WASHINGTON 鈥斅燜ew TV shows push the late-night envelope like “American Horror Story.”
The FX original series produced聽by “Glee” co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk聽is an anthology similar to HBO’s “True Detective” in that each season tells a聽self-contained story. But in case you’ve been living under a TV rock, the key difference is that “AHS” largely uses the same principal cast members each time, recasting the stars in different roles under a new horror theme.
Season 1, retroactively titled “Murder House,” told of a murderous mansion and won an Emmy and Golden Globe for Jessica Lange;聽Season 2 “Asylum” explored a mental institution and won an Emmy for James Cromwell; Season 3 “Coven” dabbled in witchcraft and won Emmys for both Lange and Kathy Bates; and Season 4 “Freak Show” saluted carnies to win Emmys in聽five technical categories.
Now, the fifth season “Hotel”聽takes us into a supernatural Los Angeles haunt 鈥� the Hotel Cortez 鈥� introducing Lady Gaga聽as a聽sex-crazed聽Countess who slashes victims with her razor-sharp glove in order to taste their blood. It also features plenty of familiar faces: Kathy Bates mans the front desk; Wes Bentley plays a grieving detective; Sarah Paulson plays聽a drug addict; Angela Bassett plays a love-scorned film star; and聽Evan Peters plays the sadistic butler who founded the hotel in the 1920s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l_HeQyKEOU
Loosely based on real-life serial killer H.H. Holmes, who custom-built a Chicago hotel for murder in the 1890s, the聽fascinating premise carries聽plenty of potential, but it all depends on the execution. Unfortunately in this case, the sex and violence are so聽over-the-top that it feels less like an erotic thriller — a la “Blue Velvet” (1986)聽or”Fatal Attraction” (1987) — and more like a straight聽.
While puritanical viewers may oppose this approach for聽moral reasons, my聽opposition is purely cinematic聽in that it’s聽a lazy approach that cheapens the genre to the聽lowest common denominator.
Granted, hard-core fans聽may echo the FaceTime remark of聽Bentley’s daughter: “It was gross and awesome at the聽same time!” The聽“Hotel”聽premiere聽brought FX’s second-highest聽 ever, behind last year’s premiere, before聽聽from 5.8 in Episode 1聽to 4.0 in Episode 2聽to 3.2 in聽Episode 3.
People are most definitely watching. But is it a reaction to quality, or is it the habit of聽brand loyalty? Why cancel our routine Wednesday “AHS” parties? It’s still a fine mindless diversion聽to invite a聽group of horror fanatics over for popcorn, red wine and a few jump scares that will surely stain your carpet. And yet, subconsciously, we viewers are not only becoming desensitized to the graphic sights and sounds, we’re losing our ability to watch with patience because we’re being force-fed schlock.
As a result, both critic and public聽reaction has plummeted from the series’ heights. Rotten Tomatoes saw critics slowly warm up to the series with聽64 percent for “Murder House” and 77 percent for “Asylum,” before leaping to聽81 percent for “Coven” and 87聽percent聽for “Freak Show.” Public voters had an聽opposite trajectory, going gangbusters to start with 80 percent for “Murder House” and 88 percent for “Asylum” before dipping to 73 percent for “Coven” and 66 percent for “Freak Show.”
Both trends lead us to the same place for聽“Hotel,” as the critics have sunk to their lowest聽rating at 55 percent, while the public has sunk to its lowest rating at 62 percent. If there’s a聽consensus between both groups, it’s that this season of “American Horror Story” is its weakest yet in terms of quality.
That’s not to say the filmmakers aren’t doing some nice things. We must give credit where credit is due. The聽opening crane shot from the hotel sign to a high-angle indicates the doom hanging over the Swedish tourists. The fish-eye lenses and dutch-angle tilts keep us on necessary edge. The spinning camera around聽Bentley brilliantly reflects the聽panic he feels after聽his聽son’s abduction on a carousel. And when a聽major character slits his throat, you can bet the blood splatter covers the camera lens.
More broadly, the production values are top notch from the lavish set design to the mood lighting to the symbolic soundtrack of “Tear You Apart” by聽She Wants Revenge and聽“Hotel California” by The Eagles, who remind us that “we can check out any time we like but we can never leave.” While a somewhat obvious song choice, this聽“Hotel California” montage is actually one of the more engrossing bits of Season 5. Why? Because of the聽patience of聽longer takes, slower camera moves聽and cuts carefully timed with song lyrics: “There she stood in the doorway” hits as Bentley exits聽a door.
These are the sorts of things that make us active viewers, inviting us to engage with the material. Unfortunately, much of “Hotel” relies on聽passive viewers bombarded聽by聽shockers. You don’t have to think when you’re being sprayed by blood. All you have to do is duck. So while we keep checking in to the “Hotel” for these basic primal thrills, our minds are gradually being conditioned to check out.
Perhaps the聽writers聽hope the bodily fluids will distract us from noticing the聽blatant rip-offs from horror past. Some聽of these聽references feel like loving allusions, while others feel like sad copycats.
Loving Allusions:
- The setting of the L.A. hotel recalls the famous聽“Alfred Hitchcock Presents” episode “Man from the South” (1960) where Steve McQueen takes a聽dangerous hotel聽bet with Peter Lorre.
- The flickering credits recall the Bates Motel in “Psycho” (1960) — only now it’s Kathy Bates.
- Gaga’s introduction聽during an outdoor movie screening of F.W. Murnau’s silent “Nosferatu” (1922) comes with a rack focus from Gaga to Max Schreck. Film buffs will geek out even further knowing that Murnau also directed “The Last Laugh” (1924), all about a hotel doorman.
Sad Copycats:
- The geometric carpet patterns, forbidden rooms and creepy children standing at the end of hallways remind us exactly of “The Shining” (1980).
- The detective’s trail of Ten Commandment killings is an absolute copy of “Se7en” (1995), where the serial killer memorably punishes his victims for committing the Seven Deadly Sins.
- And most obvious, the disguised killer’s voice during phone calls sounds just like “Saw” (2004).
Call these respectful聽homages if you want, but references to聽“The Shining” and “Se7en” are听辞苍濒测 respectful聽if you do them justice.聽“Hotel”聽misunderstands what made those flicks聽creepy in the first place, forgetting that聽“The Shining” worked because of the slow-burn build of Jack’s madness, and that “Se7en” sold its “what’s in the box” shock with the notion that聽what is unseen is always scarier.
“Hotel” would have had Jack Nicholson hack his family with an ax in the opening scene, before ending the episode with Kevin Spacey showing the gory contents of what’s in the box. Less is more! Merely referencing these masterpieces聽in image — but not in spirit — does聽those great films a disservice. The more relentless the schlock, the more likely that younger generations will begin to find “The Shining” too slow,聽“Psycho” too boring or “Se7en” not gory enough. What a shame. Let’s stop the bleeding.
“American Horror Story” is blazing聽the current path聽of mainstream horror, thus聽holding the genre back from the suspenseful heights it could reach with just a little more restraint. Give us more meat to the story, so that by the time we expose the bone, we care about the victims with the emotional investment we gave聽“The Sixth Sense” (1999) ghosts or the “Let the Right One In” (2008) vampires.
Will the real suspense filmmakers please stand up?
As Gaga advises her heartbroken beau: “You will learn, it isn’t our precious virus that makes you, it isn’t who you kill or who you screw, it’s the heartbreaks. The bigger, the better.”
The suggestion is that we can learn from getting burned.
So with that, I constructively say: “American Horror Story,” you broke my heart.
