Am I Tempted to Sign up for Quibi After Screening 50 States of Fright?

On Wednesday, October 30 I attended a screening of 50 States of Fright, which airs on Quibi. Am I likely to sign up for the mobile streamer after getting a chance to sample a couple of the 50 States of Fright stories?

Well…tempted, yes, but “Will I do it?” is another question.

What is Quibi?

Their tagline is “Quick bites. Big stories.”

Since they sum it up best on their Our Story page, I’ll just share that:

Got a few minutes? That’s all you need to be entertained, informed, and inspired. Quibi presents fresh content from today’s biggest stars — one quick bite at a time. Make any moment extraordinary with incredible storytelling delivered right to your phone. From all-new original shows to must-see movies told in chapters, the next story will always be waiting.

There are big stars, directors, and producers involved in the shows, including executive producer Steven Soderbergh (Wireless), Adam Devine (Bad Ideas with Adam Devine), Chrissy Teigen (Chrissy’s Court), Laurence Fishburne and Skeet Ulrich (both in #FreeRayShawn), Emily Mortimer (Don’t Look Deeper), and more.

They offer a free 14-day trial with plans starting at $4.99/month after that.

The Screening’s Two Episodes

I wasn’t sure how the screening would work. It was only about 50 minutes long. It included two tales from the 50 States of Fright series, Michigan and Iowa, which were comprised of 3 episodes per state.

They started with one that had been released in season 1 back in April, “The Golden Arm” (Michigan). It starred Rachel Brosnahan as “Heather” and Travis Fimmel as her husband “Dave.” It was about a woman so obsessed with gold that it killed her.

The second tale, “Almost There” (Iowa), was one from season 2. It stared Taissa Farmiga as “Hannah” and Ron Livingston as “Blake.” It was about a woman who survived a murder-suicide as a child, but found herself still battling haunting memories and having to face them while repairing a wind turbine.

The second season started on September 28, with new episodes now following every weekday.

The kind of fun thing about the screening was that Sam Raimi delivered an opening message. He explained how there’d be one tale from season 1 plus a new one from season 2, which is now streaming for Quibi Halloween’s quick bites of fright.

Screening Review

After the screening of the 50 States of Fright episodes, Gofobo sent me an email asking me to leave a review.  Here’s what I wrote:

“The Golden Arm” was a little hard to enjoy because really? Some lady is going to be that obsessed with gold and her vanity and her husband is that “devoted” to her that when she gets sick from the arm she refuses to take it off and he just goes along? But “Almost There,” was better. Scarier and interesting. I never saw a horror story set inside a wind turbine before.

I love Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I was excited to see her in something else, something scarier. She was great, but sadly the character she played was a little lame. She truly was so obsessed with gold and wearing a golden arm prosthesis after losing her arm that when it made her sick, she chose to die with it rather than take it off. Worse, she demands to be buried with it and makes her husband promise to do that. When he needs to dig it up to pay their debts though, she comes back to reclaim it.

Travis Fimmel is hubba hubba hot stuff, but his character needed to grow a pair and bitch slap his spend-thrift wife into reality. If she wasn’t happy living within their means, too bad so sad. He just rolled over and gave in, which didn’t make me feel much sympathy for him. And I didn’t like the message either. Her arm was more important to her than her loving husband. That was the most disturbing part of all.

However, Taissa Farmiga brought it in her episode. Whoever wrote that one created more interesting and sympathetic characters. And Ron Livingston was fun to watch too, but Taissa was where all the action was at. As a child her mother killed her two sisters and herself, and tried to kill Hannah (Farmiga) too, but she was able to survive. Now she’s an engineer who’s called on to fix a wind turbine. Can she conquer her fear of heights and face the memories still tormenting her to save the turbine, Blake (Livingston), and herself?

Quality

The episodes were really well produced. Movie theater quality really.

If all the Quibi’s shows are like that, I can see how I could find some enjoyable new content to stream.

However, do I want to do that on my phone? (Not really.)

Other Quibi Shows

50 States of Fright is the one I’m most interested in, however looking at what all they have to offer, I’m curious about a few others too, including:

1. Barkitecture – It’s about very intricate doghouses. I think for dogs who belong to celebrities.
2. Don’t Look Deeper – It’s a sci-fi, mystery, drama.
3. Mapleworth Murders – It’s a comedy mystery series.
4. Murder House Flip – True crime meets makeover. That sounds nuts. This is another show I’ve been curious about.
5. Survive – It’s listed as a tense drama.
6. The Daily Chill – I’m not into ASMR, which this includes, but it’s also categorized as “meditation” and “travel.” I’d try it. 2020 has driven me to look for more ways to relax.
7. The Stranger – An intense thriller.
8. Wireless – A survival thriller.

To Download the App or Not?

I am curious to see more of the 50 States of Fright episodes and test whether I like streaming shows on my phone. I’d prefer the ability to watch on my computer or TV via a Roku channel, though.

Because they offer a 14-day free trial, I will give it a test drive. We’ll see if I feel it’s worth the monthly fee or not after that.

For More Info

Visit: https://quibi.com/

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