"Masters of Horror" Family (2006)

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator)
Brent Hanley (written by)

TV Series:

"Masters of Horror" (2005)

Original Air Date:

28 October 2006 (Season 2, Episode 2)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Harold is a seemingly peaceful neighbor in a quiet midwestern neighborhood, but underneath, he's a murderous psychopath who sets his eyes on a couple that have moved in across the street.

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | Psychopath | High School | Gas Mask | Skeleton

Cast

George Wendt	...	Harold Thompson
Meredith Monroe	...	Celia Fuller
Matt Keeslar	...	David Fuller
Haley Guiel	...	Sarah (as Hailey Guiel)
Kerry Sandomirsky	...	Jane
John B. Scott	...	Grandpa
Nancy Whyte	...	Grandma
Emily Tennant	...	Teenage Blonde Girl
Emily Hope	...	Teenage Punk Girl
Aleita Northey	...	Teenage Sad Girl
Frances Flanagan	...	Housewife
Donald R. Mintz	...	Interior Harold Thompson (as Dr. Donald R. Mintz)

Directed by
John Landis

Writing credits
Mick Garris		(creator)
Brent Hanley		(written by)

Produced by
Keith Addis	....	executive producer
Morris Berger	....	executive producer
Steve Best	....	associate producer
Stephen R. Brown	....	executive producer (as Steve Brown)
Ben Browning	....	co-producer
Andrew Deane	....	executive producer
Mick Garris	....	executive producer
Adam Goldworm	....	co-producer
John W. Hyde	....	executive producer
Lisa Richardson	....	producer
Tom Rowe	....	producer
Pascal Verschooris	....	line producer

Original Music by
Peter Bernstein

Cinematography by
Jon Joffin		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Mark L. Levine

Casting by
Stuart Aikins
Sean Cossey
Lindsey Hayes Kroeger
David Rapaport		(as David H. Rapaport)

Production Design by
David Fischer

Art Direction by
Don Macaulay

Set Decoration by
Ide Foyle

Costume Design by
Lyn Kelly

Makeup Department
Howard Berger	....	special effects makeup
Mike Fields	....	on-set key makeup artist: KNB EFX Group, Inc. (as Michael Fields)
Terry Hanson	....	first assistant hair stylist
Tanya Hudson	....	first assistant make-up
Gregory Nicotero	....	special effects makeup
Adina Shore	....	key hair stylist
Margaret Solomon	....	key make-up

Production Management
Margo Coughlin Zimmerman	....	production manager: IDT Entertainment (as Margo Zimmerman)
Sally Dixon	....	post-production supervisor
Sheri Mayervich	....	unit production manager
Stacey Jade Smart	....	executive in charge of production: IDT Entertainment

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ania Musiatowicz	....	third assistant director
Darren Robson	....	second assistant director
Rob Vouriot	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Andrei Andrianko	....	assistant art director
Nick Dibley	....	property master (as Nicholas Dibley)
Dylan Dowd	....	lead greens person
Jim Geddes	....	construction coordinator
John McIntosh	....	greens
Jake Miller	....	assistant property master
Nathalie Morin	....	assistant set decorator
Zbibgniew Scheller	....	construction foreman (as Zbish Scheller)
John Wilcox	....	paint coordinator
Jean Brophey	....	on-set dresser (uncredited)
Doris Deutschmann	....	graphic designer (uncredited)
Izabela Domachowski	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Les Ford	....	computer graphics designer (uncredited)
Scott Riddell	....	second assistant props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Anke Bakker	....	sound supervisor
Brian Campbell	....	dialogue editor
Jay Cheetham	....	background sound editor
Jacqueline Cristianini	....	adr supervisor
Jacqueline Cristianini	....	dialogue supervisor
Kris Fenske	....	sound designer
Devan Kraushar	....	sound effects editor
Jason Mauza	....	foley editor
Laurie Melhus	....	audio post-production coordinator
Glen Noseworthy	....	adr mixer
Iain Pattison	....	re-recording mixer
Sebastian Salm	....	sound mixer
Adam Sharpe	....	re-recording mixer
Paul A. Sharpe	....	re-recording mixer (as Paul Sharpe)
Shane Shemko	....	foley artist
Colin Smith	....	boom operator
Cam Wagner	....	foley artist
Matthew Wilson	....	sound effects editor
Todd R. Mason	....	sound effects recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Randy Ball	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Chris Cera	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Michael Deak	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group (as Mike Deak)
Steve Hartman	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Derek Heselton	....	best boy special effects
Shannon Shea	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Wayne Szybunka	....	special effects coordinator
Veronica Torres	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Lindsay Vivian	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Chris Sturges	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Attila Vaski	....	lead/fab/asst (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Matt Belbin	....	digital effects editor (as Matthew Belbin)
Sébastien Bergeron	....	digital effects supervisor: Anthem Visual Effects
Adrian Chan	....	cg artist
Michael Goddard	....	cg artist
Annabelle Kent	....	digital compositor
Muzaffer Korkut	....	cg artist (as Muzzaffer Korkut)
Darren MacKay	....	digital compositor
Adam Marisett	....	cg artist
Mladen Miholjcic	....	cg artist
Stephen Paschke	....	cg artist
Lisa K. Sepp	....	visual effects producer: Anthem Visual Effects (as Lisa Sepp-Wilson)
Trevor Strand	....	digital compositor
Philippe Thibault	....	digital compositor
Jonah West	....	digital compositor
Lee Wilson	....	visual effects supervisor
Jayson Castro	....	visual effects production assistant (uncredited)

Stunts
Jim Dunn	....	stunt coordinator
Krista Bell	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sandy Cooper	....	first assistant camera
Brian Johnson	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Mike Kolafa	....	gaffer (as Michael Kolafa)
Jos Oman	....	first assistant camera
Steve Sherlock	....	key grip
Jared Smith	....	best boy lighting
Shai Vera	....	best boy grip (as Shae Vera)
Peter Wilke	....	camera operator: "a" camera (as Peter Wilkie)
Michael Wrinch	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Mike Wrinch)
Ian Gariepy	....	dolly grip: "b" camera (uncredited)
Alexander Glua	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Aaron Haesler	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Pascal Jean Provost	....	cinematographer: second unit (uncredited)
Jeremy Spofford	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Sandra-Ken Freeman	....	extras casting (as Sandra Ken-Freeman)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Glenna Owen	....	assistant costume designer
Tyler Tone	....	set costume supervisor
Debra Torpe	....	costume truck supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Richard Cordes	....	color timer
Andrea Dixon	....	color timer
Asim Matin	....	assistant editor
Matt Venables	....	post-production coordinator
Mike Williamson	....	editorial coordinator

Music Department
Mike Beckett	....	music editor
Jennifer Ross	....	music supervisor
Ed Shearmur	....	composer: main title theme (as Edward Shearmur)
Michael Aarvold	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Louie Hausner	....	transportation captain
John Swetlikoe	....	transportation coordinator
Duane Shearer	....	office driver (uncredited)
Jovan Vujatovic	....	picture car coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Christine Barrie	....	stand-in
Genessa Davis	....	assistant production coordinator
Annie Doyon	....	assistant accountant
Terri Garbutt	....	production coordinator
Cameron Grierson	....	assistant to producer
Cameron Grierson	....	script coordinator
Richter Hartig	....	production auditor: IDT Entertainment (as Richter Q. Hartig)
Dave Harvey	....	assistant accountant
Tom Hoeverman	....	assistant location manager
Elissa Howarth	....	administration manager: IDT Entertainment
Alison Hunter	....	script supervisor
Andrea Kaufman	....	production coordinator: IDT Entertainment (as Andrea M. Kaufman)
Katy Lew	....	executive administrator
Ross Redhead	....	assistant to producers
Tracey Renyard	....	location manager
Adrian Salpeter	....	assistant to producers
Stephen Tibbetts	....	stand-in
Bill Vigars	....	unit publicist
Steven Vlasak	....	operations manager
Beverly Wiens	....	production accountant
Michael Bishop	....	key production assistant (uncredited)
Stephanie Brown	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Nancy Heller	....	office manager: Anthem Visual Effects (uncredited)
Krista Johnston	....	clearance (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Starz Productions
• Nice Guy Productions
• Industry Entertainment
• IDT Entertainment

Distributors

• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2006) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Cinemax (2008) (Hungary) (TV)
• Kadokawa Entertainment (2008) (Japan) (DVD)
• Premiere (2009) (Germany) (TV)
• Showtime Networks (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Splendid Film (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Starz Home Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Vertice Cine (2008) (Spain) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Anthem Visual Effects (visual effects)
• K.N.B. Effects Group (special makeup effects)

Other Companies

• Background, The  walla artists
• Sharpe Sound Studios  sound post-production
• Thomas Cobb Design  main title design

Runtime:

58 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:MA (2007) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Starz Productions

Trivia:

When George Wendt's character is speaking to Matt Keeslar's character in the ER waiting room, there are a couple of pages for "Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine". This is a nod to the Three Stooges' short Men in Black (1934), which paged the Stooges with calls of "Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard".

Goofs:

Continuity: After Harold returns from the dinner and he speaks with his 'wife', she finishes her glass of wine twice while Harold holds the bottle the entire time without pouring any more for her.

Movie Connections:

References Men in Black (1934)

John Landis does it again; Deer Woman with more horror

This is the first episode I've seen from Season 2 and I must say I am very impressed. Considering the amount of flak Season 2 was receiving I was considering just passing them by but I gave in to temptation and I'm glad I did. John Landis yet again proves he is definitely one of the Masters of Horror with "Family." Like with "Deer Woman," Landis blends horror and comedy flawlessly but with this one he adds a little more horror than comedy. The script is very well written, the acting is great and there is a good amount of gore to satisfy gorehounds.

Harold (George Wendt) seems like a peaceful, friendly enough neighbour but in reality he is a murderous psychopath who has his eyes set on his new neighbour Celia (Meredith Monroe) who has just moved in with her husband David (Matt Keeslar, of Scream 3 fame).

As I said before the acting in this is great. George Wendt gives a very funny performance as the Psycho neighbour and Meredith Monroe and Matt Keeslar are great as the married couple. The script is very witty and funny but there are plenty of odd, disturbing bits to make you shiver or squirm in disgust.

Overall a pleasant start to Season 2. I'm hoping for the rest of them to be as good as this.

4½/5