Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

8/10 In the avalanche of each year's TV shows, it is not easy at times to find a hidden gem. Never mind the bad reviews and the rating - AMERICAN GOTHIC may not hold an original premise, but it's one of the best whodunit mysteries TV has to offer this year. At the centre of the story are the Hawthornes, a rich and influential family who get themselves mixed up in a serial murder investigation. A murder weapon, the belt, is found in the structure of the collapsed tunnel that the family has built. The patriarch of the family, Mitch, quickly falls under suspicion. But did he have an accomplice? A prodigal son, Garret, who has returned just when the family gets into turmoil, is the primary suspect. The other possible accomplices are any of the Hawthorne family: a crazed drug addicted artist son Cam,  a ruthless bisexual politician daughter Alison, and a controlling matriarch Madeline. And what about the young and innocent Tessa, who was just a teenager when th...

3 1/2 /5 Damien Thorn has a strange life. His parents are both dead in accidents and ever since his childhood he feels constant presence of something dark, like a cloud above his head. On the day of his thirties birthday a strange accident throws his life into a turmoil and makes him question everything and everyone. He cannot run away from the truth however, which is that he is a son of Satan - Antichrist. The new TV series from A+E Networks is a direct sequel to 1976 movie, ignoring all the other films that were subsequently made, it is set in modern day New York.   The pilot reviewed here does not quite manage to capture the dark and paranoid atmosphere of the original, but it is a modern show, focused on giving as much action as possible in its not so lengthy 43 minutes run, so the atmosphere is sacrificed for action. The pilot introduces a handful of characters, some of them die as quickly as they appear, so one thing is expected – the body count will be high....

4 1/2 /5 I n 1952 Florida a freak show carnival moves into sleepy town of Jupitor. The owner of the freak show is Elza Mars (Jessica Lange), a strong willed and glamorous figure who dreams of a serious success as a singer. The supporting cast consists of her army of freaks, most of them not just carrying a burden of a tragic past, but also harbouring dangerous secrets.  It's no long before the show attracts the unwanted attention of the police - a killer clown is lurking near by, and freaks are under suspicion. The danger is also coming from psychotic Stanley (Dennnis O'Hara), a con artists who wants the freaks dead and in a different kind of show - in a museum, displayed in glass jars; and from an evil young man Dandy, whose only desire is to be a movie star takes a very dark turn.  The show also gets a slightly supernatural angle with Edward Mordrake - a ghost of a freak with a second face on the back of his head, who will drag to hell any freak who performs...

* * * * TV is not what it used to be and the level of violence allowed on the small screen has increased dramatically. But THE FOLLOWING takes us on a whole different gory level with bodies piling up by the dozen with each new episode. But there’s another creepy thing about THE FOLLOWING. It is how normal it treats the killers. In a way it is soap opera for psychopaths. It is not trying to understand them, but instead offering us a daily routine of the crazies. They befriend each other, fall in love and break up, go shopping and cook dinner - all just like us “the normal” people. For those who had not seen the first season the premise is a simple one - a good cop Ryan Hardy is trying to catch charismatic leader of the serial killers cult - Joe Carol (names Hardy and Carol are of course references to the classic literature). Joe Carol had died in the end of the first season and the biggest twist this year around is to introduce us to a new threat. Is Joe’s cult ...