TV Review: Los Espookys Are A Cult Classic
Watching Los Espookys, was like watching Napoleon Dynamite film a horror scene. It was deadpan perfection. It’s outlandish humor and dry, but sincere approach to it’s characters’ deranged situations makes the show an instant, cult classic.
Watching the first episode, I definitely had “Huh?” moments and eye brows raised as Los Espookys’ dry wit and weirdness is treated with a casual normalcy, similar to Napoleon Dynamite. Here were characters that you would either ignore or even make fun of, in real life, but, somehow, they reflected your own eccentricities and fantasies. You could not make a joke on them because they were already in on it. With this in mind, Renaldo (Bernardo Velasco), Andres (Julio Torres), Ursula (Cassandra Ciangherotti), and Tati (Ana Fabrega) feel like SNL’s version of the Scooby-Doo gang. Yet, this is a likely vibe as Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels are at the helm of its production, while Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega lead as creators.
Los Espookys: Invitation to Set with Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega, and Julio Torres | HBO
As the series progresses you are enthralled and delighted by the “drama” of these characters’ lives. By day, Renaldo, a horror movie mega-fan, leads his gang of friends to create fake, horror scenes for paying clientele. From a fake exorcism for a priest to a haunted house for a potential heir, audiences will be completely bemused by their absurd dedication to making gory films a real-life business. Yet, it is each characters’ personal dilemmas that give Los Espookys a fresh heart. This is especially true thanks to Julio Torres, and how he has created one of my favorite characters/ obsessions through Andres.
A chocolate empire heir that threatens his dental enemies by claiming he will start production on “sugar-free” chocolates!!!!!!! YOU HAD ME AT HELLO, SIR! Andres is a ripe mix of gothically camp and aridly dramatic humor, which I love. Moreover, his love/hate relationship with cookie heir Juan Carlos (Jose Pablo Minor) will make you burst in petty giggles. Still, the char Andres and all of these characters are good, kind people trying to figure out their place in love and life. Fabrega’s Tati steals laughs with her airhead/ enlightened demeanor, which makes her fall in love with Avatars in her quest for true romance. Meanwhile, Velasco’s Renaldo is so sweetly obsessed with embodying and imbuing horror into his daily life that Ciangherotti’s Ursula feels like his co-captain/ the group’s emotional solidity. Add Fred Armisen as the noble, supportive Uncle Tico and this show is revolutionary for comedy and for Latinos.
LOS ESPOOKYS Official Trailer (HD) Fred Armisen HBO
ALERT! I am bringing it up! This show is by Latinos and is in Spanish, but being marketed as an equal to American, English shows. By all means, it both equals and surpasses many comedies currently on TV, which is why its Latinx representation is so important. For however silly or crazy its situations, each character is portrayed as a human being, not a stereotype, and they are all warm-hearted. There is definite “feel-good” vibe to this show that makes it irresistibly delightful and important in diversifying how Latinx are portrayed. In addition, earns audiences’ loyalty as much as their love; hence, my cult classic reference.
What makes a cult classic? There can be several responses to that question, but one is the piece’s absolute difference and knowledge of its uniqueness. Created by Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels, I can honestly say I have never watched anything like Los Espookys. In being self-aware of its strangeness and distinctiveness, it asks the audience to he willing to step and follow its world: another cult classic move. Some shows pander to mass appeal and mass intelligence: as if it is a set cumulation. Yet, the boldness of Los Espookys is that it expands its creativity and humor to its own liking; conscious that many will adore the show because of it and some will have no clue to its point. Los Espookys premieres June 14 on HBO at 11 PM.
