Chambers

While much of the teen supporting cast, including Kyanna Simone Simpson as best pal Yvonne and Sarah Mezzanotte as mean girl Marnie, are just right, Rose is flat through most of her scenes. The scares, at least in the opening episodes, rise from jump cuts or dreams. Ten episodes just seems too long for any heart to suffer this story.

It only rarely assumes a form greater than its individual elements and references. There are moments late in the season that demonstrate the kind of gravitational pull that good horror can generate, but for the most part, the series claws at its inspirations, making confused and superficial gestures toward the works it imitates.

By the time all the cards are on the table, the basic explanation is too simple to be satisfying as a human drama and too outlandish for a supernatural thriller.

As things stand, it’s a derivative, badly paced, supernatural slog that substitutes jump-cuts for actual shocks, and Sasha’s extensive nail art for character development and delivers little in the way of surprise – or frankly, even expected – twists. There will be no harm done when this one gives up the ghost.

The best of Chambers would have been better served by traditional feature film structure, or even a less traditional episodic structure (Netflix’s Ghoul did well with a tight three-episode run last year,) but as it is, the series worst elements threaten to drown out the promise of the concept and the strengths of its cast with redundant scares and painfully protracted pacing.

After a fitfully frightening start, the series falls into a kind of narrative catatonia benefiting none of the actors, even pros like Goldwyn and Thurman. ... The show’s sluggish pace often dilutes its sense of dread. The ingredients are there for a loopy body-horror freakout, but this series’ pulse stays damnably faint, even when it should be sending yours through the roof.