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Posted on September 30, 2015

Point CounterPoint: Is Scream Queens Horror? (No)

Note: Be sure to read Gwen’s argument why Scream Queens is horror!

Routinely criticized for a camp aesthetic that would make Divine blush, Ryan Murphy’s foray into horror has been mixed at best. While American Horror Story has had its share of viral moments, its consistently uneven storytelling has prevented it from picking up the mantle from its most obvious predecessor, Twin Peaks. And so it was with more than a little apprehension that I sat down to take in Scream Queens.

Gwen’s review highlights the many reasons there are to love Murphy’s latest television outing. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy every moment, mainly because it isn’t often that a show makes me laugh out loud. And ultimately that is the main problem with Scream Queens. By elevating humor above dread, the show is squandering its horror potential.

Posted on September 20, 2015

AMC’S FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, “The Dog”: The Sad Fate of Animals in the Zombie Apocalypse

Dawn Keetley

AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead has aired three (of six) episodes so far and I’m happy to say it’s getting better. (See my less than positive review of the pilot episode.)

Basically, the show’s improved because the characters are coming to grips with the apocalypse and, as a result, are doing much less lounging around and whining about trivial things. We’re starting to see that fundamental divide opening up between those who can handle what’s happening and those who are living in denial—the divide, in other words, between the strong and the weak, between survivors and potential zombie food. Madison (Kim Dickens) is emerging as a leader, someone who can kill a walker when she has to. As is the enigmatic Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades), a refugee from El Salvador who projects an uncanny sense of “Been there, done that.” He gets to deliver the last, inscrutable, line of the episode. Looking out the window at the soldiers putting an X on the house across from him, he declares, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear: “It’s already too late.” Madison’s partner Travis (Cliff Curtis), on the other hand, seems unable to kill the undead (claiming they’re only sick) and, in contrast to Salazar, his last words are: “Cavalry’s arrived. It’s gonna get better now.” We know which one of them is right.

Posted on September 15, 2015

Can a Procedural be Horror-Lite?: Considering Red John

Elizabeth Erwin

There have been some wonderful think pieces recently about the graphic nature of procedural drama and whether the violence and depravity depicted impacts viewers in the long term. Many of the arguments revolve around whether disturbing images trigger thoughts and even actions in viewers. To horror fans, those concerns are familiar ones. And so I was interested in looking at a procedural and how the images presented echoed or contradicted what we see so often in horror.

Selecting the right procedural, however, was complicated. Initially, I thought that the Law and Order franchise, with its graphic depictions of a wide variety of perverse crimes, would most easily fit the bill. However, in viewing numerous episodes, it became clear that the narratives in this franchise were almost exclusively focused on the aftermath of the crimes. The audience is neither asked to participate in the crime as a spectator nor to have an emotional reaction to the crime as it is being perpetuated. The series fails to deliver the emotional arc inherent to the horror film because there is no anticipation of the horrors to come. And so I finally settled on taking a closer look at The Mentalist (CBS, 2008-2015) a procedural that used victimology and gore in a wholly new way.

Posted on September 6, 2015

MTV’s Scream: Did It Work?

Elizabeth Erwin

In the premiere episode of MTV’s Scream, Noah (John Karna), the town’s resident horror film expert and serial killer junkie, lets us know right away why horror on television doesn’t work: “Slasher movies burn bright and fast. TV needs to stretch things out.” Having been green lit for a second season halfway through its first-year run, the show was certainly a success from a financial standpoint. But the question of whether it was a successful representation of horror still remains unanswered.

For ten episodes, the show incorporated many of the qualities that made the initial film such a runaway success. From unexpected reveals to bloody jump scares, the television show, on paper, possessed all of the elements to be a successful undertaking. But did the franchise’s foray into horror work? The answer is an unequivocal…sorta.

Posted on August 26, 2015

Barbra’s Androgyny in Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Elizabeth Erwin

In a previous post, I wrote about how Barbra’s ability to see in Night of the Living Dead (1990) aligns her with the monster. Upon rewatching Tom Savini’s remake, I was struck by how the characters as a whole disrupt the audience’s expectation of behavior attributed to females. To understand how Barbra employs a uniquely androgynous form of killing, we must consider her in relation to the other women who occupy the house. Unlike Helen who has Harry, and Judy Rose who has Johnny, Barbra is not sexually linked to any male in the house. This sexual independence marks her, like a monster, as abnormal. Also entering the equation is how each female is situated to represent an aspect of the feminine.