The Series "Masters of Horror" was not aired in Germany yet, but i found the "Deer Woman"-DVD (already dubbed into German) at www.amazon.de and the story seems weird and interesting (beside, the Deer is my animal totem :-), and after all the werewolf, vampire and zombie-movies that was made in the last 80 years, it was something new: A kind of were-deer...?
Okay, the (under normal conditions) shy and gentle deer is not really suitable for becoming a movie-monster, but Landis movie based on an old native American legend. So the story-core of "Deer Woman" was not his own idea. The best point is, that John Landis did not try to made the film too serious, it was in different reviews compared with his "American Werewolf in London" (wich was referenced in "Deer Woman" too), and this is true. It contains a kind of humor of it's own, bizarre dialogs and ideas. The story flows straight forward in the typical plot of a "X-Files" episode. The only disadvantages are in my opinion the weak ending (there is not really a showdown, and we never find out why the Deer Woman kill all the man) and that we not get more info about the Deer Woman and the Deer Woman legend. Searching on the WWW shows, that the version used by John Landis is only one version. Other versions of the legend depicts the Deer Woman not as a killer, but very dangerous for man too: In these stories, a beautiful young woman meets a young man and entrances him into a sexual relationship. The woman is so beautiful that the young man is often swayed by her beauty away from family, home, community. If the young man is so entranced as to not notice the young woman's feet (hooves) then he falls under her spell and stays with her forever, wasting away into depression, despair, prostitution, and ultimately, death.
All in all, a well made short movie, not groundbreaking or spectacular, but a fair 7/10.
Okay, the (under normal conditions) shy and gentle deer is not really suitable for becoming a movie-monster, but Landis movie based on an old native American legend. So the story-core of "Deer Woman" was not his own idea. The best point is, that John Landis did not try to made the film too serious, it was in different reviews compared with his "American Werewolf in London" (wich was referenced in "Deer Woman" too), and this is true. It contains a kind of humor of it's own, bizarre dialogs and ideas. The story flows straight forward in the typical plot of a "X-Files" episode. The only disadvantages are in my opinion the weak ending (there is not really a showdown, and we never find out why the Deer Woman kill all the man) and that we not get more info about the Deer Woman and the Deer Woman legend. Searching on the WWW shows, that the version used by John Landis is only one version. Other versions of the legend depicts the Deer Woman not as a killer, but very dangerous for man too: In these stories, a beautiful young woman meets a young man and entrances him into a sexual relationship. The woman is so beautiful that the young man is often swayed by her beauty away from family, home, community. If the young man is so entranced as to not notice the young woman's feet (hooves) then he falls under her spell and stays with her forever, wasting away into depression, despair, prostitution, and ultimately, death.
All in all, a well made short movie, not groundbreaking or spectacular, but a fair 7/10.