Monsters: The Match Game is set late one night as four teenage friends Jodie (Ashley Laurence), Paul, Matthew & Beverly (Tori Spelling) decide to spend the night in a local mansion which is supposedly haunted by it's former owner Herbert Waverly (Tom Woodruff Jr.). They all agree to play the 'match game' in which one of them lights a match & starts to tell a scary story & when it's burnt out the next person lights a match & continues the story until theirs is also burnt completely. Things start off in fairly inconspicuous fashion but once it's Paul's turn to carry on the story & talk turns to the hideously mutilated & disfigured rotten living dead zombie corpse of Waverly the story takes on a terrifying reality all of it's own...
Episode eighteen from season one of Monsters this originally aired in the US during April 1989, directed by veteran actor Michael Brandon this episode of Monsters feels like very traditional 80's horror film fare which is no bad thing I can tell you, I certainly felt on familiar ground while watching The Match Game. I must admit I really liked The Match Game for it's dark & brooding horror film atmosphere as the entire thing takes place inside a period mansion as a thunder storm rages outside, there's the silly teen cast who do something stupid to unleash some sort of threat & quickly start being killed off. In the case of The Match Game the killer happens to be a rotting zombie & it's just great to see it chase these teens around & even getting to kill a couple of them before an ending which was a bit rushed but felt right & worked really well. At only twenty odd minutes in duration you won't have time to get bored & if your a horror fan then I am sure there are aspects of The Match Game you will enjoy although that short running time doesn't give the makers much opportunity to flesh the story out. I thought it was great & enjoyed it throughly for what it was, just a short atmospheric horror piece with some cool make-up effects.
There's a terrific looking rotting zombie in this one, it looks a lot better than the zombie in the Monsters episode My Zombie Lover (1988) anyway although the tone of both episodes are very different so that's probably why. There's a couple of cool killings here too including someone having their head crushed. There's a really good late night horror film atmosphere to this as it's set inside an old house complete with lightning outside & plenty of moodily lit sets which are more detailed & look a lot better than usual for this show & there's even some outside location filming which is a very rare thing on the show. The Match Game looks great throughout & belies the low budget the show had & is probably the best looking episode of the series. The acting is alright, minor celebrity Tori Spelling has a role while Ashley Laurence of Hellraiser (1987) fame get the leading lady part & does fine.
The Match Game is yet another great episode from a generally very good series, there's some cool make-up effects & a great atmosphere to it. Don't go into it looking for a deep or meaningful story & I am sure the twenty minutes will fly by & you'll have a decent time with it.
Episode eighteen from season one of Monsters this originally aired in the US during April 1989, directed by veteran actor Michael Brandon this episode of Monsters feels like very traditional 80's horror film fare which is no bad thing I can tell you, I certainly felt on familiar ground while watching The Match Game. I must admit I really liked The Match Game for it's dark & brooding horror film atmosphere as the entire thing takes place inside a period mansion as a thunder storm rages outside, there's the silly teen cast who do something stupid to unleash some sort of threat & quickly start being killed off. In the case of The Match Game the killer happens to be a rotting zombie & it's just great to see it chase these teens around & even getting to kill a couple of them before an ending which was a bit rushed but felt right & worked really well. At only twenty odd minutes in duration you won't have time to get bored & if your a horror fan then I am sure there are aspects of The Match Game you will enjoy although that short running time doesn't give the makers much opportunity to flesh the story out. I thought it was great & enjoyed it throughly for what it was, just a short atmospheric horror piece with some cool make-up effects.
There's a terrific looking rotting zombie in this one, it looks a lot better than the zombie in the Monsters episode My Zombie Lover (1988) anyway although the tone of both episodes are very different so that's probably why. There's a couple of cool killings here too including someone having their head crushed. There's a really good late night horror film atmosphere to this as it's set inside an old house complete with lightning outside & plenty of moodily lit sets which are more detailed & look a lot better than usual for this show & there's even some outside location filming which is a very rare thing on the show. The Match Game looks great throughout & belies the low budget the show had & is probably the best looking episode of the series. The acting is alright, minor celebrity Tori Spelling has a role while Ashley Laurence of Hellraiser (1987) fame get the leading lady part & does fine.
The Match Game is yet another great episode from a generally very good series, there's some cool make-up effects & a great atmosphere to it. Don't go into it looking for a deep or meaningful story & I am sure the twenty minutes will fly by & you'll have a decent time with it.