User Reviews

Except for a somewhat lame ending, MATCH GAME is a prime example of what a low-budget horror TV anthology can accomplish in a mere 22 minutes or so. Ashley "Hellraiser" Laurence and Tori "90210" Spelling costar as part of a quarter of teenager who break into an old mansion and conjure up the former owner, who has been dead and rotting at the bottom of a swamp for many years. In its very short running time, the episode feels like an '80s horror movie, and accomplishes quite a lot. The kids play a variation on a sense or Quija board reading by sitting in a circle on the floor while holding lighted matches, each in turn telling part of a scary story before the flames touch their fingers. The reanimated corpse is a masterpiece of zombie makeup, and quite gruesome for a kiddie show. Mr. Zombie has a terrific scene where he smashes a room full of mirrors, as he does not like his reflection. The backlot mansion looks real enough, the lighting is suitably dim and creepy, and the chuckleheaded kids are right out of any 80s horror classic, like NIGHT OF THE DEMONS or SLEEPAWAY CAMP. The episode even takes time to develop a relationship between two of the kids at the outset. Unbelievable. A must-see.

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.

Warning do not read unless seen episode.

This is my favorite tale from the show, it's sort of like "Jumanji"; okay not quite but it is somewhat the same concept as that was about a board game coming to life, this is a story starting to come true.

Really like both the protagonists, Paul whom is a person that is on the shy side and doesn't seem like he has much luck with girls and life itself, but we also see he has some psychic ability which of course is significant in the episode. But his luck we see is about to change and for the better or worse depending on how you look at it. One of the highlights of the episode for me is his significant other Jodie whom is of course played by Ashley Lawrence. Yes, I'm a fan of "Hellraiser 1 and 2" movies and I had a crush on this actress when I was a kid, she is just fraking hot. But I really like her character as she has vibrancy to her.

I really like how the episode just feeds your imagination as we hear each are continually telling the story. It is really the main male protagonist that is drawing us in and making it scarier by the minute as we see him suddenly for some strange reason provide elaborate and specific details that they and not even he knew about. Though you can tell the details aren't from himself as we see the fire on the match, he's holding is lasting a lot longer than normal, he is getting details from a source beyond the grave. The evil energy of the house and the wicked soul of the owner are obviously taking advantage of Paul's psychic ability making him inavertantly open a gateway.

The zombie doesn't disappoint as it looks like one of the zombies from the Italian horror films like "The Beyond". We even see some pretty good gore effects; I won't say what they are you just have to see them yourself.

I like the ending as the protagonists find a key to defeating this monster which I like because it's non-conventional and in the physics of storytelling it makes sense.

Be careful of the next horror story you hear or tell, it could be your own.

Rating: 4 stars

The Match Game has two couples Paul and Jodie along with Matthew and Beverly who one night decide to sneak into the local abandoned haunted house which was once inhabited by Herbert Waverly who reportedly committed suicide by throwing himself into the local pond. As the night continues and the story gets more intense Paul seems to have a strange connection to Waverly as he then emerges from the pond to take brutal action against the unknowing teens. For starters this might be the most star studded episode of the whole series as we have a young Sasha Jenson (fresh off Halloween 4), Tori Spelling (a year shy of 90210) and Ashley Lawrence who at the time was still riding her "Hellraiser" popularity. The story itself is just all around fun, we actually have several different locations something this series wasn't extremely known for and it even starts outside, which was really rare. Another rare thing here is the effects Waverly looks wonderful as a rotting corpse, but, theirs also some gore on display here as Jenson fittingly gets his "Halloween 4" death practically redone, while Tori Spelling gets absolutely wrecked by Wavorly in a head crushing scene. The only real issue I have here is I don't think its ever really explained why Paul has the ability to raise Waverly from the dead and also kill him also, I might have missed it, but, I don't recall and that wouldn't have been a hard thing to have stuck into the script. Overall, A cast full of current and future stars round out one of the series best efforts.

Two couples decide to spend the night in an old Victorian mansion that's rumored to be haunted. The young folks take turns relating a scary story concerning the long deceased owner of said abode that comes terrifyingly true.

Director Michael Brandon keeps the enjoyable and involving story moving along at a quick pace, ably crafts a spooky atmosphere, and makes the most out of the old dark house setting. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps things buzzing: Ashley Laurence of "Hellraiser" fame as the perky Jodie, Bryon Thomas as the strange Paul, Tori Spelling as the willful Beverly, and Sasha Jenson as the jerky Matthew. The zombie Herbert (Tom Woodruff Jr. under lots of funky make-up) looks genuinely creepy and hideous. An on the money episode.