The Benders

So I am watching this series for the first time after several reccomendations from unrelated persons over a near 20 year period.

This is the first episode review i have written and i'll tell you why:

The Bakers.

That's right, NOT The Benders, but The Bakers. Anyone know what I mean yet?

I realise that I am nearly 20 years late to this party, but nearly a little more than a decade after this episode, came something else entirely.

I'm a big horror fan, but more than that I'm a horror video game fan. Namely, the Resident Evil series. That absolute likeness of this to the plot of Resident Evil 7 is uncanny.

The Bakers house looks just like The Benders. It was the very first thing that popped into my mind. The design of that house vs. The one in the game.

It blew my mind!

I don't know of this is sheer happenstance or if this somehow served as a reference or influence in some way. I just thought it was ultra cool to see the likeness.

I guess this isn't a review of the episode so much as it is a mindblowing commentary on what I have just seen.

All in all it was a good episode. Took away from the supernatural demonic theme and gave us a taste of a different kind of evil.

The "Residents" of this house bare clear similarities to that of the Bakers, but the layout of the home, unless this is a traditional home style for that region, has an insane likeness.

I'm quite enjoying the series and wish I had of been able to watch it when it first debuted. 15 seasons is a lot to catch up on.

Perhaps you are like me, watching this for the first time, are a fan of horror/games, saw this episode and were pleasently surprised.

I've seen some negative reviews for this episode, but bear one thing in mind: This series was aimed at young crowd. There is only so much you are allowed to do to keep it within the rating that the network will approve, and edited down to the time slot from week-to-week.

I'd focus more on appreciating their ability to cram what they can, heavy editing et all, week after week. Keeping us entertained and finding new ideas.

Now this show ran for 15 seasons so they must have been doing something right. Who cares if its deemed "cliché", there's only so much you can work with.

Just enjoy it man. I still give this episode a solid 8 (A 9 actually for the nostalga effect). If it were a 2-Parter, people would just make the same complaint, that its just a short-form horror flick.

I'd rather enjoy it than sit and complain. But clearly they did something right, seeing as there are vast similarities to this episode and the scariest game ever played RE7; at least up until that point in time, and i'm sure countless scores of people already agree. Just like anyone i've ever talked to who has played that game (VR, anyone?)

I was entertained, i'm sure you will be too. Give it a watch, the series is quite good so far.

We get a worried Dean a good side character. The monster of the week is fine too. Wrong turn style.

"Demons follow a strict pattern, ghosts want revenge … People are just crazy!" This piece of dialog, which is an actual quote taken from the show, is the best possible summarization of this fifteenth episode in the magnificent show "Supernatural". So far, this is the only installment that doesn't live up to the name, as there's absolutely nothing supernatural about the type of evil the Winchester brothers encounter here. Whilst scouting around in a remote Minnesota countryside town where there is a mysteriously large amount of unsolved missing person cases, Sam himself disappears in a parking lot. With the help of a local police detective, Dean quickly discovers the root of the evil. Rather than mythological monsters or restless spirits, the brothers are up against the sickest and most unpredictable kind of enemy. A family of hillbilly hunters deranged as hell and probably as inbred as they come, uphold their tradition of capturing unsuspecting people and hunt them down again in the woods. "The Benders" is definitely the most effectively unsettling episode of the first season because, let's face it, there's nothing scarier than flesh and blood human beings. The Bender family is a collection of eerie redneck freaks, with obligatory bad dental hygiene and sniveling laughs, and their modus operandi of abducting victims and holding them is inventive but admittedly a bit too sophisticated for a bunch of yokels. The basic plot of "The Benders" is inspired by one of the oldest but still one of the greatest horror/cult movies ever made, namely "The Most Dangerous Game". This 1932 film has been imitated numerous times, with variable success, but never surpassed in terms of quality. This "Supernatural" episode brings another terrific homage to the cinematic landmark. Due to the typically remote backwoods setting and the archetypal redneck characters, the script is also stuffed with references and little tributes towards tons of other 'Hicksploitation' movies, most notably "Deliverance", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Just Before Dawn".

The Benders is a key element to the series, simply because it reminded the audience how frightening humans can be and how similar they are to the daily monsters shown in the series.

The episode has some very terrifying villains, and it has the direction and cinematography look to that of a real crime/thriller film. It is punchy and not afraid to show the real nature of what people like this can do, and in that respect it reminded me of Rob Zombie's brilliant The Devil's Rejects. Anywways, one of the season's best and sure to please all of Supernatural's fans, even when, there is nothing supernatural about the situation.

It was inevitable that the show would eventually explore the cult murderous family that makes up a lot of the horror genre. This episode fits in with dozens of other "dangerous game" stories and nothing sets it apart. Of note, the Benders' characterization is utterly banal and predictable. Of course they hunt because it is fun. This is wasted potential.