Halloween came a day early this year thanks to Facebook Watch and Crypt TV who hosted a screening of the first three episodes of the new Facebook Watch original series, “The Birch”, at the estate of history’s most famous magician: Harry Houdini.
Fans of Crypt TV will recognize the series’ titular character as it was featured in one of their first short films back in 2017, an original short, which garnered over 35 million views online and earned a Webby for Best Drama: Individual Short or Episode in 2017. It’s easy to see why they decided to go back to the character as well because the short film it was pulled from managed to find ever-elusive YouTube virality with over 18 million views on top of a Webby award win.
“The Birch” follows a girl named Evie Grayson (Xaria Dotson). She’s your fairly typical high school loner but the series quickly builds empathy for her by revealing that the people around town know her as the daughter of a registered nurse who recently died of a drug overdose.
In fact, nearly every character in the show (both good and bad) has a sympathetic backstory. A good example of this is Thurston (Dempsey Bryk), the local drug dealer and main antagonist. While he and his crew of high school bullies are introduced after a drug deal results in an accidental murder, we learn in subsequent episodes that he’s scrounging for every bit of cash he can get his hands on to provide a better life for his genius of a younger brother.
It’s this slightly melodramatic slant tied with the 15-17 minute episodes that make “The Birch” the perfect gateway into the horror genre for younger audiences. The shorter episodes also let the show-runners play around with the show’s timeline as well as the first three episodes all take place over the same few day period but with each one focusing on a different character.
The monster in “The Birch” is essentially a cross between the Blair Witch, the force unleashed by Ash Williams in Evil Dead, and Bloody Mary. Once Evie discovers how to summon her, she heads out into the woods and calls upon her to deliver justice upon Thurston and his gang of bullies.
This scene, in particular, was one of my favorites as once Evie finishes the summoning spell, the trees around her turn from green to a beautiful autumn orange and the lighter she offers as a token is pulled into the dead leaves littering the ground by creeping roots.
“The Birch” herself is a witch-like monster carved into a tree and the suit used in the show is well-made and convincingly creepy. My favorite moments were when characters would look into the treeline and she’d be just barely discernible in the thick forest. I also liked how the show cleverly cuts around the fact that she can’t walk by having her appear in the bedroom Thurston’s buddy Ryan (Giullian Yao Gioiello) before tying him down and ripping his eyes out with roots.
Finally, getting to experience the show with the cast and crew on the lawn of the Houdini Estate was the perfect Halloween Eve treat. Popcorn, bags of candy and blankets were provided and the crisp fall wind we so rarely experience in Los Angeles was blowing just enough to provide a spooky ambiance. It was also fun to walk around the grounds of the estate before the screening started as many of the magic trips and traps Harry Houdini himself escaped from are hidden along the winding paths.
If you’d like to see “The Birch” for yourself, the first nine episodes of the show’s 14-episode first season are available for free right now on Facebook Watch and tune in every Friday for new episode drops.