The Hunted: Encore
“In The End” is the season finale of the series “The Haunted: Encore”, ending its second season. It’s directed by Crystal Arnette and stars Megan Dorn, Ned Donavan, Andrew Mayer, John Steven Gardner, Robert Chapin, and Liz Damuth, and is a fun mix of music and horror. Think West Side Story, but on one side you have vampires, and the other you have vampire hunters. Megan and her team of vampire hunters are up against a sinister bloodsucking syndicate. It’s been a year since Season 1 and the vamps wield more power than ever. Vampires John & Adam are viral sensations with their super popular vlog & have called in the rocker mercenaries, The Queens of The Damned, to finish the Encore team once and for all. The Queens, however, don’t want just Megan’s blood – they want HER. Meanwhile, the Slayers can’t seem to get anything done. Fearing they might be in over their heads, Bob from The Hunted LA (the longest running series on the net) comes to NYC to whip the “slayers” into shape and take on these rockstar assassins.In this episode, Bob is teaching the rest of the vampire hunters how to fight and hunt vampires, while mixing dance and song, making this a very unique and off-kilter series that you might enjoy.
Firstly I want to recommend if you want to have the full context into what you’re watching that you check out a few episodes of this series. This review is specifically for the season 2 finale, so if you want to have things left unspoiled, go check out season 1. That being said, I had a really enjoyable time watching this short. Looking at the acting, I think everyone had a moment in the episode that was meant for them alone, and all the performances were very well done. The singing and dancing from the characters sounded and looked great. There was great dance choreography, as well the music was catchy and fun. I like the genre-bending with this show because, at certain points, this is a serious vampire-killing drama, but with the inclusion of a lighter, musical tone, it softens and enhances the story from being a typical monster show to a fun “Rocky Horror-esque” series that will have you singing and dancing along with it.
Some of the technical achievements I found to be very impressive was based mostly in the scenes where there had to be stunt choreography, paired with dance choreography, while at the same time, focused and detailed camerawork so be able to showcase everything happening in that one shot. Not only was I impressed that they could fit so much into one scene, but have it be executed so professionally really enhanced the episode and made it feel like a finale. People who have been watching this show already I believe will be very pleased with how this season ended, and people who are being introduced with this episode will want to go back to binge watch the other seasons.
“In The End” was a technically impressive finale that has impressive music and dances, but holds true to its ass-kicking roots of being a modern take on vampire hunting. If you like genre-bending shows that aren’t afraid to take risks than definitely check out “The Haunted: Encore”.
