In the ashes of Masters of Horror rises a new horror series now produced for prime time television on NBC. Fear Itself’s first episode
simply titled THE SACRIFICE is directed by former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s son, Breck Eisner whom is rumored to helm the remake of Creature of the Black Lagoon and the George Romero cult film The Crazies. The screenplay was written by Mick Garris based on the short story by Del Howison.
THE SACRIFICE is about a group of criminals whom are driving a truck though the back roads of a snow ridden country. One of them is not feeling so good, and the group is traveling to find him help, while trying to conceal their crime. However as they are traveling in the truck they hear a bang and the truck breaks down. Stuck in the middle of nowhere the men brave the weather and come to a small village in the middle of nowhere where they meet two women. However things start to turn soar when they find out that the two women are hiding a secret, and that secret might be the end for the men, when they find out that the women are trying to please a vampire like creature by feeding him people who just so happen to come across their little village in the middle of nowhere.
Being that this episode is airing on NBC and not on Showtime, there is a lack in the amount of gore that is allowed, even though the show is being aired at ten o’clock at night here on the east coast. While the episode does lack in it’s graphic content there is still some pretty decent effects and even the vampire in this episode did look very creepy and had a very menacing look. There was a few scenes that involved some blood and hacking with an ax, but most of the really violent content took place off screen. So while you shouldn’t expect gore and blood on a primetime show, you will still get the feel of what’s going on as it seems the less is more routine is in effect for not just this episode but for the rest of the series.
THE SACRIFICE was an alright episode, nothing too great, but it was not half bad either. It was a decent story and the script, while it had some issues with the telling of the story and lacked in character development, as a viewer you still were able to get the jist as to what was going on. Pretty much we really don’t really know what’s going on up until the very end when the story comes together. So it might come off a bit underdeveloped and confusing until the episode reaches it’s climax.
The overall production values is actually pretty good, and the acting was not half bad either. Probably the most recognizable actor in this episode is Rachel Miner who was recently in a slew of genre films such as the After Dark films Tooth & Nail and Penny Dreadful. Probably the best thing this episode has to offer is its set design and great location which really establishes this very harsh, yet creepy environment, and gives the viewer a sense of uneasiness.
Overall, THE SACRIFICE is not a bad first effort to kick off the series with, but it was nothing special either. I just hope that it’s not the strongest episode the series has to offer. It was fun to watch and it did keep my interest, however I felt the story lacked in certain areas. As I mentioned above this episode did have very good production value and that’s al lone can ever hope for when it comes to a television series. In the past, horror television series never really had great production value, with maybe the exception of a few Master of Horror episodes. So hopefully with a bit of luck, all the rest of the episodes of FEAR ITSELF will have just as good of production value as THE SACRIFICE.
FEAR ITSELF airs Thursday night at 10:00 Eastern time on NBC. It’s about time horror came back to prime time and even if your not a fan of what you see on one night, does not mean the next episode will be bad. So keep watching, so we can keep a horror series alive during prime time televsion.
– Horror Bob
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- 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
