Masters of Horror: The Washingtonians starts as Mike (co-writer Jonathon Schaech) & Pam Franks (Venus Terzo) along with their 10 year old daughter Amy (Julia Tortolano) drive to the house left to Frank by his recently deceased Grandmother, once there they start to explore their new home. Amy decides to look in the basement & discovers a large painting of George Washington the founder of the United States, upon closer inspection Mike finds a letter & a fork made of bone behind a tear in the canvas. The letter talks of Washington engaging in cannibalistic activities, Mike realises that if the letter turns out to be genuine then it could rewrite American history but so do a group of loons called Washingtonians who will do anything to get the letter back...
This Canadian American co-production was episode 12 from season 2 of the generally hit-and-miss Masters of Horror TV series, directed by Peter Medak I actually thought The Washingtonians was a definite hit & I rather liked this darkly comic story despite it's largely negative reviews. The tongue-in-cheek script by Richard Chizmar & star Jonathon Schaech was based on a short story of the same name by Bentley Little & has a cool twisted central premise, the thought of George Washington being a cannibal & there being people who call themselves Washingtonians who still carry on the tradition is an interesting & perverse idea that I thought made for a very watchable & entertaining 60 odd minutes. However it's far from perfect, the tight time scale means it feels a bit rushed no more so than the frustrating ending because the episode was going really well as far as I was concerned & then all of a sudden everything just seemed to end abruptly without a satisfactory conclusion which is the only real criticism I have with The Washingtonians & I deify anyone to say The Washingtonians is a worse Masters of Horror episode than The Screwfly Solution with a straight face.
Director Medak is yet another strange choice to direct a so-called Masters of Horror episode, apart from The Changeling (1981), a Tales from the Crypt episode called The New Arrival (1992) & Species II (1998) he hasn't exactly been prolific within the horror genre has he? He does fine here, there's not many scares but at least he keeps things moving & there's a nice atmosphere to this one especially the cool juxtaposition at the end when amidst all the splendour & opulence of The Washingtonians posh surroundings they indulge in very vulgar acts of cannibalism. As usual there's some top gore, there's a decapitation at the start & the expected various cannibal scenes including someone eating chunks of flesh from a severed foot, a huge tray with a chopped up body on it, there's intestine eating & plenty of blood splashed around.
Techncially these Masters of Horror episodes are very well made & don't look like the cheap made-for-TV show's that they are in reality. The special effects are excellent as always & it has high production values. The acting was alright but the 10 year girl annoyed like a lot of child actors do.
The Washingtonians seems to have a bad reputation which frankly I couldn't give a toss about because I liked it & that's all that matters to me & it's as simple & straight forward as that, I reckon it's well worth an hour of your life.
This Canadian American co-production was episode 12 from season 2 of the generally hit-and-miss Masters of Horror TV series, directed by Peter Medak I actually thought The Washingtonians was a definite hit & I rather liked this darkly comic story despite it's largely negative reviews. The tongue-in-cheek script by Richard Chizmar & star Jonathon Schaech was based on a short story of the same name by Bentley Little & has a cool twisted central premise, the thought of George Washington being a cannibal & there being people who call themselves Washingtonians who still carry on the tradition is an interesting & perverse idea that I thought made for a very watchable & entertaining 60 odd minutes. However it's far from perfect, the tight time scale means it feels a bit rushed no more so than the frustrating ending because the episode was going really well as far as I was concerned & then all of a sudden everything just seemed to end abruptly without a satisfactory conclusion which is the only real criticism I have with The Washingtonians & I deify anyone to say The Washingtonians is a worse Masters of Horror episode than The Screwfly Solution with a straight face.
Director Medak is yet another strange choice to direct a so-called Masters of Horror episode, apart from The Changeling (1981), a Tales from the Crypt episode called The New Arrival (1992) & Species II (1998) he hasn't exactly been prolific within the horror genre has he? He does fine here, there's not many scares but at least he keeps things moving & there's a nice atmosphere to this one especially the cool juxtaposition at the end when amidst all the splendour & opulence of The Washingtonians posh surroundings they indulge in very vulgar acts of cannibalism. As usual there's some top gore, there's a decapitation at the start & the expected various cannibal scenes including someone eating chunks of flesh from a severed foot, a huge tray with a chopped up body on it, there's intestine eating & plenty of blood splashed around.
Techncially these Masters of Horror episodes are very well made & don't look like the cheap made-for-TV show's that they are in reality. The special effects are excellent as always & it has high production values. The acting was alright but the 10 year girl annoyed like a lot of child actors do.
The Washingtonians seems to have a bad reputation which frankly I couldn't give a toss about because I liked it & that's all that matters to me & it's as simple & straight forward as that, I reckon it's well worth an hour of your life.