When
it was founded, Charleston, South Carolina was open to all Protestant
denominations. It is also home to the oldest synagogue in the United States
that is still in regular use. On the darker flip side, a shadowy satanic cult
operated there not so very long ago. It was led by Maria and David Abascal’s
late but not nearly deceased enough father Enos. Recently, she has had strange
dreams and visions of the malevolent Enos Abascal. It is safe to say they had a
complicated relationship, considering he encased a demon within her. Maria
Abascal is mostly in control, but her relationship with the sulfurous Abigail is
necessarily complex. Still, she does her best to keep Abigail and her more
conventional inner demons at bay in South of Hell (promo
here),
which premieres binge-style with seven back-to-back episodes this Friday on WE
tv.
Created
by Eli Roth & Jason Blum and produced by Blumhouse Television, South is the show we never thought we
would see on WE tv, but here it is. Of course, it has a woman protagonist—or rather
two of them, played by Mena Suvari—which apparently counted for a lot. It also
has Charleston, providing an unending supply of atmosphere.
Given
the Jim Jones-ish notoriety of their father and the dangerous force sealed
inside Maria, the Abascal siblings have led a rootless life on the margins of
society. They mostly eke out a living as exorcists, but Maria is also a
part-time fortune teller, while David is a full time junkie. Thanks to Abigail,
they are quite effective when hired to expel evil spirits. Somehow, Abigail
developed a taste for eating her own demonic kind. Maria is able to harness
that power, but only just barely. Something sinister is afoot, but have perhaps
found an unlikely ally in the Reverend Elijah Bledsoe.
One
episode is hardly enough to support a conclusive judgement, but at least it
leaves viewers wanting more. Logically, it is also helmed by Roth to hook in
his fan base. He rather deftly plays up the sinister ambiance, suggesting much
that will presumably followed-up on later. Suvari has had an up-and-down career,
but she is really terrific as the disillusioned Abascal and the uber-vampy
Abigail. She generates some major heat in her scenes with herself. Although, we
only see him teasingly briefly, Bill “Old Hats” Irwin shows some serious
villainous potential as old man Abascal. David Abascal and Rev. Bledsoe are yet
to be fully developed, but Zachary Booth and Lamman Rucker seem well cast thus
far.
