The Horror Of Dolores Roach Review: Things Get Gross

"The Horror of Dolores Roach" is inspired by "Sweeney Todd," and this connection is made literal by the inclusion of a track from the play's soundtrack at the end of the first "Dolores Roach" episode. The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, however, doesn't directly confront the trials and tribulations of race and class today the way "Magic Hands" Dolores (Justina Machado) does. That said, Dolores isn't in control of her actions the way Sweeney Todd is. In fact, at first, she's almost — although not quite — a victim of other people. "The Horror of Dolores Roach" is a horror show, but it's also a comedy, a drama, and suspense, too. This is just one of the ways the show transcends "Sweeney Todd" to become its own thing.

"The Horror of Dolores Roach" starts off with a play about Dolores' reign of terror. People love the play and the leading lady is ecstatic until she's left alone in her dressing room, and who should pop out of the shadows but Dolores. She's prepared to tell the woman her story as it really happened, and we're there to take it in, too.

Dolores, having emerged from prison after a 16-year stint, is not prepared for the differences between the Washington Heights of her past and the Washington Heights of her release. While it was a fantastic place to live then, now it's full of white people with yoga mats and dogs in strollers. Except for one place: Empanada Loca. Dolores learns she knows the owner, Luis (Alejandro Hernandez), from before. In the past, he was just a teenager and she was the undisputed queen of the block, having been on the arm of Dominic, the local drug dealer. But Luis loved her from afar and is now more than willing to let her live with him under Empanada Loca rent-free.

Having nowhere else to go, Dolores takes him up on his offer and she even opens a massage business in his basement. At first, things are going well. People come in, she gives them massages, and then they leave. Until she gets the super of their apartment on her table and he starts trying to excuse his behavior toward them. Sure, Luis hasn't paid rent in a while, but the super's threatening Dolores' livelihood too. So she strangles him.

The next day the body is gone, and when she goes to the shop above their apartment she finds business is booming because of a new kind of empanada Luis is making. Dolores is horrified to recognize that she's the one who provided the meat. From there, things go from bad to worse.

"The Horror of Dolores Roach," based on the hit Spotify podcast of the same name, is steeped in themes of class and race. The white landlord (Marc Maron) and his son (Ilan Eskenazi), the Latina woman (Judy Reyes) who runs Dominic's abandoned pot business, and even the Black man (K. Todd Freeman) who delivers Empanada Loca's meat are all there waiting to be massaged and possibly slain, should the situation require it. But the thing is that Dolores doesn't really want to be a murderer. Or at least that's what she tells herself.

Dolores wants to be a legitimate businesswoman with a great shop — and for a moment she gets that wish. She's also the one who messes it up, but at first, she seems sort of ... justified. The landlord isn't exactly a shining example of an upstanding citizen, and he thinks Dolores is going to give him a hand job, not a massage. Besides, while murder may not be justified, there are many people who will benefit from his demise. In fact, Dolores is kind of happy about her actions until she snaps out of it and realizes she has to find a way to hide the body.

However, she isn't above judging the people who come in and eat the man in empanada form, especially Luis who knows what he's doing and enjoys his concoction anyway. And although she swears she won't do it, she continues to murder people. While at first she reluctantly goes after people who are threatening her and Luis for various reasons, she soon willingly, even gleefully, starts taking other people out as well. Eventually, we start to wonder who the real bad guy is.

This is helped by a trio of central performances that are all knockouts. Kita Updike is fantastic as Nellie, Luis' employee who's good at giving advice about how to change your life, even though she doesn't do much to change hers. Alejandro Hernandez is wonderful as Luis, who is attached to his business but doesn't do much to try to save it until Dolores makes her first kill. And Justina Machado is a stand-out, as always, as Dolores, a slippery presence that she manages to give a heart and soul. The guest stars, including Marc Maron, Cyndi Lauper, and other players, are all great in their roles as well. 

Then there's the strange tone of the show. While the shots of chopping meat and people's mouths while they're eating may make you want to throw up, this is tempered by Luis' various pot experiments, the screaming matches that Dolores and Luis have, and a generally quirky tone that's a feature of the piece. Even the argument by Luis in favor of eating the meat Dolores provides for them makes a kind of sense, even if it makes Dolores ill.

In the end, "The Horror of Dolores Roach" has an interesting take on class and race in the present day and an even more interesting take on a woman becoming a murderer. At first, Dolores' predicament holds as much horror for her as it does for the audience. The way events unfold makes Dolores' fall into madness and murder all the more realistic. Some of the themes aren't hit on the head as well as they could be, or are soft-pedaled a little too much — especially after Dolores discovers her ex, Dominic, isn't as dead as she thinks he is. But for the most part, the show is a winner, even if you have to watch a few people die gruesomely to appreciate it.

"The Horror of Dolores Roach" premieres on Prime Video on Friday, July 7.