APhew
06-08-2006, 01:21 PM
I thought I might chime in about the series. Last year I picked up a movie channel package, just to have Showtime, just to be able to see Masters of Horror.
Overall I thought they did a fine job, but there were definately hits and misses throughout the season. My thoughts on each:
Incident on and Off a Mountain Road - I read the Lansdale short to prep for this. Coscarelli did a find job sticking to the story and adding an interesting part for Scrimm. I enjoyed it and thought it was a great way to start the series. I did have problems with Ethan Embry playing a bad guy, he just doesn't have that vibe for me. (8 out of 10)
Dreams in the Witch House - Another effective little tale, made better by Gordon's sure hand. He's been all over Lovecraft in his career: "Re-Animator", "From Beyond", "Dagon". I think he's been the most faithful to his work and added that extra bit to make things that much more interesting. I enjoyed seeing Ezra Godden again after "Dagon", he's a great actor. (7 out of 10)
Dance of the Dead - I read the short story by Matheson before watching this. Story was great, adaptation was terrible. I didn't enjoy this one at all. Oh Hooper, why must you be so hit and miss? I caught an old Hooper film on HDNet a few weeks ago: "Lifeforce". I remember seeing this when I was a kid and hating it, but as an adult I enjoyed the crap out of it. Back to DotD, I thought the acting was fine, but the adaptation of the story just didn't take it anywhere for me like the story did. (2 out of 10)
Jenifer - I'm a huge Argento fan, I've seen almost all of his films. Suspiria was the holy grail of horror films when I was a kid, you just couldn't find it anywhere. When I finally tracked it down and watched it, I was creeped out beyond measure. It doesn't have the impact it did on me back then, but I still like to watch one of his Giallo's once in a while. As for "Jenifer", it just didn't do anything for me. Love to see Weber cast in all these b-horror movie roles these days, he does a fine job. I just didn't enjoy the story, the acting and direction were fine. (5 out of 10)
Chocolate - Henry Thomas, yeah! Matt Frewer, yeah! Otherwise, what a complete waste of an episode. Mick, stick to producing the series and don't try and inject yourself into it. (2 out of 10)
Homecoming - I'm a sucker for zombie films done right. This definately had a message to send, a very political one, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Plus it was nice to see Dante come back to horror ("The Howling"). (7 out of 10)
Deer Woman - Fun, yet predictable. It was different enough to entertain me the whole way through. Nice to see Brian Benben, I had almost forgotten about him. I have a lot of fond memories watching "Dream On" on HBO when I was a kid. As for Landis, I don't know if he could be considered a "Master of Horror". "An American Werewolf in London", the classic 1st segment of "Twilight Zone: The Movie", and "Innocent Blood" all aren't really horror movies, but comedy's with horror elements. I guess the same could have been said for Dante and his handful of horror fare... (7 out of 10)
JC's Cigarette Burns - FINALLY, Carpenter returns to form. How I've waited and waited for a decent horror turn since "Prince of Darkness". This one was awesome, I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and it was definately my favorite of Season One. (10 out of 10)
The Fair-Haired Child - Okay, William Malone is not your typical "Master of Horror", although he does have a lot of horror work under his belt. I just couldn't see him considered part of this elite group. I must admit to enjoying his adaptation of "House on Haunted Hill", but avoided "FearDotCom" because I just knew it had to blow chunks. That said, I really enjoyed this episode. The story was interesting and it was truly scary there towards the end. Had a nice twist too. (8 out of 10)
Sick Girl - I was surprised to see a relative newcomer to the scene picked to do an episode. Lucky McKee had only done a single horror movie ("May") before this, but it was a pretty good movie. He's also finished his follow-up ("The Woods") but it's been sitting in United Artists basement waiting for a release date forever now. He brought back Bettis, a very fine actress, and she excelled at her part in this. It just had a creep-out factor that was hard to deny, especially if you have a slight phobia of insects (which I do). (8 out of 10)
Pick Me Up - Um, no thanks. Sorry Larry, I never enjoyed your other horror films and this was no exception. I can't count how many ways this concept could have been done better. I really want to read Schow's original story to see how badly this was messed up. I realize he also wrote the teleplay, but something went horribly wrong somewhere. I can see the potential for a great story here, but this wasn't it, not even close. (2 out of 10)
Haeckel's Tale - Who the heck is John McNaughten? Oh, I see, he did "Henry: Portait of a Serial Killer". I guess that automatically makes him a Master of Horror. I thought Rémy Belvaux's "Man bites Dog" was twice as effective and chilling. Mick Garris adapted a short story by Clive Barker... and I can only hope that Barker's story is somewhat more interesting than this. All in all, it was my least favorite of the season, a complete waste of time. (1 out of 10)
Imprint - Haven't seen it yet, anxiously awaiting the DVD. Miike never fails to entertain or completely shock his audience, so I'm pretty excited to see this. It's unbelievable that Showtime would cut this entry. Hello? You're a pay channel? How horrific does something have to be to not be shown on Showtime? I guess I'll find out later.
I'm looking forward to Season 2 to see what all these directors do next and possibly get some fresh blood in the mix too. I have a lot of hope for "Pelts", but I fear if I'm going to enjoy it I'll need to avoid the story and try my best to forget I ever read it.
This post was last modified: 06-08-2006, 03:31 PM by APhew.