Masters of Horror was an anthology series which ran on the Showtime network in 2005 and 2006. A number of top horror directors were tapped to do one-hour episodes, including such impressive names as John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Dario Argento and John Landis. If you’ve never experienced the show for yourself, this list of top 10 Masters of Horror TV episodes should provide a great starting point.
10. Imprint – Directed by controversial Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, this is the only episode of Masters of Horror to never air on Showtime. That’s because network execs felt it was too extreme. You can still catch it on DVD, however.
9. The V Word – Two punk kids decide to break into a mortuary. When they run into a real vampire (Michael Ironside), their night of fun comes to an end.
8. Pro-Life - A young woman is trapped inside an abortion clinic with her deranged family. Seems her unborn child is the product of a demonic rape, and her father (played by Ron Perlman) had received instructions from God to make sure the child lives. Things really get crazy when the baby’s father makes an appearance. Directed by John Carpenter.
7. Haeckel’s Tale – John McNaughton directs this tale of a man who must take shelter from a storm in a secluded cabin in the woods. Inside, he finds a bizarre couple and their undead companions. An orgy follows, and you’ll never be the same after watching this one.
6. Right to Die – A man and his wife are involved in a traffic accident, and the wife is left comatose and with all her skin burned off. The man must now decide whether to let her live or die, but the woman’s spirit soon appears with an agenda of her own.
5. Jenifer – Dario Argento directs this tale of a deformed girl saved by a cop (Steven Weber). But that’s only the start, as the police officer is strangely drawn to the girl despite the protests of friends and family. You just know this one is gonna end badly.
4. Homecoming – Joe Dante directs this satirical tale about American soldiers killed in Iraq who return from the dead to try and influence the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Zombie action + political commentary = horror goodness.
3. Family – George Wendt plays a seemingly normal guy who turns out to be a serial killer. But his newest neighbors have a few secrets of their own. Directed by John Landis.
2. The Washingtonians – It turns out that George Washington had a very grisly secret. When a normal guy learns of this fact, a strange cult with wooden teeth and powdered wigs try to keep him quiet.
1. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road – Directed by Don Coscarelli, this also happened to be the first episode which ever aired. When a couple get stranded out in the woods, a young woman takes the fight to her sadistic, deformed killer named Moonface. Lots of great action, and the female actually gets to do something besides just screaming and getting hit in the head with an axe.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Best Horror Movies, Best Horror Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.