Tara (Lindsay Pulsipher) and Johnny (Jesse Hadock) get close in “The Fair-Haired Child”.

from Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series

The Fair-Haired Child (2005)
Directed by: William Malone
Written by: Matt Greenberg
Starring: Lindsay Pulsipher, Jesse Hadock, William Samples, Lori Petty

PLOT
A warlock couple abduct a young teenage girl to sacrifice her to a mysterious and evil entity as an offering to resurrect their long-dead boy. (from IMDb)

Quickie Review
Stupid people and stupid horror are the bane of my existence. When you add a heaping helping of lazy, you create something even more noxious. That’s what you get here. The entire episode could have been bypassed if someone had simply learned to shout, “Hold onto the boat!” The other fifty eight minutes could have been filled with a nice musical interlude.

The Good: At least Lindsey Pulsipher is easy on the eyes.

The Bad: There’s a lot of shorthand used in lieu of actual character development. Yes, we see the girl getting laughed at in school, but why? The only crime she seems guilt of is being the only awkward girl in school. As the episode progresses, she undergoes no real development; she just there to react and not to be. To me, it’s just lazy story telling.

The Ugly: What’s with the scene that looks like it’s plucked out of a French art film? It just didn’t feel terribly organic. And, for the second straight episode, the creature design was a bit underwhelming and the camera ramping effects were a little cliché – though almost understandable given when the episode was made.

The TerrorScribe (129 Posts)

Joe has been writing for as long as he could hold something to write with - much to the chagrin of his mother. A recent convert to the genre, he now immerses himself in any and all things related to horror.

In addition to reviewing movies, Joe is also a published horror writer and has recently added filmmaking to his list of accomplishments. His first short, "Annotated" premiered in August. He's currently working on his second short: a 80's style slasher called "Survivor Girl".

A fan of all things Lovecraftian, he's been known to say, "Everything's better with tentacles."