[TV Review] Channel Zero Season 2: No End House (2017) ★★★★★

Margot and Jules in No End House in Channel Zero season 2

Channel Zero No End House is a creepy imaginative vision of grief and guilt.

The second season of the anthology series Channel Zero with the title No End House is evenly intriguing and fascinating as the first one, but with a totally different story and atmosphere. Although this second story is a weird fiction supernatural horror as well, it has a completely different tone and voice and addresses other themes like guilt, grief and loss.

It combines horror with weird fiction elements, surrealism and mystery. But it too has a very intimate way of storytelling focusing on the main character and her emotions. This second season is as brilliant as the first one, turning this series in an exceptional horror series.

The second season consists of 6 episodes with each a duration of 44 minutes. It has a continuous storyline that unravels the protagonists traumas and the weird mystery she find herself in.

Plot

Margot’s best friend Jules returns from collage for the summer. Margot stayed behind in her hometown after her father whom she had a meaningful relationship with had died. Jules wants to cheer her up and together with J.D. she takes Margot out that evening. In a club they meet Seth who tells them about No End House, a house that suddenly appears out of nowhere and has six rooms. Everyone can enter the house, explore it and encounters different experiences, but no one has made it to the sixth room.

On social media he found out that the House is nearby and they decide to check it out. The House is indeed very weird and scary and it feels like a personalized haunted house attraction, but it is much more than that, which they soon will find out.

Why you should watch it

It’s a very private, intimate story about Margot’s loss. Themes like guilt, grief and loss are depicted in an original and creative way with respect. It’s highly emotionally charged, but creepy and scary too. The cinematography, the set design and the whole idea are highly creative and imaginative and are cause for some very weird stuff.

Each room is originally scary, from busts of their own heads, an empty pool with a creepy figure inside, a long corridor with a mirror which hides a very creepy man. A room with a projection of Margot’s film tapes with her father when she was young and finally the fifth room that is the spitting image of her own living room with her father sitting in front of the tv. It is truly a terrifying experience and Margot wants to get out, never making it to the sixth room, so it seems.

Then the real weirdness is about to start. It’s not only exceptionally weird, but scary and disturbing as well, but also very understandable especially on an emotional level. This is when the psychological horror gets mixed with weird fiction resulting in a most engrossing story.

Read the explanation of what happened in No End House here.

The story is introvert and quiet. The cinematography is serene and still and counterbalances the sometimes very heavy scenes with big confrontations, and hefty emotions. The sixth room feels very disturbing, lifeless even, like a still life, a piece of art. It’s a decor to fill the void although sometimes it comes to life in a very creepy and disturbing way.

The horror scenes mainly caused by the Father are very disturbing indeed. The memories that manifest themselves become physical and are consumed by him in a metaphorical and all too real way. The House and its rooms, the first five included are truly terrifying. The rooms are very creatively shaped and the original set design is a wonderful addition to the horror. But the emotional manifestations like Father are not the only dangers that linger in that strange place. The horror is very real and human too and misleading.

No End House is a beautiful tale about complex emotions told with realism and surrealism. It is a metaphorical journey into forgives and redemption that is highly emotionally charged. It’s a story that doesn’t let itself describe very well, it is something you just have to experience and see for yourself, just like Margot.

My favorite part

I loved John Carroll Lynch as Margot’s father. He portrays him so well, he really does come to life, although he actually isn’t. He is a very elusive figure, scary and loving at the same time. Disturbing and creepy but with more to it than meets the eye. His performance does make you feel uncomfortable and wonder what you would have done if you were Margot. It’s horror on a completely different level then you have ever seen and he is a big part of it. His demeanor, his subtle ways, quiet and patient but also calculating, really add to the alluring vibe.

The rooms are a delight to watch. It’s a great buildup to the actual story. Each room is so strange and weird and the hallway was pretty scary with that creepy man lurking behind the mirror. But the real story, that plays out in the sixth room is original and excellently put together with strangeness, mystery, frightening stuff and does play with your mind. If there ever was the scariest haunted house attraction, this would be it.

Ratings

Rating: ★★★★★

Scare factor: ★★★★☆

Surreal factor: ★★★★★

Originality factor: ★★★★★

Cast and crew

Channel Zero season 2 No End House is created by Nick Antosca. The story is based on the creepypasta The No-End House written by Brian Russell. It stars Amy Forsyth (Margot Sleator), Aisha Dee (Jules Koja), Jeff Ward (Seth Marlowe), Seamus Patterson (J.D.), Sebastian Pigott (Dylan, Jess Salgueiro (Lacy) and John Carroll Lynch (John Sleator/The Father).