American Horror Story: Murder House (2011) – review

An American horror series, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, with Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott and Taissa Farmiga.

The first season, retroactively titled American Horror Story: Murder House, is about infidelity. The story takes place in 2011 and follows the Harmon family: psychiatrist Ben, his wife Vivien, and their teenage daughter Violet, who move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien has a miscarriage and Ben has an affair. The Harmons move into a restored mansion and soon encounter the home’s former residents, the Langdons – Constance and her two children, Tate and Addie – and the disfigured Larry Harvey. Ben and Vivien try to rekindle their relationship, as Violet, suffering from depression, finds comfort with Tate. The Langdons and Larry frequently influence the Harmons’ lives, as the family discovers that the home is haunted by the ghosts of anyone who has ever died on the property. (Wiki)

Positives

• Murder House has a lot of different story lines because all of the different dead families entering the story at one point. A lot of people get murdered on top of that so the house does get a bit crowded at the end.  It’s a bit of a mess but hey, it’s hard killing someone without. It keeps the season from being a bore.

• Haunted houses have never been my favourite horror aspect but I like this very much because of a healthy mix of clichés and originality.

• American Horror Story is accessible for a large group of people. Horror is my weakness so I need to be careful with this point but in comparison to a lot of movies I’ve seen, this series isn’t that scary, even funny at some moments because of the ghosts being bitchy against each other all the time. It has its filthy moments but in overall this isn’t a splatter.

• I like almost all of the actors. They are cut out for their rolls.

Negatives

• I said almost all of the actors… The husband (Dylan McDermott) is annoying me. The first time I saw him was in Stalker and I really hated that series, couldn’t sit through more than 3 episodes without being bored. That aside, I’m not a fan of his acting.

• There’s not really a link between the house and the environment. Almost the whole series is filmed within the murder house and the neighbour’s house. The link with the outside world seems lost. With all the murders in and around there, not even the police or the other neighbours seem to worry much. There’s a lot of screaming and gun shooting so it’s weird that no one else seems to notice.

Personal rating: 89/100

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