Crazyhead (TV)

(2016)
Created and Written by Howard Overman
Starring Clara Theobald, Susan Wakoma, Arinze Kene, Lewis Reeves, Riann Steele, Tony Curran, Lu Corfield
IMDB Entry

There’s so much good TV around these days that some excellent shows get lost in the shuffle. I didn’t hear about Crazyhead until recently, and when I discovered it was written by Howard Overman of Misfits  (the best superhero show ever broadcast), I knew I had to watch it.

The story starts out with Amy (Clara Theobald), who works at a bowling alley and has been having some strange visions. She thinks she’s cracking up until she runs into Raquel (Susan Wakoma), who sets her straight:  the two of them have the ability to see demons, who possess humans, killing them. Amy’s best friend Suzanne (Riann Steele) is one of them, and they have to perform an exorcism, which goes horribly wrong. But they discover that Raquel is an essential element of a plot by Callum (Tony Curran) to set loose the gates of hell and release demons into the world.  Callum also is Raquel’s psychologist, and uses this to keep one step ahead of them.  The enlist Jake (Lewis Reeves), a guy from work who has a crush on Amy as their ally, while keeping everything secret from Raquel’s brother Tyler – who Amy is attracted to.

The parallels to Buffy the Vampire Slayer are clear, and the show is much like it, with a sense of humor about everything, like the demon Mercy (Lu Corfield) who has taken over a single mother and laments having to get a babysitter when she goes out to destroy the world. 

Susan Wakoma is just plain terrific as Raquel – blunt, foul mouthed, and strongly opinionated.  She won an award for best performance and certainly deserves it.

Clara Theobald is very good as Amy, a voice of reason against Raquel’s wilder side.  Tony Curran makes a great villain – devious but capable of getting off some very good lines.

The show ran for six episodes, finishing the first story arc. Unfortunately, it was not picked up for a second season. But it’s available on Netflix and is extremely good. Not quite Misfits (but that’s  hard to top), but an excellent supernatural comedy horror show.