Update on Fear Itself

Ok, so I've now watched the first two episodes of the new horror anthology series on NBC- "Fear Itself", and I have a few thoughts.

First of all, I kind of enjoyed the first one, entitiled 'Sacrifice'. It was the story of a small group of criminals who hoard up in an abandoned fort in the wintertime. Soon they run into three young women, sisters I believe, who live like old time pioneer folks, and for some reason Dad's chained to the bed. The sisters have some secrets, and being about only 40 minutes long (commercials!), they don't waste much time figuring things out. I'd like to say it was a tight little tale, but it had more than a few holes in the set-up and was only somewhat scary. It had a bit of atmosphere and a claustrophobic feel, but all in all - just mediocre.

The second episode - 'Spooked' was directed by the guy (Brad Anderson) that did 'The Machinist', which I very much enjoyed, but this hour - for me - was totally inferior. I didn't find it even remotely scary - and the storyline was actually just boring. I almost nodded off a few times (but that could be the late 10pm showtime). Eric Roberts starred, and he almost always brings a sleasy, skum-bag kind of feel to things, and this was no different. He stars as a disgraced cop who has made some fairly bad decisions in his career, was forced off the police squad, and in turn, is a private detective of sorts. He is hired to get evidence on an unfaithful husband by staking out the house from the abandoned (say, haunted) home across the street. Basically, I think the idea was that his past was coming back to haunt him...literally.
The plot, to me, was just a mess here, and I couldn't find many redeeming qualities. So let's leave it at that and hope for better next week.

So far I am not impressed and don't think it even holds a small candle to the 'Masters of Horror' series on Showtime that it is patterned after. And it is not because they aren't able to swear profusely, have nudity, or excessive gore. It is a problem with the writing, in my humble opinion. Let's just hope they have saved the better eps for later on. I will keep watching, if only because there isn't a damn thing on tv this summer - unless you like extra shitty reality shows.

I guess you should check it out for yourself, though. I never believe what the critics (or anyone else) say until I see something for myself.
Till next time...