Thanks everyone for watching, just a few things to add as I've read some comments.

There are various other enemies in elden ring itself that I find way scarier than the Untouchables, eg the revenants or the worm faced guys. Would have been good to mention them in the video as it makes the Untouchables a lot more underwhelming.
You can also run from them which I forgot to add, again, it makes them more underwhelming.

And as an overall judgement I actually do like the DLC quite a lot. There were a few aspects that seemed unfinished but I liked the final boss and most of the areas were fun, Abyssal Woods was my biggest disappointment, though I know a few of you found the DLC overall disappointing.

I was so disappointed when I realized theres nothing huge roaming the woods. Nothing hiding in the trees. Nothing being actually dangerous in there. Just the same enemies over and over again. The moment I saw that ghostly knight in Midras Manse I knew it was over. This couldve been the coolest area in the entire game but sadly it doesn’t feel finished at all.

The weird thing about the Abyssal Woods is that like what it TRIED to do seemed like it was already done much better by like that foggy area in the Plateau with the worm-faces, it was a foggy area with strong, "What the eff is that" enemies that are weird and scary encounters that you feel better avoiding...
Actually, even the Limgrave woods did it better with the Rune bears, though thats more of a panic moment than a horror thing

the messages at the beginning made the area feel like a roblox horror roleplay map:face-purple-crying:

this area is one of my favorites in the DLC, just visually and atmospherically, but even i can admit it's lacking... when i first entered, i was scared shitless by torrent running off and all the ominous messages, and even the gardens of eyes freaked me out to a degree, but then i realized that was it??? it was so much scarier before i knew the extent of it, whatever i could imagine in my mind was worse than what actually lurked there. still, even though it's largely barren and repetitive, it holds a special place in my heart :)

Paradoxically I find the untouchables less scary than other fromsoft enemies BECAUSE the game doesn't expect you to be able to kill them, because they're "untouchable" and everything in the game screams that you shouldn't fight them, it just becomes a stealth section, with some cool mix ups sure, with the one in the fog you can't really avoid and the eyestalks that alert them if you brush against it, but a stealth section nonetheless, with you waiting around to dash from one bush to the next and avoid them. I find things like the Deep Accursed, Revenants, hell even the og Winter Lanterns much more terrifying, because if you can fight them, fromsoft is more likely to put you into a situation where you HAVE to fight them. That section in Elphael with tons of Revenants fills me with so much more dread than the Abyssal Woods ever did.

I understand the criticisms, but it made me realize just how much the music carried the atmosphere and made this area successfully one of the scariest places in any souls game for me. Just because the OST, and its alien hopeless empty terror incarnated in these dissonant choirs , knowing the whole shabriri story and what happened to the merchants, atmosphere and context matter and I think those were nailed here. Just wanted to point that out

I think it's interesting that the Frenzied Flame is seemingly Torrent's antithesis. Sure, one could make the argument for his absence in the Abyssal Woods being a result of his equine nature, with horses being so easily spooked and all. But in the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina finds Torrent's ring among the ashes, seemingly discarded by an ungrateful new lord. Not only does Torrent reject the presence of Frenzied Flame, but it seems that the flame sees no use for him either.
If I'm missing anything that harms this theory, or adds to it, let me know!

The bodies outside the manse aren't actually praying or begging. They've been lined up in a row and executed by the hornsent. which does add to the lore and environment, but that's really all this area has other than midra...

Blame the lore for that. The Abyssal Woods perfectly summarizes what will happen to the world should you get the Frenzied Flame ending. There won't be giant Lovecraftian monsters jumping out of ash piles. There will just be...... nothing.

I feel that the experience of the woods has really strong bookends. The first few minutes are great, and then the last few against Midra and great as well. But anything in between is meh at best

Imagine if the area opened with the sight or a cutscene of one of the hornsent being caught by something and corrupted into… something else entirely.
Or maybe the amalgamations of living beings being burned away into single entities. Or one of those hippos with its head replaced instead with an orb of frenzy flame contorting its body at unnatural angles.

An easy way to fix this is to put a png of analog horror smiling man in there and having it chase you around, that would make it much scarier

Since you mentioned it, you should do a video on how Red Dead Redemption 2 succeeded on horror, specifically the mission "Country Pursuits" but there are a lot of moments to talk about.

5:42 Frenzied Royal Revenants that appear out of the ground once you get close enough as they do would have absolutely terrified me. Doubly so if they also showed up with the Winter Lanterns when you fail the stealth

This video basically sums it all up perfectly. The first time I went to the woods I was incredibly on edge, I mean I didn't even know this area existed and was a bit underleveled (Only got through ol' Jori by the skin of my teeth and through lady luck's kindness) and suddenly ended up in a place that looked straight out of those creepy European fairy tales my grandma told me. I remember almost permanently being crouched, carefully creeping forwards and checking all sides expecting to be jumped by some "frenzied ass-eater" at any moment, and then...

Nothing. Got the map, ran into the winter lanterns (And as you point out, my reaction was more "Ah not these shits again" and less "Aw nawr the horror"), ran past the winter lanterns, spent ten minutes in the manse, and that was that.

I'm not even a fan of horror, and even I felt a bit blue-balled.

They didn't even allow us to buy Midra's rag, I just wanted a King in Yellow cosplay. And a plant/treeform but all St Trina had to give is a flower that is not even taking the all head of the Tarnished

Let it be clear that this zone is phenomenal upon first time, with no knowledge/walkthrough to guide you beforehand. The atmosphere, the uncertainty, the messages scattered at the starting area that emphasize stealth and non-combat approach, it all makes your hair stand. Eventually facing the creature and their invincibility ramps up the horror, not knowing how to escape until it is too late. It then makes you paranoid as you travel the woods, just hoping to not encounter them. Hell, even the Sight of Grace didn’t feel reassuring, as the contrast of the environment made it feel as of this light of hope is barely struggling against the dark forces of woods.

Not knowing their weakness before and approaching this zone the first time, it gave me a great insight on just what kind of horror Souls-Borne game FromSoft can cook up if the Abyssal Woods was expanded. Regardless of its flaws, Abyssal Woods was the perfect testing ground for the team to examine how the players approach this zone and the reception it receives to improve upon it in future title.

I just really enjoyed the Abyssal woods 🤷‍♂

going out past 10 in the uk is pretty horrific