The Masters of Horror films (season 1)
Dreams In the Witch-House -
D- - didn't like it. Unsatisfying. The acting felt terribly uneven, especially during key dialogue-heavy scenes. The ending went from bad to good to bad again to much worse. It really was the worst episode of the 1st season, next to Mick Garris's unfortunate Chocolate.
Haekel's Tale -
C - boring for a long time at first but it began to get steadily more interesting, until the ending... which was
excellent. Needs a new beginning though.
Imprint -
C+ - confusing and shocking. Visually stunning, as most of Miike's films are. And it seemed to have a fairly good message if you're willing to look very closely at all the bad events. It's certainly an unforgettable experience. But the torture scene was badly set-up and the performance by Billy Drago was painfully bad.
Incident On and Off a Mountain Road -
C+ - visually impressive and exciting, but most of the dialogue scenes don't gel and the relationships need quite a bit more work. Plus, it was the shortest of all 13 of the Masters of Horror films, so it wouldn't have hurt to rewrite or extend the dialogue sequences.
Dance of the Dead -
C - the ending's the only thing that brings this film/episode down at all. But it definitely brings it down
hard. Although, the rest of it (first 30 minutes) is refreshingly well-plotted, visualized, and put together. Of much of the teen apocalypse and horror oriented material that's out there, this is really not bad at all. Except for the ending, which desperately throws in a cheap shock revelation and fails miserably. Not to mention the infamous "dance of the dead" images aren't half as disturbing as they're supposed to be. In a future with wilder people, for that to be accepted as 'extreme entertainment' is a
stretch to put it mildly.
Deer Woman -
B - a much sillier and frantically slapstickier version of Innocent Blood, I laughed. And that's all that matters. Was it scary? No. But true to form, in case the first big JUMP moment didn't get you, the director puts in a better one toward the end that definitely got a reaction out of me. It's very amusing, though ultimately immature and a little forced.
Cigarette Burns -
A- - visually incredible, great performances, and an overall classy approach. But more than a little was lost in the translation. I was lost quite a few times.
Fair Haired Child -
A - almost everything about this film was perfect. It would be easier and quicker to say what didn't work about it. It became too talky and a little emotional toward the ending, which hurt the stylish and moody pacing and flow of the movie. But really it is stylish beyond stylish, amazingly acted, and completely satisfying.