Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Review: 5 Ups & 4 Downs

4. The Surprisingly Mature Tone

If you didn't pay too much attention to the show's trailers, you might be a little surprised at just how dark, twisted and "mature" the new Sabrina is.

Far from the goofy, child-friendly nature of the 90s series, this version freely indulges in brutal murder (complete with buckets of gore), frequently engages with teen sexuality and broaches complex emotional themes that are far more likely to appeal to adults than youngsters.

Crucially, however, the show manages a fine balance between its more horrifying moments and its lighter ones, with some deliciously dark patter emerging through the dynamic between Aunt Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Aunt Zelda (Miranda Otto) in particular.

It never gets too grimdark nor too goofy, and even the aforementioned high-school melodrama can't fully deny its adult appeal.

If the writing has its uneven tendencies, the characters at least feel like fully-formed people, and Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch) in particular is a huge improvement over his stereotypical dumb jock equivalent from the previous show.