American Horror Story: Bring the Scares

 In a world filled with a lot of really bad horror television shows, it's nice to be pleasantly surprised when one good one comes along. 

American Horror Story tells a very Amityville-Horror-esque tale of a family who, after a life-changing affair and tragic miscarriage, decide its time to start a new life in an old home. Unsurprisingly, after their arrival, strange, supernatural occurrences begin to plague the family.

I was really happy with the first episode of American Horror Story. It managed to stay creepy without the generic jump scares and didn't rely on vampires or werewolves to draw in viewers like many other shows have done. Instead, American Horror Story relied on deep character development to make you really interested in these people's lives and care about what horrible things might happen to them without actually liking them. None of the characters on the show actually managed to be likable people, which was both strange and interesting. 

The overall plot was really well written and drew heavily from classic haunted house stories such as the Amityville Horror and the Winchester Mystery House. The house itself was a character all on its own, which is a major accomplishment when it comes to a story about a haunted home. Tv.com actually compiled a list of all the homages during the shows first episode:

• Bone wind chimes from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• The whistling scene (and music!) from Kill Bill
• Dead twins from The Shining
• Ghost seductress from The Shining
• Husband-going-mad plotline from The Shining
• Man standing among the clotheslines like in Halloween
• Creepy older gentleman in dark suit like in Poltergeist II
• Mysterious pregnancy from Rosemary's Baby
• Taciturn, morbid daughter like in Beetlejuice
• Twitchy editing from the Saw movies
• Mysterious servants like in The Others
• High-pitched violins from Psycho
• Hand-thrown firecrackers like in Boogie Nights
• Full-face skull tattoo like the male model in those Thierry Mugler fashion ads
• Systematic murder of a family like in Amityville Horror
• Pervasive, insane dream logic like in pretty much any Dario Argento film

 I love when a film or show gives credit to those that inspired it without actually remaking the original idea, so I enjoyed recognizing all the little aspects taken from some of my favorite films.

Another aspect I liked was how sex was portrayed on the show. Unlike in shows like True Blood, where sex is included simply because they want to have sex on the show to make it "edgy", American Horror Story used sex to add to the overall creepy atmosphere of the show, turning sex into an evil, menacing thing which I found very interesting and innovative.

One aspect that my readers might have noticed about American Horror Story is the soundtrack. That strange, ominous, unsettling noise and music sound familiar? Well that might be because half of the songs used on the show were lifted directly from Insidious. Really? They couldn't create an original soundtrack for the show about a haunted house so they used the soundtrack from a movie about a haunted house that was released less than a year ago? I was a little disappointed with that. Now don't get me wrong, Insidious has one of the best soundtracks out there, but I'd rather have the show imitate Joseph Bishara's OST or hire Bishara himself rather than just use the same songs.

However, another thing American Horror Story did get right was its timing. One thing I said in my Fright Night 3D review was that it would've done much better if it had come out closer to Halloween to add that extra atmosphere that comes with the season. With it's October 5th premiere, American Horror Story was great at getting us in the mood for Halloween and all of the upcoming horror television that will inevitably be seen a lot this month. 

Overall, the show was gripping, well-written, creepy, and definitely left me wanting more, insuring that I'll be watching again next week. If you missed the premiere last night, try your best to catch a rerun because I guarantee American Horror Story will not disappoint fans of the genre and those getting ready for the Halloween season.