Monday, May 14, 2007

Masters of Horror: Family


During the late seventies and on through the early eighties, director John Landis could do no wrong. In addition to helming some of the funniest movies of the 1980s ("The Blues Brothers," "Coming to America," "Trading Places"), he also created the college comedy genre with "Animal House" and crafted the best werewolf film ever made, "An American Werewolf in London." Landis entered the nineties with the misunderstood and sadly ill-received Sylvester Stallone comedy "Oscar." After that, Landis seemed to have lost his way and possibly his mind with each film he headed being unbelievably worse than the last. First was the debacle that was "Beverly Hills Cop 3," then came "The Stupids," and finally the unforgivable grave dance that is "Blues Brothers 2000."

Landis then spent the better part of the last decade doing little more than directing the occasional forgettable television show ("Dream On," "Honey I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show") or made-for-TV movie. In 2005 for the inaugural season of Showtime's anthology show "Masters of Horror," Landis reemerged from obscurity to deliver the lackluster episode "Deer Woman" that he co-wrote with his son Max. The best moments of "Deer Woman" were already showcased in the far-superior "American Werewolf" and the often-forgotten "Innocent Blood." While not the worst episode of the season, it was probably the most easily dismissed. With his attempted return to the public eye thwarted by his own hand, most fans thought "Deer Woman" was the final nail in Landis's coffin. Thankfully, he returned for the second season of "Masters of Horror" by providing us with the charmingly grotesque "Family" and reminded his fans why they loved him in the first place.

"Family" focuses on an ER doctor, David (Matt Kesslar), and an investigative reporter, Celia (Meredith Monroe). They are a married couple who have just moved into the throttling confines of Wisconsin suburbia in an effort to recover from the loss of their only child to cancer. After settling in, the couple meet the agreeable and charming Harold (George Went), who lives next door with his wife, daughter, and mother. As friendly and loving as Harold is to his new neighbors and his own family, he like much of suburbia harbors a dark secret--his family isn't his. Lonely, overweight, and functionally crazy, Harold wasn't able to create his family like the rest of us. He had to abduct his family one by one, then use acid to reduce their corpses to a skeletal state and dress them up as props in his macabre idea of a perfect nuclear family. Feeling that there is more to Harold than what's shown on the surface, Celia begins poking around his home in search of what he has to hide. In the end we find out that all people have secrets, but it's what we do to keep them that makes us different.

Written by Brent Hanley, who's been M.I.A. since scripting 2001's excellent "Frailty," "Family" is easily one of the best episodes of "Masters of Horror" yet. This must have been a tough episode for Landis to direct. After all, how do you film Norm from "Cheers" having a one-way conversation with a skeleton and maintain a sense of terror? Proving that he still has some creative life left in him, Landis keeps an air of levity to the episode, but by never getting too silly he presents a constant state of dread throughout. In an effort to showcase the loose grasp Harold has on reality, the audience is given peeks into the workings of his deteriorated mind. While having a pleasant conversation with Celia, she begins to tell Harold all the dirty sexual things she would do to him if given a chance. Then at his home we see Harold having a discussion with his family, played by live actors that never move too far from their position but carry on a conversation nonetheless. Neither of these things exist in reality, just the warped world Harold has created. Love can make people crazy, and perhaps Harold isn't the only one.

During the late seventies and on through the early eighties, director John Landis could do no wrong. In addition to helming some of the funniest movies of the 1980s ("The Blues Brothers," "Coming to America," "Trading Places"), he also created the college comedy genre with "Animal House" and crafted the best werewolf film ever made, "An American Werewolf in London." Landis entered the nineties with the misunderstood and sadly ill-received Sylvester Stallone comedy "Oscar." After that, Landis seemed to have lost his way and possibly his mind with each film he headed being unbelievably worse than the last. First was the debacle that was "Beverly Hills Cop 3," then came "The Stupids," and finally the unforgivable grave dance that is "Blues Brothers 2000."

Landis then spent the better part of the last decade doing little more than directing the occasional forgettable television show ("Dream On," "Honey I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show") or made-for-TV movie. In 2005 for the inaugural season of Showtime's anthology show "Masters of Horror," Landis reemerged from obscurity to deliver the lackluster episode "Deer Woman" that he co-wrote with his son Max. The best moments of "Deer Woman" were already showcased in the far-superior "American Werewolf" and the often-forgotten "Innocent Blood." While not the worst episode of the season, it was probably the most easily dismissed. With his attempted return to the public eye thwarted by his own hand, most fans thought "Deer Woman" was the final nail in Landis's coffin. Thankfully, he returned for the second season of "Masters of Horror" by providing us with the charmingly grotesque "Family" and reminded his fans why they loved him in the first place.

"Family" focuses on an ER doctor, David (Matt Kesslar), and an investigative reporter, Celia (Meredith Monroe). They are a married couple who have just moved into the throttling confines of Wisconsin suburbia in an effort to recover from the loss of their only child to cancer. After settling in, the couple meet the agreeable and charming Harold (George Went), who lives next door with his wife, daughter, and mother. As friendly and loving as Harold is to his new neighbors and his own family, he like much of suburbia harbors a dark secret--his family isn't his. Lonely, overweight, and functionally crazy, Harold wasn't able to create his family like the rest of us. He had to abduct his family one by one, then use acid to reduce their corpses to a skeletal state and dress them up as props in his macabre idea of a perfect nuclear family. Feeling that there is more to Harold than what's shown on the surface, Celia begins poking around his home in search of what he has to hide. In the end we find out that all people have secrets, but it's what we do to keep them that makes us different.

Written by Brent Hanley, who's been M.I.A. since scripting 2001's excellent "Frailty," "Family" is easily one of the best episodes of "Masters of Horror" yet. This must have been a tough episode for Landis to direct. After all, how do you film Norm from "Cheers" having a one-way conversation with a skeleton and maintain a sense of terror? Proving that he still has some creative life left in him, Landis keeps an air of levity to the episode, but by never getting too silly he presents a constant state of dread throughout. In an effort to showcase the loose grasp Harold has on reality, the audience is given peeks into the workings of his deteriorated mind. While having a pleasant conversation with Celia, she begins to tell Harold all the dirty sexual things she would do to him if given a chance. Then at his home we see Harold having a discussion with his family, played by live actors that never move too far from their position but carry on a conversation nonetheless. Neither of these things exist in reality, just the warped world Harold has created. Love can make people crazy, and perhaps Harold isn't the only one.

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