Director	Thomas Robins
Writers	Paul Yates, Jason Stutter, Thomas Robins	Tweet
Starring	Tim Radich, Nick Blake, Ivana Palezevic, Cameron Wakefield, James Shaw, Priyanka Xi
Genre	Demonology
Tagline	None Listed
Country

Review

Byron is a skater boy out to strut his stuff at a local multi story car park. Naturally Killian has a few issues with skating, long haired youth, and about anyone harbouring a soul he might utilise in his campaign to return to life. Our board maniac will need all his moves to avoid becoming the latest victim as Killian summons up a black car of devilish doom.

For a reason probably only known to herself would be Director Tabetha Simpson has written a play about the Killian curse and wants to put on a production. Keith can supply the music, her classmates can play the characters, and the shade of a Drama Teacher who died in the school theatre will try for Tabetha's soul. Well someone is going to break a leg or something much worse as opening night approaches.

With ten souls in his possession and only one more needed to walk the earth once again Killian targets Jack, whose family fought the evil master back in the day. Is Jack strong enough in the Kung Fu department or can someone else work out how to break the curse? With summer holidays looming the clock is ticking.

And finally we come to the end of season 1 with the final three stories hoping to send things out in rousing style. Something must have worked as TVNZ financed a second and to date last season of the show. I'm not entirely sure about this one, it's sold to Aussie TV, but then again with a dozen or so new digital channels we're looking for fodder to fill in 24/7 across the digital world.

Thankfully this season draws to a close so I can get back to more gruesome and better written horror

The one thing the final episode got right was the score. All sorts of horror soundscapes are covered, from rock to Hammer horror's greatest hits, I was enjoying the music for the first time this season. Which was just as well as the 21 motif, hey 21 stories, got a good airing, and if you thought there might just be the chance of a blue camera filter then you were absolutely right. As stated earlier in this guide, flogging a dead horse, talking down to the target tween audience, go watch some Hunger Games to see what the next gen is currently grooving to. All very sheltered workshop without the decision to go for the jugular in this episode or indeed throughout the entire season. If you are going to play in the dark genre sandpit then for fracks sack take some risks, kids are a lot more resilient than one might expect, and for sure they are more sophisticated this century than back in the 1970s where Killian's Curse seems to have run a ground. Kids now-a-days simply don't get the hide behind the couch during Dr Who scares we all did.

The lead off story, Car, had its moments but squandered any attempts at tension or scare mongering by prolonging a pretty basic setup. There's only so much you can do with a menacing black car stalking a skater boy in a car park. Well at least there's only so much you can do with a limit budget and a safety first attitude. At stages this story threatened to breakout, but you know, try as they might they couldn't take wing. Strangely I must admit to not being overly phased by the demonic vehicle that seems to hoist it's bonnet every now and again in the dark genre, but if covering horror bases then I guess you have to have one.

Young Tabetha Simpson got to face the phantom of the opera, and once again I was wondering if the Writers shouldn't be checking out Supernatural's back catalogue. Sorry the haunted theatre is trois ordinary in the modern era, I really wish they would let the curtain come down on that concept. Interestingly enough a number of modern script Writers have upgraded the concept to focus on haunted movies, no doubt egged on by the bogus propaganda surrounding flicks like The Amityville Horror that rather than having the smell of brimstone about them were stinking of Corporate marketing shenanigans. On the bright side our young Thespians in Theatre can act, something sadly not being the case during Car.

And finally, the unrepentant would say mercifully, The End sees Jack take on Killian himself as the final act in the season. Okay I'll admit the twist coming at us work to a certain degree, though the whole resolution had the feeling of being tacked on rather than worked up through plot arcs. I will give the Writers' their due however, they ensured there would be plenty of scope for the continuation of Killian's war on precious tweens. Not the worse conclusion to a young adult outing, but a long way short of anything we could describe as satisfying.

Well this review just wrote itself, and we're not talking in blood. A real mixture during season one, The Killian Curse proved to be pretty uneven. When Director Thomas Robins got it right I was forced to the conclusion that either he hadn't watch a lot of horror previously or really digs the 1970s and doesn't realise time waits for no man, woman, or zombie. Unfortunately when he got it wrong the show had all the appeal of a screening of Twilight. While aimed at tween and young teen audiences, the Producers sent the ball wide, and missed their target audience who have been rocking out to some heavy dark genre offerings over the past two decades. I'm not going to recommend this exercise in blue filtered meandering, it hasn't worked out its vibe, doesn't know its scene, and for sure shows a sheltered workshop approach to television making. What it has given ScaryMInds however is a challenge, during the next couple of years we will go and find the perfect vehicle for the young adult audience.

ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ...