Review: ‘American Horror Story: Coven’

Let me begin by saying that the American Horror Story series is arguably the most fun hour of television. Throughout its first three seasons, the series has incorporated moments of high camp, scenes of intense gore, twists aplenty, and some of the best performances by the entire ensemble. AHS has continually pushed the envelope, especially for a series on a cable network, and is groundbreaking because it paved the way for other series which feature intense imagery and high concept stories (at best, NBC’s Hannibal and at worst, FOX’s The Following). At this point, it’s hard to find a better group of actors who relish their roles and put 100% of their energy into selling a concept as much as the company on AHS and I look forward to the scenery chewing every week.

Since the third season, entitled American Horror Story: Coven, premiered back in October, it’s been a joy to watch.

That said, the parts of AHS: Coven were better than the whole.

When the season began, it started off promising. In New Orleans, a witches’ coven masquerades as an upscale academy for young girls, one of whom will eventually become the next “supreme” and usurp the aging Fiona (Jessica Lange) as the new leader. Under the tutelage and guidance of Fiona’s daughter, Cordelia (Sarah Paulson), select students (played by Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Jaime Brewer and Gabourey Sidibe) would develop their powers until one proved themselves worthy as the new “supreme”.

Then, in the rich tradition of AHS, things got increasingly weird and interesting. The resurrected spirit of a saxophone playing serial killer known as the “Axeman” (Danny Huston) was let loose upon the city; the girls created a Frankenstein monster out of a college frat boy (Evan Peters); and antagonists Madame Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) and voodoo queen Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) were tossed into the mix to create even more friction.

And that’s not even scratching the surface of the multiple storylines AHS: Coven tried to juggle this season, which also featured a minotaur, witch hunters, and the spirit of a powerful voodoo deity, Papa Legba (Lance Reddick).

The big problem with AHS: Coven was that, unlike the previous seasons, many of the stories either became convoluted or hit dead ends at various points during the season. There really was no big showdown between Fiona’s coven and the powerful Laveau. The wealthy and powerful witch hunters were barely fleshed out and disposed of rather easily, considering they were looked upon as a force to be reckoned with early on. And everyone came back from the dead which undercut any tension there might have been among those vying for the title of “supreme”.

Overall, the individual episodes were lavish and stylishly shot (thanks to the array of directors, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon particularly nailing it with every effort) and beautiful to look at. Add to that the fact that each and every actor delivered sparkling, crafty dialogue until it crackled and came alive, making each performance and character memorable (hell, I would love to see a Papa Legba series!). Finally, I admire that each season (and AHS: Coven particularly) focuses on female empowerment, allowing these very talented actresses to shine. More often than not, there aren’t enough quality roles for women on TV, but AHS creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk ensure that there are plenty of opportunities to showcase their craft each and every year.

Though there are a lot of things I loved about AHS: Coven, it ultimately proved to be unsatisfying, allowing really only one character (Cordelia) to have any sort of arc and even that seemed a bit forced, especially in the finale, “The Seven Wonders”. The season seemed to be less of a coherent narrative and more of a “What oddity can we toss in to stretch the story?”. The latter worked well in previous seasons but the story remained compelling throughout AHS: Murder House and AHS: Asylum; the oddities only added to the fun rather than act as a distraction.

I’ll definitely return for season 4, but I hope the writers are better able to focus on more substance to complement the style.

American Horror Story: Coven grade: C-

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Review: ‘The Pact’ (2012)

I miss the days when I could wander around my local video store, stumbling upon offbeat horror films. You know the kind, the ones that never gained a mass release or went straight to VHS (and later, DVD). With these films, you ended up playing horror roulette. Maybe you’d luck out and it would be great; maybe you’d end up feeling as if you killed two hours you’d never get back.

Thanks to Netflix and their pretty generous array of obscure horror titles, I’ve discovered quite a few films that I’ve added to my queue, tucked away and saved for those special nights. These are movies that made their bones on the film festival circuit then got lost in the shuffle, hoping to find life anew in the “virtual bin” of the Netflix genre section. This is where I stumbled upon The Pact, and tonight, I plucked it from obscurity, spun the chamber and pulled the trigger.

Upon the news of her mother’s death, estranged daughter Annie (Caity Lotz who currently portrays Sara Lance–aka the Black Canary–on CW’s Arrow) reluctantly returns to her childhood home after speaking to her sister, Nichole (Agnes Bruckner, The Bold and the Beautiful, 24). Almost immediately after conversing, Nichole mysteriously vanishes. Annie arrives to an empty house but chalks her sister’s disappearance up to normal behavior. Claiming that her family runs away from their problems instead of facing them, she tells her cousin Liz (who is watching Nichole’s daughter) that Nichole will eventually return.

After attending her mother’s funeral, she invites Liz and her niece back to the house, claiming that she doesn’t want to be alone. Late at night, when everyone is asleep, Liz stirs when she hears a strange noise, then also disappears after seeing a shadowy figure in her room. Annie wakes to find Liz gone and that’s when hell breaks loose. An unseen force tosses her about like a rag doll, bouncing her off the walls and causes her to drive the butcher’s knife she’s wielding into a wall. She leaves, then remembers her niece is in the house. Annie rushes back, scoops her up and whisks her away, unharmed.

Annie seeks the help of Creek (Casper Van Dien, Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow), a local lawman who agrees to aid her but reminds her that she’s also a suspect in the disappearance of the two women. Annie eventually begins to unravel the mystery which culminates in both a supernatural explanation and very real physical threat from a serial killer that once preyed upon women along the west coast.

The Pact continuously straddles the line between ghost story and murder mystery and, for the most part, does so successfully. Anchored by a terrific performance by Caity Lotz, the film offers some good jolts and is pretty well written, acted, and directed. That said, it isn’t without flaws.

There are some massive leaps in the plot which take you inexplicably from one scene to another without anything to link them. Annie suddenly goes to visit an old high school acquaintance who is blind but has the gift of being able to communicate with spirits. Maybe I missed it but there was no mention of that visit prior to Annie’s arrival. Also, the niece character is sort of forgotten for a long stretch of the film. Odds are she’s with social services but I don’t recall anyone talking about it. Finally, the connection between the serial killer and Annie works but only if you discount the fact that she never knew who her father was but still has a cousin (and her mother only had one sibling that we know of who probably never sired a child given the circumstance). It’s just a guess, but I would chalk many (if not all) of these issues up to expanding the film from an 11 minute short to a feature with a running time of little over an hour and a half.

Writer/director Nicholas McCarthy has crafted a nifty little thriller that is worth a watch on a cold winter’s night. If you can get beyond the somewhat stilted dialogue (which, to the film’s credit, there’s little of and works thanks to the performances) and the fondness of too many shots of an empty hallway, you could definitely do a lot worse than The Pact.

The Pact rating: B-

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Review: ‘Sleepy Hollow’ – ‘The Indispensable Man’ / ‘Bad Blood’

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

Before the fall TV season began, I was adamant about the fact that I wasn’t going to watch Fox’s Sleepy Hollow. The lingering hatred of the atrocious The Following still burned brightly and there was no way I was going to be duped again.

Yet I gave the show a chance. After the first episode, I was intrigued, but still had doubts. I wondered if Sleepy Hollow could sustain its premise which seemed rather limited. Besides, hadn’t I seen these stories already with previous genre shows like The X-Files and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (i.e. the ever expanding mythology, the persistent threat of an apocalypse, the “monster of the week” tale)?

Yes, but…

Sleepy Hollow turned out to be a resounding success from top to bottom. The show owes a lot to the aforementioned series but thanks to crisp writing, intricate plotting and amazing cast and crew, it separates itself from the rest of the pack and establishes its own identity. Monday night’s two part season finale (which included the episodes “The Indispensable Man” and “Bad Blood”) were stylish, though a bit jarring cinematically in the transition from one to the other due to two different directors, (not that it’s a bad thing, just odd) and paid great respect to the entire season.

I’m not one to give away any spoilers but suffice it to say that the finale opens up a whole new world of possibilities in addition to tying together nearly all of the plot threads of the season. Unlike The Following, which in its first season seemed to make up things as it went along, Sleepy Hollow planted little seeds along the way which bore fruit in the finale. There was a reason for everything and it’s apparent that the writing staff either: 1) intricately plotted the season and was fortunate enough that audiences loved the show, preventing tinkering along the way or 2) had copious notes that allowed them to weave seemingly unrelated stories together resulting in a cohesive, shocking cliffhanger. I like to think it was the former but if it was the latter, it still worked superbly.

It takes a lot to surprise me, but Sleepy Hollow pulled off a whopper of a game changer with a revelation I didn’t see coming. Sure, I thought there would be a betrayal (as prophesied, of course) but not in this way, not from the person I least suspected. Then, to top it off, they added another layer to the betrayal which will haunt the characters as the series progresses.

Kudos to all involved for making Sleepy Hollow one of the most energetic, well written and acted shows on TV. I look forward to what you have in store for season two.

‘The Indispensable Man’/’Bad Blood’ rating: A

Sleepy Hollow season rating: A-

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