OldBoy

Man, do I love this series.
Zombies being my favorite monsters this was a great episode.
Who caught the ode to the master of Zombies himself, George A. Romero?
...just priceless. and did you see the special make-up effects credit? Gregory Nicotero of "Land of the Dead" fame. and the hits just keep on comin'...

Next week looks ok, directed by John Landis, but kinda looks like a rehash of "Jenifer". Still this series is a godsend for a horror lover like me. Mick Garris

Mondo Kane

After "Homecoming", I'll gladly take another one of those. Who was that Deer Woman? Can't wait!

I dunno. Tonight's show was just too political for me (And they even had to air Moore's 9/11 before this!) plus not enough humor that Dante is known for. Even though this one didn't seem to suffer from time constraints, it's still not likely to be a favorite of mine when all is said and done.

Not a Republican, btw.

dadaluholla

This was my first exposure to the Masters of Horror series (thanks to the free preview). Are they always this terrible? Holy crap. It was like rejected "Sci Fi Channel original movie" quality. The acting, the story, the satire, the effects, the script, were all pretty much shit.

Russell S

So I guess Dante thinks all horror fans agree with his politics, huh? Not the case, Joe.

I don't consider myself partial to either political party, but damn! This was way more in your face than even Land of the Dead. TERRIBLE.

dadaluholla

I had to turn it off at about 10:40 it was so bad, and I can usually make it through anything zombie related. It was just stupid.

Mondo Kane

Nope. They just picked a bad time for the free preview.

dadaluholla

I was going to say, if THIS is waht they use to get people hooked on Showtime, they failed pretty badly

BJacks

Showtime really screwed up by showing "Homecoming" during the preview. The partisan tripe diluted Dante's usual cleverness. The series started out strong and it has some great filmmakers attached, so I'm sure it can recover from this blunder without losing its audience.

Mondo Kane

Agree. I'm still loyal to this show.

Found the answer to my question:
Cinthia Moura


The hotties just keep on rolling in!

coladar

Well, I've been holding in my thoughts on the series as a whole for a few weeks now, so time to let it out. But first, comments relating specifically to this episode.

This episode was just what I've come to expect from the show. Horrible story, horrible acting. The story and characters were just so ridiculous, unlikeable, uninteresting... I don't consider myself a conservative, but this was nearly unwatchable. Oh, look, conservatives into S&M! Backstabbing! Conservatives threatening to kill soldiers mothers! Oh, a "man of God" calling the risings a miracle of God one minute, then spawns of Satan when their ridiculous "agenda" is known.

The only driving force behind this story was to take as many shots at the right as possible and obviously Dante just figured that would be enough... Completely throwing logical story-telling, rational characters or any sense out the window. Well, since I'm also not a hardcore liberal and instead watched the episode for a good horror story... Words to describe this fail me, but easily the absolute worst zombie story I've ever seen. Which is very bad. I considered the recent Sci-Fi pic, Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave, a masterpiece compared to this.

This show is just incredibly fortunate that the make-up of the show keeps people watching. Just about every single damn episode has been absolutely horrible, worse than any so-called horror (How the hell could you call Chocolate and that godawful Dance of the Dead horror though?) stuff I can remember watching. This includes z-movie productions like the Full Moon studio. Jenifer was just average, but in comparison to these other episodes, was a masterpiece. The stories are dreadful, the acting is dreadful, the directing is dreadful, and the stories are absolutely atrocious. Oh yeah, the stories are pathetic. Horrid.

It's frustrating because I thought this would be one of my favorite television shows in a very long time. Take well known horror directors and let them do their thing for an hour a week. But the only true horror we've gotten has been Witchhouse and Jenifer. The first episode... I was so confused and uninterested I still don't know what that was. I can't even understand how the show can fail so horribly. How can episode after episode after episode be so consistently bad when, in theory, there should be basically no creative/acting connections among episodes? Each one should be in the hands of completely different people. It just defies logic.



The worst part about this show is as I mentioned earlier. It's the type of show that horrible episode after horrible episode doesn't get you to stop viewing since the next one could and should not be as bad as the last. And yet, so far it hasn't happened. Almost makes one wonder if someone at Showtime handed out shitty stories and the "Masters of Horror" didn't really have much of a say in the plotline. At this point, that's the only thing I can come up with to explain the consistent 0-star quality to the show. What a shame though. If someone like myself, who loves horror and doesn't mind really bad horror, such as the previously mentioned Full Moon flicks, hates the show this much... Well, this show must be attracting very few people at this point.

Russell S

coladar:

You summed it up pretty much perfectly for me (though I found "Incident..." fairly entertaining).

Chew

That was sooo awful, it was laughable.

OldBoy

i think you all are expecting too much from a quickie, hour long serial.

brainee

This series is going downhill for me. I enjoyed the first 2 eps: derivative, but entertaining (and delivering some memorably nasty scenes). Unlike the consensus here, I liked "Dance of the Dead". Yeah, Hooper's direction suffered from "Tony Scott" disease (and had some spotty acting), but it presented an original and disturbing vision. It gave me something I hadn't seen before, and those occasions are a treat these days. "Jenefer" seemed to squander a terrific title-character (and some jaw-dropping gore), feeling badly stretched to fill an hour and having a too-predictable outcome. "Chocolate" was just kind of blah for me -- some good ideas, but poor characters/writing.

"Homecoming" easily takes over for the worst episode IMO. It's not even the political viewpoint (I consider myself somewhat moderate). It's how heavy-handed the politics is. Great satire is subtle -- even in movies with an opposing viewpoint than yours, they're well-done enough to entertain you, while having you ask yourself "Hey, wait a minute?" and think about things at a later point. The politics in this movie is like a sledge-hammer -- and so blatant that it essentially tells everyone viewing who's not ultra-liberal to f-off. To me, the most effective political works should try to play to both sides. Isn't it more valuable to get some people to change their minds (or at least question their views and think) rather than preach to a limited choir?

Anyway, politics aside the episode is weak. It's just not funny -- only a couple parts made me chuckle (the use of windshield wipers to get rid of a decapitated head, and the placement of an "I Voted!" sticker on a zombie). One scene I thought was effective dramatically (where an older couple running a cafe show kindness to a returning zombie). The characters were shallow. The plot was predictable -- if you saw the previews you know the story. There's not really anything more to it. There certainly aren't any scares or thrills. If hearing a filmmaker tell you "Bush is bad; Republicans are evil" for 60 minutes is all you need to make viewing worthwhile, by all means watch. Otherwise, save yourself 60 minutes of your life and do something else.

Next week's show doesn't look very interesting on the surface. At this point though, I'll settle for a back-to-basics horror episode that just delivers some entertainment.

brainee

Logically, you're right -- looking at the recent resumes of the "Masters" and considering the normal state of horror-on-tv, expectations should be tempered. But if you're a fan, this series has been on the horizon for a while, and that deep-down you hoped that this will be something special.

So far, for me, it's kind of like following a sports team that almost always loses. But they have what seems like a great off-season, and you trick yourself into actually believing that this will be the year they win it all. They may play good at times, but as always, don't win in the end.

clckworang

Wow, I am surprised at all the hate on here, not just for this ep but for the series. I am a big horror fan of all types and have watched more than my share of horror flicks and I guess I can't see what you are expecting from this series.

Horror is subjective. What one might see as horror, others won't find scary. How can Dance of the Dead be considered horror? Well, when was the last time you saw dancing dead people in a non-horror movie? Chocolate not horror? Well, you could toss that into the psychological horror category. Just because you didn't find it scary doesn't mean that others won't or that it doesn't fit into the horror category in some way. I thought The Ring was ridiculously stupid and unfunny, but I still acknowledge that it falls into the horror category, despite how unscary the thought of a haunted videotape is.

First, about this last ep, I don't think it was the best one yet, and I can understand why people didn't like the extremely political bent, but I got a kick out of it. Granted, I am not a Bush backer, but I got a few chuckles out of the film. I have watched all of the episodes with at least one friend, and she kinda liked this one. She definitely laughed at a few parts. The "I Voted" scene was hysterical.

As for the other eps, well, the only one I truly didn't care for was Dance of the Dead. The Witch ep clearly suffered from some poor effects on the rat man, but I thought it was pretty good. I thought the first one was very entertaining and suspenseful. Chocolate I didn't think was scary, but again, I thought it was an entertaining story; it kept me watching all the way through. I didn't find Jenifer necessarily scary, but I did find it very disturbing; it's my favorite so far.

Since I've watched with friends, I'll give you some of the input I have received from others. I watched Dance with three other friends, and only one person liked it. The first ep I watched with two other friends, and they both really like it. The other I watched with just one friend. The Witch one got a weak review from her, but not really a thumbs down. She hasn't seen Chocolate yet.

I only bring up their opinions because I'm just trying to show that not everyone feels the same way as many of you do. There are people who are enjoying this series for what it is, even if it doesn't make them jump out of their seats every ep.

Geofferson

This was pretty bad, IMO. The first episode was a let-down for me, but to be honest, that has been my favorite thus far. Very disappointed with this series so far. Hopefully John Landis' installment will improve.

OldBoy

well, i am just taking these eps with a grain of salt. i am not expecting a whole lot going in and so far i have been quite pleased. the eps. are macabre, weird, comical, fun, cheesy, and predictable as hell, but i can find worse ways to spend an hour of tv life.

i was surprised at the first one and liked it a lot and i agree the rest haven't been quite to that caliber, but i've enjoyed them all anyway.

last nights' was no exception. i love zombies and while it wasn't "Dawn of the Dead" (78), it was DotD cheesy, political, and less than high production value. i'm not really expecting Emmy on each or any for that matter. it's just a fun, non-cerebral way to past the time for an hour and that it has some of the aforementioned horror elements makes all the better.

clckworang

Not that anyway necessarily cares, but in my last post I forgot to mention what my friends thought of Jenifer. I watched it with about 5 or 6 other people, and they all loved it and thought it was disturbing (and sometimes funny) as hell.

And I agree with what you said, scott1598.

das Monkey

What a steaming pile of ass. By the closing narration, I almost thought I was watching a satire of shitty television.

I've come to accept that the "Masters of Horror" series is an elaborate social experiment that crosses the line into real-life horror devouring the souls of Showtime subscribers (and free preview victims) one hour at a time.

das

cineman

There have been some good moments in the series so far, but overall, a huuuuuuge disappointment. I was expecting much better.

I am still looking forward to the John Carpenter ep. Hopefully, he can avoid the "Masters" curse.

clckworang

Well, despite the fact that people on this forum keep bashing every episode that airs, the show continues to receive some critical kudos.

Here is a link to an article that was extremely enthusiastic about Dante's episode: http://www.slate.com/id/2131378/?nav=tap3

scott shelton

Is it?

Tell that to the millions who loved DR. STRANGELOVE.

kevin75

this show was laughably bad, topped by the woman putting the "i voted" sticker on the zombie.

clckworang

You know, I was thinking the EXACT same thing. If satire truly has to be subtle to be good, then there are a lot of great satires that I guess have to be re-evaluated, Dr. Strangelove among them.

And I loved the "I Voted" moment. My friend and I died laughing at that.