"You're gonna regret it"
If you expect slasher or horror based on jump-scares, skip "Murder House". Although the series contains these elements, it is primarily a psychological horror. Maybe even not so much horror as a psychological drama-thriller seasoned with horror. I didn't find it scary at all, but the well-constructed mysterious and dark atmosphere completely captivated me from the first episode.
The first thing that caught my eye was the visual aspect of the series. The camera, directing and editing are commendable and accompanied by excellent sound and music create an all-pervading eerie atmosphere.
The story idea itself is not particularly original. Attracted by the unusually low price, the family moves into a beautiful old house, not knowing the history of madness and crimes that took place there, and gave a whole new meaning to the term "haunted house". However, even though the basic premise is a cliché of the genre, the way the series deals with clichés, thoroughness in building a dramatic and unpredictable story, and most of all, the strong characterization of believable, life-like characters, and their excellent dialogues, make the script of the first season of "American Horror Story" one of the best I met in the genre, and I saw hundreds.
The main asset of the first season is striking characters and their masterfully interwoven relationships. There are quite a few characters and not one is neglected. They're all essential to the story, they're all superbly written and, perhaps most importantly, they're brought to life even better by, I daresay, a perfect cast. There are too many to mention, although they all deserve it, but I have to single out the performances of Evan Peters and Jessica Lange, whose nonchalant creepiness is mesmerizing.
I watched these twelve episodes as hypnotized, almost from the beginning deciding to give the series a ten out of ten, but the last episode somewhat spoiled the overall impression. They could have left the story unfinished, ending it with the eleventh episode and it would have been a clean ten. Even the first twenty minutes of the last episode wraps up the story nicely and is quite spot on. But then comes the last half hour, overcrowded, rushed, contrived, and banal half hour, which has absolutely no place there. The idea implemented in those half an hour is not bad in itself, although it is unnecessary, but the realization that would maintain the level of the rest of the season would require at least a couple of additional episodes. This way we got a forced extension, which is a bit redundant, and even more blistering because of the humor that breaks the dark and tense atmosphere.
9/10.
If you expect slasher or horror based on jump-scares, skip "Murder House". Although the series contains these elements, it is primarily a psychological horror. Maybe even not so much horror as a psychological drama-thriller seasoned with horror. I didn't find it scary at all, but the well-constructed mysterious and dark atmosphere completely captivated me from the first episode.
The first thing that caught my eye was the visual aspect of the series. The camera, directing and editing are commendable and accompanied by excellent sound and music create an all-pervading eerie atmosphere.
The story idea itself is not particularly original. Attracted by the unusually low price, the family moves into a beautiful old house, not knowing the history of madness and crimes that took place there, and gave a whole new meaning to the term "haunted house". However, even though the basic premise is a cliché of the genre, the way the series deals with clichés, thoroughness in building a dramatic and unpredictable story, and most of all, the strong characterization of believable, life-like characters, and their excellent dialogues, make the script of the first season of "American Horror Story" one of the best I met in the genre, and I saw hundreds.
The main asset of the first season is striking characters and their masterfully interwoven relationships. There are quite a few characters and not one is neglected. They're all essential to the story, they're all superbly written and, perhaps most importantly, they're brought to life even better by, I daresay, a perfect cast. There are too many to mention, although they all deserve it, but I have to single out the performances of Evan Peters and Jessica Lange, whose nonchalant creepiness is mesmerizing.
I watched these twelve episodes as hypnotized, almost from the beginning deciding to give the series a ten out of ten, but the last episode somewhat spoiled the overall impression. They could have left the story unfinished, ending it with the eleventh episode and it would have been a clean ten. Even the first twenty minutes of the last episode wraps up the story nicely and is quite spot on. But then comes the last half hour, overcrowded, rushed, contrived, and banal half hour, which has absolutely no place there. The idea implemented in those half an hour is not bad in itself, although it is unnecessary, but the realization that would maintain the level of the rest of the season would require at least a couple of additional episodes. This way we got a forced extension, which is a bit redundant, and even more blistering because of the humor that breaks the dark and tense atmosphere.
9/10.