Editorials
“The Walking Dead” Just Took Horror to an Uncomfortable New Level
We thought we were prepared. We were not prepared.
While the horror movies that air during AMC’s annual FearFest may be trimmed of gore, curse words, and well, all the good bits, the network sure doesn’t give the same treatment to their biggest original series. I’m of course talking about “The Walking Dead,“ which kicked off Season 7 last night with an episode that I’m not sure we’ll ever stop talking about.
If you haven’t seen it, please exit this post RIGHT NOW.
Oh who am I kidding… I’m sure some idiot already spoiled it for you.
The hotly-anticipated Season 7 premiere, appropriately titled “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be,” finally answered the question of who Negan killed at the end of Season 6: it was Abraham. Oh and it was Glenn too. And he almost made Rick cut off Carl’s arm. One of the most disturbing hours in the history of television left us with two of the most beloved characters lying in literal pools of their own blood and gore, and it also ended with Rick a completely broken man and Negan completely in charge of the whole group. The show, as we knew it to this point, will truly never be the same again.
But did “The Walking Dead” go too far last night? Was it just a little too much?
I’ve been watching disturbing entertainment my entire life. But you know what? The Season 7 premiere of “The Walking Dead” was the most grueling, upsetting thing I have honestly ever witnessed. Sure, I’ve watched plenty of movies and television shows wherein characters I fell in love with met brutal, awful demises – many of those upsetting deaths came courtesy of, go figure, “The Walking Dead” – but I don’t recall ever feeling the way I felt last night, glued to the couch and forced to endure a seemingly endless barrage of cruelty. I found myself questioning why I even enjoy watching violent entertainment, and what I felt more than anything, maybe for the first time in my life, can best be described as true horror.
The horror genre is often fun, especially when it’s at its most violent. There are few things I love more than gruesome practical effects, and when characters are torn apart by zombies or sliced in half with machetes, I often find myself cheering and reveling in the gore. We all do. And that’s okay. It’s all fake. It’s all fun. But last night was different. I wasn’t impressed by the sight of Abraham’s splattered head on the ground, and I damn sure wasn’t admiring the effects work that went into literally popping Glenn’s eyeball out of its socket. Instead, I was in tears. I was shaken. I was thoroughly and unmistakably horrified.
Not only were the brutal deaths incredibly realistic and way more grounded than some of the over the top violence we’re used to on “The Walking Dead,” but the episode dragged both of them out to a downright nauseating extent. Negan must’ve bashed Abraham’s head in with at least ten blows from his trusty baseball bat, but it was Glenn’s murder that was particularly hard to stomach. After one blow to the head dislodged his eyeball, Glenn was left to suffer for an excruciating amount of time, only able to utter a single line before being finished off: “I’ll find you,” he told pregnant wife Maggie, barely able to get the words out.
And that was just the beginning.
After several more blows, we saw Glenn’s head literally explode like a watermelon, his arm flop around on the ground afterwards, and then to top it all off, the camera lingered on a shred of his scalp that was stuck to the barbed wire of Negan’s baseball bat. Talk about pulling no punches.
In horror movies and television shows, especially “The Walking Dead,” characters die. That’s a foregone conclusion. We’ve seen countless characters die on the show, and it’s always upsetting. But the sheer brutality of Glenn’s murder, a character we’ve spent the last six years with, was quite unlike anything I have ever experienced before. There was no catharsis. There was no closure. We watched a man who was about to have a child with his wife get beaten to a pulp by another man. We saw every second of it. It looked the way it probably would in real life. And it was truly awful. It was revolting. It was disturbing.
Did “The Walking Dead” go too far last night? Unquestionably. But that’s what was so brilliant about the episode. Because horror entertainment isn’t supposed to be safe. It isn’t supposed to be comfortable. And it isn’t supposed to make you feel good. If “The Walking Dead” ruined your night last night, and if you’re angry at the show for crossing a line, I assure you that’s only because the creative team did their job and they did it really damn well. They wanted to ruin your night. They wanted you to be angry. More importantly, they needed to shake you to your very core.
“The Walking Dead” just became the most horrifying horror show in the history of TV.
And for the first time, I’m scared to watch next week.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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