Impressions from the first season Strangely enough, I took American Horror Story for the most part as a black comedy, or, if you will, a grotesque mystical drama with elements of farce. You can’t think of it as a horror story! Yes, there are creepy moments, but there are many more cynically funny ones. What do you think of a ghost-maniac in a latex suit from a sex shop? And a couple of homosexuals who still fight after they die? And Moira - about her in general a special conversation, it is necessary to see. Therefore, I am surprised that many reviewers talk about this series as almost a reference horror. Whether I can’t take much of Western horror seriously at all, or I’m naturally cynical, or I play Postal 2 too much – but most of the viewing I was laughing at my voice.
Yes, here's the humor, as you can see above, here is typically American - everything revolves around sex. But, at the same time – and around death, and a kind of Gothic whirlwind of Eros and Thanatos, attracting new characters. Family and love relationships, and especially marital infidelity often play a fatal role in the lives of the inhabitants of the cursed house.
Honestly, in the first series with the theme ... hmm ... erotic, so to speak, even overdone. And then, of course, it slowed down a bit.
As in every other American horror movie, a young family buys a “bad” house. A house with ghosts, who have their own plans for new tenants - and the "fun" begins.
It would seem that everything has been said on this topic for a long time, but American Horror Story does not pretend to be fundamentally innovative. Already from the title it is clear that the series is based on playing typical stories. Is the cursed house too poor for so many episodes? So let's put more ghosts in there, make up a complicated story for everyone, add flashbacks. On the contrary, history becomes grotesquely redundant. But that’s the essence – this is the apotheosis of American horror, a reference house with ghosts. There are succubus, maniacs, and victims of diabolical experiments, as well as victims of these victims; and what else is not.
The house-killer, therefore, looks like a shaped mess. No, it's certainly not "A Very Scary Movie" - it's a subtle act of stamping, not a wild banter. Ironic semi-serious tarantinism - even the name reflects the genre, just like Pulp Fiction.
However, towards the end, the story still partially slides into sentimentality, and the former thrash and frenzy occurs only in the “afterword”. Another drawback is the sexual abuse I mentioned, especially in the pilot. Without it, the horror story would be less American. And then there are some inconsistencies with the mechanism of ghosts: in order to become a ghost, you only need to die on the ground at home, or be buried there? In addition, I personally did not like the screensaver: it turned out too repulsive and boring at the same time, I would like the video to be more pleasant and music lively.
Result: not so much horror as mystical tragedy. Ironic and sad story of the damned house, playing the cliches of Western horror. Very colorful characters and a twisted plot are attached. A good choice for lovers of mysticism and black humor. 8 out of 10
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