important here.

First vampires are invisible in a mirror. They are immortal because they are undead, which means they cannot die, except in very precise and special ways like being beheaded, having their heart destroyed with a stake, or being burned to death. The vampires here are clearly in agreement with the standard version of them. They feed on human blood. They can turn any human into vampires by making them drink their blood and then killing them. They will be reborn as immortal undead. They hate sunlight and are nocturnal animals or humanoid individuals. They love sticking together and they need a number of dedicated servants to feed them and to look after them in the daytime.

The second element is that the vampire nest is created by one vampire arriving in a human community, and settling next to it, and feeding on this community. This outside origin of a vampire nest is typical of modern vampire stories, though there is some link with the first matrix of this story in modern times, Dracula by Bram Stoker. In America, in the middle of the 19th century, it was rather easy to move around and to be a vampire because of the rather disorganization in the country and even on the continent.

The third element in this story is the house of the Boone family. The main actor is a third-generation American Boone. He is a whaler, hence a ship captain, and has had the luck to escape his own father who wanted to kill him to prevent his becoming a vampire. He was saved by his mother who shot the father when he was in the process of killing and burying the son. The grandfather, the first vampire in the family, and an uncle, a brother of Charles Boone's own father, the second vampire in the family, fake their death and burial so that they could will the estate and the wood cutting business to their distant nephew who is lured into coming back and only finds out when he arrives with his three children after the death of his wife, buried at sea, what it is all about.

He discovers that the house is haunted, in fact, is built in such a way that there are passages between the walls and rooms with an outside rather distant entry and some entries in some rooms of the house so that the vampiric Boones can walk around and they probably hope they will be able to feed on their relatives or turn them into vampires to be able to get the "book" and defeat the master vampire.

During that time, the "father" of the nest has established his quarters in an abandoned mining estate that belonged to the Boones, and he has turned the chapel there into an entirely lightless building, hence a decent home for them all in the daytime while their ghouls are protecting the chapel and the settlement. The settlement is called Jerusalem's Lot.

Then the series is very, Kingian in many ways because it centers the story on systematic opposition and hostility in the human community that has developed around the Boone sawmill and who hate the Boones because of what they call the Boone sickness or plague, in fact, the dizziness and even death that comes from being used at night as feeding cattle by the vampires. The point is that in the community some perfectly know it all, but they are hiding the problem. Many other social evils and much hypocrisy are revealed with a preacher married to the daughter of the previous preacher, still alive, and having thus inherited of the congregation, is having an affair with one of the women who are feeding the vampires with the promise of being made eternal someday. She gets a child, at first attributed to the young preacher, and later to the vampire-master of the mining settlement, which explains why the baby does not have eyes since he is a child of the dark, of the night. This is a metaphor of course.

The most poignant part is that Captain Boone's second daughter, Loa, has a handicap due to scorbutic deformation and has to wear braces on her right leg. She hates it and accuses her father. That leads her to yield to the vampire promise to be safe and healthy if she accepted to become a vampire, which she does, not seeing that it is the way used by this master vampire to blackmail Captain Boone into finding a certain magical book that could bring the permanent night to the place and enable the vampires to become the master of the place and the humans their cattle. And it works. Then the story is simple.

The general fight between the humans from the human city against the ghouls and the vampires, after a successful siege of the Boone house that enables the master-vampire to finally recuperate the book that should enable him to bring the oldest god imaginable, the Worm. Then the vampires and their ghouls go away and start the procedure. The human attack on the vampire settlement is difficult and eternal night is setting in as a solar eclipse by the moon. When that happens, the various vampires give their blood to the ghouls, then strangle them so that they can be reborn as vampires.

To find the ending, you'll have to watch the series.

The last remark is very sad. Only the father can protect his children and when it is all finished, he is supposed to go away with the book and become the guardian of it. Note he has been made a vampire by Loa, and with his own consent. This father goes back to the sea on a small boat. But he leaves Loa behind to be taken care of by her sister and brother. That is definitely unfinished, and that is also typically Kingian. Since this series is so far the first season of the series, there will be a second season one day and we are waiting for it.

Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU.

Talking whisper style all the time is ennuying.

[surfisfun · 6/10 · 3 October 2021]

Very boring .

At ep 8.

Insipid action .

Insipid horror.

Whispering Adrien sound bad.

Eerie Chilling Gothic Thriller

[elliott78212 · 9/10 · 30 August 2021]

19 minutes in you can already feel the atmosphere sucking you into another world filled with smoke and shadows. The pacing is near perfect giving you time to absorb it all from the period costumes to the well made sets pieces. Adrien Brody delivers one if his finest performances as a widowed father with 3 children to raise. The darkness just below the surface in every scene is palpable. Considering the source material is thin and mainly a series of letters. The writers and Producers have done an excellent and believable job creating Preachers Corner and its inhabitants. This a true and faithful Stephen King adaptation. It feels like him and if you watch the original Mini-Series from 1979 of Salems Lot of which this is a prequel the both have that same pace and tone. Be prepared have your popcorn and blanket. As of August 27 there are 4 episodes available on demand. This may be the best mini series to date by EPIX.

Good adaption of the Stephen King short-story Jerusalem lot

[selcho · 7/10 · 18 November 2021]

Good adaptation of the stephen king short story Jerusalem lot.

Who is not averse to the setting of the 19th century. Will have a good time on the show.

Promising but slow first episode

[supermellowcali · 6/10 · 23 August 2021]

The first episode is all setup and not much happens. So far all that happens is pretty cliché stuff. That said, the setup is well done with excellent actors. Yawn. Hoping the next episode lives up to the production effort.

Pretty damn good once you pass episode 1

[edgarkaz · 8/10 · 25 August 2021]

First episode put forth the rest of the story. Its pretty pretty damn good. It gets dark as F quick and its I honestly like it a lot. Watched 3 episodes so far.

Plot hole?

[ChipBach · 6/10 · 4 October 2021]

So.... The book doesn't burn? The house and people do? Why didn't Jak the snake just burn down the house and wait?

Just me?