Homecoming
This episode is directed by Joe Dante whose career peaked with The Howling and has been on a long slide ever since. Homecoming has the same problem as much of Dante's directorial work, it's just kind of dumb. The basic idea of dead soldiers coming back to life so that they can vote against the administration which sent them to their death is too crudely politically manipulative, and the lead characters are like cardboard cutouts and the actors just can't make them terribly convincing. The female lead who's obviously a parody of Ann Coulter is amusing, but ultimately stupid and distracting. 5/10.
Deer Woman
This one is interesting because it really tries to be different. It involves a native American spirit, a burnt out detective (Brian Benben) and a series of bizarre murders. It's not just a typical horror story, and the characters are surprisingly well fleshed out given the short length. Ultimately I think the plot doesn't actually make any sense, but it at least leaves you thinking. John Landis directs from a script he co-wrote with his son, and the episode has some of his characteristic touches of light humor. I also have to say that newcomer Cinthia Moura is remarkably easy on the eyes. 8/10.
Cigarette Burns
If I hadn't read the credits I'd have said that this was Clive Barker's entry in the series. This story of a horrific rare film, how it was made and the effect it has on people is pure Barker, and extremely good. It's troubling and frightening and even arouses a certain amount of pathos. Norman Reedus is excellent in the lead. He's an actor to watch. Look for him in The Notorious Bettie Page when it hits your video store later this year. Ah, I forgot the amazing thing about this episode. Clive Barker didn't write or direct it. It's written by the relatively unknown but currently very hot team of Drew McWeeny (can that be his real name?) and Scott Swann. And it's directed by John Carpenter, who I think may have managed to do successfully here what he failed to do in Prince of Darkness - explore the impact of exposure to pure evil on human lives. This is the best directorial work Carpenter has done since The Thing. His four year break after the abyssmal Ghosts of Mars seems to have been good for him. 10/10.
Fair Haired Child
William Malone has yet to establish himself as a great director, but he did show some promise in House on Haunted Hill, and this little story of teenage angst and satanic rituals is fairly creepy and well realized, with the exception of an unbelievably cheesy monster effect towards the end. Actually, Lori Petty (Tank Girl all grown up and emaciated) who plays the mother is considerably scarier than the creature/demon thing. Seeing Lori Petty in this reminds me of Rachel Talalay who directed her in Tank Girl and who's been doing some excellent directing work on TV - much of it horror - since she debuted directing Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. She's due for another shot at the bigtime. They ought to tap her to direct one of these Masters of Horror episodes since women directors are sorely underrepresented - as in not at all. Sorry for the aside, but I don't have much to say about this one and Rachel Talalay is an old family friend who needs a plug. The episode's okay, mainly redeemed by being actual supernatural horror and not another slasher episode. 7/10.
Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
Showtime announced that they will not be airing the Miike episode. It will make its debut on DVD next Fall.
2 - Dave Nalle
Wow, when did they make that announcement? Any idea what they''re going to air instead? Considering the extreme nature of some of the episodes they've already aired I can't imagine that it's just the level of violence.
Dave