Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
Netflix | Instant Video | DVD
Directed by James Genn, James Dunnison, Craig David Wallace, David Winning, Warren P Sonoda
Starring Alex House, Maggie Castle, Bill Turnball, Melanie Leishman, Jason Mewes, Chris Leavins, Dan Petronijevic, Steve Arbuckle, Norman Yeung
Frantic Films and Pure Evil Productions
Originally Aired: September 29, 2010

Have you missed the good ole days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV, as we deal with our Scooby gang dealing with the monster of the week along with an overarching storyline? Well I have some good news for you: there is something out there to whet your whistle. How about we add some over the top gore and humor to the mix — think along the lines of Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead — with an added dash of stoner buddies and heavy metal. Well I can say that Todd and the Book of Evil, is a nice mix of all those things and more.

The show is a Canadian TV show that I first heard about while browsing through an issue of Geek Magazine. It’s based on a 18-minute short that was directed by Craig David Wallace, and written by Wallace and Max Reid. And luckily for those that can wait, guess what’s on Netflix Watch Instantly? I am guessing it was edited for TV, strong language, and more, but luckily it’s all there on Netflix.

It revolves around Todd (played by Alex House) and his best friend Curtis (Bill Turnball) who like to smoke pot and listen to heavy metal and dream of making it big one day. And like most high school guys, he is dreaming of hooking up with the rocker girl of his dreams, Jenny (Maggie Castle). And with that, he gets a visit from a magical book, The Book of Pure Evil, which grants him his wish to be a metal god, but also unleashes a fury that almost kills his friends.

As he escapes the power of the book, they spend the rest of the episodes tracking down the book as it finds people who want help in various situations, normal high school stuff, but it doesn’t always end up as they had hoped. But to make their journey difficult, they are also dealing with a guidance counselor, Atticus (Chris Leavins), who has family ties to Satanism and also wants to control the book and prove to his dad that he is worthy. But the gang not complete, until we add the nerdy girl, Hannah (Melannie Leishman) and Todd’s personal guru, in a ways, Jimmy (played by Jason Mewes, Clerks).

And much like the shows in the past few years, they seem to go all over the place with the topics, we have episodes about homosexuality, fat people, giant cock monster (yeah it’s what you think), environmentalism, loneliness, teen pregnancy, and of course, a heavy metal musical, which reminds me, I need to find the music from this episode somewhere.

It’s a wild, crazy, and very funny show, and it looks like it only lasted 2 seasons before it got cancelled, and with the episodes being only 22 minutes, you can pretty much breeze through it very fast. Will need to eventually buy this series, for when it’s off Netflix, I can still enjoy it.

And if you still want more after all of that, be sure and check out the official website, where you can get even more behind the scenes info and news about the show.

Trailer