I had no prior knowledge of what the last episode of Masters of Horror to hit DVD would be about. I don’t have Showtime, so the only time I ever got to see these films was on DVD thanks to my friends at Anchor Bay Entertainment. When I sat down to watch The “V'” Word, throughout most of the film I had no clue what the “V word” was, until I got halfway though the film and figured it out.
The “V” Word is about two young guys whom are very big into playing the video game Doom. There pretty much your typical game nerds who spend hours in their rooms playing video games for days on end. However one of them has a cousin who works in a funeral home. They got wind that a guy they knew from school died and that his body is in the morgue at the funeral home and that they can go down and see the body. They agree to go and check the body out, however when they get there they find that no one is there to greet them. They decide to leave but realize they got locked in. They both look for an exit to the place, and weird things begin to happen. As they approach an exit they found in a dark room, they soon realize they are not alone and that one of the bodies in the room is not so dead after all. What transpires from there is a plot twist in the film that will change the lives of the two boys. I can’t go any further with the synopsis or I would be giving away the whole story.
The script for this episode written by Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris is not half bad, however the film is more story driven than it is character driven and I while I found myself interested in the story I didn’t care at all for any of the characters which I felt to be very underdeveloped. I also was not a big fan of the dialogue used in this episode as well.
The directing and acting pretty much both went hand in hand, while I didn’t think either were anything special, both director Ernest R. Dickerson and his cast which included Arjay Smith, Branden Nadon, and Michael Ironside seemed to have pulled off the job well, however I why I think they did a decent job with the script and jobs that were handed to them, I didn’t see anything in the performances that would make them memorable to horror fans.
The production value for this Episode of Masters of Horror was actually pretty good. I particularly loved the way the funeral home was lit and dressed. It had that gloomy feeling everyone gets when they enter a funeral home, but the way the set designers dressed gave off that feeling that the eyes of the dead were always on whomever entered the place. The CGI and make-up effects were not half bad either. While I really thought the whole CGI element added some good gore to the scenes in the film, I also liked the use of what appears to be morticians make-up added in to the likes of an undead body when it came to Michael Ironsides make-up. It did in a sense give his role more character.
Overall, I thought this was one of the weaker episodes I’ve seen in the series. While it’s plot was enjoyable I felt it lacked in certain area that would of made it a memorable episode. It’s very story driven, but the character were to underdeveloped for my liking. However it was a great spin on the whole “V” thing, and you’ll understand what the “V” stands for when you see the film to understand where I’m coming from on this. I’d say it’s only worth renting if you can look past some of the filmmaking elements and are able to concentrate on the story over the characters.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
