Sick Girl

The lonely, shy and lesbian etymologist Ida Teeter (Angela Bettis) of The McNaughton Museum of Natural History is obsessed by her "pets", actually her collection of insects. She works with her colleague and friend Max (Jesse Hlubik), also her adviser in sexual behavior. Ida receives an anonymous package from Brazil with an unclassified insect but the weird bug breaks free from the box. Meanwhile Ida falls in love for the gorgeous Misty Falls (Erin Brown), who is bitten and infected by the bug and moves to Ida's apartment. When Ida receives letters from her former Professor Malcolm Wolf explaining how the insect reproduces and transforms the animals he bites, Ida is apprehensive about Misty.

"Sick Girl" is one of the best episodes of "Master of Horror" show. Directed by Lucky McKee (of "May") and with Angela Bettis performing another weird and eccentric character, the story recalls the sci-fi / horror genre of the 50's or 60's with eerie monster and lots of black humor. I was surprised with the extensive filmography of the good and beautiful actress Erin Brown, who is completely unknown for me. I believe most of her movies have not been released in Brazil, and this is certainly the first film that I see her. Surprisingly there are bad reviews in IMDb of this episode. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Criatura Maligna" ("Evil Creature")

Lucky McKee's "Masters of Horror" offering is a splendidly dark comic tale about an eccentric and frustrated lesbian, played brilliantly by Angela Bettis, who falls for a younger, shy, artistic girl (genre favourite Erin Brown, aka Misty Mundae).

Bettis' character is fascinated with all things creepy crawly. Her rented apartment is an insect paradise, containing all manner of bugs. This bug theme is played out to the extreme in "Sick Girl" with humorous and dramatic results.

Like all the "Masters of Horror" series, this episode has great production values and delivers far more than you'd expect from an hour of television.

Highly recommended.

This episode of Masters of Horror revolves around a killer insect that isn't your run of the mill bug; large spider legs, slim tentacles and a face like something that would audition for a Cronenberg movie.

Bug fanatic of service is Ida Teeter, a single white female living in an apartment packed with bug displays and shirping noises. One day she receives a package (with our little friend) and accidentally lets the content break loose.

The body count begins; the building's dog gets hunted by the killer insect; don't ya just love this? In the meanwhile Ida falls in love with Misty, a girl who spends her time drawing sketches at Ida's work. It doesn't take long before our sketch artist, Misty, gets invited to Ida's apartment and ends up getting bit by the killer bug. Pus, transformations, infections make Ida slowly realise what's happening to her newly acquainted girlfriend!

This episode features very likable characters and some very creepy special fx; The bug isn't CGI which makes it look more convincing and menacing.

The only downside to this episode is that -like "Accident on and off..."- it becomes a parody of itself near the end. That aside, you're in for some under the skin scares and some gruesome splatter gore!

***1/2 out of *****

Sick Girl is the tenth episode of Masters of Horror and is directed by Lucky McKee (a director I have zero familiarity with) and written by Sean Hood. This is one of the most bizarre stories the series has told this far. It follows Ida Teeter (Angela Bettis) who studies bugs. She struggles to maintain a relationship due to her strange fascination with bugs, and one day gets a big praying mantis looking bug that- Oh My God, I feel like I'm going insane even describing it.

And, I'm not going to lie. I kind of love the first half of this short. It's not scary at all, but it is ridiculously funny to me. Angela Bettis is giving this bizarrely mannered performance that is just so weird and charming, and Ida is a very endearing character. The first scene we see her in, she's talking about how her girlfriend dumped her because she's too obsessed with bugs. Like...WHAT? The acting is not very good per se, but it is very "Masters of Horror" I have noticed that with rare exception, the performances in these films have been very over the top, and you either accept it as the style or you don't. Jesse Hlubik as Max Grubb has really charming chemistry with Bettis, and their scenes do have this super likable energy. Same thing with Erin Brown as Misty, the romance is rushed, but I buy it cause it's just so sweet and bizarre. There's a romantic montage of them eating bugs together, how can I not just giggle.

My favorite performance is Chandra Berg as Betty or "The Ladybug" because she's really not good (she's a little kid), but damn is she committed to whatever it is she's doing. She also reminds me of what I was like as a kid, so I'm partial.

This reminded me a lot of the movie "Idle Hands" because it doesn't really work as a horror movie, because of how broad everything is played, but it is pretty charming. It's not without its faults though, there's this annoying mid 2000s, MTV music video filter over the Bug POV shots that are really irritating to my eyes, and with the tone it's going for, there's a rate of diminishing returns. Sometimes the intentional hokeyness can lose its charm.

And the overall problem I'm noticing with this series is that the show is called "Masters of Horror", but more than half of these films have fallen into broad comedy and satire. I'm a fan of horror comedy, too, but it takes a deft hand to execute it really well. This isn't quite Eli Roth levels of annoying, but it gets there. Especially when close to the end, we get this super dramatic turn with the landlady and it's like, where did this come from? It's also slow as hell, we hit the halfway point and so little has actually happened that I found myself skipping ahead a few seconds just to feel something. That's not a good sign.

So, on the whole, I did enjoy just how weird this film was, but it kind of falls just short of the mark of being great.

There is a certain unease to the supplements on the 'Sick Girl' DVD. Director Lucky McKee is strangely reserved in divulging the details of his life and career, as are the collaborators interviewed for the 'Working with a Master' featurette. It's not hard to see why; as many others (even "Masters of Horror" creator Mick Garris) have pointed out, McKee is a director with only one (publicly released) horror film to his name. Granted, that film is the stunning, oddly sad sleeper "May" (which even Roger Ebert awarded 4 stars), which contained a star-making performance from Angela Bettis (who truly lends professionalism and skill to an oft-derided genre). One should also keep in mind that McKee was added to the "Masters" roster when George Romero dropped out, and it is therefore not a matter of privilege, but necessity, that produced his entry, which plays runner-up only to John Landis' excellent 'Deer Woman.' As in "May," the director shows his knack for putting the veiled motives of human behavior and the complexities of relationships out in the open. 'Sick Girl' follows lonely lesbian scientist Ida (Angela Bettis) who is enamored of the mysterious Misty (Erin Brown, aka Misty Mundae, of "Duck!"), whom she becomes involved; Ida is in love with bugs, and when Misty is bitten by an 'aggressive' new addition, she gradually begins to lose her sanity. While the climax makes full use of the KNB FX budget, the episode is more engaging in the eccentric relationship these two women share, making the viewer truly care as things become increasingly weird. Save for a silly final scene, this is easily one of the best MOH episodes I've seen thus far.

6.5 out of 10