So I just saw the first episode of the new season of Showtime’s series, Masters of Horror. This episode “The Damned Thing” was based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce and directed by Tobe Hooper (can you say Texas Chainsaw Massacre?).
I was so impressed by the entire first season of Masters of Horror. I liked some episodes more than others, but each one of them is a gem, a one-hour mini-movie that is far better than 90% of the ridiculous splatter-shlock I have seen lately (see my Rest Stop and Wicker Man reviews). I credit this series for re-awakening my long-dormant interest in horror cinema.
By the way, as to my previous rant about smart resourceful heroines, I recently saw a first-season episode of MoH, “Pick Me Up,” about two serial killers who happen to cross paths. The heroine in that episode made me say, “Now THAT’S what I was talking about. She did everything right, and STILL got whacked.” THAT’S good stuff!
So I was anxious to see if they could keep up their winning streak with the second season.
And they did.
Tobe Hooper pulls out the gore stops and shoots some truly disturbing scenes as a small Texas town is terrorized by some hate-filled earth entity from out of the spent Texas oil fields. The genius of this story is how the creature doesn’t have to do anything except bring out the worst in the townspeople. Anger, hate, rage, and finally mindless violence. There’s also some not-so-subtle commentary about the oil industry there if you look for it.
The actors do a fine job, and Showtime finally splurged on some CGI special effects for the monster, something they had avoided in the first season.
The show made me want to go find the original story by Ambrose Bierce. That’s a good kick off to the second season. Let’s hope they can keep up the winning streak.