Poking fun at famous horror authors and their recurring tropes has always been popular, with everything from The Simpsons to Supernatural parodying the narrative quirks of writers like Stephen King and even H.P. Lovecraft. Of course, there’s a huge difference between taking gratuitous jabs at a whole genre and actually crafting a loving parody of the things that make this kind of fiction so endearing in the first place, so it’s a shame that so many spoofs are done by people who don’t appreciate what they’re making fun of. It takes a rare kind of comedic nuance to do genre satire properly, and that’s exactly why I believe Channel 4‘s 2004 mini-series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is a must-watch for horror fans.
Created by comedians Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness, who also star in the show as producer Dean Learner and self-proclaimed “dream-weaver” Garth Marenghi, Darkplace is a self-aware spoof of absurd horror tropes in the form of a fake 80s TV series that was never broadcast. Having recovered the completed episodes, Marenghi, who wrote, directed and starred in the project, presents them to us alongside behind-the-scenes interviews with himself and Learner. While the dialogue, performances and production value are all deliberately awful, the program carries itself as a deadly serious endeavor, with Garth and company insisting that Darkplace is a misunderstood masterpiece.
Naturally, Marenghi’s ill-fated magnum opus is a bizarre medical drama taking place in Darkplace Hospital, which is said to have been built over the literal gates of hell. Garth himself plays the troubled protagonist Dr. Rick Dagless, with each episode featuring some kind of eerie supernatural phenomena that must be dealt with by the hospital’s staff. Dagless is joined by his best buddy Dr. Lucien Sanchez, played by “Todd Rivers” (Matt Berry, in the real world, who you may remember as the lovable Laszlo from FX’s What We Do in The Shadows), and the psychic Dr. Liz Asher, played by “Madeleine Wool” (Alice Lowe). Ayoade’s Dean Learner also shows up as the hospital administrator Thornton Reed, which makes for some hilarious visual gags as Learner is apparently incapable of performing when standing next to other actors.
“As a horror writer, I don’t ask for much. I just hope I’ve changed the way you think about life.”
It may take a while to get used to the show’s in-universe mythology, but Darkplace soon turns into an ingenious commentary on the television industry, as well as a satirical riff on self-absorbed artists. Marenghi is clearly modeled after genre legends like Stephen King and Clive Barker, but his pretentious comments make him a hilariously oblivious figure, especially when Holness is acting as Marenghi attempting to act as Dr. Dagless. Holness himself is a tremendous horror nut, growing up as a fan of Hammer Horror films and publishing a number of scary short stories, as well as writing and directing the psychological horror flick Possum. He originally created Garth for a duo of award-winning horror-comedy stage shows which featured most of the same characters, eventually adapting the format for television.
These characters are essential in making the over-the-top satire work, with the entire cast doing their best, or rather, their worst, to emulate an overly ambitious 80s production with bizarre motivations and backstories. Lowe really stands out with her exaggerated interpretation of how a sexist male writer might imagine a hysterical woman (the running gag of cutting back to her crying face after receiving a mean comment is especially cruel), but she also has fun with the occasional display of Carrie-like powers. Berry is also charming as ever as the womanizing Dr. Sanchez, and even Dean Learner gets a chance to shine during a few beautiful/terrible action sequences, though Ayoade is said to be embarrassed by his intentionally bad performance here.
The faux-80s aesthetic also adds to the entertainment value, with shoddy miniature work, odd dialogue and a corny synthesizer score hyping viewers up for a cheesy adventure. The opening theme is particularly brilliant with its ominous chanting of “Darkplace, Darkplace”, and I love how Andrew Hewitt‘s music is said to be based on melodies originally whistled by Garth Marenghi. There’s even a full-on musical number towards the end of the season, though I won’t spoil it by discussing details here.
While the show is mostly remembered for its surprisingly witty dialogue (with highly quotable lines such as “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards!”), Ayoade and Holness also use Darkplace‘s poor production value as an excuse to make a series of highly memorable visual gags. With obviously fake miniatures, laughable wire-work and ridiculous monster designs, it all feels like a loving display of affection towards real low-budget genre productions of the past.
“This place was dark, damn dark. Hence Darkplace.”
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace sadly consists of only 6 episodes, but each one manages to somehow subvert a popular horror premise (everything from sinister newborns to Lovecraftian space fungus that somehow transforms people into broccoli) with copious amounts of deadpan humor. The Planet-of-the-Apes-inspired “Apes of Wrath” is my personal favorite, but there’s something to love about all of these stories, especially once you grow attached to the silly characters and the even sillier actors portraying them.
Much like the show-within-the-show, Darkplace never really found an audience during its original run, only garnering online cult status after a brief stint on Adult Swim and a spike in home video sales. However, the show still works as a short but sweet miniseries, covering a lot of ground during its brief runtime, with mostly self-contained episodes. You can actually binge the entire thing in a little over 2 hours, and it’s currently available on Hulu.
Even so, I honestly believe that Darkplace Hospital still has many stories to tell. The wacky premise allows for all kinds of retro horror-comedy shenanigans, and I feel that it would have been much more popular had it been released today. Fortunately, both Ayoade and Holness have expressed interest in returning to the twisted mind of Marenghi, either with a sequel series or even a feature film, but these plans have yet to materialize.
This particular style of satire might not be for everyone, with the intentionally off-putting visuals and strange format making it a weird little experiment, but there’s a lot to love about this bizarre recreation of 80s clichés and aesthetics. To this day, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace remains one of the funniest and most loving genre parodies out there, so I’d recommend it to any horror fan that enjoys a bit of cheese with their haunted hospital dramas.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3670980/editorial-celebrating-80s-horror-tropes-garth-marenghis-darkplace/
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