I had mixed feelings when I saw that the first episode of the second season of this anthology show would be directed by none other than Tobe Hooper. For one thing we all know how much raw potential he has but also how he tends to make some oddly disappointing directing decisions that leave his works sadly unfulfilled. And for another this is his second addition to Masters of Horror (one of the few true masters really featured)- and his first one was good. It was decent but not great. Seeing that this one was another collaboration between Matheson and Hooper had me pretty excited because the script for Dance of the Dead, Hooper's earlier episode also written by Matheson, was nice. I actually had higher expectations for this episode than I did Dance of the Dead- for the first four minutes. And then comes in that awful slow-mo hazy effect that he used so liberally in his other episode. Why he does things like this is beyond me but I immediately gave a great sigh and settled down, ready for another lukewarm serving from someone very adept and delivering below his potential. Which was actually a blessing in disguise because now I was open to being pleasantly surprised. This time around the cinematography had a warm ambiance reminiscent of TCM. It was set in Texas, so maybe that's just what Hooper does best.In fact, the atmosphere seems to be an element that's missing in a lot of his films and is really done justice here. The script was also tighter this time around- it probably did help that it was based on a short story rather than a Matheson original. I started off this review with criticism but honestly The Damned Thing is a gem among later Hooper works and a cut above most of the episodes of Masters of Horror.
Review of The Damned Thing
