Series Never horrifying, sometimes horrible
I have long believed that you can judge a book by its cover, and that you absolutely should. But on occasion, nature conspires to prove me wrong, and American Horror Story is one of those shows. Drawn in by the fancy DVD box art consisting of a flying gimp and some lovely fonts, I gave the show a try, and found it utterly unlike the impressions the cover had created.
My first mistake was to assume this would be a horror series. Sure, it's in the title, but for the most part, this is a fairly banal family drama with some horror tropes and movie references thrown in. It starts okay, at least by horror standards; a horrendously boring, white middle-class family moves into a creepy house, just like they should, but rather than set up a creepy, malevolent atmosphere in which ghastlies interrupt the yuppy's happy home making, the show is utterly preoccupied with watching these people bicker. The dad had an affair, the mother had a miscarriage, the daughter is a teenager. Most character interactions involve re-iterating those facts in the loudest and most hammy ways imaginable. There are ghosts, but they are not the ethereal, mysterious kind, they are fleshy twerps who mope around the house like something out of Beetle Juice , only in this case, they are funny by accident.
All in all, it's a big disappointment. Though the font is still lovely.
Series Haunted house hijinks? Hell yeah!
As a longtime fan of the horror genre, I was immediately interested in what this show had to offer. But I realized after watching the first episode that it is a Love It or Hate It type show. Either you'll give in to the bizarre, disturbing, sometimes hokey narrative it has offer, or you'll be turned off, weirded out and annoyed by everything you see. It's one of those shows.
I tend to like shows like this. And while Murder House has a lot of standard first season problems, it has more than enough entertainment and heart to tie together the story and convey the show's spirit.
We focus on the Harmon family as they move into their new home, which they soon discover is the local Murder House, a massive California home with a history that could put the Overlook Hotel to shame. The parents, Ben and Vivienne want to save their family and connect with their daughter, Violet, but are constantly driven apart by their huge issues. Then strange things start mounting up: a hostile neighbor played by Jessica Lange (who steals the show), a rubber BDSM suit that keeps showing up, the Cute and Psycho boy that starts hanging out with the daughter, noises in the basement, sleepwalking.
Okay, so they pretty much make no secret about the house being haunted. It is very haunted. Murder House provides an excellent look at how ghosts might behave if they were real. The show seems to like portraying the thin line between life and afterlife.
This show dishes out all kinds of thrills along with ghosts, from human psychopaths to urban legends. It is certainly a show that carries it's influences on its sleeve. The most notable ones include The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, The Amityville Horror and Stir of Echoes. It's a very over the top, but still very effective horror aficionados' delight.
Even the stupid character moments make a bit of sense, since this is horror.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Very good season that hits you in the face with what it's got.