Masters of Horror Season One Part Three

FAIR-HAIRED CHILD
(2006)
Dir - William Malone
Overall: GOOD

The sole Masters of Horror entry from William Malone, (Scared to Death, Feardotcom), is possibly the most stark, humorless one in the season.  Scripted by Matt Greenberg, (Halloween H20, 1408), Fair-Haired Child presents a strange premise where an eccentric, grieving family turns to the occult and it is all played consistently straight, without any cornball acting or over the top set pieces.  That said, Lori Petty is a bit stiff as the troubled mother and there is at least one gruesome moment that comes off a little intentionally silly.  Elsewhere though, it features a genuinely disturbing monster design with Malone using the same herky-jerky, spastic editing technique he indulged in his House on Haunted Hill remake.  The more serious tone is a welcome change to the series and overall it delivers enough creepiness to recommend.

SICK GIRL
(2006)
Dir - Lucky McKee
Overall: GOOD

Throughout the majority of Sick Girl, director Lucky Mckee manages to have concocted something seemingly impossible which is an adorable horror movie.  Working again with Angela Bettis after their impressive collaboration in May, a similarly quirky, darkly comedic tone is maintained and the actress once more shows a remarkable talent for playing hilariously eccentric, socially awkward characters.  Essentially a love story that only briefly goes sinister before unveiling some freakish visuals at the end, it is that rarest of instances where something in the horror genre makes oddball cuteness actually rather heartwarming.  Deliberately silly and gross with some wonderful profanity sprinkled in for good measure, it is probably the most fun entry in the Masters of Horror's debut season.

PICK ME UP
(2006)
Dir - Larry Cohen
Overall: MEH

In what would be his final directorial effort, Larry Cohen's Pick Me Up is rather typical of the director's work.  Featuring yet another eccentric performance from character actor Michael Moriarty whose bizarre mannerisms and line readings helped to further ruin earlier Cohen entries The Stuff and Q: The Winged Serpent, the film is likewise morbidly humorous yet darker and more suspenseful in tone.  While certain slasher stereotypes are upheld and characters occasionally speak in lame cliches, the story by genre author David Schow does have a singular premise which is rather interesting.  Cohen's quirkiness and botching of tone is comparatively subdued though it still makes for an odd offering that is only partially enjoyable.

HAECKEL'S TALE
(2006)
Dir - John McNaughton
Overall: MEH

Originally slated for George A. Romero to be behind the lens, scheduling conflicts brought John McNaughton, (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), on board instead for the Clive Barker adaptation Haeckel's Tale.  Essentially the author's more nasty re-telling of Frankenstein with a black magic/necromancy angle thrown in for good measure, its ending at least is appropriately perverse and borders on absurdity.  McNaughton plays things rather straight though and even as it all goes over the top, it does so in a controlled manner.  It is regrettable then that the middle section is a slog, dragging the whole thing down considerably.  The disturbingly macabre finish may be worth the wait for some viewers, but the sluggish trek to get there does undermine things just a bit too much.

IMPRINT
(2006)
Dir - Takashi Miike
Overall: GOOD

Japan's most prolific genre filmmaker, (by a mile), Takashi Miike's lone contribution to Masters of Horror was the only one in the series to be rejected by Showtime due to the director's usual practice of jacking up the violence to uncomfortably disturbing degrees.  Imprint certainly goes there with some eye-wincing torture segments and shots of aborted fetuses, but the film is not exclusively gratuitous.  Technically a traditional kaidan story, the pacing is gradual and Miike sprinkles some atmospheric and bizarre creepiness here and there.  Performance wise, it is uneven with the almost exclusively Japanese cast speaking in rough English and villainous character actor Billy Drago overdoing it quite a bit.  Impressively otherworldly and bold, it is worth examining for those that can stomach its unflinching components though.