Masters of Horror - THE WASHINGTONIANS

[indianasmith]

OK, I have now seen five of the Masters of Horror series, and this one is the worst of the bunch.   A couple and their little girl, travelling to attend her great-grandmother's funeral, are going through the house and discover a letter revealing the shocking truth that George Washington was a bloodthirsty cannibal!  Then they run afoul of a secret cult called the Washingtonians, that keeps his true legacy alive by dressing in Revolutionary attire and feasting on human flesh.  They barely escape with the help of a history professor who has known the truth for years.  This movie  is, in short, neither scary, nor funny, nor particulary well-done.

Some of my total disenchantment with this piece may be due to the fact that I teach American History and am a great admirer of Washington's.  I know, it's fiction, it's satire, blah de blah, but for crying out loud, this was one of the most vicious character assassinations I've ever seen on film.  Washington was one of the noblest men who ever lived, and he deserves better from the nation he created than this kind of crap.

That brings me to something else I have noticed - three out of the five Masters of Horror episodes I have watched have had very distinct political messages in them.  This one's very UNsubtle subtext is that EVERYTHING we've been told about our country is a lie;  in FAMILY, the killer has an autographed photo of Dick Cheney on his mantle; and there was one other the title of which I can't recall, that featured zombie soldiers killed in Iraq coming back from the grave to vote because they were "sent to die for a lie."

  If I want a political statement, there are entire genres of film to provide them. When I watch the "Masters of Horror", I want to be scared silly, not politically assaulted.  Is the rest of the series this politically charged, or have I just watched some of the worst ones?  I rather enjoyed "The Fair Haired Child" and Haeckel's tale".

[Shadow]

I read the short story on which this one was based and wondered why it - out of all the other stuff from that author - was chosen for adaptation for the screen. I thought he had better stuff. Maybe the inherent opportunity for some political statement was too good to pass up. Who directed this one?

[Bonehead-XL]

Peter Medak, of "The Changling" fame, directed this one.

And horror has always been an incredably political genre. And it's not like there aren't a lot of things in politics these days to be horrifyed about. "Homecoming," the episode with the zombies you're thinking of, was definately the best of the series. And I personally found "The Washingtonians" to be pretty dang funny. "They switched Georges!"

[Neville]

I wouldn't call "Homecoming" the best episode in series #1, but he's right about horror being a very political genre.

To be honest, I barely remember "The Washingtonians". It was like many other episodes in both series, intriguing premise but mediocre execution.

I didn't see the Dick Cheney pic on "Family", and didn't saw that episode as an overtly political one. I though Landis was aiming to some social commentary there, the urge people in present day society have to "belong" and to form something similar to a family at any cost.

About Hollywood and politics, and this comes from a leftist, there's been so much Bush-basing in recent films / TV that it's really lost its edge. Poking fun at something is fun when only a handful of people dare to do it and the others watch in amazement. Now Bush-bashing is so common that unless it's done with some wit (and that's rare) it tends to annoy me too.

That's how I felt about "Homecoming", it was so heavy handed and obvious that I couldn't enjoy it at all.

Maybe the problem is that the most brutal satire on Bush was the very first one to ha a wide release, "Fahrenhet 9/11", and since then everybody who bashes Bush looks either tame or just plain silly.

[lester1/2jr]

I liked "homecoming" .  It was a middle finger to ann coulter and the GOP establishment.  Don't they deserve it? by and large?

That woman did a GOOD coulter

[Neville]

From my side of the fence, they do it and big time, but that's not the most important thing. If you do it do it well, or then don't do it. "Homecoming" had its moments, but it was so obvious that fell flat.

[indianasmith]

Interesting comments.  Leftism from Hollywood is nothing knew, and I shouldn't have been so surprsied, but I guess what bothers me is how gutless and cowardly they are with it.  I mean, let's bash the Christians and right-wingers again and again and again, because the worst they're gonna do is try to organize some wimpy boycott or - shudders! - pray for your soul.  They risk nothing by slamming us, and they all get to congratulate themselves on how courageous and noble they are.

If they had any REAL courage they would start lampooning radical  Islam and its evil practicioners, who represent a greater threat to freedom of expression and liberty in general than Dick Cheney ever thought about . . . but wait . . . Muslims actually KILL people who criticize them!!!  So Madonna and Rosie and Michael Moore keep hammering nice, safe targets, secure in the knowledge that they will not be endangered by it.


Wimps!!!!!!!!!

[Neville]

So they can mock other religions / ideologies but their own should be verboten? C'on. 

Yes, true, those filmmakers would show more guts by dissing Al-Qaeda or the Muslim fundamentalist regimes, but I think one of the points of making movies about their own country is that they think they can change something. I can't imagine Mr. Ahmadinejad watching "Schindler's list", wipping a tear from his cheek and thinking "You know, those Jews are people too". But "Fahrenheit 9/11" caused a lot of people to be more vocal against the Irak war.

I actually think they've been remarkably brave, at least the ones who started criticising the present administration. Normally it takes years for filmmakers to criticise modern policies. That mainstream filmmakers are making such criticism almost at the same time the policies were carried out, I think that's a first time in recent history.

Still, we've reached a point where the whole thing has become tiresome. It's not only that many of these movies are mediocre (take the recent "Lions for lambs"), it's also that the issue is no longer that attractive as it was before. By now, all people that could be convinced are already, and newer movies about it are unnecesary.

[indianasmith]

I seem to recall Jane Fonda posing on a North vietnamese anti-aircraft gun some 40 years ago . . . and Hollywood has been routinely bashing our government ever since.  I do agree with you it's getting tiresome.

[Neville]

That's going too far, nobody pictured themselves with Bin Laden this time, did they?

And remember, the western world is allegedly fighting for freedom, and that should include freedom to dissent without being called a traitor.

[316zombie]

i thought homecoming was excellent,but then,i am biased.i have lost 5 people to the current"war",and 3 others are maimed for life.and my best friend is a gulf war vet,he and i both lost friends in that"war" too.i honor the troops that are dealing with this situation in all ways,but i think the premise of the story is spot on! if those who died could come back,i'm betting they  would want to be able to vote  the war over! i know that there are many very bitter people in the military and out of it,who wonder why people are still dying for nothing...

[lester1/2jr]

316- word

indiana- your coments about hollywood's leftist and anti christian attitude are fair but I don't think "Homecoming" has much to do with those issues.  Christianity and even politics aren't really the issue.  the "horsehit and elbow grease" came from both sides of the aisle

[316zombie]

thanks lester,feel free to call me zombie,the number is kind of wierd,you know?then again,so is zombie