Naturally, FX’s new show, “American Horror Story,” can easily be compared to many other classic horror films. It’s “Poltergeist” with less Spielberg innocence. It’s “Amityville Horror” with more violent crimes. It’s “The Shining,” if “The Shining” was a Nine Inch Nails music video circa 1994. But perhaps the most appropriate comparison is to the 1999 film, “House on Haunted Hill.” This film is a loose remake of a classic, and through implausible plot developments, over-the-top acting, and gory special effects aiming for shock value but landing in silliness, it manages to be a pretty good time. “American Horror Story” feels very similar, except that it instead comes from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, creators of Glee. This consequently means that the implausible plot rarely develops and instead swirls around highly stylized horror clichés and lands in a big pile of, “Huh?”
The show follows Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott), his wife Vivien (Connie Britton) and their daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga) as they move to a haunted Los Angeles mansion to try and piece their life together after a miscarriage and marital infidelity. The pilot episode, which premiered two weeks ago, shows Vivien’s trust issues after her husband cheated, along with Violet’s teenage angst at dealing with social hierarchy at her new high school. But strained familial relationships take a back seat to a psychic girl with Down syndrome, ill-fated redheaded twins who hate trees, bizarre monsters in the basement and a mysterious villain with a serious leather fetish. If this sounds frantic and scattered, it’s because it is.
The unstructured, vague plot is accented by fractured and jumpy camera work. Shots rarely last more than 10 or 15 seconds, with images of bloody bodies and creepy crawlies spliced into otherwise straightforward scenes. This blink-and-you-miss-it cinematography is meant to create eerie atmosphere, but instead it creates a constant need to rewind. Perhaps in an era before internet streaming and TiVo, such hidden Easter eggs would have delighted careful viewers. Now they just feel like a chore.
That isn’t to say that “American Horror Story” is boring. Glee’s energy mixed with a horror buff’s enthusiasm and a dash of sexual perversity is not a recipe for something dreary. And while the first episode jumped and rushed through too many plotlines and attempts to frighten, the second episode slowed to something that might last for more than one season. We begin to realize the long history of murder and mayhem associated with the house, and how those stories can be woven into a serial television show. There’s still blood for the sake of jaw dropping, but many frenetic elements from the first episode become comfortable in their ridiculousness, like the maid who appears as an old lady to Vivien, and a sexy, garter-wearing vixen to Ben. At first, it seemed nonsensical and out of place. Now it doesn’t matter, because we’re laughing.
The strength of “American Horror Story” is in its cast. Jessica Lange delightfully overdoes it as Constance, the nosey neighbor who knows more than she lets on. Denis O’Hare, who you might remember as the heart-stopping Russel Edgington on “True Blood,” appears as a man missing half his face as the result of setting fire to the house years ago, which consumed his wife and two daughters. He was placed in prison with a life sentence, only to be let out due to his terminal brain cancer. Sure, this makes no real life sense. But if you make it that far into the show, you’ve probably let go of all rationale. It’s worth it, because any show with O’Hare hamming it up, even if he’s half covered in some pretty intense latex makeup, is worth watching.
If “American Horror Story” continues to settle into this wacky, bloody, hot mess of a horror show, it may prove to have the power to return for future seasons. Upcoming guest star Zachary Quinto will add some intense eyebrows and Batman shaped chest hair. Only time will tell if “American Horror Story” has the plotlines to sustain a long running series. But kinky leather gimmicks, naked Dylan McDermott, fetuses in jars, sexy maids and ladies being chopped in half by falling elevators will keep us watching in the meantime.
The third episode of “American Horror Story” airs tonight at 10 p.m. on FX.
Victoria Knobloch can be reached at [email protected].
