LET'S GET FREAKY: WHY AMERICAN HORROR STORY'S NEW SEASON IS GOING TO BE THE BEST ONE YET

This past week a major event in American history occurred. No, I am not talking about the end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I am not talking about the end to world hunger, I am not talking about anything to do with subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, but rather I am talking about....

THE PREMIERE OF AMERICAN HORROR STORY FREAKSHOW

In this weeks blog post I want to talk about and analyze the debut episode of Freakshow and then go on to offer my opinions on why I believe that this season of American Horror Story will be the best out of all the iterations that have occurred thus far. Before I go any further, however, I want to give the all important....

SPOILER ALERT

and let anyone know that this blog post will contain spoilers about the first episode of the show. So if you have any desire to watch the episode and haven't got around to it yet, because let's be real being busy is a syndrome at the Park School, please click off this blog now. For those of you brave enough to stay with the blog post don't say I didn't warn and let us enter the big top of this twisted, freakish season of American Horror Story.

SYNOPSIS OF THE EPISODE

In the sleepy little hamlet of Jupiter Florida, a milkman arrives at the Tattler residence to deliver the mornings shipment of milk. He enters the house after seeing his previous delivery of milk soured on the front stoop and upon entering he finds the houses owner, Eudora Tattler, dead and when he hears a noise upstairs, he discovers an injured pair of conjoined twins names Bette and Dot. 

The twins are rushed to the hospital and upon their arrival they shock and sicken many of the employees. Elsa Mars, an owner of a traveling circus, appears claiming to be looking for a sick aunt that is in the hospital

She asks a candy stripper on duty named Penny about the discovery of the twins that was mentioned in the local newspaper and invites Penny to come to her show. After distracting Penny, Elsa sneaks into the secure ward were Bette and Dot are being held to find out about them for herself. Elsa explains to the twins that she tried to meet them in there house but had to come to the hospital instead because they were longer there  but never the less she still wanted to see them. Throughout the conversation that Else hold with the twins, it is apparent that they can communicate without speaking. Bette, the naive, optimistic head, takes an immediate liking to Elsa and what she can offer them, whereas Dot, the cynical, depressed head, despises Elsa, throwing her out of their room. 

On the outskirts of Jupiter, a couple picnics on Lake Okeechobee and begin to have make out. The girl, Bonnie, wants to have sex while the boy, Troy, goes get a gift out of their car. Twisty, a clown with a frightening visage appears suddenly and knocks the couple unconscious before stabbing Troy repeatedly in the chest with scissors.

Terrified, Bonnie attempts flee the scene but is chased after by Twisty. Later, Twisty murders a family in their house and kidnaps their son, hiding both the son and Bonnie in an abandoned bus in the middle of the woods. He comes to the bus and tries to entertain the two of them but only ends up scaring them. 

Elsa is eating diner at a local dinner when she notices one of her freaks, Jimmy Darling flirting with a waitress. Jimmy tells Elsa that they shows days are numbered and that he wants to find meaningful existence outside of the confinement of the carnival. Later, Jimmy attends a tupperware party where the housewives convince a curious young party goer to enter the room with him. Jimmy is revealed to have severe syndactyly and uses his deformity to masturbate the woman. 

Elsa returns to the twins in the hospital and tells them to explain their mother's murder to her again. The twins begin to explain that a man broke into their house but Bette conflates details from the movie Gaslight into their story and Elsa quickly catches onto the lie. She demands that the twins get their facts straight before the cops come to find them for questioning. Scared, the twins break out of the hospital and try to run away but before they can, Elsa confronts the two of them one final time. Under pressure, the twins tell Elsa what really happened, which was that Mrs. Tattler kept the girls locked in the house and Bette couldn't take it any more and stabbed her to death. Two days later, Dot stabbed Bette out of her guilt for not being able to stop the murder. 

Because they have no other options, the twins accept Elsa's offer of a home at the carnival. Bette writes in her diary that she is happy to be outside of the confines of her house for the first time and that she is entranced by Elsa. Dot, however, is extremely grossed out by the environment of the carnival and the carnies, specifically Meep, a mute who bites the head off of live animals, and Ethel, a bearded lady and Jimmy's mother, and she wishes that she could go back to security of their farm. 

Ethel describes to the twins how Elsa saved her life, rescuing her from the drunk tank and reuniting her with Jimmy. Dot is smitten with Jimmy but does not like Ethel, flatly refusing to perform in the show. Ethel reminds the twins that there is no better life for them. 

Later on, Ethel speaks with Jimmy about the money that he earned masturbating the women at the tupperware party. He expresses his desire to leave the show to Ethel and she tells him that he would never be accepted by the outside world. Later on that evening, a detective arrives to the carnival to arrest the twins for the murder of their mother. The other carnies come to the defense of the twins and in a fit of rage over being called freaks, Jimmy slits the detectives throat with a straight razor. Jimmy then leads a procession of freaks into the forest by the carnival where he rants about no longer accepting the way they are treated by the society around them. After he finishes his rant, the freaks surround the dead body and dismember it as Twisty the clown watches them. 

Penny (who was kidnapped and drugged with opium for several days) emerges into Elsa's tent and tells her that she wants to go home. Elsa plays her a video that shows her engaging in an orgy with the freak, effectively buying her silence about what has transpired under the big top. A wealthy socialite Gloria, and her stunted son Dandy arrive at the carnival and buy all the seats for the freaks show, convincing Elsa that the twins are going to be the carnivals savior. 

The show gets under way as Ethel provides and introduction and shows off the freaks while Elsa performs Life on Mars. Dandy is completely fascinated with the freaks, especially Bette and Dot and offers to buy them for 15,000 dollars. The twins flatly refuse stating that they have found a home at the carnival. Before Gloria and Dandy leave, Gloria insults Elsa's singing abilities leaving Elsa completely devastated.

Later on, Elsa admits to Ethel that the reason that she brought the twins to the carnival is to draw crowds in so that she gain acclaim and glory as a performer. Ethel agrees with Elsa that she has the potential to be a great star. Ethel leaves and as Elsa prepares for bed we see that as she undresses that she is completely legless below the knees and instead has to rely on prosthetic legs to walk.

MY OPINIONS OF THE SHOW AND ITS FUTURE

I had so, so, so many opinions of this episode and the future of the series. Firstly, the cinematography and the way that this episode was shot reminded me of a Douglas Sirk movie and also Twisty reminded me of a heightened version of Pennywise the clown from It. Also the way that the story was told really gave me chills and goose bumps and made me excited to see where the show was going to head. Granted, I did feel that Elsa's interaction with the twins could have been cut down slightly in favor of showing other things but I really did love the episode. As someone who is a die hard fan it is nice to see that American Horror Story is returning to it asylum like mode of story telling and horror.

Much to Mr. Ryan Murphy's and Brad Falchuck's credits the series has been given new life and energy as the thrills and horror abounds in the fourth season of the show.

Ghosts, Aliens and Witches.. Oh My!

In today’s world, the amount of people drawn to horror films is massive. In fact, according to The Nash Information Services, horror movies were the 7^th most popular genre between 1995 and 2012, bringing in a total gross of $9,093,205,812. So, why is it then, that scary television shows seem to be so rare to come by? You would think that such a growing, enthralling genre would translate to television in the same way that romantic-comedy, action and thriller so commonly does. Looking through IMDb’s Highest Rated Horror Television Series list it is easy to see the pathetic show for horror on today’s television. Of course the list names some shows that are obviously the exception of the rule, such as Twilight Zone, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Hannibal, etc. On the other side, some of the names of the list are shameful to the name of horror such as Courage the Cowardly Dog coming in as #9, a 1999 Cartoon Network cartoon for children, and The Vampire Diaries coming in as #15, a teen drama about a teenage girl deciding which vampire she should date. Number 8, however, has given me hope to the recent portrayal of this genre on television. American Horror Story has introduced a horrifying storyline that is both beautifully filmed as well as absolutely entertaining.

American Horror Story is a horror series introduced in 2011 on the FX network produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. One of the aspects that keeps this show interesting is that each season has it’s own separate storyline, each having a definite ending. I believe that it is always reassuring when you know that the 13 episode season you are watching is not going to leave you with a cliffhanger that will be dragged on for six or eight more seasons. Instead, the show has now completed two stories and on October 2, the show’s third season began.

The first season followed the story of a family that moves into a home haunted by the many families who had occupied it in the past. The story revolves around the theme of infidelity and follows the lives of psychiatrist Ben (Dylan McDermott), his wife Vivien (Connie Britton) their teenage daughter Violet (Taissa Farminga) and their peculiar neighbors as they try to understand and deal with those who had died on their property. The second season, American Horror Story: Asylum, follows the religious yet secretive patients and doctors who inhabit and administrate the Braircliff Mental Insitution. The season includes character's internal battles with sin and supernatural events such as alien abductions. The third season takes place in present day with the introduction of the seemingly ordinary teen Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) who is surprise to discover she is from a line of witches who had successfully escaped the Salem Witch trials 300 years ago. Before you can even make a cheesy Men In Black reference, men in black suits barge in to Zoe’s bedroom and take her away to an undercover school for young witches. The other witches, one including famous female actress Emma Roberts, are battling their internal desire to show off their magical talent and the authoritative command to suppress these powers in attempt to hide from society.

American Horror Story has received immense praise from numerous critics. The show’s first season was proclaimed as the biggest new cable series of 2011. Specifically, the show’s actors had received countless praise and even awards for being relatable in such complicated, out of this world situations. In recent news, many audience members were pleasantly surprised by actress Taissa Farmiga’s return to the third season as an entirely new character. In an interview with Chicago Tribune the actress states, “It’s nice to be back with the crew and cast and just to be on this crazy show. I love it. It feels nice.” She goes on to describe her new character, “The character is very different. The tone of this season is very different. For me, I'm a little older, a little more mature, I play a character who is in a different stage of her life than Violet was, it's just different hurdles.”

By researching this show in detail I have discovered familiar names on the show that I would have never expected. For instance, the shows producers are the same creators of the teen-based, musical, somewhat-cheesy, Glee. Although I enjoy the thought that a producer is not secluded to a single genre, I found myself wondering, how did the creators of a show based on singing about stereotypical teenage problems create a gory, disturbing horror show? The more I thought about it though, the more it made sense. The characters in Glee are known for being relatable and realistic, despite the fact that they sing in the hallways and dance in the cafeteria. This is an aspect given to the characters of American Horror Story that has clearly transferred over. Despite the fact that we cannot relate to being a witch and going to a secret school unless you are a character straight from Harry Potter, these characters deal with raw issues relating to sexuality, greed, school, infidelity and sin that makes each character seemingly real. Another familiar name was Kyle Cooper, the individual who created the show’s famous opening title sequence. Kyle Cooper is also known for creating the also popular sequences for The Walking Dead, and the 1995 film Seven. I was surprised to hear that the same individual who created the sequence we studied in class created the sequence for this show as well. However, looking at it in detail, I wasn’t too surprised seeing as it is so extremely symbolic and entertaining. The first season’s sequence takes place in the basement of the haunted house. Images including spooky shots of young children, fetuses in jars, skulls and a figure holding a pair of bloody hedge clippers, etc. flash across the screen in a creepy manner. It is no wonder that this sequence has been classified as it’s own “mini-mystery”. Furthermore, Producer Murphy stated that "By the time you see the ninth episode of this season, every image in that title sequence will be explained". The third season’s sequence includes images of the Ku Klux Klan, dead goats, the symbolic image of the Minotaur, witches hanging, African tribesman, voodoo dolls and the final shot of witches twirling around a bonfire. Of course, Kyle Cooper was not alone in creating these enthralling openings. The repeating theme music was composed by sound designer Cesar Davila-Irzarry with the help of musician Charlie Clouser, the editing was done by Gabriel J. Diaz and the cinematography done by Juan Ruiz Anchia. 

Another staple aspect of this series is the amazing camera angles. The camera angles are artistic, unique and unexpected, fitting in so well to the show’s unanticipated motif that sometimes I have to pull myself away from the storyline just to notice them. The third season offers viable proof of this. The opening scene of the first episode of the third season uses a Dutch angle, a type of tilted angle, followed by a sideways crane shot. The combination of these shots has become a staple for the show, while other shows daring to combine angles in this way will only do it once in awhile. Also, there are extremely disturbing scenes in just the first season, such as a scene of an old woman inflicting abuse on others to achieve youth as well as a scene where one of the young teenage characters is taken advantage of at a frat party. Both scenes have been exemplified with carefully selected filters and fast-paced camera angles. There are also many scenes in the first episode that use a fisheye lens without coming off as cheesy or overused. These angles take use of Euro-cinematography in order to introduce something we are not used to seeing to correspond with the gory events taking place. Moreover, the editing uses sudden jumps to show the changes of time. In fact, the show’s second season was known for these jumps and they were well-executed by cinematographer, Michael Goi, who took use of 35mm Kodak film stock. He states, “I really wanted to separate the present from 1964 in a major way….We shoot 1964 scenes on Kodak 5219 and desaturated it slightly with pull-processing…there are elements we need to see, like blood or detached limbs, that might get swallowed up in the reversal. In those cases, we’ve saturated the color, deepened the blacks and jacked up the contrast to bring the 5219 more in line with the reversal footage” Goi has clearly mastered these tools which has been a large contribution to the show’s overall success (NoFilmSchool, Kendrickin).

In the end, American Horror Story has truly overcome many obstacles that horror television series often face. For one, the show has never come off as cheesy. Despite the use of aliens, witches, voodoo and immense gore, the show has never come off as a stereotypical scare, the way most horror films today do. Also, the show has seemed to attract the majority of avid television viewers, no matter if they enjoy horror or not. It’s reputation for its actors and cinematography has caused audience members to sacrifice the fear of being scared to sit down to watch. Overall, the show has become a worthy representation of horror on television and I hope to soon see other shows quickly follow in its footprints.