The Viewing

Lionel Lassiter, a mysterious über-rich recluse (Peter Weller) invites a group of over-achievers to his other-worldly mansion to expand their minds before viewing an inexplicable object. The idea of inviting a disparate group of experts from the arts, para-normality, or theoretical physics to examine an object that is completely beyond the ability of the physical sciences to explain is interesting but this showy yet tedious story doesn't do much with the concept; instead we spend a lot of time watching disagreeable people getting stoned before the story toggles over to a derivative horror climax coupled with an pointlessly lengthy car ride. Set design and cinematography are imaginative and well-executed but largely wasted on an undeveloped story that seems to rely on mood and pretentious dialogue to fill three-quarters of the running time.

Four talented, accomplished individuals are collected, and delivered to their host, who wishes to show them a bizarre item.

Not sure how to classify this one, I wouldn't say it's a horror, imagine Agatha Christie's And then there were none mixed in with Twin Peaks and A Clockwork Orange, it really is the most curious episode of the series so far. It's another one, that from a horror point of view just doesn't deliver.

I thought the beginning was fascinating, it really grabbed my attention, I was so keen to understand what was happening, to be honest, the ending was a real let down, for me it just didn't work.

Visually and musically it's like a 1970's porno, it looks unlike anything I've seen for some time.

Peter Weller was pretty awesome here, his presence and delivery were quite something.

I'm glad I watched it, not sure I could endure it again, 5/10.

First of all, dig the late 70's, early 80's vibe, exaggerated as it may be. You can definitely tell the director is the same one who directed Mandy. Its mind-altering, colorful, visual schemes, with vibrant fun sets, and with odd audio tracks to give it a real psychedelic ambience.

But the main reason I was drawn to this episode, and why I chose to view it as the second in order of episodes in season 1, was from all the negative reviews complaining about how the episode was dull and its twist was too abrupt and unsettling. Personally, I found it enthralling. It's filmed almost as if the audience is a 5th unmentioned guest.

Really cool to see Peter Weller in this episode, he does a great job. And it has some rather titillating dialogue, some of which was rather deep, and some of which flew over my head, but still kept me interested. Until it reached a point where it seemed like it was trying too hard to be esoteric to "wow" the audience into thinking "whoa, that's some heavy s@#$ right there!" as if to only impress stoners and believers in outer astrology.

Also, just wanted to say, Eric Andre usually bugs the crap out of me. Most things I've seen him in, from comedic performances to guest appearances, makes me want to quit watching tv. But he did a pretty good job here, and wasn't his usual obnoxious self. And the other actors did alright too.

There were even some funny moments. It's weird, sure. And CGI use may be too heavy. Oh wait, then it doesn't seem to rely on it too much, and the "creature" ends up being rather horrifying and freaking awesome. It's rather refreshing, and different. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Unfortunate many do not feel the same, but if you love weird, and if you loved the director's other works like "Mandy" or other crazy stuff like "Color out of Space" with Nicholas Cage, "The Void," "Glorious," or "Annihilation," then this is something you gotta see.

A billionaire Peter Weller invites four semi-famous guests over to his newly constructed mansion, all lured on the promise he'll show them the most 70's house ever made by mankind.

In this promise he delivers. However, greater horror awaits...

This episode suffers from the opposite problem of the other six up until now, which is that it's got more story than you should try to fit in an hour. This could have gone three hours.

What I really like about it, is that it invokes a somewhat Tarantino-esque feel, and one could easily imagine him having gone in this direction after Kill Bill (Robocop really channels David Carradine throughout this by the way). Watching the story shortly after they arrive at the house, one sort of wishes Tarantino could do a once over of the dialogue, or just you wish you could do a once over of the dialogue, it just needs a little sprucing up to get there.

Unfortunately the ending just doesn't match up. I was expecting a deeper story, I was expecting to see more of that house! It basically stops when they leave their initial couch party, you're practically watching the credits from there on out, nothing that happens really much matters because it's just a whatever, rushed horror story.

But it's still a good effort, I'm not going to fault somebody for trying to do horror Tarantino and managing to do 'pretty good.' That's pretty good!

This episode had me excited the way "The Autopsy" did (that's the absolute BEST one, by the way). "The Viewing" gave me such hardcore Kubrickian vibes that I truly thought I was in for a real treat. And for the most part, I was-until the very end of the episode. Like every other episode in this freaking series, the ending was SO WEAK. It didn't add anything of value to the buildup the episode created. Even when you think upon things such as: "why did some turn out like this and others like that?" You do not come to any logical conclusion. Granted, I know it doesn't always have to make sense, but from the story and buildup, I expected SO much more. Even an ending that left me in total discomfort would've been better than the way this ended. The way I feel after just watching it is sadly disappointed. It had SO much potential and once again, it just failed in the last 5 minutes like all the rest (except "The Autopsy"). However, since I enjoyed 95% of the episode with all its nostalgic glory, I am giving this a 6/10.