Masters of Horror Season One Part Two

CHOCOLATE
(2005)
Dir - Mick Garris
Overall: MEH

The first Masters of Horror entry to be helmed by the series creator Mick Garris, (Sleepwalkers, the television miniseries version of The Shining), Chocolate has a somewhat ambitious and strange premise that unfortunately falls a bit flat.  Familiar faces Henry Thomas and Matt Frewer are present, with the former being besieged by uncomfortably strange, violent, and horny visions, the latter an aging punk rock musician, and both are artificial food chemical scientists because why not?  Though it is comparatively void of the at least aggressive schlock present in some of the bigger name director's installments, it is still clunky due to a less than tight script, some B-movie acting, and the modest TV budget. 

HOMECOMING

(2005)
Dir - Joe Dante
Overall: MEH

Joe Dante's loose adaptation of Dale Bailey's 2002 short story Death & Suffrage is a strongly potent zombie film for the Bush Jr. era.  As a political satire, Homecoming is incessantly on the nose, depicting right wing warmongers as sub-human, cartoon character villains who are in black and white contrast to the sympathetic undead soldiers that have come back to vote non-Republican.  The contrast of sentimentality and goofy, zombie high jinks is jarring to say the least and Dante never quite establishes the right tonal balance between them.  This mixed with the nonchalant way that the characters react to the extraordinary situation on hand makes for a bizarre end result that loses its footing as humorous parody, coming off more confused than anything.

DEER WOMAN
(2005)
Dir - John Landis
Overall: GOOD

Returning to horror after a thirteen year break, John Landis' Deer Woman is quite typical of the director's output.  Meaning it is violent, features Easter eggs to his previous works, and is overtly comedic.  Co-written by his son Max and featuring Dream On's Brian Benben in the lead, the humor is very hit or miss.  It is mostly an issue of timing and some odd performances, with several moments lingering awkwardly for laughs that never quite land.  On the plus side though, the light tone is appropriate and just as he did in the seminal An American Werewolf in London, more time is spent teasing the title monster than properly showing it.  Messy and flawed to be fair, but it is also not taken very seriously and ends up rather enduring because of this.

CIGARETTE BURNS
(2005)
Dir - John Carpenter
Overall: GOOD

No series called Masters of Horror could exist on admirable footing without an inclusion from John Carpenter and his Cigarette Burns entry is appropriately satisfying.  Stepping noticeably away from the more over-the-top tendencies of his later movies, Carpenter goes for a more eerie and gradual mood here.  As a story about a legendarily infamous bit of celluloid, it is a slow boil that grows increasingly more sinister and strange along the way.  The gory end result is fittingly eye-wincing and the impending madness that has been built up is largely fulfilled.  It is ultimately not as visually captivating as the filmmaker's most lauded work and a mistake is made in showing too much of the cursed film within a film which comes off like a parody of a student art-house movie that is trying way too hard to be disturbing.  Still, it is a strong effort with enough skillful Carpenter flourishes to make it essential viewing for fans of the director's largely excellent filmography.