I try to think of each episode of Amazing Stories as a mini movie. It's a lot easier with this show, than any other to do that, because each episode develops the characters, gives a beginning and an end to a plot, and isn't just conceived on an idea, unlike some episodes of the Twilight Zone and Tales from the Darkside. This episode is hard to think of as a mini movie. It's a spooky and entertaining episode, and one of the better episodes of season 1, but by the ending, it just doesn't fully work.
Jordan Mammouth (Sam Waterson) is a mean horror writer. Every day the same kid asks him to read his work, and Mammouth always refuses. When asked if his work every scares him, he says no, but soon he will begin living a nightmare. Every time he sees a reflection of himself, he sees a disfigured phantom trying to strangle him. And every time he sees the creature, it gets closer and closer to him. This is well directed, and the acting is top notch, as one would expect from Scorsece, however it's the ending that ruins this one. It turns it from a mini movie, to what it is, a TV show, canceled after 45 episodes. With a better ending, this could've been a classic, but instead it flounders, and falls into just above mediocrity.
My rating: *** out of ****. 26 mins. TVPGLV
Jordan Mammouth (Sam Waterson) is a mean horror writer. Every day the same kid asks him to read his work, and Mammouth always refuses. When asked if his work every scares him, he says no, but soon he will begin living a nightmare. Every time he sees a reflection of himself, he sees a disfigured phantom trying to strangle him. And every time he sees the creature, it gets closer and closer to him. This is well directed, and the acting is top notch, as one would expect from Scorsece, however it's the ending that ruins this one. It turns it from a mini movie, to what it is, a TV show, canceled after 45 episodes. With a better ending, this could've been a classic, but instead it flounders, and falls into just above mediocrity.
My rating: *** out of ****. 26 mins. TVPGLV