Masters of Horror (2005 series)
Still depicting Brown Jenkins from "Dreams in the Witch House (2005 short)"
- Masters of Horror, (2005-2007 television series)
- Masters of Science Fiction, (2007 television series)
- Fear Itself, (2008 television series)
Summary
Hour-long horror films from famous directors based on horror literature are showcased in this anthology series. After the second season, the series was retooled into Fear Itself (2008 series); a spin-off Masters of Science fiction (2007) was also made.
Details
- Release Date: 2005-2007 (as Masters of Horror), 2007 (as Masters of Science Fiction), 2008 (as Fear Itself)
- Country/Language: Canada USA & Japan, English
- Genres/Technical: Horror, Anthology
- Starring: various
- Director: various
- Writer: H.P. Lovecraft (original story)
- Producer/Production Co: Showtime, IDT Entertainment, Industry Entertainment, Nice Guy Productions
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: TV-MA (Violence and gore, Nudity, Adult Content, Profanity, etc.)
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- S____ (One Tentacle: Barely Lovecraftian)
The series itself is not particularly Lovecraftian, but one episode was based on a Lovecraft story, and a few other episodes were based on stories by writers who influenced Lovecraft or were inspired by him.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- (review needed!)
Suggested Episodes
- "Dreams in the Witch House (2005 short)" (Stuart Gordon)
- "Cigarette Burns" (John Carpenter), "A man searches for the last surviving print of a rare film which allegedly drove the only audience that ever viewed it into a fit of homicidal frenzy." (compare to In the Mouth of Madness (1994 film))
- "Fair Haired Child", "A teenage outcast is kidnapped by a strange couple and locked in a basement with their son, who has a dark secret."
- "The Damned Thing", "The apocalyptic tale of a monstrous, unseen force that devastates Sheriff Kevin Reddle’s family and terrorizes their small Texas community. Based on the short story of the same title by Ambrose Bierce."
- "The Black Cat" (Stuart Gordon), "In 1841 Philadelphia, Edgar Allan Poe, suffering from writer's block and short on cash, is tormented by his wife's black cat that will either destroy his life or inspire him to write one of his most famous stories."
- "Skin & Bones (2008 short)", A hunter returns from an icy winter hunting trip to terrorize his family in the form of a restless cannibal spirit.
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
- In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California. The original ten “masters” attending were John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Don Coscarelli, Joe Dante, Guillermo Del Toro, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Bill Malone, and Mick Garris himself. The dinner was an extremely satisfying experience for the directors: a welcome night of camaraderie, humor and mutual admiration of one another's work. Del Toro coined the name of the group in jest when he told a nearby diner celebrating her birthday that the "Masters of Horror" wished her a happy birthday.
- Subsequently, Garris organized regular dinners with the group and invited other horror and genre directors to attend, including Dario Argento, Eli Roth, David Cronenberg, Tim Sullivan, Rob Zombie, Bryan Singer, Fred Dekker, William Lustig, Lucky McKee, Ernest Dickerson, Kat O’ Shea, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, James Gunn, Mary Lambert, Tom Holland, Peter Medak, Ti West, Lloyd Kaufman, and others.
- In 2005, Garris created and produced an original anthology television series of one-hour movies, written and directed by many of the "masters," which was originally broadcast in the U.S. on the Showtime cable network. In several international territories, the films were released theatrically.
Associated Mythos Elements
- fiction: "Dreams in the Witch House (fiction)"
