Episodes airing May 19

Masters of Horror – Friday May 19
Network : SHOWTIME
Time : 8:30 PM

The Verdict : Was really looking forward to this series, but I gotta say, it hasn’t sold me yet.

Basically, this is “Amazing Stories” – remember the one where there’s a bunch of different stories, by different directors? – but these are all horror flicks, and all helmed by genre faves like Carpenter, Hooper, Garris or Miike.

The first one, “Cigarette Burns”, from John Carpenter, is pretty crap. It’s imaginative, but it’s a little all-over-the-place to really enjoy.

In this episode, film-acquisition extraordinaire Jimmy Sweetman (Norman Reedus) ventures out to locate a rare film print called “Le Fin Absolue du Monde”. The film once shown has been known to drive its audience into a crazed frenzy before the theatre goes up in flames. He finally discovers that the film does live up to it’s reputation on the results are quite shocking.

Really liked the special effects in this episode, and some of the stuff is genuinely creepy (the angel with the cropped wings will give you nightmares), but it’s mostly just a good idea that’s been poorly executed.

The second episode airing this week (double features every Friday night) is “Incident On and Off A Mountain Road”, from director Don Coscarelli.

This one is actually a bit more fun, and is based on Joe R. Lansdale’s short story about a young woman (Bree Turner), seemingly defenceless, who goes up against Moonface, a deformed and demented serial killer.

Hopefully they get better from here on in. (And they do, so I’m told)