30 Coins

[Greg]

I need to see this.

[cranefly]

The director is Alex de la Iglesia, who El Dingo stumbled upon some years ago (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...t=witching).

I eventually watched Witching and Bitching and agree with ED.  Iglesia can do some nice work.

[Greg]

Excellent

[Greg]

What if Guillermo del Toro and a Telanovella had a baby? Well, the baby would be called 30 Coins.

Such a loopy cast of characters. You have a boxing priest relegated to a backwater town. You have the local vet assisting at a bizarre birth at a local ranch. Meanwhile the Mayor, Paco and his wife Merche are caught in what could be a love triangle withe same vet. Lots of wild monster things happen in the first episode. Lots of steamy glances happen in the first episode. Then you have the priest with world class beard trying to talk everybody off the ledge that what they are witnessing are actually demons. It seems he lost his faith at the last exorcism.

You can tell it's a European show because of the subject matter. I mean it's not often on US TV they show a woman's water break, but you do in this show.

It's early days yet in the show so I don't how sold I am on it. It is worth a watch just for the wackiness. And yes there are coins. And they do play a role. Right up front they tell you they are 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas for betraying Jesus. And the quest is on now to collect them.

[Greg]

S1 Ep2. This episode was less monsteriffic than Ep1. It was more low key horror as the local teen kids play with a Ouija board and one of them disappears during the Seance. She returns later but with the power to see who will be having a bad day soon. Meanwhile the love triangle between Paco, Merche, and Elena now has a fourth side with Rourke. We learn more about the shadowy figures who oppose the boxing priest, who is beginning to get on everyone's nerves because he refuses to tell what is really going on.

The episode was a little slow. It relied more on the telenovela side of things than the horror side of things. I will continue to watch because i want to see where this going.

[Greg]

S1 Ep3 This was a lot less soapy and much more horror. It's the mirror episode with a creepy mirror that is making people unhappy. We also learn more about the 30 coins and why they are important. One of the better episodes so far, still a bit talky.

[Greg]

S1 Ep4 After the violent events of Ep3, Elena has had enough of this town and takes Rourke's offer to go with him around the world to look after his race horses. The real thrust of the show is the back story of boxing priest Vegara and how he got involved in exorcisms and why the dark church is after him as well as the 30 coins.

Not a lot of horror in this one. But the show does the different sides. And we get to see the boxing priest box in probably the worst boxing depiction I have seen in a while.

[Greg]

S1 Ep 5 More Telenovella. Come for the nudity in this episode. Vegara is on the run from the forces arrayed against him in the vatican. Paco can't take it being Mayor anymore and Merche is not happy about that. Elena heads off to Paris with Rourke where they consummate their relationship in a very graphic fashion. But the quest for the coins catches up to Elena and sanguinity ensues.

[Greg]

S1 Ep7 and Ep8 We are done. Had to finish after we saw Ep7 earlier in the evening. Ep7 was going along nicely. We dealt with the aftermath of the shooting in Paris. Vegara gets thrown in a hole for his troubles in Syria. Special Inspectors show up asking why the town is now full of death. Vegara's replacement shows up. His name is Angel. He is actually the devil. Lots of good threads coming into view.

And there is Ep 8 where all the rules are thrown out the window. There is a giant monster in the center of town fighting our three heroes. Then there is a jump cut to fifteen days later where Angel has completed takeover of the town. He has all thirty coins. He holds black masses in the church. He's turned the castle into an abattoir with dead animals everywhere. The witch has caused the entire town to be covered in smoke while some strange blood of the unborn keeps the citizens from leaving.

It's all a mess with logic flaws being thrown up right and left. If anyone paused for a second they would figure out better ways to do things. It was kind distatesful in a way as every scene was drenched in blood with slaughtered animals everywhere for decoration to welcome arrival of the anti-pope to the town.

But there are cliff hangers. It looks like there will be a season 2.