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In his early acting days, Josh Hartnett captivated audiences with standout roles in ’90s films like “The Virgin Suicides” and “The Faculty.” Following a hiatus from the limelight, Hartnett has made a thrilling return, featuring in the Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” and portraying a beguiling serial killer in M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming 2024 thriller “Trap.”
Fans yearning for another intense performance by Josh Hartnett should delve into the gothic horror series “Penny Dreadful,” which aired on Showtime from 2014 to 2016. Crafted by John Logan and produced by Sam Mendes, “Penny Dreadful” draws its title from the sensational and eerie serialized tales popular in 19th-century Britain. The series is a rich tapestry of iconic fictional figures, including Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Abraham Van Helsing (David Warner), Henry Jekyll (Shazad Latif), as well as Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his Creature (Rory Kinnear), among others.
In “Penny Dreadful,” Hartnett embodies Ethan Chandler, a gunslinger who escapes his tumultuous history in America to perform in a traveling Wild West show set in Victorian England. In the debut episode, “Night Work,” Ethan finds himself enlisted by the enigmatic Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and her affluent patron Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) for a covert mission in London, culminating in the grisly annihilation of a vampire lair. This mission entangles Ethan in a shadowy realm of demons, immortals, and mad scientists, marking the beginning of his nocturnal adventures.
The show is a deliciously dark gothic drama brimming with sensuality and violence, akin to a modern iteration of a classic Hammer Horror film electrified and revived on Dr. Frankenstein’s table. Spanning 27 binge-worthy episodes over three critically lauded seasons, “Penny Dreadful” maintained a consistent approval rating, never falling below 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. The series was also accompanied by a 2020 spin-off miniseries, “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.”
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times noted the show’s uniqueness compared to other supernatural series like “The Walking Dead,” observing, “Oh dear; another show to add to our ever-growing guilty-pleasure lists.” Meanwhile, Brian Lowry from Variety lauded the premiere as “Solidly entertaining, well cast[,] and oozing with atmosphere.”
Penny Dreadful ran for three critically acclaimed seasons
Showtime
A sinfully delicious gothic drama teeming with sex and violence, “Penny Dreadful” is like a modern update of a classic Hammer Horror film — if that Hammer Horror film was struck by lightning and resurrected on Dr. Frankenstein’s slab. “Penny Dreadful” ran for 27 extremely bingeable episodes across three critically acclaimed seasons (plus a 2020 spin-off miniseries, “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”), with the main series never dipping below an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times argued that “Penny Dreadful” was distinct from contemporary supernatural shows like “The Walking Dead,” remarking, “Oh dear; another show to add to our ever-growing guilty-pleasure lists.” Variety‘s Brian Lowry praised the series premiere as “Solidly entertaining, well cast[,] and oozing with atmosphere.”
Contributing to the second season’s perfect RT score, Maureen Ryan at HuffPost noted Hartnett’s performance, saying, “He could do fabulous things in tender moments and also take charge of big set pieces.” She then concluded that “[‘Penny Dreadful’] somehow manages to be an escapist pleasure full of Dickensian interiors and lush paeans to pleasure and gore.” Mark Perigard admired the globetrotting third season’s set work in the Boston Herald, calling it “Unparalleled. This season the bright oranges and yellows of the Old West make for a welcome contrast to the washed-out blues and grays of Old London.” For fans of horror, “Penny Dreadful” should not be passed over.
“Penny Dreadful” is streaming on Amazon Prime and Paramount+.
