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)
Discussing the true power of film in “Cigarette Burns”.
from Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series
Cigarette Burns (2005)
Directed by: John Carpenter Written by: Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan Starring: Norman Reedus, Udo Kier, Christopher Redman, Chris Gauthier, Zara Taylor
PLOT
In this episode, Jimmy Sweetman ventures out to locate a rare film print called “La Fin Absolue du Monde”. The film once shown has been known to drive its audience into a crazed frenzy before the theater goes up in flames. He finally discovers that the film does live up to its reputation and the results are quite shocking. (from tv.com)
Deer Woman (2005)
Directed by: John Landis Written by: Max Landis and John Landis. Starring: Brian Benben, Cinthia Moura, Sonja Bennett, Anthony Griffith, Lisa Marie Caruk, Ben Cotton
PLOT
In this horror comedy, a set of peculiar murders leads skeptical detective Dwight Faraday to suspect that an ancient Native American mythological creature is in fact real. (from tv.com)
Homecoming (2005)
Directed by:Joe Dante Written by Mick Garris and Sam Hamm. Based on the short story “Death & Suffrage” by Dale Bailey Starring: Jon Tenney, Thea Gill, Robert Picardo, Beverly Breuer, Terry David Mulligan,
J.W. Carroll
PLOT
During the campaign for the reelection of the President of USA, the political consultant David Murch wishes live in a television talk show that a deceased soldier could come back from his grave to vote in the election as a marketing to promote his candidate. The president uses his idea in a speech and wishes that all the deceased soldiers could return from their graves for the election. Somehow his wish is granted and the soldiers died in the last war returns with the objective of voting in the opposition to the government. (from IMDb)
Henry Thomas stars in the Masters of Horror snoozer "Chocolate".
from Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series
Chocolate (2005)
Written and Directed by: Mick Garris Starring: Henry Thomas, Matt Frewer, Leah Graham, Stacy Grant, Lucie Laurier
PLOT
A man named Jamie (Henry Thomas) who works in a food laboratory (of a company eats a sample of the chocolate produced but – this doesn’t happen in the ep. but tv.com has it in its summary) somehow becomes psychically connected to a women (Lucie Laurier) he has never met and falls in love with her. However, he is shocked when he ‘sees’ her killing her lover. (from tv.com)
PLOT
Police officer Frank saves a young girl’s life only to find out that no good deed goes unpunished, for Jenifer is not a little girl in need of protection. (from tv.com)
Quickie Review
Horror generally gets a bad rap as aimed solely at hormonal teenage boys who want nothing more but a fix of blood, sex and boobs. In a court case, this could easily be Exhibit A.
Robert Englund as the Twisted MC in "Dance of the Dead".
from Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series
Directed by:Tobe Hooper Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Jessica Lowndes, Robert Englund, Melena Ronnis, Marilyn Norry
PLOT
This story revolves around a post-apocalyptic town where re-animated corpses of friends and enemies dance on stage for the few people who survived a nuclear holocaust. Peggy, a naïve girl, learns of the dangers of the outside world and the sacrifices made to guarantee her survival. (from tv.com)
Ezra Godden as Walter Gilman in the Stuart Gordon directed "Dreams in the Witch House".
from Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series
Directed by:Stuart Gordon Starring:Ezra Godden, Campbell Lane, Jay Brazeau, Chelah Horsdal
PLOT
Walter Gilman, a college student, rents a loft in a building in the New England town of Arkham. While studying inter dimensional string theory at college he is haunted by nightmares of a 17th-century witch and her rat with a human face. He must prevent the death of his neighbour’s baby at the hands of these forces while it’s possible he could become the murderer himself. (from tv.com)
Ellen (Bree Turner) struggles against Moonface (John De Santis) in Don Coscarelli's "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road"
Showtime’s Master of Horrors series was one of my favorite quick horror fixes when I didn’t have time to watch a whole movie. It ran for two seasons before the plug was pulled on it for a variety of reasons – depending on who you listen to. Some of it was really good. Some of it, not so much. Here are my opinions, but I recommend you grab some of these and check them out for yourself. I’m going to give some quickie reviews here – starting with season one, episode one.