The Netflix series Archive 81 (Archive 81) is an eight-episode horror film produced by James Wan. In the center of the plot is a film restorer who studies old cassettes with a video diary of an unfamiliar girl. The hero is trying to investigate her disappearance, which happened many years ago.

The Archive 81 series has an unusual backstory – its script is based on the amateur podcast of the same name, which was launched in 2016 by two friends. In fact, they turned to the genre of the audio performance, which in the modern world has moved from radio to streaming services. A series of weekly episodes that mimicked an investigation into the macabre story of a Manhattan apartment hit the top streams on Apple Podcasts.

The series was directed by Atomic Monster, which is owned by James Wan, the creator of the Saw (Saw), Astral (Insidious), The Conjuring franchises, as well as the more recent horror Malignant . Wang produced the project, and the showrunner was Rebecca Sonnenschein, who previously worked on the dark superhero movie The Boys .

The protagonist Dan is a museum employee who specializes in the restoration and digitization of videotape. One day, he receives a private commission from a businessman who wants to restore an archive of cassettes found after a fire. The video collection has been preserved in poor condition, so it will have to be worked on in a special laboratory located in a house outside the city. Dan temporarily moves there, finding himself face to face with material that changes his mind. Being in complete isolation, it becomes difficult for him to distinguish reality from visions. The guy believes that he can save an unfamiliar girl who filmed her kidnapping.

The series combines two storylines that develop in different periods of time. The video tapes show footage from 1994, taken by a graduate student named Melody. She moves into the New York Visser complex to study the history of the place. Melody explores the building and conducts interviews with other tenants, during which she encounters supernatural phenomena. The girl suspects that her neighbors may be followers of an ancient cult, so it’s wiser to pack up and flee. But personal motives encourage her to stay, continuing the investigation.

The events of the present day are interspersed with supposedly documentary footage taken with an old hand-held camera that Melody used for her science project (which, of course, is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project ). The showrunners of the series understand that staring at shaky footage for a long time can be tiring, so they periodically switch to regular shooting, which turns Melody into a full-fledged character of the series.

Among the main characters is Dan’s best friend, who is recording his podcast with mystical stories (a tribute to the series’ masterminds). His name is Mark, and he helps to find information about the inhabitants of “Visser”, who went missing after the fire. Thanks to Mark, the writers are taking a breather from the tension that builds with each episode.

When James Wan is involved in a horror project, he guarantees that horror fans will get a large portion of scary moments. Archive 81 is no exception – each episode has its own set of frightening tricks that will tickle your nerves. In addition to this, the events of the series unfold in such a way that the viewer, addicted to intrigue, will try to “finish off” the entire season in one day.

The series remains fascinating until the very end, where it is finally possible to find out what happened to Melody in 1994. But, as is the case with almost all occult horror films, the plot sometimes seems too ridiculous. Although, it is worth recognizing, there are scenarios much worse.

“Archive 81” wins against the background of other Netflix horror films with a good production. It also shows an interesting process of restoring damaged film, and some of the episodes begin with old footage that mimics snippets of news and TV shows.