The Damned Thing

So many movies Such small amounts of pleasure... Or perhaps the pleasure is just too spread out eh? Anywayzz; I really enjoy movies and shows like this one. They don't pretend to be anything more than what they are like a whole lot of flicks these days.(I don't trust trailers anymore, and no, not the kind with wheels). If you want reality i get it i really do, but i don't want reality when i sit down to watch a movie.(just me i guess) I just want to be entertained for a couple of hours, and to sort of remove myself for a bit eh. This flick let me do just that I AM HAPPY TO SAY! I enjoyed the actors and i liked the story which even made me giggle a few times as well!(shhh!) Here here, and jolly good shoooe, and all that! Enjoy your time at the movies!!(I did:-))

Many argue that if Tobe Hooper ever had any magic touch going for him, he lost it. Some also argue, that even Poltergeist was mostly directed by the producer of the movie (Mr. Spielberg that is) and therefor Mr. Hooper never had "it". Whatever you think of him, he at least created some fine visuals for this episode.

And Mr. Flanery tries his best to convince us and get us into the story. A predictable one and also (and unfortunately) a very lame/tame one. While Style over substance is mostly used to describe something as negative, I think the style here adds quite a few point to the whole thing. At least, that's how I felt about it. I know, that most people are or will be disappointed by it.

One thing is for sure: As this is a Masters of Horror episode, this means, you don't have to watch a 90 minute movie. It's not even an hour long. If you are willing to spend that much time on this, try to enjoy it as much as possible ... if not for the story, then at least for the gore and visuals on hand

i am one of the big fans of this would be cult series for horror fans.i believe that season 1 especially cigarette burns and imprint "wow" really good horror stuffs for the genre despite some disappointments during the first season.I hoped and desperately waited season 2 and wished it would be a decent start but it didn't damned thing not suits for the series and not a good start actually a bad one.Season 2 might be a downfall comparing season 1 but still masters of horror will and should continue to satisfy all the fans to miss serious and well-made horror stuffs for the TV and here a tip for whom not yet watch: please prepare yourself and watch this show you will like it.

Ah, what can I say? I was rooting for Tobe Hooper, as a longtime fan of the man's work, to hit one out of the park this time around, since his episode "THE DAMNED THING" opens Season Two of MOH. Last season, his entry, "DANCE OF THE DEAD" had its sketchy moments, yet still (at least for me) managed to compel me to stick with it...with a lot of motivation coming from Robert Englund's bravura performance as the "M.C."

I'm sorry to say that this time around, Tobe and writer Richard Christian Matheson fall far short of the mark. And I think a lot of the problem comes from the source material. It's a commendable ambition to attempt to adapt material as classic and timeless as the stories of a well-known author like Ambrose Bierce, but the chilling terror from his stories lies in the brevity and the strong imagery they evoke.

Set basically in the past, via a series of journal-like entries, the original story would've proved problematic to adapt on a limited budget, so I can understand why Matheson brings the scenario into modern times. But given that there's only an hour to tell the tale, no matter what you do with it, there's just not enough time to do the kind of set-up that Hooper has done in the past...getting us all comfy with the characters and their relationships, so that our concern for their welfare magnifies the horror of their grisly fates that much more. Sorry to say that I sensed none of that going on here at all.

The other signature Hooper touches are here: the oppressive sense of oncoming doom, the extreme gore (although it's more literal than psychological here, which dilutes a lot of the shock value), and an atypical ending to the story. But Sean Patrick Flanery, who is usually pretty good, underplays the lead character almost to the point of being catatonic, while the supporting players are all stock characters, (except for Ted Raimi, whose priest seems to be a complete loon from the get-go, so his later rampage comes as no surprise to the audience whatsoever.)

Just like there are certain songs that some singers should never attempt, there are some contemporary American authors whose work shouldn't be adapted by some writers or directors. I wish Tobe and Richard better luck on their next endeavor, since this one really didn't work.

(Honestly...maybe Don Coscarelli should've tried this one, while Hooper and Matheson could've been given a Joe Lansdale story to tackle. Now THAT might hold some great possibilities...)

As is the case with most second-season "Masters of Horror" episodes, 'The Damned Thing' is simply a downgrade in all departments: a poorly structured, generally ineffective tale suffering from a muddled plot, one-dimensional characters, and effects that come off as absurd in their own exaggeration (the ep opens with an overblown disembowelment and only gets sillier from there). The actors are done no favors by Richard Christian Matheson's script (a loose adaptation of an obscure story by Ambrose Bierce), which stitches together disparate moments of somber exposition and hyperactive bloodletting in a story that never really comes together: in 1981, Kevin Reddle witnessed his father go on a rampage, murdering his mother in cold blood on his birthday; 24 years later (and now a lawman played by Sean Patrick Flanery), a vague, possessive evil rises up to transform the residents of his sleepy Texas town into bloodthirsty maniacs. While Matheson seems to be making a social comment on man's reliance on fossil fuel turning civil society to pandemonium (echoes of Katrina and the Iraq quagmire), his method couldn't be less subtle. Also problematic is Flanery's portrayal of Reddle--mumble-mouthed and listless, his performance borders on sleepwalking, and a cliché-ridden voice-over does nothing to help us sympathize with him (especially when he unconvincingly heads into Jack Nicholson territory in the last reel). With so much working against 'The Damned Thing' my middle-ground rating comes from Hooper's direction: while 'Dance of the Dead' (his season one entry) combined the horrific and sleazy with pathos and social insight, the director weaved it into a dazzling barrage of nightmarish imagery through his spastic technique; similarly, 'The Damned Thing' shows him operating well within his limited resources--even if the other elements aren't up to snuff, Hooper knows when to shake the camera, and when to keep it perfectly still. But that alone really isn't enough to warrant repeat viewings.