If you’re like me, you enjoy watching some of the best horror movies ever, or perhaps the occasional awesome horror TV show on Hulu or Netflix. Thankfully, Netflix has come out with another excellent entry to this list in the form of Archive 81, a new horror series that shows just how scary the past can be.
This series, using the genre of found footage in a different way than ever before, is phenomenal, scary, and paced perfectly from beginning to end. If you haven’t seen the show, you should watch it now, as it should definitely be your next binge.
And if you haven't seen the show, stop reading now because there are heavy spoilers in this article.
However, if you have seen all of the new horror series, this article is for you. Today, we will be going over the creepiest moments from the eight-episode season of Archive 81 - be ready to relive the fear, my friends.
When Jess Began To Have Seizures (“Mystery Signals")
You know at first, a part of me almost thought Jess was fooling around with Melody in Archive 81, just because she was a younger girl who probably wanted to have a little fun with the person who was taking this so seriously. But that all went right out the window when I saw her drop down to the floor when Melody was trying to interview the girl for her dissertation.
Seizures are always a scary situation for anyone involved, both for the person having the seizure and the person who is trying to help, but there was something so sinister and dark about this moment that I found myself shrinking down in my seat when I saw Jess fall to the ground. That pure look of helplessness paired with her backing up in her seat, as if she sees something horrible, before she begins to seize - ugh, rips my heart out any time I’ve watched it.
The First Time Dan Sees The Child In The Red Jacket (“Wellspring”)
While there were a couple of times the boy in the red jacket appeared in the background in Archive 81, it was the second episode where Dan sees the child full-on - just there, staring, as he’s investigating the woods after some surprising revelations about the tapes he was recovering.
It’s later revealed as to who exactly this is, but come on - don’t tell me you weren’t freaked out too.
That whole entire sequence was framed so perfectly, where we were focused on Dan’s face and body movements, the whole entire forest just brown and grey with the winter atmosphere, and then boom - that little piece of red in the background that draws your eyes in perfectly. It almost reminds me of all the hidden ghosts there were in The Haunting of Hill House. Masterfully done.
When Beatriz Tears Her Own Face Off (“Spirit Receivers”)
This was just gross and creepy all together. In Archive 81, Melody was at Cassandra’s dinner party and asked Beatriz, the medium who had previously predicted that Melody would have bad things happen to her, to contact her birth mother. However, as she’s doing this, a strange occurrence happens - Beatriz starts to say every word that Melody said to Dan in her “dreams.”
After this, Beatriz starts to scream “No!” at the top of her lungs and proceeds to claw her skin, and finishes up by gouging out her own eyes. The very idea of this is making me want to shut my eyes in fear and never want to look at my TV screen again. I’ve seen some gory stuff but this felt so unsettling and creepy that it just had to make this list.
When Chris’ Body Falls From The Building (“Through The Looking Glass”)
Poor Chris. In Archive 81, Samuel (one of the villains of the whole season) takes addicts to the Visser Building and tries to "help" them get clean. Chris, who was one of the addicts, was getting a little too close to Melody as she was investigating the building. When she’s given a shot to get information from Chris, this ends up not turning out so well for him.
Later in the episode, we see Melody accusing Samuel once she finds out more about him, but before this could turn into anything else, all we hear is a big ol’ splat. And then we turn the corner to see that Chris is basically just a puddle now, as he had fallen from the sixth-floor window where he was before. Such a gruesome and creepy moment.
However, do we really all believe Chris would just jump? Come on now, we’re not dumb, Archive 81. I think Chris was just another pawn in Samuel’s game, and his end was sadly unfortunate.
When A Demon Appeared In The Static (“Mystery Signals”)
This was one of the first moments that made me want to keep watching Archive 81. When Dan was first starting to go through the tapes that he was assigned to restore, there’s this particular moment that makes me jump every time. Right after Dan was done viewing Jess’ seizure, the tape goes to static.
Following a series of disturbing sounds, a monster-looking demon proceeds to start to show up in the static, and then a moment later, appears to almost jump up to Dan, causing him to be startled and move away from the screen.
What makes this scene even creepier is he runs out of the building instantly after, trying to call on his phone and struggling to get a signal - showing truly just how alone he is up there, having to face literal demons as he gets through these tapes.
And When The Demon Came Out Of The TV (“The Circle”)
Alright, this moment had me cuddling my blanket for hours. That first appearance of the demon in the first episode could almost be written off as something Dan might have imagined. It was mentioned previously that he had some mental health problems, which is perfectly okay to be dealing with. And at first, it almost seems like maybe he had.
And then this instance happened and I wanted to scream in terror.
As another scene of Melody’s turns to static from the tapes, the demon appears again. This time, Dan tries to unplug the device as the static demon tries to come out of the computer, but this doesn’t stop him - as the demon then somehow comes through the television, one limb at a time, only to be stopped by Dan as he breaks the TV, gets the heck out of dodge and tries to destroy the tapes, before making a startling discovery that progresses the story.
But man oh man, this moment, hands down, was terrifying. I mean, can you imagine, a devil just crawling out of your TV screen? Or your computer? The very idea makes me want to never use any technological device again.
Archive 81 deserves a Season 2 to be honest, and with all those Easter eggs and mysteries left unsolved, I need to see the continuation of this story, and many more creepy moments. If you’re a fan of the show and want to watch other shows that are similar in tone, check out these great picks. Or if you’re like me and just want to re-watch the series again, go ahead and do that too.
