Contributor: Gregg Wright
I’m still finding a lot to like about “American Horror Story”. It’s entertaining enough that I want to keep watching, for now, just to satisfy my curiosity if nothing else. But the show is lacking in one key ingredient, which may destroy my interest in it in the long run: emotional investment. No matter what genre you tackle, you have to find a way to engage the audience on an emotional level; make them actually care about what happens to one or more of the characters. This is arguably even more important for a TV series than a movie. A movie only lasts around one to three hours.
It’s important to note that the potential for emotional involvement is already present in “American Horror Story”. At the core of the story is a troubled family, with a husband and wife desperately trying to save their marriage and a daughter caught in the middle. Add to that all the outside forces adding layers of complexity and conflict to the situation, and you have the workings of a solid, television-worthy story. But it doesn’t quite work, because the series is so openly surreal and referential that suspension of disbelief is virtually impossible. Right now, I don’t really care about any of the characters or what happens to them, so I fear it’s only a matter of time before I stop caring about the show.
Last episode, some of the music sounded so similar to Bernard Herrmann that I wondered if the show was actually lifting cues straight from a Herrmann score. But I haven’t heard every Herrmann score, so it was hard to know for sure. This episode, however, the show directly lifts music from what is, perhaps, Herrmann’s most famous score: “Psycho”. Exactly who thought this was a good idea? Why steal from Herrmann if you already have a great composer who seems adept at channeling a similar style? (Yes, I know that they’re not actually stealing, since they legally obtained the rights to use Herrmann’s music. But I still call it stealing.)
I don’t know how much of last episode’s music was original, but I liked what I heard. So this decision makes no sense. I suppose the inclusion is obvious enough, considering how famous the “Psycho” score is (particularly in regards to the shower scene), that it was intended to be noticed. I guess it’s just part of the show’s whole goofy, over-the-top, anything goes attitude. But it just bugs me. It shows a lack of creativity, and pulls me out of the experience. Maybe I wouldn’t be as bothered if I wasn’t so familiar with the score.
And that leads me to the “Home Invasion”. After all the references to other horror films in the pilot, and then the direct inclusion of music from the “Psycho” score, it may have been that my confirmation bias caused me to start seeing references that weren’t there. So is it just me, or was that whole scenario with the three masked home invaders a really obvious homage/spoof of “The Strangers”. Take that shot of all three standing together in front of their bound captives, for instance. Now, I’ve never actually seen “The Strangers”, so maybe someone can correct me on this if I’m wrong, or further confirm my impression. (And while I’m at it, the way Tate used the axe on one of the invaders seemed awfully similar to the way Jack Torrance killed Dick Hallorann in “The Shining”.)
As many problems as I have with “American Horror Story”, I still have to give credit where credit is due. The acting is generally great. Jessica Lange is deservedly getting a lot of praise for her scene-stealing performance. And though I think each episode of the show has trouble functioning as a cohesive narrative, there are a number of individual scenes that are brilliantly effective and stick in my mind long after the credits roll; like the therapy sessions between Ben Harmon and Tate, or anything involving Jessica Lange. And I just plain admire the ambition of creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk to even attempt something so offbeat. I don’t think the show always works quite as well as it should, but it’s clear that they’re having a ball making it.
Rating: 7/10
