Sick Girl

Being a fan of the "Masters Of Horror" series, I was quite curious to see this 10th episode of the first season, Lucky Mc Kee's "Sick Girl" starring Angela Bettis, the star of McKee's 2002 film "May". "Sick Girl" is not quite a typical MoH episode, as it could best be described as a very black comedy with a fair amount of creepiness and a twisted sense of humor.

Ida Teeter (Angela Bettis), a lesbian etymologist, is a shy person who is desperately looking for a companion as her romances usually end quickly due to her obsession with her beloved insects. Shortly after she is sent a mysterious Brazilian bug by mail, Ida's luck changes, when she meets Misty (Erin Brown), a peculiar but lovable and beautiful young woman...

"Sick Girl" is quite different to any of the other MoH episodes I've seen (nearly all). This is a quite unique and bizarre little black comedy with a weird sense of humor and two great leading performances. Angela Bettis is excellent as Ida, and so is Erin Brown (aka. Misty Mundae, star of a vast number of softcore erotica and B-movie horror flicks). These two ladies fit perfectly in their roles and make this black horror comedy very lovable in many aspects. "Sick Girl" is generally highly entertaining, my only regret is that this clever episode lacks the suspense of may of the other episodes. This is highly amusing and, due to the two young ladies in the lead even heart-warming at times, and there is no doubt that it has a lot of wit and originality, but I personally missed the Horror.

Over all, however, this may not be one of the episodes that are going to give you the creeps, but it is nevertheless highly entertaining, witty, greatly acted and quite original. MoH fans should not miss this one. Recommended!

"Sick Girl" is a 60 minute episode of the Showtime series "Masters of Horror" and like "May" was also directed by Lucky Mckee. "Sick Girl" is a bizarrely funny romantic comedy surrounded by bugs and small doses of horror that make it really fun.

Starring Angela Bettis, as Ida Teeter, an entomologist who is looking for a woman who's not disgusted by her obsession with the creepy crawly things she keeps all over her apartment. As a character Ida seems to have been transported from the 1940s. She has the period hairdo and talks in a sort of way that is hard to describe. Erin Brown AKA Misty Mundae plays Ida's love interest Misty Falls, yeah sounds kind of confusing. Misty spends her time drawing fairies and pixies in the lobby of where Ida works. Ida works up the courage to ask Misty out and their whirlwind romance begins.

The episode opens with a guy capturing a big exotic bug and mailing it to Ida, who is excited about the mysterious and very aggressive specimen. This bug eventually does escape and makes a home for itself inside Ida's pillow. Talk about your bedbugs. Misty is bitten by the nasty thing that starts a gradual transformation in her. The whole episode is B-movie-ish and campy but is also fun and horrific. Like in "May" Ida is a lonely soul who surrounds her self with surrogate friends in the bugs. She is anxious and nervous of what people think of her, afraid of rejection. She finally finds a kindred spirit in Misty, who accept her for who she is, but Ida's bug obsession comes back to literally and fugitively bite her back.

Their relationship is put to the test as the bug starts to take over Misty and culminates in a pretty insane ending. Ida and Misty do end up together but under some pretty strange circumstances. "Sick Girl" is available as a stand alone DVD packed with special features and is pretty cheap.

I was actually very surprised upon initially hearing that Lucky McKee had been given a spot to make an episode for the Masters of Horror. I had seen May a long time ago and remembered not being very impressed with it (though a recent viewing of it made me appreciate it more) and wasn't expecting somebody with so little accomplished in the horror genre to have an episode so soon in the show. And in all honesty I wasn't really impressed with the trailer for it either but of course I had every intention to watch every episode no matter how much I thought it would be lacking.

Boy was my initial judgment wrong. Lucky McKee's Sick Girl is by far one of the most entertaining and memorable episodes to the first season. I would have to say that it easily makes my top 3 favorite episodes of the first batch. It is in every way a drama and comedy as it is a horror film. What Lucky does best in this episode is not only tell a horrific story about a bug monster terrorizing an apartment complex, but he surrounds it with a unique love story centralizing on a very fascinating main character. Angela Bettis is perfectly cast (yet again, see May) as the lonely, detached scientist looking for love. Her little gestures and personality traits are just as interesting to watch as the great scares at the end. And once the conclusion mounts its an emotional ride as its hard not to feel deep compassion and concern for the central characters.

And as unconventional and bizarre as the ending may seem its perfectly fitting and in many ways sort of happy. I loved Sick Girl and hope Lucky is invited back to do another episode. Initial criticism's aside, my first thoughts prior to viewing this film were pleasantly proved wrong. Bravo McKee.

This was without a doubt a bizarre episode lol but it was different than other episodes of Masters of Horror and I liked it. It had comedy and creepiness nothing really scary about this episode but the women were both strange to say the least, both were beautiful and both were good actors. It started off kinda slow but started getting more interesting midway through. I know people have mixed views about this episode being stupid but i actually enjoyed it. It's ashame I've never seen either of these women in any other shows or movies, I thought they were great in this show and they definitely made this episode more enjoyable to watch.

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