Two Sentence Horror Stories gets creative and puts its best foot forward in a makeup tutorial gone wrong that’s very much worth your time. For real.
Anthology horror series have never been more popular, but in an age where The Twilight Zone is back and kicking, there needs to be a higher standard set for episodic anthology horror. The CW’s announcement that they’d be getting into the anthology game could turn out to be incredibly fruitful for the young adult horror audience. That being said, there were some reservations in place over the news of Two Sentence Horror Stories, a series that almost seems counter-intuitive in nature since the whole point of the original viral sensation was to get in and out rapidly. It’d be one thing to turn these two-sentence stories into short films (which was originally what happened on CW Seed), but half-hour adaptations leave a lot of room for error.
In theory, some of these two-sentence writing prompts could inspire a great story with depth, but largely the results have been harmless, yet disposable fodder. However, last week’s episode, “Tutorial”, turned out to be a very satisfying endeavor that provides a sliver of hope for this series and what it could become. If there’s one episode of Two Sentence Horror Stories that you need to check out, it’s definitely this one.
Other installments of Two Sentence Horror Stories have played around with evergreen terrors like ghosts, evil children, and sinister brainwashing, but they’ve all been stories that play out through a standard narrative with a basic structure that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. The premise of turning a dozen odd words into an episode of television is enough of a feat. What immediately makes “Tutorial” such a standout episode is that it does go further and finds a clever device to center its story around. On paper, this plot is nothing special: Karine (Aleyse Shannon), a vlogger, conducts a makeup tutorial while an intruder sneaks into her house. What helps make “Tutorial” shine is that the entire episode is presented like a YouTube makeup tutorial video that’s comprised completely of stationary camera setups.
There have been an increasing number of horror films that have played around with the idea that the “computer is the camera.” Missing, Windows, and the Unfriended films have all found inventive takes on this concept, but “Tutorial” triumphs by how it goes one step beyond and filters the story through a makeup tutorial. Director Tayarisha Poe and writer C.S. McMullen, both relative newcomers to horror, turn this into an opportunity to get the most out of shot composition and framing. It’s a highly planned piece, in spite of how it’s designed to look so off the cuff.
Poe also fills the episode with the typical visual flair, filters, and patterns that pollute YouTube videos. Aesthetically, this is nothing new for the genre (2016’s Nerve does a ton with this, in spite of how it’s not exactly horror), but it helps complete the image and push its message as far as possible. At a certain point, the silly visual touches intermingle with grisly reality and form a seamless product that comments on the dangers of sensationalism and desensitizing audiences.
Due to the nature of the episode, “Tutorial” largely plays out as one big monologue to the audience as Karine addresses the camera. This can be super hard to sell and make compelling, but Aleyse Shannon really delivers here as the vlogger in peril. It’s such a gradual, believable transformation that Karine undergoes as she shifts from beauty queen to scream queen. Beyond Shannon’s performance, “Tutorial” is actually unnerving and feels creepy. The episode builds tension during the calm of the tutorial, and then lets loose when the intruder lurks in the shadows and evades Karine. It’s a lot of fun to watch this dark tutorial transpire in juxtaposition to the cute one that starts the episode. Perhaps best of all, there’s a very satisfying ending here that’s worth seeing for yourself.
“Tutorial” ultimately pushes a message about how the taste of fame is worth whatever the cost to some and that the lines have been so blurred in society that murderers are simultaneously celebrities. It’s hardly an original concept for horror, but it’s one that’s incredibly relevant at the moment and hammered in even harder through the innocuous nature of the video. This isn’t someone live-streaming a torture via Twitch, it’s a makeup tutorial on YouTube. Unfortunately, it’s easy to picture something like this actually happening and the audience being numb or oblivious to what’s actually going on. “Tutorial” impressively taps into that free-floating fear and moral bankruptcy that’s becoming tolerated. This powerful message and the creative way in which it’s brought to life makes “Tutorial” easily the most worthwhile and the only must-watch installment of Two Sentence Horror Stories so far.
Tayarisha Poe has one more installment, “Little Monsters,” set for this season, so we’ll see if the same magic can be conjured there or if “Tutorial” remains Two Sentence Horror Stories’ high point.
