Masters of Horror Season 2

"We all scream for Ice Cream" marks the return of Tom Holland (Fright Night, Child's Play) to the horror genre in over 10 years. I was looking forward to this episode, mostly due to it featuring an evil clown in an ice cream truck. The words "Sign me up" came out of my mouth right away. What this episode did right was in the back story, which was gripping and engaging. Buster, the mentally challenged ice cream man (played brilliantly by William Forsythe) had me caring about him, so when those little bastards did what they did to him, I wanted to jump into the TV set and strangle them. I loved the back story stuff, it had me emotionally! The present day stuff was your standard horror fare with average acting (and some below average sneaking itself in), good directing by Tom Holland (welcome back!), and a fun finale. I grooved to the idea of Buster using the children to get back at those who harmed him. Something that did disappoint me was without the language this would pretty much be a tame PG-13. You get some melted "ice cream" corpses and that's it! I'm not saying it had to be a gore fest but it should have been harsher and darker then it was. There are some creepy moments (the ice cream truck coming down the street and through a fog) that almost make up for it. "We all scream for Ice Cream" has an emotional and gripping back story but the present day stuff is too standard and safe, but I still liked it. It had a fun finale and a cool villain. This is an overall good episode. Recommended.

3.5/5

THE WASHINGTONIANS

This is my first Masters of Horror review since November 2006. So far I think Season 2 of Masters of Horror has been pretty good and I was looking forward to this week's episode "The Washingtonians". This is due to lead actor Jonathan Schaech and its overall story (George Washington a cannibal? Count me in!). Although the least favorite of the ones I have reviewed, I still liked it. I dig a good cannibal story and this spins an interesting one. George Washington was a cannibal who craved virgin meat, wow talk about an original idea and I totally grooved to that. Lead actor Jonathan Schaech does a great job here, giving a likable and believable performance. I liked him in Road House 2 also. Gore wise, this one delivers, especially in the finale, which contains enough flesh eating to please any cannibal nut. Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger do a superb job like usual. Peter Medak's directing is standard stuff but in the end it serves the story good enough. Not bad. The music by Richard Band is simple yet effective. What did I dislike about this episode? First the actress playing Jonathan Schaech's daughter was very unconvincing. Her delivery was off and her screaming not convincing. Also I'm half and half on the ending. On one half I found it hilarious. But I wished it would have went a different direction. I'm all for humor and all but it felt like a distraction. The final shot was funny, though. "The Washingtonians" was a good episode in the series and to me, far from the worst. Recommended.

3.5/5

DREAM CRUISE

Dream Cruise is the last episode of Masters of Horror Season 2. Directed by Norio Tsuruta (Ring 0) I can't say I was looking forward to this episode. The previews made it look uninteresting and boring. Well Dream Cruise ended up being An half and half episode for me. On one half it was a well told ghost story and on the other half it was a sappy soap opera like drama that had me reaching for the remote. The first half of the story is basically your typical soap opera story right down to it's below average acting. All the actors here give a snooze inducing performance. The situations are also soap opera like (husband kills wife so he can be with new girlfriend) Zzzz. Seen it done before. Once that BS is out of the way we dive into supernatural territory and that's when I became interested. The Imagery was creepy (the scene where the ghost walks on water Brrr), the directing stylish and the finale tense to keep my arse watching. I like a good ghost story and despite the set-up this was a good one. Gore wise? A dismembered arm and a bashed in head. Good enough. I don't remember a music score. The directing was stylish and slick. Good Job Mr. Tsuruta. The movie also had a happy ending and although I prefer darker endings I liked it. The sappy soap opera-ish set-up sucked but the rest was a good ghost story with some creepy imagery. Decent.

3/5