Customer Reviews

Masters of Horror: Fair Haired Child

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wow is about all I can say, because this movie is so good it left me speechless. I watch LOTS of horror movies, read horror books, research hauntings, and even read horror comics. It takes a lot to impress me because 99 times out of 100, I've seen it before. The Fair Haired Child blew my socks off.

Not only is this movie artfully crafted and skillfully directed, the special effects are killer. Some scenes I immediately watched again, just to catch every second of the chilling graphics. The storyline is demented, twisted, and oh so evil. The acting also doesn't disappoint in the least (who doesn't love Lori Petty?) The monster of the film is grotesque and Lovecraftian. Everything here is perfection. Normally with a running time of just under an hour -in this case, 55 minutes- you might feel cheated. However, in this case, everything about the movie is so spot on you don't mind the short time. Besides, the short time means you can watch it again right away, which is what I did.

I can't recommend this movie enough. It is trite and childish to say this deserves 8 out of 5 stars, but it does. If you are a horror fan at all, please, treat yourself to a viewing of this film. You will NOT be disappointed.

Highest possible recommendations to all horror movie buffs!!!!

I'm not quite sure that "House on Haunted Hill" and "FeardotCom" qualified William Malone to be called a Master of Horror in the Showtime anthology series--but we'll have that debate later. Considering the uneven quality of many of the episodes, the real surprise is that Malone surpasses many of the more acclaimed directors. "The Fair-Haired Child" is definitely a solid, if not great, episode in the infuriatingly inconsistent "Masters of Horror." In fact, "Child" (considering his resume) might be Malone's most effective work yet.

The tale begins with the abduction of a young girl. Trapped by a couple, led by a gloriously deranged Lori Petty, she is locked in their basement with another child. Forming a tentative friendship with the mute boy, she eventually learns that they will be involved in some sort of ritual to bring the couple's deceased child back to life. Let's just say that they made a pact with the devil that involves child sacrifice and a rather unpleasant beastie.

The mood and atmosphere of "Child" are genuinely creepy, the performances good, and the effects are nice. The spooky ambiance and brisk pace distinguish this tale from some of the others. This certainly isn't a groundbreaking work, though. You've seen elements of this story in many other films. However, it is put together with confidence and competence. I enjoyed "The Fair-Haired Child," and would rate it at 3 1/2 star if possible. Not the best the show had to offer--but far, far, far from the worst. KGHarris, 12/06.

I guess I bought this movie because I thought the picture on the cover looked cool. I know..... "don't judge a book by it's cover" well, that certainly applies to this movie.
I'm always looking for a new horror flick that will scare the heck out of me and I can just keep looking. I guess the story line isn't too bad, but the acting......really,really bad ! The actors/actresses seem decent enough, maybe they were rushed through the scenes or something ??
There are some good parts, although they seem to have slipped my mind at the moment. Did I mention the bad acting? Actually, the young girl and boy(who were in the basement) did fine, well..OK. It was the mother and father that needed acting lessons, or maybe the director needed directing lessons(?) This really took away from the plot and any chance of it being scary.

Very good, scary and thrilling.. I was surprised at what they were able to do with such little time. You'll enjoy this one.

This has turned out to be my favourite "Masters of Horror" episode. Compared to names like John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and Dario Argento, I was all "who's William Malone?" He did "House on Haunted Hill"? "Feardotcom"? Bah! Neither impressed me. How can Malone be a "Master of Horror"? And then he wowed me with this episode. It's demented, gripping and I'm drawn in completely to this story. I loved its twisted happy ending!

The originality of the special effects make this episode worth the price of the DVD. Director Bill Malone uses a camera running at quarter speed to create the illusion of the cellar creature moving jerkily like a fly. This is a great innovation which does not depend on a lot of fancy (and expensive) digital effects. Also, the face-squashing scene near the end of the film (which only lasts a few seconds and uses only three or four frames of digital effects) is brilliant in it's simplicity and shock value. Whereas the beheading scene of a female victim in another epsode proved to be nauseous in it's realism, Bill's digital morph from face to chicken breast implanted with an eye doesn't cause the viewer to toss his/her cookies... and is a lot more fun because it happens so quickly and also because it's... just so weird! Great scene, Bill!

Distraught father Anton and mother Judith (played by Lori Petty of Tank Girl fame) try to resurrect their dead son by sacrificing a young girl to a demon.

The film opens with young Tara being teased in school, riding her bike home, then getting kidnapped by a man in a van. I could only imagine the fears this scene would conjure up in any parent. After Tara wakes up, she tries to call her mom for help explaining that she has been drugged, kidnapped, and hospitalized in another state to which her mom casually replies, "Can I call you back later?" Malone directs a surprisingly restrained tale of suffering considering his previous outings included, which was oddly gratuitous and devoid of meaning. Fair-Haired Child is a touching story of a mother so heartbroken she is pushed to desperate lengths, a rebellious teen that betrays the ones that love him, and a kidnapped girl that no one notices is missing. The story is a simple one with a nice twist ending and pleasantly reminded me of the old Twilight Zone series.

The mood and atmosphere are great with many scenes set to classical music. There are black & white scenes that represent the dark doings of the parents and the little blonde girl looking up from the bloody bathtub through the hole in the basement looks like a lost Alice after falling through the rabbit hole.

On a side note, I thought it a curious gesture to add Malone to the list of "Masters of Horror". He did a few low budget creature flicks, followed by the good House on Haunted Hill remake, which was followed by the very bad. I think this TV episode is one of the highlights of his resume now. Another interesting thing I noticed is that while many of the directors chose to push the limits in their episodes, this one seemed tame in comparison and yet was still quite good. Unfortunately, it did not get much attention, as it was not controversial like many of the others.

The 55 minute TV show is presented with a 1.77:1 ratio aspect, Dolby Digital 5.1, and Surround Sound 2.0. The creature looked awesome with the stand out image being the aftermath of Tara after confronting the Fair-Haired Child.

Favorite Quote: Anton, "Nietzsche said anything done out of love is beyond good and evil. We're not evil. I still love you Judith." DVD Extras: Interviews with Director & Cast, Commentary, Behind-the-Scenes, Trailers, Stills, Malone's Bio, and the Screenplay on DVD-ROM.

Bottom Line: Good tale rooted in family values and the price of love. Minimal gore and scares, but well told and acted nonetheless.

Rating: 7/10

by Molly Celaschi

Artistic and creative the master of horror series is incredible.It is a modern Tales from the crypt Great Job Anchor Bay..........

This is by far the best movie of the Masters of Horror series. I've see a lot of horror movies and I really love the theme. This movie was built op really great, the cast did really good and the story is good as well.

Highly recommended short movie for horror movie fans.

I received this movie on time as promised. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but was fun to watch. Guess I was looking for
some scary movies without the sex and blood. Hard to find these days.