The zombie genre had become its own version of walking-dead entertainment. But the new series “Revival” finally injects life into things again.
Far less interested in horror than whodunit-like suspense, it’s a novel twist on a familiar premise, and bound to entice those who can’t get enough of the undead.
Revival trades in little gore, such that even the sight of a person being impaled on the side of a barn is shot to obscure any actual gruesomeness. Its preference is character-driven murder-mystery sleuthing, and in that regard, it benefits from a strong lead performance from Scrofano as Dana, whose personal and professional concerns are soon messily overlapping.
In a TV landscape awash in zombie stories, there’s no doubt that Koontz and Boyce’s venture will have an uphill battle convincing viewers that they should commit to another long-form living-dead tale. Still, their show’s blend of intrigue, humor, and otherworldly mayhem is surehanded and satisfying, and suggests that there’s still a bit of unique life left in this most overdone of horror subgenres.
Read the full review on The Daily Beast.