Now that Season 1 is officially (and grudgingly) over, what was the best episode of the 12 that aired? For the record, I still went with Cigarette Burns while I thought Sick Girl was the most horrid turd of the bunch. Ok, so was Dance Of The Dead.
For me it's incident on and off a mountain road, simply because it was the first episode, and got me hooked as soon as I saw it. The series started with a bang with this show, and after all the episodes (favorites like Jenifer, sick girl, and some others) this remains my sole favorite next to Argento's. Moonface was an awesome character. And I did enjoy Cigarrete Burns as well, I'd say in my top 4.
Good first year. The biggest challenge seemed to be the hour-long format. Stories were either too thin and felt like 30 minute pieces stretched out (eg. Dance of the Dead, ...or were cut short of their potential in pieces that would have been served better by a feature length and more character and story development (eg. Cigarette Burns, Pick Me Up). And my personal problem was just too much quirkiness and not enough damn scares! Dante's "Homecoming" is the pick for me and I'm ecstatic about the wide degree of critical acclaim it's received. Just picked up the issue of Cinemascope that has it as the cover story (great piece). It's pretty well tied with "Jenifer" in my mind. Those were fantastic episodes! My best to worst (the first three are really my recommendations): 1. Homecoming 2. Jenifer 3. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road 4. Sick Girl 5. Chocolate 6. Cigarette Burns 7. Dreams in the Witch-House 8. Dance of the Dead 9. Pick Me Up 10.Haeckel's Tale 11.Deer Woman 12.The Fair-Haired Child Need to see Miike's episode. :fire:
It's a bit early to call it, but Haeckel's Tale may be the winner this season. I got a total "Hammer Horror" vibe from it, like it's an extension of what Hammer could have been had they never went out of business back in the 70s. Basically I loved every episode out of the 12 with exception to Dance of the Dead and Chocolate. I thought Fair Haired Child and Pick Me Up were good, but flawed. Pick Me Up I would have liked more without the twist ending.
I say that it's a bit early because I've only just watched the last episode this past evening. I'm going to let it sink in a bit before I judge which episode is "best", if you don't mind.
Still easily Cigarette Burns for me, with the top five being: Cigarette Burns Dance of the Dead Sick Girl Incidents on and off the Mountain Road Dreams in the Witch-House But i would imagine Takashi Miike's episode would be in the top three, or maybe even at the top...he is generally and potentially a more substantial director than even Carpenter.
Here's how I'd rank the series: 1: Dance of the Dead 2: Cigarette Burns 3: Haekel's Tale 4: Sick Girl 5: Incident on and Off a Mountain Road 6: Chocolate 7: Deer Woman 8: Homecoming 9: Dreams in the Witch House 10: Pick Me Up 11: Fair-Haired Child 12: Jenifer The awful Jenifer is the only one I found without any merit. Fair-Haired Child and Pick Me Up had their flaws, but they were enjoyable enough overall.
1. Haeckel's Tale 2. Cigarette Burns 3. Dreams in the Witch House 4. Homecoming 5. Deer Woman 6. Jenifer 7. Incident on and off a Mountain Road 8. Sick Girl 9. Pick Me Up 10. Fair Haired Child 11. Chocolate 12. Dance of the Dead 4 through 10 are very close in enjoyment for me. Each one is only marginally better than the next and on any given day will place higher or lower in my ranking depending on my mood at the moment. The top and bottom two movies are unlikely to change positions on my list, ever.
Haven't watched Haekel's Tale yet. So far I'm leaning towards Cigarette Burns, Incident, or Homecoming. Pick Me Up gets a special nod as maybe the most entertaining to me, although I don't feel it was the best. Not sure how that works, but it just feels that way. All of them had some redeeming value, great series. Can't wait to see Imprint and next season!
Cujo, it felt so good to read someone else saying Jenifer sucked. No contest for me, I voted for Cigarette Burns. The episode could have been a feature length film. It far outshined any of the other episodes. My complete list: 1. Cigarette Burns 2. Incident on and off a Mountain Road 3. Pick Me Up 4. Sick Girl 5. Homecoming 6. Fair Haired Child 7. Dreams in the Witch House 8. Deer Woman 9. Haeckel's Tale 10. Chocolate 11. Dance of the Dead 112. Jenifer Numbers 3-9 were all close, cause I loved the ones I've rated 1-9....10 was a little further behind. 11 was atrocious, and I rated Jenifer 112 because there are at least 100 more gruesome things I'd rather watch than that thing.
The other one I saw was the one by Tobe Hooper - sorry didn't catch the title on it. It was so utterly irredemably bad, it was amazing I bothered to catch another episode. I did though, and was glad of it.
If I had to rank them I think it would go. 1.Jenifer 2.Sick Girl 3.Cigarette Burns 4.Dreams In The Witch House 5.Dance Of The Dead 6.Incident On And Off A Mountain Road 7.Haeckel's Tale 8.Chocolate 9.Deer Woman 10.Homecoming 11.Fair-Haired Child 12.Pick Me Up
I probably should have waited until I had seen all of these to vote (yes I am Captain Obvious), because I want my vote back. Incident On And Off A Mountain Road just blew me the hell away. It may not have been a totally new and shocking story, but for whatever reason, I really connected to it. It seemed organic and real to me and just kicked my ass. I loved it and am thisclose to going to buy this DVD right now. It's my favorite so far by many miles. Most movies aren't even close to that good and emotionally involving.
Incident on and off is my favorite one too. I know its a simple killer in the woods tale, but it was so well directed and I loved the character "Moon Face". I got addicted to the series from the get-go after I saw it. This episode could've easily been a great full feature film; very Texas Chainsaw. I picked up the DVD and I definitely think you should get it, the interviews, behind the scenes, and the audio mix is great. I'm waiting for Jenifer and Sick Girl. This is the way I would rate them (top 4): 1. Incident on and off a Mountain Road. 2. Jenifer 3. Sick Girl 4. Cigarette Burns I would buy all these.
I loved Incident On and Off A Mountain Road, the rest that I have seen left me cold. Found the majority dull and tedious.