Talamasca: The Secret Order Season 1 Blu Ray Review (Acorn Media)

Talamasca: The Secret Order is a 2025 horror television series created, co-written, executive produced, and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Little Things, The Blind Side, The Rookie, The Founder, Saving Mr. Banks, The Alamo, and The Highwaymen). It was also directed by Louise Hooper (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Sandman, Holby City, and The Witcher) and Eva Sørhaug (Your Honor, Yellowjackets, Let the Right One In, Manhunt, and American Gods). It’s based on the novels “The Vampire Chronicles” and “The Lives of the Mayfair Witches” from author Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Mayfair Witches, The Feast of All Saints, and Exit to Eden). It was produced by Mark Murdoch (Vikings: Valhalla, Mayfair Witches, Pachinko, and Shetland). It’s in the same universe as 2022’s Interview with the Vampire and 2023’s Mayfair Witches. Fresh out of law school and positioned for a bright future at a white-shoe firm in New York, Guy Anatole (played by: Nicholas Denton from Glitch, How to Time Travel, Dangerous Liaisons, and Eden) is approached and recruited by a mysterious woman known as Helen (played by: Elizabeth McGovern from Once Upon a Time in America, Ordinary People, Racing with the Moon, Johnny Handsome, and Kick-Ass) who is a senior member of the Talamasca, a secretive organization devoted to surveilling the supernatural. His mission is to locate Doris (played by: Celine Buckens from Showtrial, The Ex-Wife, War Horse, Warrior, and Shelter). As Guy is drawn further into this unknown world, he realizes he’s been enlisted for a singular and perilous purpose: to go undercover into the Talamasca’s London Motherhouse and unmask an agent who may be working with dangerous forces which includes the evil Jasper (played by: William Fichtner from Heat, The Dark Knight, 12 Strong, The Longest Yard, Crash, and Prison Break) to bring down the entire organization from within, threatening the safety of the entire mortal world!!!! AMC has really expanded the Anne Rice universe for all of these recent television adaptations. I really like how it’s someone different behind creative for each series. They all have their own unique vibe to them, John Lee Hancock is the one responsible for Talamasca: The Secret Order. This world is kinda caught in the middle between Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches. So it has a little bit of everything and it’s not focused on certain type of supernatural monster. This one has a suspense thriller atmosphere to it. It’s a little bit of a slow burn for the first few episodes but it has a nice overall build up to it. I have never read it’s original source material so I am only basing my thoughts on the actual television series. Nicholas Denton is better than expected as the lead Guy Anatol. He has his own dark family history that he’s searching answers for. He has a special ability that makes him useful when it comes to the supernatural community. It was great to see the talented Elizabeth McGovern as Helen here. She’s the one that’s pulling all the strings but she has her own personal agenda when it comes to this complicated mission. Downton Abbey has kept her busy in recent years but she still pops up in stuff every once in awhile. She was the leading lady in all kinds of bigger projects back in the day. She still looks stunning after all this time. I can’t say much about Celine Buckens or her mysterious Doris character here because it involves a few different surprises and twists but she’s really good in this. The biggest motivations for me when it came to Talamasca: The Secret Order was Anne Rice and the underrated William Fichtner as Jasper. He’s always one of the best villains and his presence takes over this crazy universe. He’s willing to do whatever it takes so it’s an extremely dangerous and powerful role. You never know who’s really working for him and his dedicated team. Jasper keeps everyone on their toes and watching their every move. He’s charismatic and he’s very different from the people around him..The rest of the supporting cast includes Maisie Richardson-Sellers (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Will Brown (Unforgotten), Bryony Hannah (Jupiter Ascending), Tomi May (Justice League), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock), Matthew Steer (Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War), Rosie Mellor, John Henshaw (Ridley), Phoebe Nicholls (The Elephant Man), Joshua Ben-Tovim (House of the Dragon), James Cosmo (Game of Thrones), Justin Kirk (Interview with the Vampire), Eric Bogosian (Interview with the Vampire), and Jason Schwartzman (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). I think I enjoyed Talamasca more than both Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches so far. It just checks more boxes and there’s so much variety in it. I thought it was cool that it included a few characters and cameos from Interview with the Vampire in The Secret Order. My biggest concern is how it ends. I’m guessing it’s going to have another season but from past bad luck when it comes to TV, I’m not the biggest fan of cliffhangers because you never know what’s going to happen. The season finale here leaves all kinds of different things open for it’s future so I’m definitely ready to explore more of this world from Anne Rice on AMC. I feel like Season Two is going to explode right away and it’s going to be a wild ride. This is currently streaming on AMC+ if you are curious about it. It’s worth investing time into especially if you are into supernatural horror, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Acorn Media! These 1080p (2.00:1) transfers on all 6 episodes look great on it’s home video debut. It has stylish cinematography, beautiful locations, and high quality production design that really stand out when it comes to it’s sharp visuals. It has English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for all 6 episodes on this 2 disc set. It honestly takes a few episodes for the audio to really kick in besides it’s soundtrack. All of the dialogue is crisp, the suspense is elevated, and the music has a big boost to it. It has English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. It has the almost 41 minute “Show Me More: Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order”. It has interviews with the cast and crew. It has lots of behind the scenes footage from the original season. It talks about Talamasca always being in the background for the other Anne Rice material but this fully focuses on it. They chat about it mixing police procedure and supernatural horror. They bring up some of the most important scenes and plots that take place here. They go over some of the main characters and what they bring to this unique universe. It shows off some locations from it. It loaded with some interesting stories and info from this dark adventure. It has over 35 minutes of “Decoding the Episodes” on all 6 from Season 1. It has a variety of different interviews with the cast and crew for the show. They break down each episode and they go over all of the important moments from it. It shows how it’s connected to this familiar universe. There’s some nice additional and behind the scenes information during these segments. It’s available everywhere right now in the U.K., CHECK IT OUT!!!!