Reviews

Top names in horror who rarely if ever give interviews, including Stephen King. Great clips that break down the filmmaking -- like how the shower scene in Psycho was put together, or the way Wes Craven shot Drew Barrymore's kitchen scene in Scream. Interesting commentary from people who know their stuff -- shows how people like George Romero and Edgar Wright used these films as allegories for what was going on in society at the time. But the show also has lots of funny parts -- these are smart people with great senses of humor. A real horror fan needs a good sense of humor!

This episode starts with Halloween (with people like Jamie Lee Curtis, the Soska twins, Bruce Campbell and many others weighing in -- Jamie Lee is great in this), backtracks to Psycho (which starred Jamie Lee's mother!), then to Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Friday the 13th, Maniac and Child's Play. It's really well made with a mix of behind-the-scenes stuff from actors, writers and directors, plus some interesting commentary about how these films were received. Funny to hear Roger Ebert be so off-base about slasher films, though I guess they were a lot more shocking in the 1980s than they are today.

Second part of the Slashers episodes didn't disappoint. Went from Freddy to Candyman to Silence of the Lambs to Scream to Saw to Hostel. Jordan Peele was in this episode talking about how black audiences react differently to these movies than white audiences -- funny and perceptive. Even Howard Shore, who's won a bundle of Oscars, showed up talking about the score for "Lambs." Smart move having critics talk about Hostel and its political meaning rather than having Eli Roth do it.