It’s no surprise that there are plenty of age-based horror films like Cocoon, The Leech Woman, and Old that tap into this space, not to mention genre movies like VFW, which celebrate bad-ass boomer energy. 

In this sense, Netflix’s The Boroughs isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been done before. It’s an eight-episode series that looks at a bunch of people who feel invisible to society, only for them to gain a remarkable purpose that won’t just change their lives, but the entire world. It’s full of futile rage against getting older that’s balanced by the reassuring freedom that comes from accepting that it’s a normal – and even empowering – experience. It’s a sci-fi horror adventure about how to find meaning, value, and community when you feel utterly alone and like you’re just marking time.

The Boroughs is guilty of coming across as “Geriatric Stranger Things” as it stumbles through often-clunky puzzle-box storytelling. There’s still a lot of heart on display in this inspirational story, even if it’s unlikely to capture a fraction of Stranger Things’ fandom and become Netflix’s next big hit.

The new series takes an idyllic retirement community – the titular Boroughs – and transforms it into a paranormal prison where its discarded residents are turned into defenseless cannon fodder. Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) is a retired engineer with a respect for the classics who becomes the newest resident. He’s immediately skeptical of this macabre community that’s proudly billed as “a town that’s just for grown-ups.”

Cooper is a curmudgeon with a capital C who can’t even let his guard down around his family. There’s an authenticity to the formulaic-but-comfortable lifestyle that’s laid out for Cooper and his fellow neighbors. He is an empathetic character, despite his rough edges. The bristling and loss of autonomy that he experiences highlights the similarities between trauma and getting older, with both subtly affecting one’s sense of self and physical body.

It’s fair for Cooper – or anyone – to resent having their agency taken away from them. Cooper grows especially resentful of this scenario and the Boroughs’ many modern creature comforts, such as the community’s personal Alexa-esque digital A.I. helper. 

The Boroughs is a little glib when it comes to how it juxtaposes youth and modernity against the older generation in order to make its points. The same is true regarding how it approaches loneliness as a sickness and that a place like this can actually be an opportunity to live, rather than a place where people fade away and die. The Boroughs isn’t subtle about any of this, but it’s a mission statement that works more than it doesn’t, thanks to a cast that’s full of phenomenal performances.

The best thing that The Boroughs has going for it is a murderers’ row of top-tier performances. Bill Pullman, Geena Davis, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, and Alfre Woodard help round out the cast alongside Molina. Everyone really commits and is clearly having fun in these roles. It’s a delight to just watch these characters bounce off of each other and slowly open up, even when it’s mundane moments where there are no active threats.

It’s a series that’s all about celebrating life, but there’s also a really melancholy nature to all this. This isn’t wholly unexpected in a series like this, as characters reflect on their fleeting mortality and how much of their lives they have left. Wally’s (O’Hare) storyline about dealing with a terminal illness as he tries to embrace an existence of “cocktails and chaos” is particularly poignant. Each episode functions as cathartic character studies outside of the grander paranormal developments.

The Stranger Things parallels in The Boroughs are front and center, right down to the Duffer Brothers being on board as executive producers. There are also shades of other mysterious community series like Wayward Pines, From, and even The Prisoner present here, with some Stepford Wives-esque conformity thrown in for good measure. Also, much like Stranger Things before it, The Boroughs suffers from the ongoing issue with Netflix programs where characters repeat the plot and what they’re about to do ad nauseam. It also doesn’t help that The Boroughs is airing at the same time as Apple TV+’s far superior Widow’s Bay, which nails this type of tone and genre so damn well. 

The Boroughs is at its best once it gets out of its own way, but there are still awkward affectations and unnecessary vestiges of puzzle-box storytelling that don’t feel natural. It actually feels like a series from the early 2010s during the height of the Lost copycat craze. It’s easy to picture The Boroughs as a successful contemporary to Revolution and Alcatraz, whereas its mysteries struggle to pull their weight in a modern context. 

There’s plenty in The Boroughs that falls short of expectations. However, it’s not just hollow and gratuitous mystery-driven storytelling. There are satisfying answers that connect to creative mythology that explore an original idea through a curious lens. It’s also clever to connect antiquated technology and relics of the past to Cooper and company’s solution to these supernatural threats. 

It’s earliest episodes take a minute to find their rhythm and really get moving. It gradually overcomes a cumbersome start in order to become something really special and heartwarming once it does its own thing. I found myself caring less about the mystery and more about these characters. There’s inventive lore, but also some telegraphed twists. The tone is also initially all over the place as if it can’t make up its mind over whether it’s supposed to be a comedy, drama, or horror series.

The Boroughs takes a really long walk to make its points. Some people may jump ship along the way, but they’re still powerful thoughts, all the same. The season ultimately turns into a battle between compliance and rebellion that’s presented through a supernatural filter, but speaks to a universal concept. It works well enough for what it is.

There are creative monster designs, suspenseful stakes, and effective needle drops that speak to these characters. Outside of its heartfelt performances and brief flashes of inspiration, The Boroughs is unfortunately as forgettable as the very people who have been shipped off to its community.

All eight episodes of The Boroughs begin streaming on May 21, 2026.

The post ‘The Boroughs’ Is Boomer ‘Stranger Things’ For Better & For Worse [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Created by showrunners Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews (“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance”), the eight-episode mysterious sci-fi series drops May 21 on Netflix.

“In the sun-drenched expanse of the New Mexico desert lies The Boroughs, a picturesque retirement community promising its residents the time of their lives.

But for new arrival Sam Cooper, paradise feels more like a prison. Everything changes when a terrifying nighttime encounter reveals that something monstrous is stalking the manicured cul-de-sacs.

Dismissed by the powers that be as just another confused old man, Sam finds unlikely allies in a band of neighborhood misfits: a sharp-witted former journalist, a spiritual seeker, a cynical music manager, and a brilliant doctor running out of options.

Overlooked and underestimated, these unlikely heroes must band together to unravel the dark truth at the heart of The Boroughs before their time runs out.”

Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, Bill Pullman, Carlos Miranda, Jena Malone, Seth Numrich, and Alice Kremelberg star.

The cast also features Ed Begley Jr., Dee Wallace, Eric Edelstein, Rafael Casal, Mousa Hussein Kraish, Beth Bailey, Karan Soni, and Jane Kaczmarek.

Ben Taylor (“Sex Education”) directs the first two episodes, with Augustine Frizzell (“Euphoria”) and Kyle Patrick Alvarez (The Stanford Prison Experiment) helming the others.

The Duffer Brothers (“Stranger Things”) executive produce with Hilary Leavitt for Upside Down Pictures, alongside Addiss, Matthews, and Taylor.

“The central question of the show is: What will you do with the time you have left? And we literally say that in the pilot,” Addiss tells Netflix. “It was important to us that was the question, because it’s a question that anybody can ask. It’s a question that any audience of any age can ask. And our heroes are probably on the shorter end of the stack, so the stakes are higher. The choices they make matter more because they maybe have less time left — or they might have more time, because weird stuff is always happening in ‘The Boroughs.’”

“No one knows how much time they have left,” Matthews adds. “Everyone of every age is trying to figure out what to do with the time they have left. And sometimes that question is inspiring all the things you want to do. Sometimes that’s a weight. There’s a lot of different ways to face the rest of your life, but everyone is always facing the rest of their life. And that’s why it’s a show for everybody.”

Have the time of your life with “The Boroughs” trailer below, where you’ll also find a gallery of stills along with the key art.

The post ‘The Boroughs’ Trailer – Retirees Face an Otherworldly Threat in Netflix Sci-Fi Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

From the executive producers of “Stranger Things,” the mysterious sci-fi series drops May 21 on Netflix.

The eight-episode show is created by showrunners Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews (“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance”).

In the sun-drenched expanse of the New Mexico desert lies The Boroughs, a picturesque retirement community promising its residents the time of their lives.

But for new arrival Sam Cooper paradise feels more like a prison. Everything changes when a terrifying nighttime encounter reveals that something monstrous is stalking the manicured cul-de-sacs.

Dismissed by the powers that be as just another confused old man, Sam finds unlikely allies in a band of neighborhood misfits: a sharp-witted former journalist, a spiritual seeker, a cynical music manager, and a brilliant doctor running out of options.

Overlooked and underestimated, these unlikely heroes must band together to unravel the dark truth at the heart of The Boroughs before their time runs out.

Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, Bill Pullman, Carlos Miranda, Jena Malone, Seth Numrich, and Alice Kremelberg star.

The cast also features Ed Begley Jr., Dee Wallace, Eric Edelstein, Rafael Casal, Mousa Hussein Kraish, Beth Bailey, Karan Soni, and Jane Kaczmarek.

Ben Taylor (“Sex Education”) directs the first two episode, with Augustine Frizzell (“Euphoria”) and Kyle Patrick Alvarez (The Stanford Prison Experiment) helming the others.

“Stranger Things” creators the Duffer Brothers executive produce with Hilary Leavitt for Upside Down Pictures, alongside Addiss, Matthews, and Taylor.

“From the beginning, we knew we wanted ‘The Boroughs’ to feel equal parts scary, mysterious, exciting and emotional,” Addiss & Matthews told Netflix. “The challenge was to create a world that could hold all of these different tones at once. Which is why it was so fun to work with the Duffer Brothers — the masters of balancing heart and horror.”

The Duffer Brothers add, “While the heroes in ‘The Boroughs’ have a few more years on them than the kids from ‘Stranger Things,’ they are a similarly lovable bunch of misfits, and we can’t wait for you to join them on an adventure that is at turns scary, funny, and deeply touching.”

The post ‘The Boroughs’ Teaser Trailer – Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Bill Pullman Star in Netflix Sci-Fi Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A new nightmare will be featured each week, and the “American Horror Stories” Season 2 trailer teases everything from creepy dolls to ghosts, serial killers to sexually-active cadavers.

Yup, that’s Ryan Murphy for ya! Watch the first official Season 2 trailer below, which reveals that the season’s guest stars will include Denis O’Hare and Bella Thorne, among others.

Other notable names featured in Season 2 include Alicia Silverstone, Cody Fern, Judith Light, Max Greenfield, Madison Iseman, Gabourey Sidibe, and Quvenzhané Wallis.

The spinoff anthology features hour-long contained episodes, and it’s exclusively available through FX on Hulu. The new series mostly tells original stories unconnected to the main “AHS” series, though Season 1 was book-ended by a “Murder House” continuation.

FX reminds, “Since 2011, the creators of the AHS have redefined the horror genre with various installments featuring a creepy asylum, a coven of witches, a traveling freak show, a haunted hotel and the apocalypse itself. The television series sprouted a legion of dedicated fans who anticipate what terrors the next chapter will hold.”

Deadline notes, “According to FX, American Horror Stories marked the most successful launch of any FX on Hulu series to date.” No surprise there, as “AHS” has long been a hit franchise.

The post “American Horror Stories” Season 2 Trailer Features Creepy Dolls, Corpses, Ghosts and Masked Killers appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Oscar-nominee Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), rising actor Billy Howle (Outlaw King), Tony-winner Denis O’Hare (“American Horror Story”) and Southside With You breakout Parker Sawyers have joined Naomi Watts (The Ring) in survival thriller Infinite Storm,” reports Deadline.

“Malgorzata Szumowska’s (Never Gonna Snow Again) feature is based on the true story of Pam Bales (Watts), a mother, nurse and mountain guide, who was on a solitary trek up Mount Washington when she got caught in a blizzard, leading to a daring rescue of a stranger (Howle) as both nightfall and the storm bear down on them,” explains the site.

Filming begins next week in Europe.

Bleecker Street has U.S. rights.

The post Survival Thriller ‘Infinite Storm’ Traps Naomi Watts in a Blizzard appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Swallow is described as a “feminist horror film,” with Haley Bennett in the lead role.

In the film, “A newly pregnant housewife (Bennett) develops a strange and dangerous compulsion to consume inedible objects.”

“As her husband (Austin Stowell) and his family tighten and exert more control over her life, she is forced to confront the dark secret behind her uncontrollable obsession.”

Elizabeth Marvel, David Rasche, Laith Nakli, and Denis O’Hare also star.

Here’s the film’s first trailer.

The post ‘Swallow’ the Painful Trailer for Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s Feminist Horror Film [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Be sure to check out and subscribe to the Horror Queers podcast! We’re still writing one article a month, but we release one podcast episode each week and discuss one film per episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn, or RSS.

***SPOILERS for The Town That Dreaded Sundown to follow.***

Synopsis: 65 years after a masked serial killer terrorized the small town of Texarkana, the so-called ‘moonlight murders’ begin again. Is it a copycat or something even more sinister? Jami (Addison Timlin), a lonely high school girl, with dark secrets of her own, may be the key to catching him.

Queer Aspect: Band mates Johnny (Jaren Mitchell) and Roy (Kurt Krause) attempt an awkward hook-up in an abandoned junk yard before they are killed by the Phantom.

Joe

Annnnd we’re back and talking about 2014’s The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Trace, amusingly enough considering the genre, this is one of the few sequels/remakes – aside from Seed of Chucky and Sorority Row – that we have covered for this column! 

So it turns out that I have seen this film before! I will confess, however, that it took the entirety of the opening sequence at the drive-in movie and the red-tinged, split diopter murder sequence in the woods, for me to remember that fact. 

I LITERALLY had no memory of it when you pitched this and I looked it up, so it was a very odd experience to start the film and realize that I *did* know what to expect. I thought my only experience with this title was Dewey’s line in Scream when he describes the plot of the original.

Let’s get this out on the table right off the top. I have not seen the original film, though from what I gleaned doing some very minor research for this, that’s actually not important. What Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (coming off the stink that was the Carrie remake in 2013) does here is threefold: pay homage to the original, recreate a number of its most well-known sequences/deaths AND update an old property for a new generation. It’s no small feat – and he’s arguably not entirely successful – but as you’re so fond of saying on the pod, Trace: we’ll get to that.

Shall we tackle the queer element right off the top? The Town That Dreaded Sundown is constructed around a series of murders that happens in the small town of Texarkana (a name I never got tired of hearing, but HATE trying to type). In true slasher fashion, these murders are, for the most part, centered around sexual encounters, although the climax of the film seemingly only occurs in order to secure Jami. 

The first “murder” (in quotations for obvious spoilery reasons) happens when Jami and her boyfriend Corey (Spencer Treat Clark) are necking in the woods. This is followed by the Army guy on leave with his girlfriend and, later, Chief Deputy Tillman (Gary Cole) and a woman he picks up at a bar. And in between the Army dude and Tilman, there is Johnny and Roy, the totally random band dudes who (attempt to) hook up following the celebratory news that the Phantom has supposedly been caught. 

The teens drive out to what appears to be a sign graveyard (I was reminded a bit of the Neon Museum in Las Vegas) and Johnny encourages Roy to give him a blowjob. Before they even get their pants off, however, the Phantom emerges from the shadows, axes Johnny in the face before shooting him and then – in homage to the original film – the killer “plays” Roy to death using a knife attached to a trombone as a weapon.

I…have thoughts. 

Aside from the fact that the details of the hook-up are extremely unclear to me (the pair barely seem to know each other and neither seems very experienced, so I loved that they skip over handy-js and go directly to blowjob, aka the “gay hello”), I’ll confess that this particular set piece frustrated me greatly as a queer viewer.

Overall, The Town That Dreaded Sundown gets a lot of mileage out of killing folks committing the cardinal sin of getting down to fucking. Jami doesn’t get far with Corey, but that’s presumably because she’s a) the Final Girl and he’s b) the Killer. The other sex scenes, however, adhere to the expected level of gratuitousness: we get a good look at Kendra (Morganna Bridgers) and Army guy Danny (Wes Chatam) porking in their hotel room and the blowjob that Tillman receives from his hook-up verges on gratuitous. 

So why the fuck do the two queer characters barely even touch before they’re put down by the killer? Their deaths had me crying “bullshit!” in my living room because it is SUCH a cop-out/double standard. It’s as though queer audiences are meant to be appreciative that there even is a gay pairing in this slasher film, but heaven forbid we expect an actual moment of intimacy between them. The only thing that I was happy about was that we don’t see Roy anally penetrated by the trombone, because I 100% thought that that was where The Town That Dreaded Sundown was headed.

Trace, what are your thoughts on the queer teens in the film? Does it make it worse that Aguirre-Sacasa is an out married gay man with a dog named Ms. Molly? And did you, like me, think for a moment that Corey was actually being butt stabbed, Knife + Heart-style, during his “death” scene?

Trace

Joe, this is my third time seeing The Town That Dreaded Sundown and I think I know why you don’t remember seeing it: this film is very, very forgettable. There were things happening on this third viewing that I had absolutely no recollection of seeing before. I should be clear that this is through no fault of director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (another Glee and American Horror Story alum), as the film is fairly well-directed. It’s also masterfully shot by Michael Goi who (you guessed it!) also worked on Glee and American Horror Story.

I wish I liked I liked this movie more. I certainly don’t hate it, but it definitely sits in the realm of “it’s fine” for me. This is mostly due to the is a severe lack of energy from our two protagonists. They are, to put it mildly, booooooooooring. Couple that with the atrocious twist ending and it makes for a well-made, if somewhat lifeless, slasher film. This sounds a lot harsher than my 3/5 score would suggest, but because the film is shot and directed so exquisitely, it almost makes up for the rest of the film’s failures. 

Lucky for you, Joe, I have seen the original film once before. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about it other than the fact that I wasn’t too impressed with it (so I guess if Gomez-Rejon wanted to make a film that evokes a similar reaction as the original, he succeeded). Released in 1976, it took a real-life series of unsolved murders (the Texarkana Moonlight Murders of 1946) and made a postmodern horror film that blurred the lines between fiction and reality (spoiler alert: it ends with the “real” killer getting away and attending the premiere of the film 30 years later). 

You are right that knowledge of the original film (or the real life murders, for that matter) is not required; the brilliance of the 2013 film is that it manages to be both a sequel and a remake in that it acts as a follow up to the real-life 1946 murders and the 1976 film. I would argue that Aguirre-Sacasa’s screenplay does a disservice to the first film by attempting to pay homage (and by “pay homage”, I mean “directly copy”) its most famous set pieces. By trying to be both a sequel and a remake, the script tries to have its cake and eat it too. Had Aguirre-Sacasa just focused on one thing, perhaps the film would be more successful than it is. 

On to the queers! Like you, I call bullshit. On the one hand, it’s great that we get to see two seemingly queer characters about to fuck before getting brutally murdered, but their pre-murder sequence plays more like an amateur porno with a “two friends experiment for the first time” story. It’s progressive, but it’s not progressive enough. The film expects us to think that they are new to this, but they’re totally making fuck-eyes at each other before they head to the junkyard. These two have sucked each other’s dicks, movie, so don’t try to convince me otherwise. Do I feel robbed that we don’t get a graphic queer sex scene before Roy and Corey are butchered? Absolutely, especially when (as you mentioned) so much of the creative team is comprised of gay men. Even more unsettling, though, is that Roy’s death is eerily reminiscent of a gay-bashing before he is shot in the head. There sure are lots of deaths-by-guns in this slasher movie, aren’t there?

One area that I can commend the film is on its violence and murder set-pieces. Even with the plethora of gun-related deaths, the film is brutal and the violence hits hard. To answer your question: yes, I did think Corey was going to get knifed in the butt so I was happy to eventually see that he was “just” getting stabbed in the back (in a very gruesome image, no?). There’s so much more gore to be seen in this film, though. From Tillman’s bullet in the face (again, another nod to one of the original film’s murder sequences) to Danny’s decapitated head, The Town That Dreaded Sundown doesn’t pull any punches. I was even shocked to see Jami get a few arrows in her body during the film’s climax. If it’s violence and gore that you want, then this movie delivers. 

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the film’s dreadfully boring Final Girl Jami and her beau Nick (Travis Tope), who is somehow even duller than she is. We’ve discussed a few times on the podcast how the heroes tend to be the least interesting characters in horror movies, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown seems determined to follow through with that trope. Like Julie James – everyone’s favorite punching bag of a final girl – Jami is a sadsack for the majority of the film’s runtime. Unlike Julie, however, she at least takes charge in trying to put an end to the killings. The same cannot be said for Nick, and I’m ashamed to admit that I had the biggest smile on my face when Jamie tripped over his dismembered corpse on the train tracks. 

Joe, do you sense a lot of Ryan Murphy’s DNA in The Town That Dreaded Sundown? I have to confess that I don’t. If I didn’t pay attention to the credits, I never would have guessed that this film is from the same people that gave us Glee, American Horror Story and Scream Queens. And we haven’t even gotten to the film’s ludicrous twist ending yet. What are your thoughts on its Scream-like killer(s) reveal? I was fine with just the one! It wasn’t surprising, but at least it made sense!

Joe

Hmmm…I’ll tackle the Ryan Murphy DNA (ew) bit first. I’ll echo your confession because I, too, don’t really see it. Murphy is a self-professed horror cinephile, but there’s very little in his output – be it his involvement here as a producer, and even in his work on Scream Queens and AHS – that makes me believe he’s interested in contributing to the genre outside of making hamfisted homages to arguably better work.* So, huh, maybe that’s where his handiwork is visible here? That and Denis O’Hare.

*For the record, I’ve been accused of being a Murphy “hater” because I don’t care for most AHS seasons and I find Scream Queens such a huge missed opportunity that it’s nearly unwatchable to me. His near-ADHD when it comes to seeing storylines through to completion drives me absolutely insane and though I know we’ll discuss him at least once in the future, I always feel trepidation about his work. Do I love what he does for queer representation? Absolutely. Do I love his output? More often than not, no.

But back to the task at hand! The dual killer reveal is an interesting point of contention because unlike a lot of other slashers that we’ve discussed over the years, audience reaction seems explicitly focused on this particular element. When you mentioned the film on social media, you were absolutely flooded with angry vitriol about the ending, as though it is seemingly the only thing that people remember from their viewing experience.

To steal from your vocabulary, it doesn’t actually bother me that much. It is very obviously derived from Scream; it feels like the film’s final example of what you describe above as “have your cake and eat it, too”. Why have only ONE killer (the logical one being Joshua Leonard’s Deputy Foster as the put-upon grandson of forgotten Phantom victim McCreedy) when we can have TWO?! Corey’s explanation that he felt trapped by the town, just like Jami, smacks of “Billy Loomis 101” and fails to satisfy because Corey is barely a character in the film outside of Jami’s dreams, which aren’t about her so much as her guilt for feeling sexually attracted to Nick and making plans to leave Texarkana behind.

When you consider him on his own, however, Corey is a huge snooze and his “pity me” rationale for killing people rings hollow. I don’t personally care that there are two villains, but I definitely find them underwhelming.

And really that’s my larger overall problem with The Town That Dreaded Sundown: it makes the capital mistake of thinking that graphic violence and visual panache is enough to keep its audience entertained. Sometimes this is true, particularly early on when the screen is filled with splashes of vibrant colours and split diopter shots, but that novelty wears off when it is clear that The Town That Dreaded Sundown isn’t going to offer anything else. It certainly doesn’t really have any memorable characters – almost all of the murders are total randos who we have no connection to, which leaves Corey (immediately dispatched) and Nick (the human embodiment of ennui). 

And then there’s Jami, the definition of perfunctory Final Girl. You’re right, Trace, in that she is active in seeking out answers and moving the plot along, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my notes are littered with “FG” or “the main girl” or “the lead” because I COULD NOT REMEMBER HER NAME! She is soooo boring!

That – not the two killers – is my big criticism of this film. It’s so beautifully shot and the gore is great, but the production shot their load there, leaving the audience afloat in bright colours and beautiful compositions without a single engaging character or story beat to sustain us for 86 mins. I’m not unhappy that we revisited The Town That Dreaded Sundown, but I’m sure as fuck not going to watch it a third time.

Do you have a different read on the two killer reveal? Considering that this is a late entry in the slasher revival cycle, where does it fall in your overall rankings? And, if you’re hurting for conversation topics, how do you feel about Ryan Murphy? (Should I cue up The Carver season of Nip/Tuck for a future installment?). 

Trace

I’ll get this out of the way first: I like Ryan Murphy more than you do, but I am fully aware of his flaws as a creator/showrunner/director. His shows almost always have a great first (and sometimes second) season (or half season in Glee’s case) and then suffer from incredibly steep drops in quality after that. 

Because of this, I try not to get too excited whenever his name is attached to a project. I know that most television shows aren’t created with multiple season arcs in mind, but it always seems like once the first or second season of a series of his has finished, he moves on to his next project and pays almost no attention to the ones he’s already started. That being said, I greatly respect the types of shows he is getting made (hello, Pose!) and how much queer content he is including in most of his works. Even if those queer aspects aren’t always successful, I appreciate the effort. Also, screw you, Joe: Scream Queens is comedy gold.

As for the reveal of two killers in The Town That Dreaded Sundown, I confess that the reveal fully tainted my initial opinion of the film after my first viewing. The best twists come out of nowhere, but hold up to scrutiny. This one doesn’t. I’ve heard rumblings that Corey’s unmasking was a reshoot and that Foster was originally the only killer, but since the Blu-Ray doesn’t include an alternate ending, I’ll take that little rumor with a grain of salt. Besides, what’s the point in wondering what could have been? We must look at what is. When you know it’s coming, the reveal isn’t as troublesome. As you said, it’s just underwhelming. 

Due to the meta nature of the film, comparisons to Scream (already such a queer property, as we have discussed) are inevitable, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown suffers as a result. The mere concept of the film is clever, and seeing how the film mostly succeeds at tying the events of the film back to the “real” events of the 1946 murders and the 1976 film make for a rather fun viewing experience. That aspect alone allows it to stand above some other similar slashers of the 2010s like, say, Texas Chainsaw 3D. Unfortunately, it must also stand next to the likes of meta-horror films from that time period like Scream 4, The Cabin in the Woods, The Final Girls and Detention, all of which are better than The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Meta humor seems to split audiences though so I imagine a ranking of these types of films of the 2010s will vary greatly from person to person. 

Still, I won’t deny that this is an expertly crafted film. You can at least tell that most of the creative team has a love of the horror genre and, more specifically, the slasher sub-genre. It’s shocking that even in 2019, slashers are still considered low-brow genre fare, so it’s nice to see so much attention being paid to The Town That Dreaded Sundown, even if its script is found wanting. I’m so glad you brought up those split diopter shots though, because it seems like modern horror films are relying on them way too often. Sure, they look cool at first, but when every movie starts using them it can get a bit obnoxious. Since this film was released in 2013 I won’t hold it against it, but it’s just something I’ve noticed over the past few years.

So what is left to say about The Town That Dreaded Sundown? Not much, unfortunately. It’s a slightly above-average slasher film with a handful of great ideas that is bogged down by uninteresting characters and an ineffectual third act twist. Thanks to some stellar production value (on what had to be a small budget since Blumhouse produced it), impressive gore and a few suspenseful set pieces, the film manages to earn a recommendation. 

Just don’t go in with high expectations.

Now, let’s cross out The Town That Dreaded Sundown!

Next time on Horror Queers: On the heels of the release of Fred Durst’s The Fanatic (with John Travolta?!), we’re heading back to the ‘80s with psychotic stalker film The Fan!

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is available to stream for $2.99 on Amazon.

And don’t forget to catch up on our previous Horror Queers articles here or check out our podcast page here.

The post [Horror Queers] Bemoaning Unequal LGBTQ Sexy Time in ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The film is based on the infamous true story of the 1892 axe murder of the Borden family in Fall River, Massachusetts, and it aims to present the story under a whole new light. An exclusive clip shows the immediate aftermath of a murder.

Fred Topel reviewed the racy period drama for us, explaining that this take on the Lizzie Borden murders “posits a sympathetic motive to Borden’s axe murders.”

In the film, written by Bryce Kass….

“Academy Award nominee Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry, “Big Love”) stars as Lizzie Borden, the notorious woman at the heart of one of the most enduring mysteries in American history. After a lifetime of loneliness, Lizzie finds a kindred spirit in housemaid Bridget Sullivan (Kristen Stewart) and their secret intimacy sparks an unthinkable act. Director Craig William Macneill (The Boy (2015), “Channel Zero: Candle Cove”) explores the days leading up to the savage crimes in a dark tale of repression, exploitation and thwarted dreams.”

The film is rounded out by a star-studded cast including Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, “Fear the Walking Dead”), Denis O’Hare (Dallas Buyers Club, “American Horror Story”), Jeff Perry(“Scandal”), Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter),  and Jamey Sheridan (Spotlight, “Homeland”).

The post [Exclusive] ‘Lizzie’ Clip Shows the Aftermath of a Murder appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Tomorrow marks the 126th year anniversary of the infamous 1892 axe murder of the Borden family in Fall River, Massachusetts. With that, comes the film’s official trailer.

Fred Topel reviewed the racy period drama, explaining that this take on the Lizzie Borden murders “posits a sympathetic motive to Borden’s axe murders.”

Written by Bryce Kass and based on the unsolved, much-speculated-about murders of the Borden parents:

“Lizzie explores the inner workings of the Borden household leading up to the murders and their immediate aftermath and reveals many layers of the strange, fragile woman who stood accused of the brutal crime. As an unmarried woman of 32, Lizzie (Sevigny) is a social outcast trapped under her father’s austere and domineering control. When Bridget Sullivan (Stewart), a young maid desperate for work, comes to live with the family, Lizzie finds a sympathetic, kindred spirit, and a chance intimacy that blossoms into a wicked plan, and a dark, unsettling end.”

The film is rounded out by a star-studded cast including Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, “Fear the Walking Dead”), Denis O’Hare (Dallas Buyers Club, “American Horror Story”), Jeff Perry (“Scandal”), Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter),  and Jamey Sheridan (Spotlight, “Homeland”).

The post ‘Lizzie’ Borden Drama Dated and Gets Racy and Thrilling New Trailer appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The man, the myth, the legend. It’ll all be explored in PBS’ upcoming special Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive, fittingly premiering on the night before Halloween.

Many actors over the years have portrayed the iconic horror author, including Re-Animator‘s Jeffrey Combs, but it’ll be “American Horror Story” alum Denis O’Hare who’s donning the black mustache for the latest installment in PBS’ “American Masters” series.

“Written and directed by Eric Stange, the new documentary American Masters – Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive draws on the rich palette of Poe’s evocative imagery and sharply drawn plots to tell the real story of the notorious author. Narrated by Oscar- and Tony-nominated, two-time Golden Globe-winner Kathleen Turner, American Masters – Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive explores the misrepresentations of Poe as a drug-addled madman akin to the narrators of his horror stories.

Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive combines dramatized re-enactments with O’Hare of key moments in Poe’s life, readings from Poe’s works by O’Hare, Oscar-nominated actor Chris Sarandon and actor Ben Schnetzer, and interviews with authors including Marilynne Robinson, Matthew Pearl, Jeffrey Meyers and Zach Dundas, director Roger Corman (Poe film cycle including House of Usher) and others to reveal how Poe tapped into what it means to be human in a modern and sometimes frightening world.”

The film premieres nationwide Monday, October 30 at 9 p.m. on PBS.

Subsequently, Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive will be available to stream the following day, Halloween, via pbs.org/americanmasters and PBS OTT apps.

The post [Trailer] Denis O’Hare Playing Edgar Allan Poe for Halloween Eve PBS Special appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Only, for this year’s return, they made it even more tumultuous as they decided to hold their cards close to their chest and make us guess what the sixth season’s theme would be. In fact, when they started blasting out the promos, FX CEO John Landgraf explained that, “One is accurate; all the rest are misdirect.” He continued, “We decided, Ryan [Murphy] and I and [marketing president] Stephanie Gibbons, that it would be really fun this year…to keep it a mystery. There is a theme and a setting and a place and time, but we’re not going to reveal it.”

While TMZ uncovered clues that revealed the Roanoke backdrop, nobody could figure out which of the 25/26 promos were real. We all made great embarrassing guesses, while I was convinced the show would be bug-themed with Lady Gaga using the insects to control children in a small town. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now five episode deep into “My Roanoke Nightmare”, I think we can now look back at the mass of promos and pick out the ONE that was real, and you’ll never believe which one it was.

The Descent

First, before we get to the real teaser, in the promo “The Descent” someone runs to the cellar while hands reach out and grab their ankles. This sort of kind of happens in the show, when Shelby (Sarah Paulson) and Lee (Angela Bassett) are locked in the basement only to come out and see Blair Witch-esque relics hanging all over their house. In this past Wednesday’s episode, Shelby and Matt (Cuba Gooding Jr.) are trapped in the basement and led out by Evan Peters’ ghost. It could be the real promo, but I’m quite sure it’s just a coincidence.

Wind Chimes

This promo, well, I have to think that Syfy and the creators of “Channel Zero: Candle Cove” had to be literally freaking out. We now know their show is based on the tale of a tooth monster, and the creators of “American Horror Story” have a knack for lifting from pop culture – would it have been so far-fetched that “AHS” would have stolen from a creepypasta? Not all all. i just had to share this because, in retrospect, it’s hilarious. Consider this the opening act…

What’s Cooking?

Okay, so, here’s the real promo that was teased. The irony? Well, it was the very first one that FX released! What you see is a house in the middle of nowhere, smoke rising from the chimney and a chainsaw revs up in the background. While this isn’t wholly representational of the season, the first five episodes take place in such a house, while Kathy Bates’ character is apparently butchering trespassers and cooking them at a bonfire (there’s a ton of shots of a man in a pig’s head roasting over a fire). Even more notable is that the last episode (Chapter 5) had Shelby and Matt abducted by a family of cannibals who had been cutting up and “cooking” one of the previous owners (Denis O’Hare). This was the real promo.

The post THIS Was the Real “American Horror Story” Promo appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I was surprised to see that on Comcast and Xfinity’s guide here in Chicago the series is listed under the title “American Horror Story: The Mist”, with the debut episode’s title being Chapter 1.

This firms up our story from Sep.1 when TV Guide had listed the series with the same title.

Assuming this is the actual title, I’m not exactly sure why “The Mist” would be some sort of secret, nor how it even implies what to expect on this season. If anything, it’s feeling more and more like a cheap gimmick to keep us talking about it (look at that, it worked).

The strangest aspect of the title, however, is that Spike TV and Dimension Films are currently in production on a new series also titled “The Mist”, adapted from the Stephen King story. This truly and really would suck for them as (in my opinion) the marketing confusion would be pretty prevalent.

FX CEO John Landgraf explained that when it comes to the teasers, “One is accurate; all the rest are misdirect.” He continued, “We decided, Ryan [Murphy] and I and [marketing president] Stephanie Gibbons, that it would be really fun this year…to keep it a mystery. There is a theme and a setting and a place and time, but we’re not going to reveal it,” per IndieWire.

Below is the promo that FX released that bears the same title, which means I guess we’ll be seeing some kind of railroad demon? Could this season be some kind of horror Western?!

Sarah Paulson joins Lady Gaga, Kathy Bates, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Romika Annabell Osorio. We’re still waiting to hear if Angela Bassett, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson or Finn Wittrock will return.

The post Comcast/Xfinity Confirming “American Horror Story ?6” Theme? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Typically slated for an October debut, the sixth season of “American Horror Story” will air on FX Wednesday, September 14.

The sixth season is said to be mixing two ideas (one of which is NOT Slenderman), and will see the return of Lady Gaga. There’s no other info as of this writing other than that we hope to see Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson and Finn Wittrock return, while Jessica Lange will not.

Watch this spot for updates as the promos are sure to begin airing soon…

The post “American Horror Story” Returns Earlier Than Expected appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Check out the above lo-res image that just landed on the series’ Facebook page.

Expected back are Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson and Finn Wittrock.

Jessica Lange will not return.

The post “American Horror Story” Season 6 Teased appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The show will go on, with or without me, and apparently begins filming this summer.

According to the Washington Blade, comedian Leslie Jordan will be returning to the franchise. Jordan, who starred in “Coven” as Quentin Fleming, who was among the Council of Witches, told the site:

I’m booked all summer, then on July 7, I go back to “American Horror Story” with Lady Gaga, isn’t that fun? I did one season on “Coven.” They offered me another season but I got offered a reality show in London and I needed the money. Let me tell you, those reality shows pay a lot of money. So I turned down “Freak Show,” biggest mistake of my life. I didn’t think Mr. (Ryan) Murphy would want me again because I turned him down, but he did.

The next season of “American Horror Story” is said to be mixing two ideas (one of which is NOT Slenderman), and will see the return of Lady Gaga.

Expected back are Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson and Finn Wittrock.

The post “American Horror Story” to See the Return of “Coven” Star appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Even though I’m not even halfway through the season, it exists, and I’ll eventually return to it. And with that, I still get excited about what Ryan Murphy has ahead for the franchise (please, please let it include the return of Jessica Lange!).

Every year “American Horror Story” is teased and celebrated at PaleyFest, with this year’s event concluding with talk of the coming sixth season on FX.

Murphy dropped a bomb, revealing that this will be the first time two ideas will merge through an entire season: “The interesting thing about the next season is that we’ve been working on two ideas at once, which we’ve never done,” Murphy told Deadline.

Murphy did tease that the creative team has always been influenced by “the opera.” He also said, especially after Hotel dealt with moppet vampires, that horror “often deals with the innocence of children, and their wide-eyed way into it. Both (Season 6) ideas we’re working with have elements of children.”

There were rumors of a Slenderman-themed season that were put to rest, but the idea of “American Horror Story” channeling “Phantom of the Opera” or something to that effect makes an enormous amount of sense.

While we don’t know anymore, one thing Murphy did make certain tonight was the eight “AHS: Hotel” castmembers on stage with him — Kathy Bates, Denis O’Hare, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wittrock, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson and Matt Bomer — will return next season.

The post “American Horror Story”: Sixth Season Will Mix TWO Ideas! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Devil’s Night” is a who’s who of serial killers. This is an idea I can definitely get behind. Every Halloween, James March holds a ghostly, murderous dinner party with some of the most notorious serial killers of our time. Regardless of the episode’s camp or exploitation, it’s just a really fun idea. I also love the postulation that March was the one to give all these killers tips on how to be a better at their, umm, craft. From what I’ve seen of these killers in various documentaries and such, the actors did a fairly awesome job of portraying them and I wish like hell we could have seen more of them.

But here’s what I really loved about “Devil’s Night”: the idea that a hotel is the sum of all its past guests. One of the reasons a hotel was chosen as the “spooky” setting for this season lies in the fact that we have little control over what happened, will happen, or could happen in our hotel—even more frighteningly, our own personal hotel room—when we make the choice to stay there. In reality, hotels are creepy or gross because they are the sum of the current guests and shoddy cleaning. But what the show has done is turn these very realistic phobias into extreme and supernatural ones. Which makes for some kickass entertainment. Plain and simple.

Before I go on my Chloe Sevigny/Gaga rant, I must praise Even Peters once more for being so perfect at everything he does. As far as the main cast is concerned, Peters has the lion’s share of moxie. He plays the time period of his character to perfection, his gusto is frightening, and every time his façade betrays him and we catch a glimpse of the pure evil underneath the well-fitted suit and perfectly manicured mustache, I’m in awe. Peters was made to play March. And I truly believe he will save this season.

I can’t figure out how to segue into my dislike of Sevigny or her character so I’ll just jump right in. I really, REALLY dislike Sevigny and her stupid ass character, Alex. At the end of “mommy” last week, Alex finally runs into her missing son at the Hotel. I expected big things from that plotline this week. Instead, I’m thinking to myself, why doesn’t she take her son, missing for two years, to the hospital? Why doesn’t she turn the hotel and its owners in to the police for holding her son? Why in HELL doesn’t she tell her husband? I understand that we are asked to suspend quite a bit of disbelief for shows in general, especially horror shows, and double especially for Murphy’s shows. In light of that, there should be some basic beliefs we shouldn’t have to suspend and basically Alex blew through all of  them last night. Instead of asking any appropriate people any appropriate questions about her son, she goes straight to the woman who took him and decides (in what couldn’t have been more than a few hours of deliberation) to suck her blood…suck the blood of a stranger…a stranger who ADMITS to kidnapping her son. She does this literally before even talking to her husband just once about what’s going on. That’s poorly plotted. Lots of bad writing decisions being made right there. There’s just no excuse for that kind of laziness in a show that is five years old.

Luckily that part of the episode was pretty minor. Overall, I really enjoyed “Devil’s Night” for exactly what it was supposed to be: a throwback to infamous killers. The mood and tone were sexy and dangerous, the guest appearances (both actors and historical characters) were thrilling and for the most part, the acting was really good. I felt like, for once, the pacing was spot on. Which is not something you’ll hear me say often about an “American Horror Story” episode. I’ll give Murphy this: his “AHS” Halloween episodes are usually pretty awesome.

Stray Observations:

Mare Winningham simply blew my mind. She makes my hands tremble with how perfect she plays her role. I also really liked that she had a past beyond March and that is had to do with the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. It was a nice little easter egg, but also utterly heartbreaking.

I was skeptical about “AHS” bringing in an adaptation of Aileen Wuornos, as I’ve always seen her as a victim as well as a killer, but I dug it. Lily Rabe did a great job and it didn’t feel overly exploitive.

I want it to be revealed that both John and Alex have been heavily drugged this whole time and that’s the only reason they are not reacting like the reasonably smart, well-educated, and street-wise people that they’ve been set up to be.

The post [Review] “American Horror Story: Hotel” – ‘Devil’s Night’ Makes For A Killer Halloween Dinner appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Having said that, I didn’t hate the episode, though to be fair, my ‘AHS’ bar is set really low. I will say I was bored though. Really bored until the flashbacks to 1925. Accomplished with a stunning black and white, Hollywood, art deco vibe, the history of the murderous Hotel proprietor, James March, felt more like a Baz Luhrmann film than torture porn. Or an interesting mixture of the two. I don’t know if it was the story of March, Evan Peters (who, with the exception of “Freak Show,” has been fantastic in ‘AHS’), or the stark contrast in tone vs. actions that had me loving this portion of the episode, but I really did. Peters does extremely well in old-timey style and the way the flashback was carried out was short and sweet and graphically to the point. My only issue with it is that I have a hard time believing a detective (Det. Lowe) wouldn’t know the sordid past of such a historic hotel. Which brings me full circle to last week’s review about how lame I find Wes Bentley’s character and plot.

Another thing I brought up last week was how excited I was that the “Hotel” tone is very similar to the “Murder House” tone. And as much as I love the throwbacks to “Murder House,” I’ve decided it’s also one of my biggest annoyances. The rules of the hotel are very reminiscent of (or just straight up the same as) the house from season one. I love the Easter egg connections but I wasn’t expecting for so many similar themes. One of the only things that keeps me coming back to ‘AHS’ each year is the fact that I can always rely on it to be so different every season. But so far, this whole season feels like it could and should be part of season one. I’m slightly let down by that but will also continue to be stoked whenever a fun connection is made, like the real estate agent.

I loved Gaga in this episode. She had more lines than in last week’s and I think she delivered them really well. I know some people are annoyed by her in this role, and some think that Ryan Murphy is using her as a ploy to get viewers (that part could very well be true and if so, he’s a smart businessman) but I think she fits the role incredibly well and has so far pulled it off nicely. However, some of her scenes feel more like moving paintings than television. Every time she’s on screen it’s like time stops and everything because very stunning and momentous. They’re going to need to cut back on that shit if they want her to gel with the show a little better. Obviously, she’s the Countess, she deserves more attention and decadence, but it doesn’t need to feel like Michelangelo’s David just came to life every time Gaga steps on set.

The pilot allowed me to get my hopes up for this show again. And they’re not totally crushed, not yet, but the road that ‘AHS’ started down in this second episode is a road too often taken by Murphy. It’s just loaded down with fact after fact, after detail after detail. Here’s an example of how busy this show is just by episode two: I totally forgot that there’s a real life murderer on the loose until the scene in which Det. Lowe comes up with his 10 Commandments theory. That’s supposedly a large plot point of this season, yet it was completely glossed over, or it just got buried amongst the 17 other huge things going on. This is the main aspect of ‘AHS’ that I’ve come to find so infuriating. There’s simply always WAY too much going on. Ghosts, vampires, rape, torture, kidnaping, marital problems, creepy children, serial killers, ghost serial killers, junkies, ghost junkies…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Murphy excels at making really tedious plot lines really boring. But I guess I can say I didn’t hate it because there’s still some highly stylized, murderous, and bonkers fun.

Stray Observations:

I could have done without what seemed like a vaccinations hidden agenda speech in the first few minutes.

What’s going on with Finn Wittrock’s dated-ass Adam Lambert hair?

I’m dying to know how Iris, a worried and doting mother of a junkie, has now become a blood-peddling accomplice to murder and kidnap.

The post [Review] “American Horror Story: Hotel” – ‘Chutes and Ladders’ …Meh. appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

On a Live+3 basis, the premiere linear telecast of “AHS: Hotel” posted 6.13 million Adults 18-49 and 3.70 million Adults 18-34, ranking #5 and #3 respectively in those demos among all new and returning series premieres on television this fall (broadcast, basic and pay cable).

In addition, the premiere was the second most-watched telecast in FX Networks history, behind only to the premiere episode of “AHS: Freak Show,” and it is possible that it will rank as the network’s most-watched telecast ever when full data is tabulated in approximately 60 days.

“American Horror Story: Hotel” returns Wednesday with Episode 2: “Chutes and Ladders” (Airs October 14, 10:00 pm e/p) – Fashion mogul Will Drake (Cheyenne Jackson) brings couture to the Hotel Cortez. A model (Naomi Campbell) catches The Countess’s eye (Lady Gaga). John (Wes Bentley) learns about the hotel’s sadistic first owner (Evan Peters). Written by Tim Minear; directed by Bradley Bueker.

“American Horror Story: Hotel” features an all-star cast of Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock.

Through its first four installments, the “American Horror Story” franchise has received 71 Emmy Award nominations and 13 Emmy Award wins, including five Emmy awards for its fourth installment, “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”

The post 12 Million People Watched “American Horror Story: Hotel” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

FX has sent us a look ahead trailer that teases the events that will unfold during the 13-episode season of “American Horror Story: Hotel,” which stars Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock.

[Related Post] REVIEW: “American Horror Story: Hotel” Delivers Extreme Sex, Drugs and Violence!

The trailer shows all sorts of cool shit, but most notably we get our first look at Evan Peters as James March, who built labyrinth of a hotel in 1930. His character is inspired by H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer.

In addition, we added a featurette entitled “Tour the halls of the Hotel Cortez” in which the cast and crew reveal the secrets to building the beautiful set of “American Horror Story: Hotel.”

Lastly, below that, is a look at next week’s episode, ‘Chutes and Ladders,’ “Fashion mogul Will Drake brings couture to the Hotel Cortez. A model catches The Countess’s eye. John learns about the hotel’s sadistic first owner.

The post Season Trailer for “American Horror Story: Hotel”! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s not the easiest pilot episode to recap as it left a lot open to interpretation and didn’t give a lot of explanations for…anything. Though MrDisgusting does a pretty good job of recapping, which you can read here. We know there’s a hotel. And it’s special. We know Lady Gaga is some sort of vampire type thing who rules them all. We know not to go into room 64. And don’t rip open any mattresses.

Right off the bat, “Hotel” has a very similar feel to “Murder House,” which was personally my favorite season of AHS. It’s sexy, really, really sexy. It’s the first season since season one that has as much sex appeal as it does horrific elements. While the other seasons straddled the line of psychosexual horror, “Hotel” is about as psychosexual horror as you can get—as evidenced in the orgy scene that turned into a sexual bloodbath. Speaking of which, Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer are absolutely perfect. From the second they came on the scene they were viciously erotic, unbelievably daring, and flaunted a nonchalant confidence that made me swoon.

Another thing that “Hotel” really has going for it is that Murphy pushes more boundaries—even for FX—than he ever has before. And this is Ryan Murphy we’re talking about, the king of pushing boundaries. Yet still, “Hotel” beats out anything else he’s done as far as sex and gore are concerned. I’m always slightly shocked by what he is able to get away with on television. This was definitely the goriest AHS pilot to date.

I wasn’t crazy about Wes Bentley and Chloe Sevigny’s storyline. It’s a bit cliché for my tastes. Obsessive detective who works too hard, destroys his family because of his workaholic tendencies. Wife who can’t look her husband in the eyes because he reminds her too much of their lost son. I’ve seen it a million times before. The only hope I have that the storyline will improve is that he moved into room 64 by the end of the pilot. For his sake, I hope the drill-like strap-on never makes an appearance again.

“Hotel” feels drastically different from previous seasons while still keeping that quintessential Murphy flavor. It’s moodier, darker, and more sensual. It’s extremely more graphic with a juxtaposition of old-fashioned whimsy. If Murphy can stray away from his MO of throwing too many storylines at his audience while leaving so many questions unanswered, I think this could be the best thing to happen in a while. Meaning: I was a huge fan of the pilot. Let’s see how I feel next week.

Stray Observations:

I was hesitant about Max Greenfield because he’s such a doof in “New Girl,” but he was so perfect as the douchy, arrogant junkie and I truly hope to see more of him.

The real estate agent from season one and the inside joke about the dog! Perfect!

Smart move making the first hotel guests of the pilot foreign. It felt like a page out of the book of Eli Roth.

Denis O’Hare. That is all.

The post [Review] “American Horror Story: Hotel” – ‘Checking In’ to Utter Debauchery appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The always spectacular Kathy Bates plays Iris, the front desk clerk and gatekeeper to the Cortez Hotel. She’s been working there for 20 years, and reminds me of R. M. Renfield in “Dracula” (being that she’s a human working for a hotel filled with vampires).

Speaking of vampires, it takes quite a bit of time before Lady Gaga is introduced. She’s “The Countess,” a seductive, eccentric and methodical vampire who owns the Cortez Hotel. Yet, even with the power of Gaga’s performance, Sarah Paulson, who plays Sally, a junkie and friend of The Countess, has the most provocative character of them all.

And while the first episode doesn’t introduce James March (Evan Peters) – who built labyrinth of a hotel in 1930 – we get a taste of the secret rooms when kids appear and vanish, with one containing a kiddie party haven used to seduce even children.

The most exciting thing about each season’s debut episode is the visual introduction to the characters and locations. While “Freak Show” may have been the most vibrant and colorful of them all, “Hotel” features stunning costume designs and set pieces that are nothing short of spectacular.

But, what I found most intriguing about “Hotel” is that it appears FX and Ryan Murphy have taken their gloves off. Being that “Hotel” is the fifth season, I don’t think the filmmakers have any fear of losing committed viewers. Thus, they have taken everything to the edge of gluttony, which is ironically part of the underlying story-arc.

It appears many of the “Hotel” victims are sinners, as teased in the below opening title sequence. And with that comes junkies, criminals and the insane. “Hotel” gets graphic with the drug use, takes sex/rape to an entirely new level with a conical drillbit dildo, and even has a blood orgy that’s uncomfortably erotic. Everything about “Hotel” is about excess, and there’s no denying that everyone involved is ready to take it all the way (shit, the season opens with Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley) discovering a man, with his eyes gouged out and his tongue removed, glued inside a woman who has been impaled).

The one thing that I love about the “American Horror Story” franchise is that, much like a video game, it’s all about the ride. And while the end game may be inconsequential (I have’t liked any of the season finales), Ryan Murphy and company have set the stage for a monstrous fifth season that’s boasting its ability to be unapologetic from sex to the drugs and violence.

I’m staying another night…

The post [Review] “American Horror Story: Hotel” Delivers <i>Extreme</i> Sex, Drugs and Violence! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The 13-episode season of “American Horror Story: Hotel” premieres on FX on October 7th.

Today, FX releases the opening credits that tease a Biblical story arc and plenty of gore!

The series stars Lady Gaga, Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Matt Bomer, Angela Bassett, Finn Wittrock, Wes Bentley, Chloe Sevigny, Cheyenne Jackson and Denis O’Hare, with Evan Peters, Darren Criss, Max Greenfield and Mare Winningham.

“Built in 1930 by the rich and charming but deeply psychotic James March (Evan Peters), the beautiful art-deco hotel is, in actuality, a labyrinthine structure built to hide March’s murderous activities (think dead ends, secret rooms, endless shafts). This echoes America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes, which we detail here.

“In regards to Lady Gaga, the show shifts to present day, where the Cortez is acquired by Gaga’s Countess, described by the site as “a glamorous socialite who attends art openings and fashion shows and maintains her looks not from a steady diet of kale but from imbibing human blood.”

“The Countess is also insatiable when it comes to love and sex, which sets up a macabre love triangle between her, the similarly blood-hungry Donovan (Matt Bomer) and the newly turned male model Tristan (Finn Wittrock).

“Also gravitating around the world of the Cortez are Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett), an actress/former lover of The Countess’ seeking revenge; Iris (Kathy Bates), Donovan’s mother and the front desk clerk; Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare), a cross-dresser nicknamed by The Countess; Hypodermic Sally (Sarah Paulson), a junkie and friend of The Countess; Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley), a cop investigating a murderer named the Ten Commandments Killer; and The Addiction Demon, a creature in the vein of Rubberman or Bloodyface, who has no eyes or mouth but does wield a nasty, conical drillbit dildo.” (EW)

The post “American Horror Story: Hotel” Main Title Sequence! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Featuring Lady Gaga, FX has released the first “American Horror Story: Hotel” trailer that gives us our first look at the guests checking into the fifth installment of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning franchise.

The 13-episode season premieres on FX on October 7th.

Here’s the season’s plot that came courtesy of EW:

“Built in 1930 by the rich and charming but deeply psychotic James March (Evan Peters), the beautiful art-deco hotel is, in actuality, a labyrinthine structure built to hide March’s murderous activities (think dead ends, secret rooms, endless shafts). This echoes America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes, which we detail here.

“In regards to Gaga, the show shifts to present day, where the Cortez is acquired by Gaga’s Countess, described by the site as “a glamorous socialite who attends art openings and fashion shows and maintains her looks not from a steady diet of kale but from imbibing human blood.”

“The Countess is also insatiable when it comes to love and sex, which sets up a macabre love triangle between her, the similarly blood-hungry Donovan (Matt Bomer) and the newly turned male model Tristan (Finn Wittrock).

“Also gravitating around the world of the Cortez are Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett), an actress/former lover of The Countess’ seeking revenge; Iris (Kathy Bates), Donovan’s mother and the front desk clerk; Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare), a cross-dresser nicknamed by The Countess; Hypodermic Sally (Sarah Paulson), a junkie and friend of The Countess; Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley), a cop investigating a murderer named the Ten Commandments Killer; and The Addiction Demon, a creature in the vein of Rubberman or Bloodyface, who has no eyes or mouth but does wield a nasty, conical drillbit dildo.”

The post First “American Horror Story: Hotel” Trailer Checks In the Guests! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Special Features include a New Extended Ending, featurettes “Partners”, “Fear”, “Space Archaeology”, and “Egyptian Myths”, as well as an Image Gallery.

In Pyramid, “The ancient wonders of the world have long cursed explorers who’ve dared to uncover their secrets. But a team of U.S. archaeologists gets more than they bargained for when they discover a lost pyramid unlike any other in the Egyptian desert. As they unlock the horrific secrets buried within, they realize they aren’t just trapped, they are being hunted.”

Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O’Hare, James Buckley and Daniel Amerman all star.

Check out this exclusive clip in which Aja talks about the real technology used in the film.

The post Alex Aja Talks ‘The Pyramid’s’ Real Technology (Exclusive) appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The only thing that really would have made this episode perfect is if it had been the season finale. This episode was on fire. There was such a raw intensity to the episode and all of the characters’ motives. Everything that we were taught about our freaks, everything that the first few episodes made us care about, came out in full force this week. But more importantly, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. This is one of very few episodes that hasn’t blatantly or stupidly given away everything shocking that may happen.

Finally, Stanley and Maggie are offed. And they are offed in two of the coolest scenes this show has offered up. In a perfect homage to Tod Browning’s “Freaks” (1932), Stanley is attacked by all the freaks in a dark, messy storm and turned into a Meep-like freak. Which if you’ve seen “Freaks,” a similar fate strikes one of the characters after the freaks attack, she is turned unto a human duck. I love a good reference that turns it a bit on its head. As for Maggie, she offers herself to be the woman in Chester’s box after the twins refuse. Since Dandy showed up at the freak show earlier handing over a dossier to the twins of Chester’s history (including double homicide) the information starts to eat at them.

So Chester’s plans to saw the twins in half (which was Marjorie’s command to begin with) get derailed making Maggie’s death more of an “accident.” But it’s clear the freaks weren’t going to let her live long so maybe this was an easier way out. As evidenced by Desiree’s perfect conversation with Paul: Desiree: “She had it coming.” Paul: “What do we do now?” Desiree: “Steal her jewelry. Bury the bitch.”

I think the show nailed it with Stanley and Maggie’s deaths. My loathing for Maggie runs so deep that I can’t imagine anything other than a saw crudely ripping her in half hitting the spot for me. I needed carnage with Maggie. Not only is Emma Roberts a bore to watch each week, but also the character is a lying, manipulative, sociopathic fence sitter.

Aside from sawing Maggie in half, Chester didn’t play too much importance in the episode, thank god. He did have this brilliantly acted scene at the end with a murdered Marjorie and the police. Neil Patrick Harris really is wonderful. But for me, I think it was Jimmy who stole the show. He wasn’t in the episode very much but his scenes were spot on. Here’s this boy who grew up as a freak, in the freak show circuit. He’s never had anything normal and he’s always had it rough. Somehow he keeps getting beat down and it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. But he really nailed it this week when each bit of compassion showed toward him made him feel hatred, guilt or shame. And then when he finally has the chance to have “normal” hands and be “normal” he surprises us all and asks Massimo Dolcefino (Elsa’s leg savior) to make him lobster claws instead of normal hands. It was a strong moment for Jimmy after a slew of weak, pathetic moments in the last 4 or so episodes.

“Show Stoppers” was solid because the majority of it was the freaks together, celebrating, plotting, working together and doing what they do best…taking revenge. I’m not saying every episode should have focused on all the freaks together at one time, but we could have used more of it. The chemistry between this troop of actors works for me in a big way.

There were two other small connections to “AHS: Asylum” in this episode. I think we all saw the Dr. Arden thing coming from a mile away. If you remember from “Asylum,” Dr. Arden had a lust for amputation and he was also a German in WWII going by his real name Hans Gruper. It was confirmed this week (although we’d been given ample evidence in past episodes) that this is indeed the same person. And the second reference was made before the opening credits when one of the freaks makes a joke about not having to watch the “‘Sign of the Cross’ again,” which if you remember was the film Sister Jude made the asylum patients watch. Since “Asylum” and “Freak Show” are set in the same time period, and since Elsa is German, these tie-ins are not all that surprising and seem pretty easy. I have faith that the creators of the show are inventive enough to tie-in other seasons as well. But there is only one episode left for that so I’m not holding my breath.

And finally, Dandy gets his freak show. He doesn’t just get the twins, but all of it. Elsa flees, knowing the freaks are after her, and leaves the show in Dandy’s hand for a small sum of money. Normally I’d gripe some more about how I wish this would have been the final episode, but I think Dandy can do something fun with next week. And for once, I’m actually hoping he has a musical number. I know I’m on my roller coaster again, but I genuinely liked this episode. I thought all of the pieces slid into place perfectly.

What did you think about “Show Stoppers?”

The post [TV Review] “Freak Show” Steps It Up a Notch, Now With More Guts (Literal and Metaphorical)! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

According to the shows own words, it has reinvigorated horror tropes. I think the creators have given themselves permission to use clichés because they believe themselves to be “reinvigorating” them. In some cases I feel they’ve succeeded (home invasions, killer clowns, school shootings), and in other ways (more often than not) they have greatly failed. The character of Chester was a big fail in my opinion though I’m eager to see if he’ll be responsible for the death of a freak or two. Chester is a traveling salesman-turned magician with a ventriloquist act. Chester also has an imaginary relationship with his dummy, Marjorie (who’s portrayed by Jamie Brewer), and must stop her from killing people. And I’ve also just described the plot of a Goosebumps book, a James Wan film, and I think an episode of Care Bears. Harris is an actor who shines brightly in whatever role you give him. So this is not a critique of his performance, rather how horribly plotted his character is. I don’t know if it’s that this role just feels too obvious, or if it’s the rumors that Harris practically begged to be in this season, or just that it wasn’t good… the whole thing threw me off. It reeked of “the last few episodes of AHS.” Which we’ve seen in the past—it’s pretty much scientifically proven at this point—that the last few episodes of every season are beyond pitiful.

Although Chester brought us the now-unseeable foursome between conjoined twins, dummy, and psychotic war vet, we absolutely could have done without him this season. The problem is that we have mildly interesting side stories with major characters that are being swept around like nothing to make room for this unimportant Chester storyline. “AHS” is notorious for bringing in too many plots for one season—even in one episode—but usually they are swept aside for each other, not for an entirely new plot nearing the end of act three. Unless his character brings about something huge, then what the hell is he doing here?

Meanwhile, in a much more interesting region of the freak show, Jimmy officially did cut off his hands and Maggie finally did something right (albeit off screen). I don’t care to stretch my imagination far enough to figure out how but somehow, Maggie and Desiree were able to get Ma Petite’s body back to show Elsa what Dell did. Although, at least for this episode, it doesn’t appear that Maggie gave herself or Stanley up along with Dell. Maybe she did and we will get to that next week. It wasn’t clear since they only spent 30 seconds on it.

Dandy only comes in this week with a few short scenes, but some of the best material of the entire episode. Now that Jimmy is out of the picture, Dandy needs a new nemesis. Apparently (I’d forgotten this until this week’s episode) Dandy is still obsessing over the twins. It’s really not the most believable plot line as he doesn’t tend to hold onto things very long due to his attention span of a spoiled eight-year-old. But nevertheless, Dandy manages to steal the episode in his brief scenes. From showing up at the freak show in a big ass fur coat to ironically judging Chester’s murderous past. “What a sicko! Tell me, how did they die?” In a show where everyone is so predictable, Dandy is always a welcome distraction.

We have two episodes remaining…just two episodes to get to any unanswered questions or close up any outstanding plotlines. And that’s without adding Chester and his bag of crazy. If Elsa finds out about Stanley, how does she get to Hollywood? If she doesn’t find out about him, what happens to Jimmy “No Hands” Darling? What about Maggie? Will Elsa leave her show in the hands of the clearly unhinged Chester? What happens to the twins in the process? Will Dandy just go on…being Dandy? It looks like the next two episodes will be carrying the brunt of the season. And if they close this one out the way they did “Asylum” with the massive flash-forward-and-reminisce episode, I will be so angry. Though I’m honestly prepared for it. A 90-year-old Elsa speaks with 60 Minutes’ Diane Sawyer all about her Freak Show!

Are we having fun yet?

The post [TV Review] “Freak Show’s” Disappointing Return appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The majority of the episode dealt with Pepper’s history, present, and future. We saw how she came to be one of Elsa’s monsters, in fact, Elsa’s first monster. We saw how much she cared for her husband Salty and how his death greatly affected her. And we felt the fear and abandonment that she faced in her life, especially when Elsa decided to take her from the freak show and return her home to a sister who didn’t want her in the first place. Pepper is the first character this season to evoke genuine sympathy from me given her innocent, childlike attitude. (Well, also Ma Petite, but we didn’t get an entire episode to mourn over the tragedies of Ma Petite’s existence.) For any of us who’ve watched Asylum, we know her fate. It was interesting to see how they pulled off the reconnection with Sister Mary Eunice that we’ve been teased with for so long.

Overall, I found Pepper’s initial backstory slow and some of the details unnecessary. It felt like an excuse for Elsa to talk, and talk, and talk. But when we got to the Asylum, and Pepper’s sister started to tell Sister Mary Eunice what Pepper had “been up to” in the years since Elsa dropped her off, things really started to move at a perfect pace for me. Not too hurried, not too frazzled, not too cramped, and not too slow. Just right. And while I truly enjoyed learning more about Pepper, especially since she is the first character to carry over through seasons, this felt like it would have been better served as a webisode, as it didn’t move the main plot forward at all.

Maggie or rather Emma Roberts continues to be just awful. I know I’m the minority here but I think both the character and the actress are dreadful. Truly painful to watch. Now that Jimmy is in jail, it’s Maggie’s turn to step up to the plate as the freak show’s sloppy drunk… and she’s almost worse than Jimmy. Did I miss something? Because I don’t remember them having a particularly strong bond. Nothing over the last 10 episodes has made me fall in love with their “relationship.” So her belligerence over him being with other women (last week) and his current plight just doesn’t add up. So soon enough she’s yelling at Desiree and her hot new man because happy couples now set her off…you know, because her and Jimmy were fucking Romeo and Juliet and then she is drunkenly admitting to Desiree that she and Stanley are conmen (not to the full extent—not yet at least—at first she claims they pickpocket show-goers). Desiree, in true Desiree fashion, throws out the sassiest of threats and hell, I love her so much. Next to Dandy she is my favorite character.

But things start to even out when Maggie decides to put the full blame on Stanley and save the freaks. She convinces Desiree to come with her to the Museum of Morbidity where all is revealed. Including a surprise reveal for Maggie… ::jazz hands::

Every bone in my body wants this to “betrayal” of Stanley to turn out poorly for Maggie because I absolutely cannot stand her and she doesn’t deserve anything good. She’s a liar, a thief, has played a secondary role in at least one murder, and is just boring as all hell.

Perhaps the most intriguing moment of the entire episode is when Pepper is stacking magazines in the Asylum library (in 1958, years after she left the freak show) and sees Elsa’s future on the cover of TIME magazine. This might be one of the coolest foreshadowing moments of all the “Freak Show” foreshadowing moments. If she’s become big in Hollywood, what’s happened to all her “monsters?” It’s truly the coolest little teaser the show has thrown at us thus far.

Other than Pepper leaving the freak show and Maggie taking Desiree to the Museum, no plotlines were moved forward this week. We got zero Dandy, and after last week, and the comments I received, it’s clear Dandy is the fan favorite and it would be wise of the show not to omit him from episodes. As I mentioned above, this episode would have done well as a side story, a webisode of sorts: The Story of Pepper! It just didn’t work as an entire episode on its own. Now we’ve got two episodes left to resolve Jimmy’s issues, Dandy’s psychosis, Elsa’s future fame, and the tenuous future of each and every freak. Seems like we are looking at a couple of hectic-ass episodes coming up in January.

Stray observations:

Nice one line, Michael Chiklis. Might as well keep you out of the episode. It’s almost insulting to throw you in for some pathetic moment that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

I know I mentioned this above but no Dandy? Really? After his reign of terror last week and then nothing?!

I truly believed Elsa cared genuinely for Pepper. Is she really too blind to see that leaving her with that monster of a sister is no good? That didn’t seem to fit her character arc. I get that Elsa wants to rid herself of some of her monsters, but Pepper never seemed like one of them. And I think Elsa is smarter than to believe that bitch would take good care of Pepper.

Lots to wonder about, and maybe be worried about at the loss of Jimmy’s hands…I can’t imagine it was a very sterile surgical procedure or that the aftermath of medical care was pristine…

Naomi Grossman was this week’s Finn Wittrock in terms of showstoppers. Well done.

Interesting that they dropped the musical numbers, yea? Not that I’m complaining.

What did you think of this week’s Story of Pepper? Did you like the change in pace? How about that Emma Roberts, eh? ::rolls eyes::

The post [TV Review] “Freak Show” Crossed Over With “Asylum” Last Night! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Unfortunately for Jimmy, his misery over his mother’s death not only led him to get into the luscious Ima “Wiggles” (Chrissy Metz) driving away his true love, Maggie, but it had his drunk ass rip into Dandy, which propelled Dandy’s storyline this week (including the titular Tupperware party massacre). Dandy’s new role in life—or at least this episode—is acting solely out of retribution toward Jimmy.

Although this week focused on the storylines of almost all the major characters, it essentially revolved around Jimmy—that is to say almost all of the storylines served the development of his arc—an arc that saw Jimmy develop and destroy several relationships, including his relationship with himself.

While Dandy murders an insane amount of women (including the creepiest of scenes when he sews the head of the murdered Avon lady onto his mother’s rotting corpse and dances it around like a gruesome Bette/Dot puppet), he does so in order to frame Jimmy. Because he is going to take everything from Lobster Boy. But the joke’s on Dandy because Jimmy Darling has nothing left.

Meanwhile, Stanley convinces Elsa that he actually found the “doctor” who can perform the separation surgery on the Twins. They find where Ethel had tucked them away and prepare them for the doctor’s arrival. This leads to one of the most touching scenes of this season. Sarah Paulson delivers a truly emotive performance as Bette tells Dot that she’d sacrifice herself for Dot’s happiness. “I want to give my life to you, sister. I want to give my life, so that you can have one.” It was honestly the first scene in which I wanted to feel sympathy for both sisters. However there’s a caveat to this statement of mine. It’s only touching when viewed out of the context of the show. Because last we saw, Bette was a selfish, bratty nutcase who was sassing Dot all over the place. Now she’s willing to give up her life and brand new blonde coif? Please Murphy, don’t treat your audience like we have no memory of previous episodes. So cheers to Paulson for the wonderful performance. But in context, I was underwhelmed.

So after this emotional, loving scene between the twins, things get weird as they offer themselves to Jimmy, rather Dot offers herself to Jimmy and Bette must come along for the ride. This doesn’t end well for anyone. It also shows us just how quickly “AHS” can go from awesome to downright insane in a matter of minutes. At this point I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. It just is.

And that’s the crux of “AHS,” it just is. I’ve been called out on my reviews for confusing people from week to week because one week I’m on board and the next week I’m not. But I stand by the fact that “AHS” is a roller coaster of crazy and it will never be consistent so neither will my feelings. Case in point: Dell’s storyline is literally all over the place. His suicide attempt, while valid, had no outcome. Literally….no. outcome. The writers have no idea who they want Maggie to be. Bette and Dot are gone every other episode and when they return their characters are totally different. Jimmy has been drunk for the last three weeks and Elsa goes back and forth between wanting to kill her freaks and “loving her monsters.” The only wonderfully consistent thing about this season is Dandy. And so again I say, he is the showstopper.

As with many of the previous seasons, the show starts a storyline and then either completely drops it or waits weeks to follow up. Where was Penny this week? After her huge act last week we all thought there would be some townie retribution. But she wasn’t even in the episode. Also, Jimmy and his drunken hook up attempts are really starting to devalue the character. His entire repertoire of romantic antics are beyond ridiculous. Remember when he fell for Dot? Then started in on Desiree? Fell in love with Maggie? Now Ima…if we are to empathize with this character, they gotta do better. Then there is all this homoeroticism with Stanley but where is that taking us? And what of the actual Freak Show? It’s non-existent.

So that’s that. I’d love to know your thoughts because frankly this show is becoming exhausting and I feel like my thoughts on it are going in circles. What are you truly enjoying about “AHS: Freak Show”?

Some extras for your consideration:

Michael Chiklis’ character really turned out to be a disappointment. He’s just mopey and boring. I was so excited when they cast him because I fucking loved “The Shield.” Also I really thought I’d get to see him in spandex. But I’m tired of him. He’s literally done nothing of interest or importance on this show.

Gabourey Sidibe is just the worst actress and I had a hard time not laughing at everything she said.

Speaking of…I laughed in this episode. Giggled. Snorted even. A lot. Dandy had some great lines and his hubris is delightful.

Well hello Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Where did you come from and why were you only on screen for three seconds?

And finally, I never need to see Dennis O’Hare jack it again. Ever.

The post [TV Review] “AHS: Freak Show” Ep 4.9, ‘Tupperware Party Massacre’ (Like Dandy, I’m Bored) appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This week’s episode of “American Horror Story” was a vast improvement from last week’s. Though I will say it still feels utterly scattered and stuffed to the brim with plot. It’s hard to feel emotionally connected to any plotline or character arc when there are so many. But there were some solid individual scenes in “Blood Bath” and some really decent performances.

I really enjoyed the last stand between Elsa and Ethel, or as I am now calling it, The Battle of the Accents. Two wonderful actresses having a very dramatic moment together. It was pure acting and done very well. I didn’t really care about the things being said or the directionality of the conversation (I find it hard to believe Ethel would believe Elsa killed Ma Petite no matter what she overheard last week, and I find it even harder to believe that she would decide to kill Elsa), but the drama that these two award winning actresses were able to conjure was supreme.

I didn’t have much of an emotional response to Ethel’s death. In fact I was slightly annoyed because all it did was cause Jimmy to drink and cry for 40 minutes. So. Much. Awkward. Crying. I’m not saying he should be a machine and suck it up or anything, but wow, they really got their mileage out of his contrived sobs. I’m not sure why I’ve loved Peters so much in the past. This season feels like he’s never acted before in his life. Between his drunken ramblings, his overdramatic yelling, and his childlike weeping…I just can’t with him anymore.

One of the great scenes this week was the ladies retribution on Penny “The Great Lizard Girl’s” father. When all the lady “freaks” decide no more!…they kidnap Penny’s father, tar and feather him and intend on killing him (only after cutting his dick off… I freaking love Desiree). But Penny has a really powerful moment, deciding to let him live. And her speech to him is simply rad. The entire scene was really strong, from the horror to the drama to the triumph.

The rest of the episode dealt quite a bit with Dandy and his mother. Those of you who read my reviews know that I love Dandy more than anything. I think Wittrock has completely surprised us all this season. I feel confident in saying that no one could have expected how overwhelmingly awesome he would become throughout the season from the first episode. And to be paired with Frances Conroy, wow. I love that pair. I was happy to get more of her in “Blood Bath.” We learned her past, including her past sins and how they “contributed” to Dandy’s psychopathy. But her greatest contribution to the episode, and I guess really the entire season, is how she highlights Dandy’s illness by simply being around him. Conroy is such a phenomenal actress she barely needs to say a word to essentially blast a spotlight on Wittrock’s character. Without her, his crazy would be less sociopathic and less interesting. This point is proven in a very visceral way this week when he kills her and literally bathes in her blood (I was pretty happy about clever episode title being both metaphorical and literal). Basically, Dandy would have been nothing in “Blood Bath” without his mother to prop him up as a suitable psychopath.

All in all, I didn’t hate this episode. I didn’t love it. It definitely didn’t leave a lasting impact, even with all the major deaths. As I mentioned above, there were some great performances and individual scenes. At this point it feels useless to complain about the hurried storylines and over-packed episodes because that’s just how “AHS” is, has always been, and will probably always be. With only a few episodes left, I will say that as annoyed as I get with the show, it tries something that nothing else tries. It doesn’t always succeed and often times it makes a heaping mess of itself. But it’s hard to truly hate a show that is doing something no other show has the balls to do. (I don’t quite know what that something is, but we all know it’s there).

A few stray thoughts on the episode:

It’s weird that we only heard the voice of Dandy’s therapist. I’m curious to see if that will be one of the many tie-ins we have been teased with, or if it was just a stylistic choice.

The Axeman Returneth! It was fun to see that pairing again and makes you wonder if the theory about all the seasons being connected because the characters are stuck in a looped sort of hell is true.

I’m slightly shocked Stanley has stuck around. The second word travels about the tiny new oddity soaking in formaldehyde at a museum, he’s going to be the prime suspect. I would have thought he’d move on to new things by now. The fact that he’s still stringing Elsa along with that Hollywood bullshit, and the fact that she still believes it is painful.

Before Ethel died she mentioned to Elsa that she hid the twins away in a safe place. Ethel’s dead now. Let’s hope she told someone else where she put them. Or actually let’s not hope for that because it might make for a fun storyline.

How did you like “Blood Bath?” Does Gabourey Sidibe annoy anyone else or is that just me?

The post [TV Review] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Ep 4.8, ‘Blood Bath’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Gregory Levasseur, who worked with Alexandre Aja on the screenplays for High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes and Maniac, directed the flick starring Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O’Hare, James Buckley and Daniel Amerman.

In The Pyramid, “The ancient wonders of the world have long cursed explorers who’ve dared to uncover their secrets. But a team of U.S. archaeologists gets more than they bargained for when they discover a lost pyramid unlike any other in the Egyptian desert. As they unlock the horrific secrets buried within, they realize they aren’t just trapped, they are being hunted.“

Watch another clip where evil gets released by clicking here, another brings the guns.

The post ‘The Pyramid’ Clip Collapses Under Your Feet appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Gregory Levasseur, who worked with Alexandre Aja on the screenplays for High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes and Maniac, directed the flick starring Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O’Hare, James Buckley and Daniel Amerman.

In The Pyramid, “The ancient wonders of the world have long cursed explorers who’ve dared to uncover their secrets. But a team of U.S. archaeologists gets more than they bargained for when they discover a lost pyramid unlike any other in the Egyptian desert. As they unlock the horrific secrets buried within, they realize they aren’t just trapped, they are being hunted.“

Watch another clip where evil gets released by clicking here.

The post ‘The Pyramid’ Clip Begs You to Bring Guns appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In my opinion, there were three major events in this episode, some more major than others. Starting with the least of which, Jimmy and Dell get drunk together and have a mutual admission that they are father and son. It could have been a great scene except for the fact that I’ve never seen an actor ever be able to play a “good drunk.” It always just makes me laugh. And Evan Peters is a really bad drunk. The entire scene—from the reminiscing about shooting a rabbit to make a coat for Ma Petite, to him saying “goodnight, Dad” while being tucked in by Dell—was absolutely painful to watch.

Next up, Penny’s dad turns out to be a total psycho with magic liquor to keep her sedated during a tongue forking and a complete facial tattoo. Come on. Really? Come on. On so many levels, this doesn’t work. And I’m not even just talking about the technicalities. I’m referring to the emotional side. If he was that crazy, he would have actually shot at her last episode. Or gone off on a tangent and shot Paul. To think he went from concerned father to absolute psychopath in a matter or days is truly hard to believe. I can only hope Paul still accepts her because she gave up a lot to be with him.

Lastly, a main character probably, totally, maybe, we have no way of knowing for sure because of all the previous fake-outs, is murdered. I’m not going to say who, I won’t get that spoiler-y. But I will tell you by whom. After Stanley spots Dell at the same gay bar from the “Andy episode,” he blackmails Dell into killing one of the freaks so that he can finally get the fuck out of Dodge and earn his payday. For some reason that I can’t quite figure out yet, Dell would rather mercilessly kill “one of his own” (his words, not mine) than just admit that he likes dudes. Or even just leave the freak show. I mean, really. He’s got nothing keeping him there. His wife left him—making that two exes he’s got to work with—a freak show full of people who hate him, and a son that he arguably doesn’t care that much about (the last few minutes nailed that coffin shut. If he actually cared about Jimmy he wouldn’t have killed who he killed, if the kill was actually real).

The whole thing just made zero sense to me. We are asked—and often immediately obey—to suspend so much disbelief while watching “American Horror Story.” I find it really unfair that they can’t even give us an ounce of humanity or any semblance of reality to the characters and their motives. At this point, Elsa is just a broken record. Bette and Dot are a complete jumble of contradictions every week, I don’t even know what Maggie’s intentions are anymore.

I think I saw this coming last week. The repetitious actions of the main characters started to feel like writer-desperation. And this week felt like complete implosion. And yet still, regardless of all that, I’m going to watch next week because those damn writers know how to end an episode.

Oh, and Bette’s a blonde now.

Thoughts?

The post [TV Review] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Ep 4.7, ‘Test of (My) Strength’ (and Patience) appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The twins are gone and everyone is concerned. Which is sure putting a damper on Elsa’s birthday celebration. While Ethel tries to hold everything together, Paul is slowly starting to figure out the truth about the twins’ whereabouts, and when he confronts Elsa about it—the outcome is (yet unknown, but very likely) fatal. After Paul eyes Dandy at a local drug store buying two of everything girly, his suspicions arise. He admits to Elsa that he thinks she had something to do with their disappearance and in true Elsa form, she dramatically wakes up all the freaks and goes on a vile tirade that puts ol’ Dandy to shame. It’s a feat of self-involvement and self-obsession that has been boiling right below the surface for some time now. In order to prove their trust in her, she demands that one of the freaks be strapped to the spinning bullseye for her to throw knives at. Paul gallantly (and rightfully, I guess) volunteers. Earning him a knife in the belly.

Meanwhile, outside of the big top, Dandy is playing house with his two new playthings. Or as he tells his mom: his future brides. Not shockingly, Bette is blissful in her new lavish home with her attentive new beau, Dandy. Everything is coming up roses for her. Equally not shockingly, Dot is wary, unsure of what darkness lies ahead. But when she realizes Dandy could easily pay for the surgery to separate her from Bette, she gets a twinkle in her eye. Or dollar signs. Or hearts…for a life alone with Jimmy. We’ve known for awhile that she’s pretty heartless when it comes to Bette, but this episode really proved that she is downright hateful. Her complete disregard for the life of her sister is really saddening. So she plays along as best she can so that she can eventually get her money from Dandy and live a life sans Bette. Everything is…well…dandy with Dandy and the girls until he reads Dot’s diary and realizes her true intentions. It’s at this point he makes his definitive decision. He has been put on this earth to kill. Which surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly?), his mother takes in that information with zero reaction.

Our con-artists are still busy at work on their grand scheme of killing a freak and selling it to the oddities museum (I gotta be honest, that’s a plot line I did not think they would stretch out this far). When Stanley tries to convince Maggie to kill Jimmy for his lobster hands, she counters with Ma Petite instead. It will be easy, no mess, no body…a completely deplorable and callous plan. This segues us into a quick but incredibly difficult-to-watch flash forward in which Ma Petite is slowly drowned in formaldehyde after being placed in a glass jar by Maggie.

Did I miss something crucial? Because it seems to me that it’s never been explained why Maggie is under Stanley’s thumb. Why is it that she is forced to perform such heinous acts that she clearly doesn’t have the heart or desire to do? I truly hope that relationship is explained at some point during the season or else that’s one giant plot hole.

Midway through the episode there was so much screaming and tantrum throwing I actually wanted someone to die. I was craving a shocking death as some kind of release from all the pent up anger inside the big top. So much tension and so many close calls with very little pay off. It’s starting to feel like Murphy can’t pull the trigger that he has pulled so often in past seasons. Speaking of tantrums, Elsa pulls one of many (what I am now referring to as) Dandy moments when she screams at her birthday party that she “demand” everyone start having fun “this instant.” And it’s at this point that the parallels between Elsa and Dandy started smacking into me like mack trucks. They are both incredibly delusional, they’ll do whatever and hurt whomever to get what they want and desire, they are both childish and selfish, and feel completely entitled. I’m embarrassed to say it took me so long to see the stark similarities.

This episode had some fun moments and some breakthrough scenes, but for the most part it felt like a step back from the bold strides Murphy took in last week’s episode. There was simply too much screaming, crying, and bitching for me to not want to click the TV off. And how stupid are we supposed to believe that Jimmy is to think Maggie would want to run away with him at the snap of a finger, especially after last week’s rebuff and the fact that we have literally never seen a romantic scene between the two of them. Are we really supposed to suspend our disbelief that far? Having said all that, I did wholly enjoy Paul’s scenes (Paul and Elsa! Who saw that coming?) And I loved the return of Grace Gummer as Penny, the nurse from episode one, as Paul’s secret lover. Their relationship is darling and daring and if Paul makes it through his knife wound, I really hope to see more of her.

One last word from me and then I want to hear your thoughts on this episode. I was starting to feel like Kathy Bates was being underused in a way that is near insulting. But I must say, she finally gets her moment of brilliance in the last minute of the episode, and I’ll leave it at that.

What did you think of ‘Bullseye’? Did anyone miss Dell and Desiree? Who do you think will get the sharp end of Dandy’s dagger?

The post [TV Review] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Episode 4.6, ‘Bullseye’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Holy shit, those were a tense final 10 minutes.

‘Pink Cupcakes’ is every horrifying thing that “AHS” has ever attempted, all rolled up into 46 minutes. This episode was all sorts of crazy both in story and narrative. I feel like Ryan Murphy has completely given up on any sort of logical narrative storytelling. This episode went from hyper-real flash forwards (fantasies? Delusions? Who knows? The show didn’t make it clear), to Jimmy crying and sexing, meanwhile Stanley’s working his con-man magic to convince Elsa, Dot, and Bette that he can make them all television stars, Desiree finds out she’s 100% female, Dell is 100% gay and super possessive over his month-long crush on hustler Andy (Matt Bomer), and Dandy gets sent to his room for killing the maid.

This week more than any other week felt so disjointed, although I think I say that in every review. Each individual storyline was really entertaining and unique, but there are simply too many of them. It’s too jumbled, too busy. Like a gaudy outfit.

Let’s start with Stanley and the subsequent, entirely confusing, flash forwards. The episode opens at the oddities museum from a few weeks back, Stanley and Maggie are there for the grand reveal of their contribution to the museum, a dead and pickled “seal boy” (i.e., handsome-faced Paul). So I’m like…well shit. That was a jump from last week. Then Emma Roberts’ voice breaks through bringing us to reality where she and Stanley are discussing his plans to murder and sell the freaks to the museum. Seal Boy is safe…for now. This same surreal narrative tactic is used in a much more detailed and unnerving way later in the episode with Dot and Bette (resulting in one hell of a disturbing image: Dot laying in bed still connected to a dead and rotting Bette). When I refer to the flash forwards as confusing, I’m not saying the content is confusing, but rather the way they are utilized. There is no reason to believe that these are fantasies or delusions of Stanley’s. They are all too real, which leads me to believe they are possible outcomes for these freak show members. Regardless of whatever those were, they provoked very real moments of anxiety.

On to The Jimmy-Desiree-Dell-Andy part of the episode. Jimmy and Desiree…what the hell, guys? It’s incredibly clear the creators needed a reason for Desiree to visit the doctor so they throw a distraught Jimmy at her and make us watch a totally out of the blue hook-up between the two. That is until his lobster hands cause some serious bleeding. Long story short, Desiree finds out she is actually 100% female and the bleeding was a miscarriage. And that “ding-a-ling”? Just a distended clitoris. (Wow, this got real, real fast). Anyway, she’s leaving Dell because it turns out he’s got the hots for a local hustler, among a myriad of other reasons. Does Dell want her to leave despite the fact he does not like women? Hell no. So, you know…that makes a ton of sense. Apparently strongmen just need to be angry and irrational all the time.

And now, for the real coup. Dandy. I’ve been saying it for weeks, you guys: Dandy is my favorite character. He’s complex and unapologetically insane. Yes he is whiney and insolent and we all hate him…but all those emotions we feel toward him are exactly what we should be feeling toward him. And this episode proves that more than any other one. After Dandy has a super-duper underwear workout Patrick Bateman moment in either a complete rip off or utter homage to “American Psycho” he heads out and picks up Andy for a night out in Twisty’s trailer. A night filled with absolute…complete…horror.

We were warned. We’ve been told for a few weeks now that Matt Bomer’s scene would be the most disturbing thing the show has ever done and they were not kidding. There’s this pure moment of psychosexual tension right before the murder of Bomer’s character that had my stomach in knots. But that was nothing compared to what would follow. In fact, the whole “unsuccessful murder attempt” itself wasn’t as disturbing as the aftermath: the slow-dying Andy, the one-armed pleading, and the unsophisticated sawing sounds. It was bonkers, for lack of a better word.

Elsa continues to be, well, Elsa. She’s delusional and will do anything for fame. Speaking of fame. The show stepped outside of its boundary of using anachronistic music for performances and used Bowie’s “Fame” in a montage of Elsa preparing herself for…fame. I know. I can’t handle the laziness either. Oh! Speaking of laziness, Elsa sang “Life on Mars” again. So there’s that. The only interesting thing she did this episode was turn the twins over to Dandy as playthings.

There was a lot to love in this episode. Dandy’s brutal quest to become the perfect killing machine and his mother’s priceless reactions to everything he does. Matt Bomer was amazing. He played his role to perfection—really an unforgettable couple of minutes in the bar with Dell. And although the flash forwards were narratively confusing and a bit frustrating once they were logistically unrealized, they were dark as hell and evoked a lot of emotions. But as usual, Murphy stuffed too much into the episode. Jimmy’s scenes were wholly disappointing, laughable at best. Maggie’s such a bore, and it felt as if certain storylines were dropped in favor of others. Something’s happening and then oh! shiny object. Let’s move on to something else. And I’m not going to lie, Gabourey Sidibe’s role felt like a desperate and random attempt at keeping her in the “AHS” family.

What did you think of ‘Pink Cupcakes’? Is anyone enjoying Dandy yet?

The post [TV Review] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Episode 4.5, ‘Pink Cupcakes’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Bloody Disgusting is celebrating ‘King Tut Day’ with this exclusive alternate one-sheet for Gregory Levasseur’s The Pyramid, produced by Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, Chady Eli Mattar and Scott C. Silver

‘King Tut Day’, is the day of the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb, as well as the awakening of its curse. I absolutely love this variant artwork that gets up close and personal with the most impressive King this planet has ever known.

In the film, “The ancient wonders of the world have long cursed explorers who’ve dared to uncover their secrets. But a team of U.S. archaeologists gets more than they bargained for when they discover a lost pyramid unlike any other in the Egyptian desert. As they unlock the horrific secrets buried within, they realize they aren’t just trapped; they are being hunted.”

Ashley Hinshaw, James Buckley, Denis O’Hare, Christa Nicola, and Amir K. star.

The post Exclusive ‘The Pyramid’ Poster Is Pure Gold! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I love the new credits, which put a new spin on the traditional “AHS” theme, while also displaying some scary visuals. I’m officially amped for the October 8 premiere!

Watch the trailer just released yesterday.

“‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952. A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.”

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post Super Scary Clown Teased In “ASH: Freak Show” Opening Credits! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The newest promo has been released and shows all of the Freaks from the October 8 premiere of “American Horror Story: Freak Show”.

I love that the fresh footage looks like Big Top Pee-Wee, only with a horror angle. I also like that the two-headed Sarah Paulson seems to be the protagonist and the series appears to be told through her eyes.

We’ve added the colorful new promo below, which is solely for the season premiere – and it also features your first look at what’s said to be the scariest clown ever. Pennywise begs to differ…

The fourth season begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post Colorful “Freak Show” Trailer Looks Like ‘Big Top Pee-Wee’ (and That’s a Good Thing!) appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Here’s a dope new one-sheet for “American Horror Story: Freak Show”, which turns a man into the big top!

The fourth season begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post [TV] Man Becomes “Freak Show” Big Top! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Premiering October 8th, check out two more sweet “American Horror Story: Freak Show” teasers, both putting a new twist on the human anatomy.

The fourth season begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post New “Freak Show” Teaser Too Scary? Hold Our Hands… appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Premiering October 8th, FX released the 600th teaser for “American Horror Story: Freak Show”, this one that lets it all out.

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post Yup, Another “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Teaser Lets It Out appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

it looks as if FX has run out of real freaks for “American Horror Story: Freak Show” as the new teaser gets a bit, supernatural, I guess?

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post [TV] “American Horror Story” Teasers Run Out of Freaks appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Good things come in three, which seems to be the theme of all of these “American Horror Story: Freak Show” teasers. Check out two new teasers below…

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post [TV] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Trapeze Act! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post [TV] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Teaser Sees Double appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post [TV] New “Freak Show” Teaser Doubles Your Pleasure appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

FX is set to debut the fourth season on October 8th at 10:00 PM on FX.

The post [TV] Meet the “American Horror Story” Freak Show Cast! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post [TV] More Freakish “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Imagery In New Teaser appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952.

“A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.“

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Denis O’Hare, Jamie Brewer, and Evan Peters return from previous seasons. New cast members includes Michael Chiklis, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Patti LaBelle and the world’s smallest living woman, Jyoti Amge.

The post Peek-a-Boo: A Scary New “Freak Show” Teaser! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Coming completely out of left field is the Alex Aja-produced The Pyramid (formerly Site 146), opening in theaters December 5, 2014 via 20th Century Fox.

Gregory Levasseur, who worked with Alexandre Aja on the screenplays for High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes and Maniac, directed the flick, which now has an official trailer.

The footage starts off pretty weak, ripping off trailers for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, before it explodes into a series of shots that look like a cross between The Descent and Indiana Jones. With As Above, So Below opening this Friday, it looks like we’ve got two underground exploration horror films in the same year, which is pretty great. I’m excited for both, what do you guys think?

In Pyramid, “The ancient wonders of the world have long cursed explorers who’ve dared to uncover their secrets. But a team of U.S. archaeologists gets more than they bargained for when they discover a lost pyramid unlike any other in the Egyptian desert. As they unlock the horrific secrets buried within, they realize they aren’t just trapped, they are being hunted.”

Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O’Hare, James Buckley and Daniel Amerman all star.

The post Alex Aja’s ‘The Pyramid’ Trailer Looks Like ‘The Descent’ Meets ‘Indiana Jones’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now, EW breaks news on returning cast, as well as story details.

The seres, returning this fall, is set in Jupiter, Florida, in 1950. “Freak Show” finds Jessica Lange playing a German ex-pat who is managing one of the last freak shows in the U.S.

Her group of “unusuals” Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, and Frances Conroy all play performers whom Lange’s character has rescued.

Adds the site, Denis O’Hare and the gorgeous Emma Roberts are also in talks to return.

“Freak Show’s” 13 episodes will track this group as they do anything to keep their business around.

The post [TV] “American Horror Story: Freak Show” Cast and Details appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.