American Horror Story - 1984

*SPOILER ALERT* – It was clear from the announcement of the subject matter that this would not be an ordinary slasher parody, yet the author's approach pleasantly surprised me. As a retelling of 80s teen horror, it is at once a first installment, an over-the-top sequel, a parody of itself, an unexpected origin story, and a nostalgic return years later. And yet, that's still not enough for me. The dense atmosphere that is usually inseparable from American Horror Story only arrives in the final act, and instead we're watching something that resembles a slightly whispered, underdeveloped season of Scream Queens. The storylines go for shock value unnecessarily often, the twists don't surprise because they have been overplayed since the very beginning, and even though I was pleased that the character I was least interested in at the start (Jingles) became my favorite to watch, I was left with almost nothing at all from Camp Redwood. I am grateful at least for the well-executed, pointed, and surprisingly moving finale, which gently closes the entire story into its own box. The fact that my head was almost hurting from all the inept spinning in that moment is another matter. (21/11/2019)

Yet again, I was far from satisfied. Judging by the course of the last two seasons, the creators of the series have run out of creative ideas, of which they had quite a few in the beginning. Unfortunately, they kept coming back to their "go-to" strategy from Roanoke (if there’s no atmosphere or tension, at least let the blood flow). In the ninth season, the writers supposedly wanted to pay tribute to the 80's horror classic, in which case I find it hard to understand why they didn't shoot something with a horror atmosphere. I wasn’t entertained, but, knowing myself, I'll watch the tenth season anyway (if I live to see it) to see if I can take it. (31/12/2020)

The eighties are popular at the moment. Wonder Woman 1984 is even coming out next year. An era full of aerobics, rainbow sweats, and permanent, playful music... today's young people are certainly shocked by the methods of wooing the youth of that time, who had to function without cell phones, and so on. And while the more intellectual part of the audience tends to point 1984 toward Orwell, for AHS it is synonymous with summer camp slaughter. The aesthetics of the posters are reminiscent of the better covers from young adult horror books, and that's exactly the atmosphere of the new series. As a whole, AHS 1984 again manages to surprise us. In the first episodes, it tells the events of that dramatic night in almost real-time, and in the second half of the series we learn what led up to it and why. Of course, the old friends, Emma Roberts and finally Lily Rabe, are all back. Some of the jokes are practically genius, but the halo hovers most over the video rental store scenes. (01/12/2019)

The season of American Horror Story: 1984 shows that it is possible to make an original slasher movie. It does not necessarily mean that everyone is going to like it. However, this one is imaginative, the killers are not bad, and most importantly, there are characters that I really liked. Plus, visually, it is very 80s, although it is a bit over the top. (31/01/2020)