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134 reviews in total

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159 out of 209 people found the following review useful:
Real Horror Fans Will Like It., 12 October 2011

Author: ChrisMichael81 from United States

There are so many things that could have gone wrong with F.X. attempting to take on a genre that American Film makers have turned into a high school idiot machine. Thankfully the people who made this know what they are doing. If you are a horror buff you will understand what I am talking about after a couple of viewings. It could have been so easy to make a high school shock fest all wrapped up for a safe and appropriate viewing experience. This show is weird, deranged, creepy, and best off all well acted and well written. Great character development that is based on things people would actually do if they faced that situation. This show really does have a bright future if they keep rolling at this pace. I must say, I am very impressed. Almost Walking Dead impressed. This show though is way more deranged then Walking Dead though. Keep it up F.X. . You have a potential winner on your hands. This show of course is not for everybody. The people who don't like it would be better served by watching something a little more tame and mediocre like Tera Nova.

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131 out of 174 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining., 7 October 2011

Author: demented_baboon from United States

A dysfunctional family moves into an old house, a house with a history of horror. For the main characters, history is what the first episode is all about: the husband's history of infidelity, the wife's history of having a bloody stillbirth, the daughter's history of cutting herself -- for each a long history of pain and resentment and longing for change, though it quickly becomes apparent the only change coming will leave them hysterically screaming to the sudden, violent, gory end. The one sure thing this show promises is that people will die horribly, and we will all be terrified by it.

The characters are not likable; they may not even be redeemable. Even the suffering wife is bitter and cold and hateful. But do they deserve what horrible things will assuredly happen to them? Nope. Which means their fight is our fight, and their fear is our fear.

American Horror Story is interesting, entertaining, suspenseful, and ambitious. After watching the first episode, I want to watch some more.

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139 out of 194 people found the following review useful:
Absolutely Awesome!, 8 October 2011

Author: lukepatrik from Australia

I found the first episode to be awesome, great suspense and has a really eerie/scary feeling to it., Definitely not your typical haunted house plot, i think the writing is very creative and very well thought out,.

The first episode is very well assembled and an impressive pilot. We are quickly introduced to all the characters, who appear to be quite likable, yet slightly flawed. Then we are introduced to a cast of supernatural beings, Who are definitely flawed,and most most definitely BIGTIME CREEPY,. Man just watch this show its overly awesome. wont be regretted. ,If you grab a lot of the great horror movies and mix them up you get American horror stories. There were quite a number of sequences that were unsettling and quite disturbingly perfect,. Every scene leaves you stunned in a way, waiting there stil and anxiously not knowing whats gunna happen next,. This show has everything and more all us horror fans need these days.

OVERALL The show utilizes both shock and psychological terror to frighten, Absolutely loved it, exceeding my expectations like nothing else. A MUST WATCH!!

cannot wait for the next episodes!

10/10 there is nothing else that compares to this style on TV,. watch it and try to disagree ;)

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71 out of 102 people found the following review useful:
Different Kind of Horror, 14 October 2011
Author: JoeC345 from United States

These days when the genre of horror is brought up most people think of the latest slasher bloodfest like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" or the latest attempt at trying to scare us with some lame movie like "The Ring". It might be a problem with the time constraints of a 90 minute or 2 hour movie, it's hard to completely capture the audience and slowly twist the perceptions.

Another thing forgotten in recent horror movies is the fact of NOT explaining everything within 5 minutes of it happening, it's more entertaining and spooky to speculate why someone sees something or what actually happened in a particular scene. People forget that in some of the best horror pictures like "Psycho" the real horror came from the suspense and the wondering of what was going to happen and that the violence was secondary.

The dialogue between characters is actually impressive especially in a couple scenes that you will be able to easily pick out. Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk who also created Nip/Tuck and Glee (odd combo) seem to be able to excel in almost any genre and especially now in horror. It's rare to writers like this who aren't afraid to jump around from genre to genre fearlessly.

It's hard to describe many aspects of this show without giving away to much so I must refrain from describing the plot as it appears so far.

The day after I viewed the pilot episode I was shocked to see all the negative feelings towards the content of the show. So let's be VERY clear this show is classified MA which stands for "Mature Audiences" which should be taken the same as and "R" rating for films, so if you don't want you or your kids to see it that's fine but don't get all pissy about a show you decided to watch that was marketed as a "psycho-sexual horror". Yes there is scenes of semi explicit sexual acts and scenes of disturbing violence but it's a horror story so images like that are to be expected.

It's refreshing to find a show that is different and does not follow traditional formula's TV horror shows. I plan to watch every week and enjoy the series fully, since it is honestly very rare to see a show do better in it's genre then most recent films.

American Horror Story arrived a couple weeks ago on the great FX network that also houses two of my favorite shows: "Sons of Anarchy" and "Justified".

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51 out of 68 people found the following review useful:
Classic Ryan Murphy gold, 27 October 2011

Author: winsumlosesum from United Kingdom

Initially I was left wondering how - what essentially is a short horror movie - could be made in to a long running TV series, but after a few episodes I started to realise that it's the Ryan Murphy magic that is sustaining this outstanding show.

Much like Nip/Tuck, you have to suspend your belief and see this as purely entertainment. There's so many open ended narratives that are slowly unfolding and although at times the show verges on the edge of cliché, a single episode could easily match the brilliance of such horror classics like The Amityville Horror and The People Under the Stairs.

At the end of every episode I feel shocked that 40 minutes have gone by, which is a sure sign that this show is pure, unadulterated, entertainment.

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58 out of 89 people found the following review useful:
"AMERICAN BEAUTY" - With A Faceful of Acid..., 15 October 2011
Author: dcscribe8860 from Somewhere In A Red State

If we have absorbed the lessons of what independent family dramas have taught us in the past few decades, what have we learned? That Father Has Never "Known Best", that the "Dreams of The Everyday Housewife" can be laced with resentment, disillusionment, fear and madness? That the placid, peaceful, tranquil picture of the all-American family we have believed in (and taught to uphold and emulate) by our own parents, has always been a facade for all kinds of dementia and dysfunction?

If this is true, then what Ryan Murphy has done is taken the clichés of everything from chief competitor Alan Ball's award-winning American BEAUTY and Stephen King's THE SHINING, put them on steroids and blended them together in his word processor. The result? American HORROR STORY, where the only thing more terrifying than a haunted house laden with secrets that rip people to shreds, are the secrets and lies infesting the lives of one family that threaten to rip THEM to shreds.

When a tragic miscarriage and an even more shattering act of infidelity threaten to tear apart their tenuous marriage, Ben Harmon (THE PRACTICE'S Dylan McDermott) and his wife Vivien (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS' Connie Britton) take their teenage daughter, Violet (Taissa Farmiga) and move away from their "house of horrors" to find a new start somewhere...ANYWHERE that they can put the noxious past behind them and at least try to have a go at tending to their gaping emotional wounds.

The place they choose - or maybe that chooses THEM - a run-down manse on the outskirts of L.A., turns out to be a real bargain, and though irredeemably creepy, does have an antiquated charm...if you're into murals that would give even Hieronymous Bosch nightmares.

In no short order, unsettling and strange characters - as much as the house itself is - begin to materialize and insinuate themselves into the Harmons' lives, whether they want them to or not: next-door neighbor Constance (Jessica Lange in a brilliant turn), whose demeanor suggests a deadly combo of Blanche DuBois, Norma Desmond and Gale Sondergaard's Black Widow; Frances Conroy (Ruth Fisher from SIX FEET UNDER) as the mysterious housekeeper, Moira, who appears to the rest of the family as one persona, while tempting Ben's weakness for "a taste of strange" with another more lascivious presence, (played by Alexandra Breckenridge); Larry Harvey (TRUE BLOOD alum Denis O'Hare), a horribly burned man who seems to be stalking Ben, and who has his own deadly history with the house and what lives there, and Constance's daughter, Adelaide, (Jamie Brewer), with Downs' Syndrome, yet who seems to have it more together - and knows more about the house - than anyone else around her.

Even Ben's practice as a psychologist is fraught with peril, with the introduction of a teen patient named Tate Langdon (Evan Peters), who has an easier time picking apart and savaging the weaknesses in Ben's emotional armor than Ben does in probing his inscrutable and infuriating new charge's troubled mind. Not to mention that his growing fascination/infatuation with Violet doesn't help things one little bit.

Many people have cried fowl about the show's penchant for relying heavily on old horror tropes and clichés, without even paying attention to how it has been taking said clichés and twisting them into newer and even more unsettling shapes than today's average hot mess passing itself off as a 'horror film.' Leave it to FX to allow Murphy and his team - much as they did with NIP/TUCK - the freedom to push the boundaries of where a horror-infused series can go, without the constraints that hog-tied many of the like-minded series that came before it, such as the ground-breaking TWIN PEAKS or American Gothic, (which wasn't anywhere near as well-written as this).

Two episodes in and I am already intrigued, grossed-out and frankly spooked by what I have seen so far. I just hope that the quality continues to get even better as plot lines and characters get darker and more deadly secrets are unearthed...

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39 out of 52 people found the following review useful:
Got to love this weird, haunted freak show, 20 November 2011
Author: wierdwar from Canada

Something totally different in a entertainment landscape of toned down crap. Finally something that pushes the boundaries and takes some chances. In a time when everybody worries so much about whats real they unwilling to buy into anything slightly outlandish. Suspend your disbelieve and take a walk into the strangest, most twisted little series I've seen since Carnivale. I love this nightmarish ride into the twilight zone.

I think the casting is superb. Great acting throughout. The writing is fast paced and doesn't stretch things out like many long winded series. Too many shows take for ever to get the ball rolling. This show is fast paced and never leaves you much chance to breath before springing another traumatic event your way. I can hardly wait to see where this fun house ride leads to next.

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42 out of 58 people found the following review useful:
A Scary Movie in a Weekly Show, 25 October 2011
Author: shyla-m-robinson-1 from United States

American Horror Story is an attempt to take the horror movie from the big screen to a weekly to drama. It has the elements of a story akin to The Amityville Horror or A Haunting in Connecticut where a family moves into a new home filled with a sinister past that has a habit of rearing its ugly head. The families ignore the history and give the homes a try anyway only to find themselves wrapped in a terrifying mystery.

American Horror Story focuses on the Harmon family who is moving from Boston to Los Angeles to escape their past. Vivien Harmon (Connie Britton) is still reeling from the miscarriage of her baby boy and the subsequent affair she caught her husband having to "cope" with the loss. Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) is a psychiatrist who is trying to escape his mistake of sleeping with one of his college students and the rift it has caused in his marriage. Violet (Taissa Farmiga) their daughter is disgusted with her parents and the move but loves the house and its sinister past.

The plot only thickens as the cast grows. Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) is one of Ben's new patients who shows not only an interest in Violet but an unusual amount of knowledge about the house. Constance (Jessica Lange) is the Harmons' next door neighbor and seems to have no problem not only speaking her mind but being pushy and threatening. Last but not least Larry Harvey (Denis O'Hare), a former owner of the Harmons' house, starts to follow Ben and warn him about the house. Larry had murdered his entire family in that house and he warns Ben that if he's not careful that house will change him and may make him do something he wouldn't otherwise do.

This show is a really creative idea. To be honest it's strange to me that no one has ever tried to do something like this before. It has all of the normal concepts and ideas that keep you coming back to a normal drama series, but it has the added element of a horror movie. So you not only get the mystery but the ghosts and the murders. It's nice because you don't only get one type of horror movie. You get ghosts, you get slasher, you get possession type horror like Larry who ended up killing his family. The show appeals to all tastes of horror.

One of the things that could be better is that there are just so many characters that seem to know something about the house and they also seem to know each other. This makes things a little confusing. The writers are probably trying to keep the audience interested but this particular collection of twists is a little confusing. Maybe as the series unfolds it will become clearer.

Someone that really loves horror movies will love this show. It keeps your attention with all of the twists and turns. This show takes an amazing genre of films and allows an audience to have a new weekly addiction. It's a great mystery/horror fix.

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63 out of 100 people found the following review useful:
finally a good haunted house story, 7 October 2011
Author: pepper13 from California

At last they've come up with a great haunted house story. Not too much gore, just creepy eeriness. The writing is great, the story leaves you wondering what is going on. (Spoilers) They deal with real issues like infidelity, miscarriage, teen angst, down syndrome, although that little girl is not your typical down syndrome child. However, her mother, played by Jessica Lange is fabulous. A polite, albeit pushy southern bell type, yet, "If you touch my child again, I'll break your arm". I love the house, starting in 1978 when it was decrepit, and falling apart, to present day when it has been completely refurbished. I would love to explore a house like that. The use of split second visions, leaves you wondering, what did I just see? I think this is going to be a great series, I can't wait for more!

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31 out of 42 people found the following review useful:
An excellent, entertaining, and very intriguing Horror show!, 22 December 2011

Author: ASlightlyRedDisturbance from United States

Unlike many reviewers on here, I have waited until the end of the first season to actually review this series as a whole. I want to start off with the Pilot. When I first saw it, I had a lot of problems with it. It was messy, and some of the characters were dumb, and some of the acting was corny. However, after the Pilot ended, I realized just how intrigued I was by it. It sure was a messy Pilot, but that's the beauty of it. It was always moving, it wasn't your typical slow-paced suspense show.

In fact, that pretty much sums up the whole season. This is a crackling, fast-paced and entertaining horror series. I would never call this high- art, but that's what makes it great. The show doesn't take itself seriously at all, and it always remains fun, even when it's silly, and yet you get really invested in the story lines and characters. Sure, the performances are flawed at times, and the writing and directing awkward, but the fast pace in every episode doesn't ever let the viewer gasp for air. This is the true definition of a thrill ride. It also feels very experimental. It executes a lot of things in very unordinary ways, in ways that no other TV show does. It doesn't always succeed, but even when it doesn't, you can appreciate it.

Your friends might call The Walking Dead the better horror show, but I disagree. As far as Pilots go, no matter how entertaining or thrilling American Horror Story's Pilot was, the Pilot for The Walking Dead was better, masterful in every way. Since then, it's merely a good, sometimes great, TV show. It takes itself more seriously and is slower-paced, but it's problem is that a lot of times the writing just feels stale, recycled. You are intrigued by it, but it sometimes feels weaker than it should be. And the fact that it takes itself too seriously sort of dampens the fun one should be having with it, simply because its writing isn't strong enough to stretch out its story lines (like the two best TV shows on air, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, do). American Horror Story is better for these reasons- each episode by itself is exciting, it's always moving, and instead of trying to slow things down and makes its flaws more apparent, it even overdoes things on purpose. Messy, sure, silly, sometimes, but overall more intriguing, funner, and more exciting. I cannot wait for the second season of this, since I thought the resolution to the story of the first season was excellent, as well as the final shot.

P.S. Oh, I also want to add another note to take. The performances do hit their great marks, but the only truly incredible performance is Jessica Lange. Her character and performance makes all other supporting turns in television look stale by comparison, and all of her scenes are truly gold! She needs to win that Emmy next year! I want to see her back!

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