The Ghost Bride: Season 1 – Netflix Series Review

THE GHOST BRIDE is a new Netflix series in the supernatural drama genre. It does start out as a seemingly very cute story but this Taiwanese-Malaysian production does have moments of pure horror. Read more in our The Ghost Bride Season 1 review here!

The Ghost Bride is a new Netflix original series by Malaysian directors Quek Shio-chuan and Ho Yu-hang. The story takes place in the 1890s Malacca and we’re in the horror-drama hybrid genre with lots of supernatural elements. Kai Wu is the writer of this Netflix series and he has worked on US series such as Hannibal and The Flash.

Fair warning, episode 1 of The Ghost Bride starts out in a way that did not work for me at all. Fortunately, the ending is better and shows more of the stuff from the trailer.

More on this if you continue reading our season 1 review of The Ghost Bride below. Or you can simply check it out on Netflix now!

Modern pop music in the 1890s

I know, I know, I’m just getting old and am not “jiggy with it” at all. The kids still say that, right?! I’m kidding, of course. Mostly anyway.

But I am not kidding about the fact that I really do not understand why a modern pop song is in this Netflix series. Just as we’re being introduced to Malacca in the 1890s, a modern pop track starts playing. This does not work for me in any way, shape of form. And this is during the first part of The Ghost Bride episode 1.

Honestly, I wanted to just stop watching this Netflix series all together. It felt like I was watching some weird teen rom-com that just wanted to use pretty costumes. However… this does change by the final half of the first episode.

Asian horror on Netflix

I do love a lot of Asian productions and have a very public love of South Korean productions in particular. I also loved the HBO horror anthology Folklore which had episodes from various Asian countries.

You might like: Our Season 1 review of the South Korean Netflix zombie series The Kingdom here >

The Ghost Bride does remind me of some of the better Asian horror movies I have watched. Mostly those from Taiwan, Malaysia or Indonesia. Okay, it’s no Satan’s Slaves or anything, but it does use horror elements in the right way.

Also, there’s an element of mystery. The main protagonist, who is asked to marry the deceased son of a wealthy family, is tasked with finding his killer. Yes, the possible “ghost husband” asks her to find the person responsible for his death. If she does not succeed, he will make sure her father never wakes up from the coma he’s in.

Sounds like a lovely guy, right?!

Watch season 1 of Ghost Bride on Netflix now!

This new Netflix series is based on Yangsze Choo’s novel of the same name. I know nothing about this book, so I can’t tell you if it’s a good or direct adaption. What I can tell you is that it’s made by an all-Malaysian crew, which I do think is quite awesome.

Overall, this new Netflix series is a “light” horror version of a story with an emphasis on storytelling in a fairytale style. This is not bad, but it’s not my preference. For this reason alone, The Ghost Bride is not one of my new favorite shows. However, I can easily imagine that it can find a huge audience on Netflix.

Season 1 of The Ghost Bride has just 6 episodes. Or actually, it’s officially called “Volume 1 of The Ghost Bride” which makes it sound like a “volume 2” is already in the making. Anyway, each of the six episodes in this first round has a runtime under the one hour mark. If it’s to your liking, then you can watch it relatively fast.

The Ghost Bride is out on Netflix with season 1 from January 23, 2020.

Details

Directors: Quek Shio-chuan & Ho Yu-hang
Stars: Huang Peijia, Wu Kang-jen, Ludi Lin, and Kuang Tian.