Reviews
[Review] “The Simpsons” Parodies ‘The Ring’ and More in Ghoulish New “Treehouse of Horror” Episode
The Simpsons have graced our screens once again with a brand new, terrifying installment of the iconic “TREEHOUSE OF HORROR” Halloween special.
Treehouse of Horror XXXII sports the usual set of twisted tales depicting Springfield’s greatest in a slew of non-canon, haunting storylines. Featuring twisted parodies of Disney’s “Bambi,” Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the artwork of Edward Gorey, “Nightmare on Elm Street,” and finally “The Ring,” the newest Halloween special has more than enough to appease genre fans.
OPENING
Starting off the frightful program with a surprising amount of cuteness, Bart and Marge star as Bambi and his mother. Stylized and scored much like the original Disney animation, this segment appears to be all fun and games…that is until Mr. Burns shows up as the infamous hunter. Things quickly get dark when the hunter chases down Bart and Marge, making fans of the original Disney film fear for the worst. Luckily, in typical Treehouse of Horror fashion things get twisted.
Homer, appearing as another deer, comes to the rescue and impales Mr. Burns. The deer all gang up on the wounded hunter and puncture him repeatedly, spraying gooey animated crimson all over the setting. To cap things off, a Tinker-Bell styled Maggie uses her magic wand to cast the words “TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXXIII” on the screen.
While not as horror-specific as some of the show’s other notable intros (never forget what Guillermo Del Toro did!), “Bambi” kickstarts this year’s installment with some classic THOH twists.
THIS SIDE OF PARASITE
In a riff on Best Picture Winner “Parasite,” The Simpson family takes on the role of the Kims from the original as they get hired for separate jobs at the lavish Wolfcastle estate. When the Wolfcastle’s head out on a vacation, the Simpsons family takes the opportunity to live out their fantasies in the-now vacant estate. Through a recreation of several key sequences from the film, The Simpsons family uncover a secret underground bunker housing other “Parasites” beneath the house. A battle royale breaks out as all of the parasites fight to retain their secret home.
While this segment features some ghoulish THOH gore and a timely film parody, its limited runtime underscores its narrative effectiveness. As a bonus, the segment manages to squeeze in a “Snowpiercer” parody (dubbed “D’OH PIERCER”) featuring Itchy and Scratchy.
NIGHTMARE ON ELM TREE
While referencing one of the most iconic slashers in its title, this segment unfortunately has nothing to do with Freddy Krueger (but it’s not like the show hasn’t tackled the nightmare king before). After Bart scares his friends telling tales of terror in his treehouse, Homer takes an axe to the infamous backyard tree. Suddenly springing to life, the damaged tree takes it upon itself to rampage around Springfield, recruiting other mistreated trees to take over the town. Along its quest for world domination, the treehouse tree manages to recruit other famous trees such as the ones from “The Wizard of Oz,” The Giving Tree itself, the tree giant from “Lord of the Rings,” and even Audrey II from “Little Shop of Horrors.” Marvel’s iconic wooden hero Groot makes an appearance during a drive-in screening of what is obviously “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
The segment sports a few fun and twisted gags, including Groundskeeper Willie accidentally chainsawing both of his arms and the dead residents of Springfield being turned into a disturbing Christmas tree. While not having much to do with the film its title parodies, “Elm Tree” sports some great gory gags and pop culture references.
THE TELLTALE BART
This segment mashes the worlds of artist Edward Gorey, Vincent Price, and a dash of Edgar Allan Poe for a beautifully stylistic and disturbing story. Reading from a bedtime storybook, a Simpsonized Vincent Price narrates the tale to an eagerly listening Maggie. While this segment certainly is lacking plot-wise, it makes up with strong and disturbing visuals showcasing a black-eyed Bart’s reign of terror. The acts of mischief intensify starting from the simple cutting off of doll heads and ending at the decapitation of the entire Simpson family.
As the narrative reaches its morbid peak, the storybook abruptly ends as Maggie Simpson strangles with rope the previously narrating Vincent Price. While this final exchange is quite the shocker, it prematurely ends a much more intriguing tale from within the storybook.
DEAD RINGER
The Halloween special concludes with its strongest segment, “Dead Ringer.” In classic Treehouse of Horror fashion, this segment parodies a well-known horror film and character. “The Ring” gets the animated treatment in this delightful mashup of the original film’s plot with a “The Simpsons” touch. Replacing the iconic VHS tape this time around, is a viral Tik Tok video featuring near-shot-for-shot recreation of the original’s cursed tape. Drenched in dark gags involving the sudden death of Springfielders (Sherri and Terri are decapitated by swings), this Simpsonized tale of terror doesn’t shy from poking fun at the darkness of its source material. One effective gag involves Grampa Simpson receiving the haunting “7-Days” phone call, yet not being able to hear what the caller is saying. This results in the demonic voice continually repeating his ominous phrase in hopes of Grampa comprehending the threat.
After finding out the well-ghost’s (ditching the name Samara for Mary) true backstory, Lisa devises a plan to sympathize with the specter. What follows is an awesome animated recreation of Samara’s ascent from the well and out of the television screen. It’s one of those Simpsonized horror movie movements that’ll sit up there with the iconic recreation of “The Shining” axe sequence and riff on the “Child’s Play” doll. The encounter with Mary is halted when Lisa raises up a Halloween-style Valentine’s Card. The specter stops its attack and immediately gushes over the act of kindness. The gag concludes with Lisa showing Mary her saxophone routine, annoying Mary so much that she willingly throws herself back into her well.
“Dead Ringer” is the most narratively satisfying, and effectively comedic segment of the episode.
Movies
‘Recluse’ Review – Harrowing Haunted House Horror With Lots Of Skeletons In Its Closet [Tribeca 2026]
A haunted house story is tense, terrifying storytelling when it’s properly executed. There’s been a growing tendency in horror to blend together harrowing haunted house stories with traumatic homecomings. A family member’s illness or death triggers a return to something dark that was intentionally left behind. Recluse hits all the tropes that one expects to find in this type of horror film, yet it manages to push this story in a daring, disturbing new direction that uses sound as a superpower.
It’s a unique lens to experience a familiar story about family secrets, generational trauma, unresolved grief, and the importance of not just legacy, but preservation. It’s a hell of a directorial debut from Henry Chaisson that’s guaranteed to get under the audience’s skin as they’re dragged through this painful, toxic tale.
Recluse is a gothic haunted house story where an isolated audio engineer, Joan (Sasha Frolova), returns to her family’s estate to check in on her father after he suffers a terrible accident. Joan suddenly discovers something much more sinister that paints her family’s tragedies in a very different light. Chaisson’s debut functions as a fascinating companion piece to this year’s undertone, which does a lot of the same things.
These two films make for a fascinating case of parallel thinking that tackles comparable subject matter through a similar lens, albeit in a bigger, less claustrophobic story in Recluse’s case. In fact, it’s the perfect horror film for anyone who was let down by undertone and didn’t feel like it brought enough to the table. It’s a considerably more conventional horror film, but this isn’t meant to denigrate its high quality. Recluse may hit some familiar notes, but it’s a scary, well-crafted haunted house horror story that goes for the jugular.
A gripping mystery that involves the tragic, unresolved circumstances that surround Joan’s mother teases a chilling connection to the recent horrors that have afflicted her father. Joan desperately tries to put these pieces together and give her family some sense of grander peace before she’s pulled under and becomes another victim of this festering curse that’s systematically worked its way through the Wyatt family. By doing so, Recluse digs into some deeper commentary on collective trauma, a very literal look at the “sins of the father” adage, and how one selfish decision can ripple through generations and fracture off into different dilemmas. By the end, Recluse has brilliantly flipped the powerful concept of legacy on its head by illustrating the horrors and sense of entitlement that can be born out of this idea.
A legacy is just another name for a curse under the right context.
”Listen” is a simple but powerful command from Joan’s father that she briefly obsesses over. In a way, it becomes Recluse’s grander mission statement, whether it’s in response to Joan listening to the people in her life, the signals that her body and mind are telling her, or the world’s greater whims. It’s important to reconnect with these grounding pillars, especially when it feels like control is slipping away.
Recluse excels with how audio and soundscapes can create entire universes that are full of rich details that transport individuals to these environments. There’s also a level of objectivity when it comes to audio recordings and the evergreen permanence that they’re able to provide. Joan’s career as an audio engineer makes sense for someone who wants to cling to hard evidence and proof of existence. It provides great insight into Joan without ever getting lost in contrived exposition.
Joan’s entire life is built around audio engineering, and so it makes sense that Recluse features excellent sound design that really goes above and beyond with its production elements. All of the sound design is expertly handled and turns the film into something special. These auditory elements intuitively keep the audience on edge so that they’re more susceptible to the actual scares that eventually strike. The smallest sound effect gets turned into a crushing, cacophonous assault. It’s a really effective way to build terror. Writer/Director Chaisson also handles the film’s music, which achieves a sublime, unnerving dissonance that further heightens the free-floating anxiety.
The story at the center of Recluse is slightly generic in some respects, but the film’s visual language and tone make it feel distinctly memorable. It also doesn’t hurt that the home that Joan returns to is basically an eerie art studio that’s full of contorted paintings. Recluse never struggles to generate mounting dread and terror that pump through every scene. Powerful, thoughtful cinematography consistently reinforces the film’s themes. Joan is constantly reflected in different surfaces or viewed through mirrors. She’s also often confined to tight, constricting framing that all speaks to her refracted identity during this moment of loss and her attempts to regain agency and control by making sense of something that’s seemingly unexplainable.
Recluse is full of truly disturbing visuals that make it seem like Joan is lost in a dream that turns out to be an extended nightmare. It’s a surreal journey reminiscent of invasive psychological horror like Silent Hill, with a touch of Sinister and Hereditary thrown in for good measure. There are so many individual frames that could endlessly fuel urban legends and creepypastas.
It does a great job with how it presents Joan’s fragile state of mind, where chilling flashes of the past sneak up on her and unresolved trauma manifests into unsettling imagery. There are endless shots that are obscured in darkness, or shadow is creeping in from the corners of frames like a suffocating force of nature. It’s very rare that a scene is fully lit. It leads to a very lonely, isolating atmosphere that’s easy to get lost in.
Chaisson’s debut stands out from the many other high-minded haunted house horror films without succumbing to the same pretensions that often drag down these stories. It’s a grief-stricken character study that’s full of upsetting visuals that scratch at something visceral and raw. The horror elements connect, and the answers to its grander mystery provide an appropriate and believable sense of closure. Those who are looking for an atmospheric horror film that isn’t afraid to be different while still channeling something real will appreciate Recluse.
Recluse made its world premiere at Tribeca; release info TBD.
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