Ali Catterall
Among the roster of 'Masters' (Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, etc) showcasing their knockoffs for this anthology one name may leap out as glaringly unfamiliar. William Malone? Who he? Well, among other things, Malone directed 1999's The House On Haunted Hill remake and 2002's FeardotCom. Oh, and an episode of 'Honey I Shrunk The Kids: The TV Show'.Not impressed? Really, give the guy a break! When you consider, say, Argento's laughable Jenifer from the same series, perhaps we ought to give this rank outsider and his Fair-Haired Child a chance.Now, unfold those crossed arms because, aside from Malone's uncredited perfromance as George Harrison in Robert Zemeckis' superb debut I Wanna Hold Your Hand, he's also way more influential in the horror game than you might think, having helped to create dozens of movie monster masks - along with Michael Myers' 'Shape' visage for John Carpenter's Halloween (admittedly, that one was easy - he simply sprayed a William Shatner mask white, but still).A riff on WW Jacobs' Edwardian classic 'The Monkey's Paw' (and latterly, Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser'), Fair-Haired Child sees two eccentric classical musicians, Judith (Petty) and husband Anton (Samples) attempt to bring their son Johnny (Haddock) back from the dead after he accidentally drowned on his fifteenth birthday. And, through black magick, they do - after a fashion.Trouble is, their waterlogged offspring now resembles the result of some giggling gangbang between Dan Dare's Mekon and HR Giger's Alien Queen. To keep him in anything vaguely resembling humanoid form they must sacrifice a dozen teenagers, one every year, on the boy's birthday. With each virgin's blood spilled, Johnny morphs a little closer to complete restoration. As the half-crazed Anton figures, "the dead shall live again - new blood for old." The couple's twelfth candidate for sacrifice, class outcast Tara (Pulsipher), is kidnapped from her local high school; knocked off her bike, chloroformed, and bundled into a van - as the funereal adagio from Beethoven's 'Seventh' saws ominously away on the soundtrack in its sly, elitist and deeply untrustworthy way. Flung into a basement, graffitied with the pleas of previous blood donors, Tara encounters a cupboard full of severed heads that would make Jeffrey Dahmer blink, a bathtub spattered with human vino, and what she at first imagines is another sacrificial lamb; a mute, guilt-ridden Johhny - who's having a little trouble keeping his skin on. It's a distressing process for both parties. As that great 1980s bard El DeBarge put it, "Who's Johnny, she said, and tried to look the other way." Shockingly, given our emotional investment in Tara thus far, the now transformed cellar-dweller goes to work on her like Fanny Craddock with a dead chicken. Further shocks - and a predictable twist - will be along in a minute.The worst you can say about The Fair Haired Child is it looks and feels pretty much like what it is: an anthology movie in the 'Tales From The Crypt' vein, with an extra helping of giblets. It's also a touch repetitive towards the end and, despite its expectation-confounding turns, once you've spotted the twist stomping over the hill, even a little draggy.Oddly, given the director's pedigree, the rubbery-looking monster's not much cop either. That said, Malone makes a virtue of his dark fairytale's budgetary constraints, offering lashings of atmosphere, creepy flashbacks and unnerving dream sequences (shot in the now-familiar monochrome style), while the cast put it some believable and sympathetic performances (particularly Lori Petty who, as a mother driven mad with grief, at least has something better to work with here than in Tank Girl).
pink_london_kitty
As a horror fan, I prefer more subtle movies, while "Masters of Horror" was packed with intestines belonging to eviscerated children and infants. The stories, though with some potential, were overshadowed by the disturbing images. Whenever I would watch an episode I kept shivering "Gee, that was odd...". I wasn't at all thought-provoking, it just wanted to impress gore fans - not true horror fans or those of you who like atmosphere horror and not flesh/blood/organs horror. They focused on crude images and mere graphic violence. Just a 6 out of 10 for this splatter series, as I would give to any such movie. With a pretentious name like "Masters of Horror" you can't help but expect more.
gene87-1
This show does for me what movies cannot. It makes me think seriously about life. I cannot explain why. But it is so real. You feel like you are in the show. Not in some campy, oh this is funny sense, but in a wow, I am so scared out of my mind right now. I feel like most of the episodes are out of body experiences, start to finish.As a person I am always thinking "What would I do in that situation; what is the next move?" so when I see people get killed for doing stupid stuff in these shows, I think the same might happen to me.One of the things I absolutely love are the characters. I have seen a few of my favorite actors/ actresses on this show. And also some that I never heard of before, but thoroughly enjoyed. Also, they are good at putting sex into a TV show, in an adult, but yet not overly done way. It is very tasteful.You feel very much like an adult when watching this show, and for me that is good. And when I get older and have more money to spend, this is definitely something I want to have in my DVD collection, and hopefully when it is all said and done, (which I hope does not happen anytime soon), they will put all the episodes in a beautiful box set, with a nice booklet, and a ton of extra features.All in all, if you are looking for something better than all the cheap remakes, and bad horror one-offs, then check this out. YOu will either pee your pants, or wish your closest friends were there to enjoy the show with you.
