Home Invasion (12 Oct. 2011)

Ben gets a new patient, Bianca Forest, something of a murder groupie who is just amazed that he lives in the house that has been the scene of so many famous murders. Ben has his own ... See full summary »

Director:

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Writers:

Ryan Murphy (creator), Brad Falchuk (creator),

Stars:

Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Evan Peters

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Dylan McDermott	...	Ben Harmon
Connie Britton	...	Vivien Harmon
Evan Peters	...	Tate Langdon
Taissa Farmiga	...	Violet Harmon
Denis O'Hare	...	Larry Harvey
Jessica Lange	...	Constance Langdon
Kate Mara	...	Hayden McClaine
Frances Conroy	...	Moira O'Hara
Alexandra Breckenridge	...	Young Moira
Jamie Brewer	...	Adelaide 'Addie' Langdon
Jamie Harris	...	Franklin
Mageina Tovah	...	Bianca
Azura Skye	...	Fiona
Kyle Davis	...	Dallas
Michael Graziadei	...	Travis Wanderley

Storyline

Ben gets a new patient, Bianca Forest, something of a murder groupie who is just amazed that he lives in the house that has been the scene of so many famous murders. Ben has his own problems when the student with whom he was having an affair in Boston calls to tell him she's pregnant. He lies to his wife Vivien saying he's got to return to Boston to deal with one of his old cases. While he's away however, Bianca and two of her friends stage a home invasion intent on recreating a murder of two student nurses in 1968.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | home invasion | cut in half by an elevator | nightmare | nurse | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the opening scene from 1968 the soundtrack plays music from the movie Psycho which was released in 1960.

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Goofs

When Violet goes to set the cupcake down outside her door, you can see icing on the rim of the plate. However, when the camera jumps, the plate is clean.

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Quotes

Constance: There isn't a closed door that beauty can't open.

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Connections

Features Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)

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Soundtracks

"Special Death"
by Mirah
[Song playing when Violet and Leah]

User Reviews

Only decent episodic story and creativity, promising Tate and Violet, shocking Constance and Abby, intriguing enough

The pilot had such an odd impact on me that I highly awaited the show's return and wrote one of my strangest reviews. With productions like Masters of Horror we know what to expect as all episodes are standalone but with American Horror Story I was wondering what would be its format. Home Invasion revealed that its main story has potential because all the Harmon family members have what it takes considering what they have been through but I'm more skeptical about the weekly dose of horror or crime. My first complain was that the subplot wasn't frightening or disturbing enough. In fact it was even predictable at times. However it was shaken by the enigmatic Tate Langdon. Evan Peters role is surprising because so far I only knew him as the nice boy from Invasion. The therapy session was almost shocking, specially if you try to take Ben's place. His controversial relationship with his daughter Violet made things even more interesting because you don't know what he's capable of. As for Taissa Farmiga her role was reminiscent of feminism because it takes a lot of courage to survive, specially when your house is haunted or taken over by psychokillers.

Beside Tate and Violet I also really enjoyed Constance and Abby's side. The gorgeous aging mother and the trisomic daughter. A modern and twisted version of The Beauty of the Beast ? Probably but Jessica Lange definitely makes a charming monster and Jamie Brewer's performance was also quite convincing. Indeed until the vertiginous room of broken mirrors sequence the episode had been less surprising than the pilot. It just lacked the amount of creativity that made it so excellent. I also missed Moira, at least my libido did, and found Ben's arc far too anecdotic even if his absence served the main story in the end. However the show has plenty of intriguing plot lines to build up a crowd of hungry horror fans. From properly dealing with what happened to the girl who got her face hurt last time and of course the pregnancy I have definitely signed up for the upcoming episode. Otherwise I think the series desperately needs a goal the audience can rely on or else it will lose interest. Ending the episode with a cliffhanger was a first step in the right direction so considering its numerous qualities I can't see how it could miserably fail to satisfy our vicious appetite.