I normally deviate from watching movies or television series in the horror genre.
Not because I get scared or suffer from paranoia at the smallest things after watching something scary.
It's because I get surprised easily. From sudden loud noises or sudden appearances. Heck, I couldn't help but scream inside a movie theater when Ethan Hunt slipped from his precarious perch outside Dubai's Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Yes, I knew the guy was going to slip and that he wasn't going to die. I was just REALLY surprised. But I digress.
I was mildly interested in American Horror Story, primarily because of Ryan Murphy's return to FX. What cemented my decision to watch the TV series, however, was an article that I read before it premiered, though I couldn't remember if it was from E! or TV|Line. The article discussed how members of the press got a preview of the first episode and were all properly freaked out. One of them was so disturbed that when she got home and checked in on her baby, she wouldn't enter the room because her baby seemed to give off a "freaky" shadow. After reading that... of course I had to check it out. So, I mentally prepared myself for those surprising moments.
American Horror Story is set in a Los Angeles home built in the 20s. The Harmon family check out the place as the potential venue to start their lives anew after Ben cheated with one of his students. His wife Vivien struggle to trust him and is still depressed about her previous miscarriage, while their daughter Violet is becoming more withdrawn and starts to develop suicidal tendencies. Despite finding out that the house is cheap because the previous owners died in the house, the Harmon family still pushes through with the move. After they move in, it doesn't take long for the family to realize that the house features a long history of tragedies, starting with the original owners of the house. The worst part is that all of those who died in the house are stuck in it as spirits. The Harmon family members are continuously terrorized by both the living and the dead.
American Horror Story is not for the faint of heart and most definitely not for the conservative viewer. The moment you watch the creepy opening title sequence, you know that the series will serve something more than the usual scare tactics. While it served the traditional scenes that make you dread what's around the corner and what would suddenly appear, what made the series really freaky was its many disturbing characters and story lines. I can't even begin to count the number of expletives I uttered every episode. The show was definitely NOT for everyone.
To say that it's about a haunted house is an understatement. It was scary. And freaky. And disturbing. And bordering on campy. And sometimes sick.
Among the ghosts, you can find the disfigured, vengeful, victimized, insane and murderous. The humans have their own crazy issues. The scenes can be graphic, and sometimes catch you off guard, that you end up so shocked you forget you can choose to look away.
I ended up loving it.
At the end of the day, American Horror Story featured great story telling. Albeit a very disturbing kind of story telling that was also compelling. Even with the growing dread that every living character might just die in the damn house, I still looked forward to the next episode.
Since I'm at a loss where to start in explaining what happened in that house, let me just go over some of the elements that I enjoyed in the TV series. Spoilers ahead.
The Cast
American Horror Story features one of the best ensemble casts in this year's fall TV series lineup. Never mind that the show's concept and plot development can be polarizing. Not even the show's fervent critics can deny that the cast is excellent. Of the cast that made up the Harmon family, the revelation was Connie Britton, who played wife and mother Vivien. The character was such a departure from her previous role in Friday Night Lights, that you can't help but appreciate the range she showed in playing the hurt, damaged and nearly over the edge Vivien. Taissa Farmiga received a lot of flack for her acting as Violet, but I actually liked her performance. There was something about the way she cried that felt heartbreaking and harrowing. Dylan McDermott's welcome return to TV rewarded us with his portrayal of Ben, who was desperate to keep his family together. I just didn't understand why he had to be in various states of undress throughout the season.
You just know that Jessica Lange will win awards for her portrayal of Constance Langdon, the Harmon's next door neighbor who had a more than passing interest in their lives and the house that they live in. She spoke with a Southern drawl that spouted lies, sincere encouragement, advice, malice and racist comments with an unfiltered relish. The show just benefited from the portrayals by Denis O'Hare as the burned and tragic Larry Harvey and Sarah Paulson as medium Billie Dean, as well as Frances Conroy and Alexandra Breckenridge as old and young Moira O'Hara, whose appearance varied depending on who looked at her. Kate Mara was so good at playing the crazy and tragic Hayden McClaine, that I just hated her. But out of everyone in the cast, my favorite would have to be Evan Peters as Tate Langdon, Constance's sociopath son. Unlike Hayden's character, who you just hated, Tate evoked something entirely different from audiences. He did a LOT of bad things in the series that make you wonder how such evil exists, but he also invoked sympathy from the audience, especially when he tried to be good in order to be with Violet. I don't think I've ever rooted so hard for a character who is so good at being bad to become good.
The show also featured great guest stars. If you watch Modern Family, you wouldn't want to watch Eric Stonestreet who played one of Ben Harmon's patients that wanted to get over his fear of the Piggy Man. Mena Suvari played the woman who would later become infamously known as the Black Dahlia, one of Hollywood's most famous unsolved murder cases. The most exciting guest star appearance was by Zachary Quinto as Chad Warwick, one half of the murdered gay couple who were the previous owners of the Harmon's home.
The Monsters
With a house chock full of spirits, there were ghosts that proved to be a bit more monstrous in either form or action. One of the oldest ghosts in the house is the Infantata, formerly Thaddeus and the son of the original owners of the house, who was kidnapped as a baby and returned in pieces to his parents. Dr. Charles Montgomery brought him back to life by reassembling him, along with animal parts and the heart of a patient. Gruesome, right? Then, there's Beau, Constance's other son, who was bormed physically and mentally deformed. He was killed by Larry at Constance's urging before Social Services took him away. He was actually sweet compared to most of the inhabitants of the house. Then, there's Rubber Man, who sports a weird S&M rubber latex outfit that earned him his name. He was the figure who wreaked the most havoc in the Harmon's lives. He raped Vivien, causing her to be pregnant with twins, with one fathered by Ben and the other by the Rubber Man. I thought only soap operas could get away with a plot twist like that. Oh, and you should know that the baby he fathered would turn out to be the Antichrist. It was later revealed that the Rubber Man was actually responsible for the death of previous owner Chad and his partner Patrick, making it appear they died in a murder-suicide. The revelation of who was under the mask was one of American Horror Story's most anticipated plot developments.
Most Suspenseful Moment
While the show obviously served a lot of surprising and suspenseful moments, there was one scene that particularly terrified me. It wasn't in the house, nor did it involve a ghost scaring a living human. It was in a school library, where a group of students and a teacher tried to hide after learning that someone was shooting people in the hallways and classrooms. The shooter shot at the door, which would paralyze the teacher for the rest of his life. The shooter made his way slowly in the room, where he found the students one by one and shot them. After every murder, the remaining students' terror, as well as mine, grew. At this point in the series, viewers knew that everyone was going to die, but it didn't diminish the effect of the scene. The scene was an excruciating four and a half minutes, with the shooter just calmly walking towards a victim and pointing his shotgun to shoot, then moving on to the next one. There was no background music. There were no sudden surprises. Tate killed fifteen people that day, including the ones he killed in the library. I had to watch something light after that.
The End
In the end, the Harmons died. Vivien died giving birth to her son with Ben and to the Antichrist. Ben died after Hayden and the other ghosts murdered him. And Violet actually died several episodes before that. Unlike their lives as living people, the Harmons actually became a happy family in death, resolved to scaring away new families so they don't end up in the same way. Moira became godmother to Vivien and Ben's baby, who died after being born, thus becoming a part of the house as well. Tate declared that he will wait patiently for Violet to forgive him, even if it takes forever. And why did he need forgiveness? Because he raped her mother and fathered the Antichrist. Yep, Tate turned out the be the Rubber Man.
As for Constance, she finally found the greatness she sought for so long. It turned out that she wasn't meant to become famous, because she was instead meant to foster the greatness in someone else. And the last scene of American Horror Story showed just that, when Constance arrived to find a bloody trail leading to her grandson's room. Vivien and Tate's son, already a strapping boy of three, had just murdered his nanny, and welcomed Constance with bloodied hands and a smile. And with a smile of her own, Constance asks her grandson the Antichrist, "What am I going to do with you?"
There are no more answers to questions after that, as Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk decide to move on to a new haunted setting and a new set of characters for the second season of American Horror Story. Only a few of the first season's cast will be asked to work on the next one, and they are expected to play entirely new characters.
I look forward to watching the second season of American Horror Story, wherever the setting and whoever the new characters will be.
I'm just glad it won't start until fall of next year.
I need time to recover from season one.
Happy viewing!!Labels: American Horror Story, Anthology, Drama, FX, Horror, Must-Watch, TV, TV Series
