American Horror Story

Jehhillenberg

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I can't wait to see this show. Quite familiar with Ryan Murphy's stuff by now so it should be GOOD. :)
 

Manuel Royal

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Interesting. Those first five minutes have a "feel" somewhere between Stephen King and Robert Bloch. Have to check that out on Wednesday.

The haunted house is such an enduring idea. Maybe because we've all had that creepy feeling, somewhere, at sometime. It doesn't even have to be a big old-looking decrepit house; any empty dwelling place can be spooky.
 

Grrarrgh

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I can't wait for this! As soon as I finish what I'm currently watching, I'll check out that clip.
 

BenPanced

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Bleh. I turned it off after about 35 minutes. While I loved Jessica Lange, the rest was rather...meh. It's been billed as a psychosexual thriller, but I thought it wasn't enough psycho and too much sexual. 14 out of 35, Dick.
 

mulcahy67

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thought it was pretty bad. first of all, it's barely even horror, second of all, as i've found with many of ryan murphys work (Niptuck and Glee especially), it was over the top for the sake of being over the top and just not that good.

i'll give it a few more episodes but i doubt much will continue.
 

strawberryblondie

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Sigh. I really wanted to like it but I felt pretty meh about it. I had a really high expectations and based on the previews it seemed like my thing, but I just couldn't get into it.
 

ChaosTitan

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I'm undecided.

I was entertained for the entire episode, and I'm curious to see more. It's a more laid-back kind of horror, rather than an in-your-face horror, which is what you need in order to sustain a weekly series.

The sexytimes surprised me, but I'm not going to complain about Dylan McDermott's bare behind. :D

The teenage boy (his name eludes me) is creepy as hell. And so is Jessica Lange.

Overall, though, I think they did a good job showing the marriage between the two leads (names still elude me). The grief and mourning process, and still loving each other despite hurting each other so badly.

We'll see.
 

Grrarrgh

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I've been really excited for this, so there's a chance I'd overhyped it in my mind. I enjoyed it, and I'll definitely keep watching, but I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped I would. But I thought that it was good. The writers did a good job getting us the backstory on the marriage without the "As you know, Bob"s that usually plague pilot episodes. The casting is perfect, and ChaosTitan is right, that teenage boy is really creepy. I liked Jessica Lange and her creepy daughter who just keeps showing up telling people they're going to die.
 

BenPanced

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thought it was pretty bad. first of all, it's barely even horror, second of all, as i've found with many of ryan murphys work (Niptuck and Glee especially), it was over the top for the sake of being over the top and just not that good.

i'll give it a few more episodes but i doubt much will continue.
And I'm not a fan of Nip/Tuck. At. All. I hate that show with the intensity of 10,000 burning nuns, but I was still willing to give American Horror Story a chance because it's a completely different subject matter. I wanted more Jessica Lange and Creepy Patient Kid, and less everybody else.

Oh, and the first scene where we meet mean girls at the school? That was patently riduculous.
 

Jcomp

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I kinda dig the ridiculous audacity of it. Sort of Grand Guignol. But its way too over the top to be scary. Of course, I watched it with a lady friend who was thoroughly freaked out. So maybe it's just me. I will stick with it at least another few episodes, but I can't see it maintaining this pace and uneven tone and lasting too long.
 
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Jehhillenberg

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I'm undecided.

I was entertained for the entire episode, and I'm curious to see more. It's a more laid-back kind of horror, rather than an in-your-face horror, which is what you need in order to sustain a weekly series.

The sexytimes surprised me, but I'm not going to complain about Dylan McDermott's bare behind. :D

The teenage boy (his name eludes me) is creepy as hell. And so is Jessica Lange.

Overall, though, I think they did a good job showing the marriage between the two leads (names still elude me). The grief and mourning process, and still loving each other despite hurting each other so badly.

We'll see.

So I sat down and watched the episode again, this time all the way through.

"It will redefine the genre horror" Uh yeah sure. Not your typical gore with monsters. Instead focusing on dark human urges; the darker side of humanity.

Characters:
And yes, Dylan McDermott's bottom made its fair share of appearASSes. I like the irony of his character being a psychiatrist, and probably having more problems than some of his patients. Dark.


The wife seems like the only sensible one and the only one I cared to follow. And now she's preggars. Hmmm? More problems?

The daughter has issues, but nothing special. She'll probably have to grow on me.

Jessica Lange was an ultra creepy, narrow-minded, disturbing, cuckoo of an enigma.

Her daughter adds to the creep factor of the show, popping up in the family's new home. Warning everyone "You're going to die."

The boy McDermott's character had sessions with in the episode may be one of the most interesting characters. Deeply disturbed.

Pilot/Episode:
I didn't get the beginning scene or sequence. Two bonehead twins, like something from The Shining, demolish an old mansion and die. Okay. Maybe that alludes to something I have yet to figure out.

The Harmons is a typical family with internal problems. I get they try to gloss over those issues by moving to an old mansion, with plenty of warning signs for future problems.

Besides leaving me confused, the ending left me wanting to see the next episode. I'm wondering if someone in the family is gonna end up killing the others or something.

I wasn't a fan of the quick cuts and jump cuts, but I guess it served its purpose. It's definitely psychological, which I love. And dark. The horror for me comes from the human nature of the characters. The odd old-time-good-time-cheery music that plays at wrong places to make a point. That mansion is another character. Maybe the house will brings out the family members' issues for them to deal. I don't know.
 
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ChaosTitan

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The wife seems like the only sensible one and the only one I cared to follow. And now she's preggars. Hmmm? More problems?

The pregnancy thing at the end really tripped me up. There was no sense of timing. From what I could tell, it was the day after she and her hubby had sex again for the first time in a year (and a few hours later with black latex dude) that she comes home and announces she's pregnant. Um....????

If it's supposed to have been a few weeks later, I'd buy it, but there's no indication of it.

Or does this mean the wife had an affair, too?
 

Jehhillenberg

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I'm still confused about that BDSM-dressed dude too. Was it fantasy of hers? Was that even real? Was that her husband (probably not)?

If she did have an affair too, means they're kinda even now. Kinda. That did come out of nowhere.
 

mulcahy67

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was i the only one who laughed at just about all of it?

that kid randomly hating trees was the best moment of my television watching season.

"I HATE TREES" (smacks tree)
 

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It was interesting. I'll need another episode or two to decide. Jessica Lange was really great and I thought the two different ways the housekeeper manifested to them was excellent.

I've already seen enough of Dylan McDermott's butt, though. What little there is of it. Mostly he's just got a vague pale spot where his legs meet his back.

I'm definitely buying that boy a cushion for Christmas.
 

Jehhillenberg

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It was interesting. I'll need another episode or two to decide. Jessica Lange was really great and I thought the two different ways the housekeeper manifested to them was excellent.

I've already seen enough of Dylan McDermott's butt, though. What little there is of it. Mostly he's just got a vague pale spot where his legs meet his back.

I'm definitely buying that boy a cushion for Christmas.

LMFAO :roll: 3x. Oh. Mah. Gawd. This cracked me up.
 

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Finally watched this and I really liked it. A lot is going to depend on where it goes from here, but the potential is definitely there. I loved how different it was from most stuff on TV.
 

dragonjax

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I liked a lot of it -- especially the patient (Tate?) who is sorta Kurt Cobainish in his appearance and choice of clothing -- and then asks the daughter if she's got any Kurt Cobain (to put on her iPod). Would have been better if he'd asked for Nirvana, but whatever.

Sort of a blend of Amityville Horror and Rosemary's Baby, with a splash of The Shining. I wonder how they're going to pull this off as a series; feels much more mini-series to me.
 

victoriajakes

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I'm hoping tomorrow will be crazier than the first episode. All the reviews made it seem like a huge hot mess, and I thought it was actually a little tame.
 

BeatrixKiddo

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I can't stand Glee but I liked Nip/Tuck when it first started. Then it got kind of ridiculous. I am very curious about this show. I definitely want to check it out. The whole leather bondage full page ads I've seen in magazines for it perked my interest (but I'm a bit of a closet pervert).
 

Jcomp

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Liked episode 2 more than the Pilot. Better pace, not nearly so frenetic. Still not sure why so many viewers and reviewers seem to love the Tate kid, though. All in all, this episode did more to keep me around than the Pilot did.