Todd and the Book of Pure Evil

Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 9:27 AM By: Phillip

Why, oh why, do I always get hooked on doomed TV shows? From "Death Valley" to "Freaks and Geeks" to "Firefly," I always seem to pick the worst possible series' to fall in love with. Current case in point? "Todd and the Book of Pure Evil."

After a bumpy pilot episode, I pretty much fell hard for this twisted little gem. Todd, your typical horny, heavy-metal worshipping, stoner teen, is one of the resident losers at Crowley High. His life seems to be on an even trajectory to nowhere, a place he's more than happy to conquer with his one-armed stoner best friend Curtis. That is, until he gets his hands on the Book of Pure Evil. The Book will grant the user's deepest desires with one major caveat: granting the wish results in bloody chaos for not only the user but for the entire school (think a crazy combo of "Wishmaster" and the "Friday the 13th" TV series). Banding together with Curtis, nerdy Hannah and Todd's major crush, Jenny, Todd must find and destroy the book before it causes anymore chaos. Oh yeah: he's also prophesied to be the Pure Evil One, who will use the Book to destroy the world. Talk about your shitty high school experiences!

Everything about this show is wonderful. Starting with the 3rd episode or so, the foul language kicks into high gear and the thing manages to out-South Park "South Park" with one hilariously vulgar incident after another (the term "shit rooster," a giant cock-monster, two hilariously uncouth British rock'n'roll zombies, a manically masturbating homunculus... it's all here). Best of all, despite the obvious emphasis on comedy, the show doesn't skimp on the blood one little bit: people are decapitated, cut in half, have their beating hearts ripped from their chests, explode in fountains of blood...you name it!

Basically, this show hits all of my buttons in one go: the characters are incredibly likable, including the moronic Atticus Murphy, guidance counselor by day and leader of the school's resident Satanic cult by night; the horror is genuine; the comedy is laugh-out-loud outrageous and the story-line is pretty much perfect. Throw in a fantastic performance by Jason Mewes (Jay from "Clerks") as the school's janitor and a jaw-dropping number of genre references and you have the perfect show for horror nerds like me!

A lot of people might compare this to a foul version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" but I don't think that's quite fair. For thing, I never really cared for Buffy. More importantly, however, "Todd and the Book of Pure Evil" takes a massive shit on "Buffy's" musical episode with their own version, an episode so jam-packed with killer tunes that I actually watched it twice in a row.

Do yourself a favor and check the show out on Netflix Instant. Be warned, however: it was cancelled after only two seasons, the season two finale is fucking epic and would have taken the show into a fascinating new direction and you will fall in love with it. Who's for starting a campaign to bring this majestic motherfucker back from the grave?

  1. Mista PP avatar

    On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 5:52 AM, Mista PP said:

    "British Cockney zombies".... sold, I'll check it out!!! :)

  2. hateyouhumans avatar

    On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 6:09 PM, hateyouhumans said:

    Thanks for the heads up!

    Netflix, AWAY!!!

  3. Phillip avatar

    On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 11:40 AM, Phillip said:

    I think you'll love it, amigo! The first few episodes are pretty crude but once they get into the swing of things, it's an A-bomb of laughs. I think the third episode (the aforementioned British Cockney zombies) was where I truly fell in love with the show.

  4. zombie313 avatar

    On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 11:32 AM, zombie313 said:

    Man that sounds pretty great. I will definitely be putting this in my queue. Thanks Phillip for adding to my already ridiculously long list of films/series to be watched. So much media, so little time.

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