It is way past October, and watching a horror anthology series won’t exactly invite the Christmas spirit. However it is nice to sink my teeth into a series I haven’t watched entirely. I became familiar with Ryan Murphy as a Director, when he filmed a couple of episodes for the series OJ Simpson Vs. The People which is the first season of a different anthology series titled American Crime Story.
As I mentioned before, this is an anthology series, so it doesn’t matter in what order you watch the seasons. However, I imagine watching it from the first season to the most recent, linearly, will make the show as a whole, easier to understand.
The plot follows Therapist Ben Harmon, his wife, Vivian and their daughter moving across the country to escape their past. As it goes along we discover more about this family, as well as the inhabitants of the house and the dark history that took place there.
The series does a good job at introducing our main characters, and their many personalities and problems. When the family moves in the house, we meet the maid Moira, who is played by Frances Conroy of Six Feet Under fame. Then we meet Tate (Evan Peters), and the lovely neighbor Constance (Jessica Lange), with her daughter Adelaide (Jamie Brewer). There are definitely some scary sequences, but I was more so impressed with some clever visuals and well executed editing. In a few episodes it does borrow from a couple of iconic horror films, but luckily it doesn’t become a spoof of those movies.
My personal favorite characters were Moira, Constance, and Tate. Unfortunately the first stipulation I have with the show, lies with the main family it is centered around. The performances given by Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott were a bit questionable, sometimes to the point of being low-grade. I feel a little bad for calling out flaws like that on the spot, but their performances as well as a few other supporting ones, were just poor at times.
The main story at hand was very interesting in the beginning and as well as at the half way mark. But with the numerous characters being brought in, as well as their backstories and connection to the house, it becomes very messy. I found the latter half of the season to be pretty confusing.
At the end of the day though, American Horror Story reveals itself to be something very unique. With nice atmosphere, good craftsmanship, and interesting characters, it has a lot of potential.
Cedric Cinema 