'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' is more 'horror movie-like' than original series

If you're a fan of the sitcom "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," you'll be in for a surprise when you check out "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," which hits Netflix on Friday.

It's still about a half-human, half-witch high-school student named Sabrina Spellman and her aunts Hilda and Zelda, her boyfriend Harvey and her cat Salem. But this version's a dark, twisted horror series.

"Almost everyone knows Sabrina from the '90s sitcom with Melissa Joan Hart and...at first, they're surprised to hear that there's a sort of more serious, more horror movie-like take on the character. But when they see it, they understand it," the show's creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, told ABC News.

He's not kidding -- this Sabrina finds herself in all kinds of creepy -- and sometimes gory -- situations.

That's why Aguirre-Sacasa, who also created the show "Riverdale," said he scrapped the original plan to have this show be a "Riverdale" spin-off.

"If we had tried to this as a spin-off ... it would've been on broadcast television, and I think some of the themes and some of the stuff that happens on the show might not have gone over too well," he said with a laugh.

Kiernan Shipka, best known as Sally Draper on "Mad Men," plays Sabrina. Aguirre-Sacasa said she was perfect for the role.

"She is very much a teenage girl, but she also has an old soul and she has a lot of gravitas," he explained. "You know, this is Sabrina taking on the dark lord, the devil. You need an actor who's got a certain amount of confidence, a certain amount of poise and that's Kiernan. We want Sabrina to be a role model for young women."