By Debi Moore
Season two of Masters of Horror was, to put it nicely, a mixed bag. It ranged from the sublime (Jeffrey Combs' masterful turn as Poe in "The Black Cat") to the ridiculous ("Pro-Life," one of my picks for Worst of 2006). "Family," the second episode to air this season, is thankfully closer to the former. In fact, out of the 13 episodes that aired, it was my second favorite. Between this season's "Family" and 2005's "Deer Woman," Landis is two for two with me, not too shabby considering his competition and the series' track record.
Written by Brent (Frailty) Hanley, "Family" is a taut little tale about a truly crazed individual named Harold Thompson (George Wendt) who lives in suburbia with his wife, Jane, and daughter, Sarah. As the story opens, Grandpa has just moved in. But the Thompsons aren't your typical family; instead they are the product of Harold's psychosis — and his severe loneliness. You see, Jane, Sarah, and Gramps are the skeletons of people Harold has killed over the years; and before long Grandma will be coming home, too.
Just when Harold is starting to feel comfortable with his ready-made family, his outwardly perfect world is shaken up by the arrival of new neighbors Celia (Meredith Monroe) and David (Matt Keeslar), an investigative reporter and emergency room doctor, respectively. Harold finds himself drawn to Celia and vividly imagines her coming on to him, which results in increased bickering between him and Jane.
One of the most fascinating aspects of "Family" is the relationship between Harold and the skeleton that represents his wife. They have elaborate discussions in which she browbeats him and gives him nothing but shit. During these disputes Landis cuts back and forth between a real actress and the prop skeleton — all to amazing effect. The idea that someone would go to such lengths to create an idyllic family for himself and then play it out as dysfunctionally as possible in his own head is a stroke of genius on the part of screenwriter Hanley.
Meanwhile, Celia and David aren't quite what they appear to be either. There's a definite undercurrent of stress between the two of them, and when David disappears toward the end of the story, the audience is kept guessing as to what exactly is going on and who is setting up whom. In his commentary Hanley discusses at some length the difference between the twist ending of "Family" and the flip that he sets up so brilliantly in Frailty. To avoid spoiling the experience for yourself, if you haven't seen this film yet, make sure you watch it all the way through once prior to listening to the commentary.
Article comments
1 - Bill Sherman
Thought this was the better of Landis' two MoH entries ("Deer Woman" kinda bobbled its ending): George Wendt was particularly wonderful playing against type - made you wonder about the real reason we never saw Norm's Vera . . .