American Horror Story: Asylum

When I first started watching American Horror Story last year I wasn't very complimentary.  Check that review out here.  After the season ended I had to write a mea culpa.  You can read that here.  By the end of the season Ryan Murphy and crew had completely won me over.  I thought, and still think, it was brilliant.  Now, we come to American Horror Story: Asylum, which just wrapped up it's season. 

How history repeats itself.  I was very excited because many of the same cast of season one were returning, including the amazing Jessica Lange.  Set in 1964 (but really jumping all over space and time), Asylum concerns itself with "horrors of the mind."  Set in Briarcliff, a Catholic-run insane asylum, AHS: Asylum covered all sorts of horrors: Nazi experiments, discrimination, rape, torture, alien abduction, serial killers, face ripping (yes, more fucking skinning.  I am tired of this trend.  It grosses me out.), demon possession, electro-shock therapy: shit, there is even a killer Santa Claus.  A little over the top?  Yes.

There was so much going on in this season, and so much that was totally repulsive, that, again, I really disliked it.  I stuck with it, although I felt that once again Murphy had gone off the deep end and was just throwing as much "scary" shit on screen that he could think of to see what sticks.  I was pretty annoyed for about half the season.

Then, just like last time, something happened.  I got it: I saw where he was going, I saw the bigger picture, and I saw the humanity of the work.  After all is said and done, I loved it.  Not as much as season one, but pretty close.  I still could have done without the aliens however.  I loved Kit's story, but felt it could have been told without the alien element.  I did love the demon possessed Nun however.  More of that please.

Now enjoy the best scene from the whole season.  You are welcome.

American Horror Story: Revisited

 When I first watched and reviewed American Horror Story I was highly critical of it.  It seemed like horror made by people who really didn't have an idea of what was scary.  Characters, scenes, and even music were borrowed from various horror films and inserted into what seemed to be a family drama.

Well as time went on I fell in love with the show.  I loved the horror film references, I loved the completely fucked up family, and I loved Jessica Lange's performance as Constance, the ultimate survivor.

American Horror Story in many ways was a truly brave show.  Not only for some of the crazy things Ryan Murphy and Co. put on the screen, but for the twists and turns and the absolute delight they took in killing off anyone at anytime! 

Central to the series were two relationships.  Vivian and Ben, the married couple dealing with infidelity and heartbreaking loss.  There was also Violet, Vivian and Ben's depressed daughter, and her relationship with the psychotic but looking for redemption Tate.  The arc of both of these relationships plays out beautifully throughout the series and is really the heart of the show.

Then of course there are the ghosts.  As the series progressed it reminded me more and more of Clive Barker's Coldheart Canyon.  The ghosts, trapped in this prison of a house, make a society amongst themselves.  I loved that the last episode was kind of a "Grand Roll Call" of all of the house's otherworldly inhabitants.

Speaking of the finale, I loved it.  I am reading that some people are upset. They feel that it doesn't answer enough questions.  Personally, I don't have any questions left.  People that deserve to be alone are alone, and people that deserve to be happy are happy.  I found it very satisfying and I love that Constance is raising the Anti-Christ.  She is perfect for it!

Ryan Murphy today announced that the next season would take place in a new location with a new cast and that each season would be a self contained story examining some other aspect of America Horror (except Vampires!)  This has also pissed off some people.  Again, I love it!  As long as he keeps the show brave, gory, and shocking I will watch! 

For more info check out this article at DListed.

http://www.dlisted.com/2011/12/22/spoiler-alert-whos-coming-back-season-2-american-horror-story

I love Michael K's writing.  Full of swear words and all over the place!  A bit like mine I think!

American Horror Story

 
I just finished watching the second episode of American Horror Story.  Although I can't say I am completely on board with this show yet, I know I am going to continue watching it, if only to support "horror" on television.  Which brings me to my first point of contention with American Horror Story: it's not very scary.

The Harmon's have recently moved from Boston to L.A.  Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) is a Psychiatrist who must work out CONSTANTLY.  We see him naked (a lot) and he is ripped!  He also cheated on his beautiful wife Vivien (the amazing Connie Brittan).  Vivien walked in on him having a special "session" with a student.  In an effort to repair their marriage, they move to sunny California with their teenage daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga).  Oh, did I mention that Vivien had a horrible miscarriage before the affair began?  And that Violet likes to cut herself and is one Cure record away from becoming a Goth wannabe?  In other words, this family is kind of messed up to begin with.  It doesnt' help that the bargain Victorian house they bought has the local reputation as a "Murder House."

The family moves in and weird things begin to happen right away.  Their creepy neighbor Constance (Jessica Lange) shows up with her Downs Syndrome daughter who has a special gift for sneaking in and out of the house at will. 

Ben encounters a burned man named Larry Harvey (Denis O'Hare from True Blood) who claims to have once lived in the house.  He also claims to have killed his whole family in the house, and that the house made him do it.  Larry tries to convince Ben that he and his family should leave.  Good advice, considering that during the first two episodes a whole lot of freaky shit goes down.

I won't spoil it but let's just say that it includes a lot of masturbation, kinky demon sex, and various homages to just about every horror film made in the past 40 years.  Which brings me back to my first problem with this show.  Not scary.  Copying images and scenarios from other horror films and cutting and pasting them together does not horror make!  And that is basically what is going on here.  It's fun to watch the show and pick the horror films the Producers have cribbed from.  Here is a partial list:

• The Shining
• The Changeling
• The Strangers
• Rosemary's Baby
• Poltergeist
• Saw
• The Collector
• Halloween
• The Haunting
• Pet Sematary
• Ghost Story

Even the opening credits look like a mash up of that show Oddities and a Nine Inch Nails video.  The music is ripped off of other films such as Vertigo and Psycho.  Because I have seen all of this before nothing is making me jump, nothing is sending chills down my spine.  And it's too bad, because this show has a lot of other things going for it.  Jessica Lange is brilliant as Constance.  She deserves an Emmy for her mysterious yet sympathetic performance.  Same goes for Connie Brittan.  When she was confronting her husband about his affair in the first episode it brought tears to my eyes.  The show looks amazing, and the score, although recycled, it very good.  I don't know how they are going to sustain this story throughout the entire season, and I hope the Producers have an end game planned.  So far this is seeming a little Lost to me.  Let's also hope that the Producers try to infuse the show with a little more originality. Then it might get really scary.