Disc Reviews

Helix Season 1 Review

2nd Jul 2014

Ronald D Moore’s brings his horror and sci-fi sensibilities to this latest bit of television work in Helix.

It seems in a remote scientific installation in the Arctic has ran into a few issues with their disease control experiments. A team of experts are called upon to investigate the matter and don’t quite get what they bargained for when they get there. Lies, deceit, and a new virus that threatens mankind as a whole.

The obvious comparison here is to John Carpenter movie The Thing – of which Moore had a stab at writing a script for the sequel/prequel (Moore has since said this project is very much not connected to his work on that).

The 13 episode series melds the best of sci-fi and horror together with as much black goo as it can in replacement for blood. This helps keeps the rating down. But the show is also not afraid for its human characters to get rather brutal with one and other to keep the show tense.

Billy Campbell (The Rocketeer, The Killing) is on good guy scientist routine whilst the excellent Hiroyuki Sanada gets to slyly play untrustworthy head of the facility they have come to investigate. The cast do well for themselves. The look of the show is perhaps a little dated looking for what we have by today’s standards – but that isn’t something that can’t be addressed in season 2 which has been given the green light. A little urge in the adult direction might make Helix a keeper. But for now – season one is merely an enjoyable thriller with competent chills and effects.