Review: The Tale of the Dangerous Soup

What are you afraid of most in this world?  Bugs?  Heights?  Perhaps you're afraid of being alone.  Perhaps you're afraid that nobody likes you.  Perhaps you're just afraid of that one constant in everyone's lives:  Death.  Tonight's terrifying tale is all about fear.  Specifically, it's about what happens when someone is trying to exploit those fears.  Submitted for the approval of our Drive-In patrons, I give you the Tale of the Dangerous Soup.  

 The Wild Boar is the most popular restaurant in town.  This is because of their special dish:  The Dangerous Soup.  It's so good, in fact, that people are willing to pay $100 a bowl just to eat it.  Dr. Vink ("with a va-va-va") is the chef at this fine establishment and the recipe for the Dangerous Soup is a closely guarded secret.  What's he putting in the soup?  Why are employees suddenly leaving the restaurant?  What is that strange, winged statue we keep seeing?  I guess the only way to find out is to try the soup...

The story for this episode is nothing all that new.  There have been plenty of horror stories where people are fed a mystery substance that may or may not be made of human flesh.  However, this story doesn't get that bloody.  It IS a kid's show after all.  Instead, we have a neat twist to the story, an original "secret ingredient."  The story and atmosphere were very well done for a kids show, even if the climax felt a bit rushed for time.  When the creepy stuff starts happening, there's a definite surreal atmosphere that adds to the overall experience.

The characters of the episode are fantastic as well.  There's Neve Campbell in what I believe is her first horror themed role who plays Nonnie, a manager.  She does a fantastic job and plays fear very well.  She has one of the best and believable screams of terror I've ever heard.   The best character, however, is the eccentric Dr. Vink.  Vink is, from what I remember, a recurring character on this show and he always has a different job.  The character is absolutely fun to watch as he chews the scenery in every scene.  I could tell that the actor just had a blast playing this over the top nutbag of a character.  Oh, sorry.  He's NOT a nutbag.  There's a third character, the technical "main" character named Reed, but he was just okay.  I felt he wasn't explored enough for me to care about him too much.  Most of what we learn about him comes about through exposition.

I picked this episode to start with because it was one of the only ones I could really remember.  I had remembered being scared of it but also liking it a lot.  I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint.  It had a good story and great characters.  Admittedly, it's a bit slow to start and the ending feels a bit rushed.  However, if you're in the mood for something fun and satisfying, I definitely recommend the Dangerous Soup.