Masters of Horror (TV Series) Deer Woman (2005) User Reviews

Landis on his way back

[timhayes-1 · 7/10 · 2 April 2006]

After spending far too long making comedies, another genre for which he is well known, John Landis makes a bit of a comeback with this amusing entry in the popular Masters Of Horror series. Deer Woman is definitely a Landis horror flick. Much in the same way that An American Werewolf In London did almost 30 years ago, Deer Woman mixes a steady helping of humour in with its horror. Its kinda nifty to see a native American legend that perhaps was not the easy route to take make an appearance as the monster for this episode. It would have been much easier for the writer (Landis's son, Max) to just make it a werewolf or vampire. Brian Benben is hilarious as the cop who always seems to get the weird cases. He is put upon but still has his dignity. Fans will get a kick out of a reference to American Werewolf's key setpiece. While certainly not the scariest entry, Deer Woman makes for a fun one and a welcome return for Landis.

The humor makes up for the few scares

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 7/10 · 25 November 2006]

I was interested in this series from when I read about it being in its planning stages... since it didn't air on TV on a network available to me, I didn't get a chance to watch until just recently, where I discovered DVDs with singular episodes, as well as some special features for the episode. Not wanting to wind up with a bunch of episodes that I didn't like, I asked a friend of mine who has watched the series for recommendations. He named this and John Carpenter's effort, Cigarette Burns. In that this is the first episode that I've seen, I can't really draw any comparisons to the others... nor to Landis' earlier horror effort, An American Werewolf in London, as I've yet to find a copy of it. The plot is quite good, if not terribly deep. The mystery is slowly unraveled, if it is fairly simple. The pacing is very good... I was never bored while watching this. I was surprised to find few scares in this... there's gore enough, and several genuine "ick" moments(including a brief but unpleasant close-up of an autopsy in progress), but there's very little to jump at. The film makes up for this with humor... and lots of it. There's a smart-alecky sense of humor throughout, and almost every single laugh works. If you've liked any comedy effort by Landis, and you can take the black nature of many of the jokes, you'll definitely find this funny. Among the jokes is the running gag of the one police officer who irritates *everyone* around him to the point of them telling him to shut up. Brian Benben yet again displays his comedic talent(as he also did on the show named after him and on Dream On, where he also worked with Landis), and proves his depth as an actor. He carries the film perfectly. The actress portraying the title monster also does really well... with no lines of dialog, she uses facial expressions and gesturing to convey the emotions, and does so flawlessly. Also, she manages to shift between a sweetly-natured feminine character and a creature of pure evil from one moment to another. The effects are very well-done. The characters are well-written and interesting. Among them, the character of Dana, who seems to be mainly inspired by Abby Sciuto of NCIS(hey, it may not be original, but still). The cinematography shows signs of not being shot as a feature, theatrically-released project... it looks and feels somewhat "TV", and it works really well. For anyone bothered by such... this has a little female nudity, a bit of swearing in the dialog and, as mentioned earlier, some graphic stuff. All in all, this is just a funny film with a horror feel to it, a dark comedy with some gore and scares. I recommend this to any fan of John Landis, Brian Benben, horror and black humor. 7/10

I Laughed, I Cried, I Laughed Again

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 4 December 2006]

A trucker is killed in his semi by what appears to be a large deer, and a detective from the animal attacks division (Anthony Griffith) is left to investigate. Is the killer human, animal or something else?

I really enjoyed this movie a lot. After seeing the thirteen movies from the first season of "Masters of Horror", let me say this proudly: "Deer Woman" is one of my favorites. I enjoyed a few of the others quite a bit (particularly "Jenifer", "Incident" and "Dreams in the Witch House")... but this one ranks right up at the top.

John Landis gave us a movie that is more comedy than horror, but the kind of comedy a horror fan can appreciate. He even found a way to reference his classic "American Werewolf in London" (another bizarre animal attack). Way to go tying the mythology together, John.

The deer jokes and imagery were very nice. I live in Wisconsin and I have seen my fair share of deer, so you would think that deer would bore me. Usually they do. But Steve the Deer telling the wigwam joke? Classic. The attack of the Flannel Deerman? I nearly shot Diet Coke out my nose. The scene where Anthony Griffith's character is thinking up different scenarios to explain the murder is the highlight of the film, though the actress from these sequences needs an upper lip.

Dana the medical examiner (or whatever she was) was very sexy, with haunting eyes. More than Cynthia Moura, who is actually Brazilian and not Native American at all.

You have some mutilated bodies and blood, and a description of a mangled body part that left me hurting for a few minutes. Overall, the gore is minimal, though... but what it lacks in gore it makes up for with great writing. Don't let the cover or Indian mythology scare you off. I know Indian myths sound pretty stupid, but this time we got something a little better than "Pet Sematery".

The audio commentary features only Brian Benben and Anthony Griffith, so the bulk of the talking is about height differences and the film "Mandingo". The insight that John Landis or Max Landis could have provided is absent (though John does have interview segments on the DVD).

An Indian Deer Woman in America

[Coventry · 6/10 · 6 May 2006]

I'm quickly becoming a massive fan of the "Masters of Horror"-series, despite this only being the third episode that I've watched. What can I say? So far, they all delivered a good story, a fair amount of tension and plenty of gory situations and hence I see absolutely no reason to be negative about this TV-initiative...This installment was directed and co-written by John Landis; a filmmaker who already deserves to be called a "master" in the genre if it were only for that one immortal classic "An American Werewolf in London". Landis also directed the very adequate "Innocent Blood" and "Shlock", but those are lesser known movies and belong more in the cult section. "Deer Woman" is a very nifty variation on the premise of urban legends/campfire tales/mythological stories that turn out frighteningly real and revolves on a stunning Indian beauty who seduces random guys and then tramples them to death with her deer legs. It takes quite a few dead bodies before fatigue police detective Faraday and officer Reed unofficially discover that the murders are committed exactly like it's described in an ancient Native American myth. The characters in "Deer Woman" are likable and there seems to be a much deeper story behind each and every one of them. The 60 minutes screenplay also preserves more than enough time for humor, witty dialogues and a truly priceless reference to the aforementioned "American Werewolf". Brian Benben is very adequate in his role of tormented copper and the unknown Cinthia Moura (the deer woman herself) is magnificent eye-candy. She hasn't got any lines but her natural charisma and gorgeous smile definitely did the job. Recommended!

Every Legend Is Based on Facts

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 16 October 2007]

When the body of a truck driver is found trampled in his truck, the burnt-out detective Dwight Faraday (Brian Benben) is assigned for the bizarre case. He arrives to the crime scene in a parking area with Officer Jacob Reed (Anthony Griffith) and their investigation discloses that the victim had left a tavern with a gorgeous woman and apparently had been trampled by a heavy animal in the truck cabin. Later, two other bodies of men arrive in the morgue in the same conditions, and the coroner Dana (Sonja Bennett) notes that all of them had erection in the moment of death, and Dwight notes hooves in the body. Dana investigates further and finds deer footprints and hair in the corpses. When Dwight and Reed talks to an Indian descendant in a casino, they unravel a Pohancan legend about a deer woman, half woman but having deer hooves and trampling men after seducing them. Without any other lead, they begin to believe that every legend is based on facts.

"Deer Woman" is a good episode of "Masters of Horror", with a funny story mixing humor and horror but also a very disappointing conclusion. The Brazilian Cynthia Moura is extremely gorgeous, actually one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, but she has no lines along the whole story. Brian Benben has good performance in the role of a cynical detective that sees the chance to motivate his career again. There is a great homage to "An American Werewolf in London", with the reference to a mysterious murder case caused by a wolf in Piccadilly Circus in 1981. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Lenda Assassina" ("Assassin Legend")

X-files clone

[jdollak · 9 April 2006]

John Landis has a fair amount of comedy credits to his name; Blues Brothers, Animal House, Kentucky Fried Movie. But his horror credits are kind of limited, mostly the video for Thriller, and An American Werewolf In London. This sums up the way that this episode runs. Deer Woman deals with a cop and his new partner working on a case involving a few guys who have been killed in a very violent trampling manner. They eventually learn that it's a half deer-half woman creature, a Native American myth.

The entire movie runs exactly like an episode of The X-Files. Rather, any of the funny episodes of The X-Files. It's very fun, but it's not very horrific. I think there was one good jump scare, but it was mostly just a lot of good quips. Very little else to say about it.

En-deer-ing short and funny horror-movie

[c-corleis · 7/10 · 20 January 2007]

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.

Horror-comedy

[Bored_Dragon · 7/10 · 17 April 2018]

John Landis, known for his cult achievements from the '80s, such as "An American Werewolf in London", "The Blues Brothers", "Twilight Zone: The Movie", "Three Amigos!" and the video for "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, after 20 years, with episode "Deer Woman", returns to genre in which he is the best - a combination of horror and comedy. Not at all scary, but original, interesting and at times hilarious story of a being from Indian mythology, the beautiful girl with the legs and the power of big deer, who seduces men and then tramples them to death. The ending is bit lousy, but overall it's pretty much fun.

7/10

Horrific and hilarious, another excellent episode

[LoneWolfAndCub · 8/10 · 2 January 2007]

When I first heard that John Landis had directed this episode I didn't really know why because compared to the other directors, he isn't really a Master of HORROR. But then I remembered the classic horror/comedy An American Werewolf in London which has earned him this title. Deer Woman is much the same, a great blending of comedy and horror.

The plot focuses on a policeman (Brian Benben) who is investigating a series of bizarre murders where the victims are trampled to death. This leads him to believe that an Indian folklore might be true and a "Deer Woman" (Cinthia Moura) is seducing and killing men.

Brian Benben is hilarious as burned-out policemen Dwight Faraday. In one particularly amusing scene, he imagines all the possible ways of death by deer. If it weren't for his acting that scene would not have been as funny. Cinthia Moura is perfect as the Deer Woman, she didn't need to speak but her facial expressions and perfect body made the character.

John Landis' direction is pretty much perfect as he is suited to horror/comedies. Although there is more comic elements to the movie, there is a nice amount of horror in it and it is suitably gory and gross.

4/5.

Paint By Numbers, but a Good One

[anthonygiancola24 · 7/10 · 13 February 2021]

Deer Woman is the seventh episode of Masters of Horror, and is directed by John Landis, and written by his son Max Landis. John shares a cowriting credit because apparently Max refused to rewrite the ending and add a scene where the Deer Woman seduced a guy, so John did it anyways, which is pretty funny to me.

Can we talk for a minute about John Landis being included in this group of the "Masters of Horror" at all? I mean, I love An American Werewolf in London too, but other than that and a handful of others (a segment in Twilight Zone the Movie, Innocent Blood, and Burke and Hare) only one of which wasn't a horror comedy, how does he fit in this group? Most of the other directors either exclusively have made horror movies, or have only done other genres a handful of times. He just sticks out like a sore thumb, especially when sandwiched between Joe Dante and John Carpenter, two guys who actually are masters of the genre.

But I'm picking nits at this point, Deer Woman is a pretty straight forward monster movie. It's got all the hallmarks, a series of murders being investigated by a strung out detective, mistaking it for animal attacks, so on and so forth. This was Max Landis's first credit as a screenwriter, and it is a very by the numbers script. It's not bad, it's just very generic.

There are a couple of fun character moments that show some personality. The main detective gets a long monologue near the end of the film that is delivered wonderfully, and adds much needed personal connection to the character. I love the scene with old woman and her dog giving a witness statement, there's a dream sequence with a fake deer head that is so intentionally corny and awful that I can't help but love it, but for the most part, the story just plays the hits, and moves along.

The most unique element is, maybe obviously, the Deer Woman herself. Ascribed from Indigenous mythology, the Deer Woman is a half woman half deer siren who lures men to their death. She doesn't really have a motivation for doing so, but due to her half woman appearance, she is a more threatening monster than say a werewolf since she could feasibly go out and kill at any point.

(Oh and this character, which is supposed to be an Indigenous woman? Played by a Brazilian woman, thanks for playing!)

The problem is, and sing it with me if you know the words: she is the main female character and she has nothing to do. Damn, at this point it's comical at how few fully realized women have been in this series. I understand that the Deer Woman targets men, so having a lot of possible victims is good for the meat counter, but... I don't know then maybe shouldn't the character who takes her on be a woman? You know since she would be less likely to be targeted by the Deer Woman personally? I mean, there's the character of Dana who seems pretty interesting, but she's pretty much relegated to a couple of scenes where she just sort of exposits information.

What are the good things in this episode? Honestly none of it is really bad, and taken as a stand alone film, it's a fun way to spend an hour. It's all just very standard issue, and watching it in sequence with the rest of the episodes reduces the impact of the film on its own. I enjoyed watching it, even if I knew what was going to happen, sometimes even to the minute.

Masters of Horror: Deer Woman (2005)

[Was-it-All-a-Dream · 3/10 · 9 May 2009]

John Landis's skill for being able to mix horror and comedy is absolutely unmatched in the genre. 1981's An American Werewolf in London was a great macabre gallows humor, the kind which the Nightmare on Elm Street series frequently reached for and almost always failed at. 1992's Innocent Blood was full of hilarious visual gags and character mash-ups. With this kind of talent behind the camera, and with the formulaic and uninteresting stories most of the Masters of Horror entries had been delivering as the series first debuted on Showtime, Deer Woman was the "episode" I was dying to see the most. Especially since whoever was in charge of editing trailers for each of the entries was making them look like "Must See" events. Deer Woman probably had the best trailer of the series. With amusing caps on all their humorous conceits, but also making the title woman look mysterious and creepy, and looking like it had a lot of dark scenes. This one seemed to have "winner" written all over it. Then, I watched it. And I have to say- talk about disappointment.

Though this entry still keeps the levels of visual style and production quality very high, the writing and characterization are so shallow and bland, it was pitiful. It's not as boring as Landis's Season 2 entry, Family, but it's not nearly as well-written. Everything here is just a set up for an awful joke or one-liner. The characters are not funny or interesting. And many scenes are stretched out, in the hope of cashing in on the new "quirky humor" of any number of current TV shows. Sort of like the lost episode of Dream On. It even has a fantasy scene, like Dream On. And it's truly the only good sequence in the movie. A trucker and some random girl he met go into his truck in three separate scenarios, all ending with some kind of bizarre (and admittedly very funny) deer-related attack. The best of which being the one where of them are actually hurt in any way. She hears a noise from outside, they both look out the window to investigate, and scream in terror... as they see a deer blink its' eyes. The main character (the still stunning and drop-dead gorgeous Brian Benben) comments- "retarded." NO, John! That's funny!

Other routines that attempt to be funny and sink like the Titanic include: Benben questioning a bartender about the mysterious woman and asks him a question where he gets confused by the answer and makes the man say the "F" word (hugely shocking and outrageous in 2005 - I'm being sarcastic). A string of crime scene investigations where a bumbling detective starts a back and forth chain of insults (none of them the slightest bit clever). A drunk trucker who gets mad and shouts loud in a bar. A scene where a heart-broken pet owner whose cherished friend has been killed being verbally bashed and lashed out upon by a woman whose dog she thinks was traumatized by it (as a pet owner myself, animal cruelty and death is never funny- ever! ...expect maybe in 1989's UHF). At least two scenes where the title woman goes topless (why not get a cheap shot in?). And completely inexplicable and head-scratching moment where Benben's character is stopped by a stranger (played by another gorgeously schlubby actor, Andy Thompson) who insists they know each other from somewhere.

Apparently, John Landis has just been away from the horror genre for so long that he's very rusty. And none of the horror projects he's tried so far this decade have done anything to restore his good name. Deer Woman takes an interesting myth and some good mystery story ties and wastes them on lead-ups to crime scenes with one-foot-hopping detectives and morgue discussions about severed penises. Why does the monster do that? Why is the monster stalking and killing the men? Even if the comedy was dumb, I liked the concept. It could have been a much better piece if they had at least given some kind of creepy clues as to why a succubus creature is luring men away (one of them the smoking-hot Steve Archer as a business man, keep an eye out for him!). All Landis seems to have is some kind of "God works in mysterious ways" mumbo-jumbo. A native-American character later on says, "why does everything always have to have a Why with you people?" Why do I want to know? Because I have to have something to distract me from the terrible humor. Anything at all would be preferable.

There are so many things that could have been done to capitalize on the intrigue and mystery of this old folklore legend. Even some of the dialogue lends itself to making this mystery terrifying and dark. But Landis only seems to see the sexual motivation or result of the situation and focuses in on that. Since if you're completely immature, you could sit around for hours and come up with a ton of jokes about genital mutilation and women messing around with animals. It seems like John's son, Max Landis, did exactly that. The Masters of Horror just do not have the best track record with mysterious women. Argento's Jenifer (who was never really a mystery) was great. And I'm starting to get the impression that Mick Garris and John Landis got the idea to do their entries based on what they thought Argento would focus on. Sure, all the women show their tits. But Jenifer was the only one who did something with her animalistic sexuality. Deer Woman just flashes and runs back into the forest. I'm not really into watching women flash... but if I were, wouldn't I want a better storyline and jokes to warrant the tease?

Very entertaining, very John Landis like.

[TOMNEL · 8/10 · 28 December 2006]

It seems as though, after a period of doing comedies, John Landis loves to do horror also. In 1981, he did "An American Werewolf in London", in 1992 he did "Innocent Blood" and now he's taking on the deer woman. The main thing that struck me about this Masters of Horror episode is it's sense of humor. Where the other episodes up to this one were quite serious, this one had a great sense of humor, which John Landis seems to have in all of his films. The next thing that struck me as good was the disturbing gore. There wasn't a lot of special effects with the gore, just disturbing cutting in to human skin type stuff. The final great thing about this was the acting was great. Everyone did a top notch job. My only problem, which also seems to always be Landis's problem, is the ending. The ending to this was one I did not care for. John Landis has always had a problem writing endings though. I found this episode about a native American deer woman that kills men to be the most entertaining of the episodes.

My rating: *** out of ****. 56 mins. Not rated, contains violence and language.

gorgeous deer woman!

[donaldricco · 7/10 · 20 March 2021]

It's campy and sort of lame, but I was entertained, and that's all I could ask for! Made me laugh a few times too! And the lead actress is just drop dead gorgeous! Stunningly so! Fun aside, Landis references at least two of his other films - "An American Werewolf in London" and also "The Blues Brothers", specifically Murph and the Magic Tones!

Trample Us To Death, Sexy Deer Woman!

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 5/10 · 3 February 2009]

John Landis, famed director of "An American Werewolf In London" (1981) delivers more satirical Horror about animal-people with his first entry to the "Masters Of Horror" series. Only that this time, it is not Werewolf but a Native American Deer-Woman who terrorizes the area. A run-down homicide detective (Brian Benben) believes that the person behind a mysterious murder-series is none other than a figure from Native American mythology: A deer-like creature in form of a beautiful woman. "Deer Woman" is witty, highly entertaining and doubtlessly the sexiest episode in the series, but even though I liked it a lot I cannot give it a higher rating than 6/10, simply because I like my Horror to be scary, which this simply isn't. This is not to say that this isn't a must-see for my fellow fans of the series though. "Deer Woman" has a nice atmosphere, an original screenplay which funnily references Landis' earlier work, "The Blues Brothers" (1980) and "An American Werewolf In London" (1981). Brian Benben and Anthony Griffith are also good in their roles of the investigating police. The most convincing quality of "Deer Woman" however, is the eponymous lady herself - the sexy Deer Woman played by the stunningly beautiful Cinthia Moura. The female cast members of MoH episodes generally tend to be hot, but this lady easily outshines all others. Moura is incredibly sexy and also very good in her role of the "Deer Woman". Sadly enough, this Brazilian beauty has not yet starred in anything else, but I sure hope that this will change.

Enjoyable character-driven light -weight horror story

[zzupdown · 7/10 · 4 September 2006]

This was an enjoyable, character-driven thriller. The comparison to "X-Files" is appropriate, but it succeeds where "X-Files" failed for me. As a big science fiction and horror fan, I really wanted "X-Files" to work, but it lost me pretty quickly; I felt that "X-Files" was poorly written, the conclusions mostly unsatisfactory, and the protagonists not overly likable or competent. "The Deer Woman" does work. The protagonists are likable. The story is light-weight but progresses along smoothly. The gore is mostly off-screen. My only problems are that the motivation of the title character is unclear, she never speaks, and the ending is a little ambiguous; overall, though, "Deer Woman" kept my interest. It was an agreeable way to spend an hour, and I look forward to viewing other episodes of this series.

Stylish,Witty and very Funny......... 9 out of 10

[MarCed-00 · 12 February 2006]

..........Alot of people didn't respond well to the Master's of Horror Series, but i don't know why ,i thought it was Great,Great Actors ,Great Directors,Great Old School Horror mixed with a little comedy,some time's a little political and a bit much UN-needed boring sex scenes at time's but that is the only flaw i can think of, a part from Chocolate, i really hated that story,but 1 bad seed out of 12 is pretty good,There were some genuine good episodes like Cigarette Burn's,Homecomming,Incident on and off a Mountain Road and this one by Blue's Brother's and Trading Place's Director John Landis has a pretty familiar story ,The main character is that down and out cop that made a mistake involving his partner and gave up on street work by staying behind his desk avoiding social contact,misunderstood by the rest off the squad.

Until one day he receives a strange call that about a bizarre case, he arrives at the scene with a a friendly black cop he's slowly building a social relationship with,only to find that the case appear's to be more than first Expected,then soon after some pi**ed off cop show's up and throw's him off the case,but he feel's this could be the case that could give him some closure a bring him back to street duty ,so he continues to investigate without authority along with his new friendly cop friend,resulting in some weird twisted Consequences for all involved.

I know that sound's really cliché but Landis make's a great tale out of a familiar story giving it his own twist of suspense and humour,although it couldn't be considered a horror tale it's a really interesting story well acted by a pretty good cast,i wont give to much away but the dialogue is top notch and it build's up to a great climax,one part that stood out in my mind after word's beside's the chase,was the part where the main character is lying in bed thinking of way's that the bizarre case he's involved in happened,believe me you'll understand when you see it ,which by the way i would Recommend and i would recommend the rest of the series as well to Old School Horror Fan's.

Not the best of the lot, but good

[KillerCadugen · 7/10 · 30 June 2006]

Deer Woman takes a Native American legend (an actual legend, as it turns out) and gives it some tongue-in-cheek treatment. In the movie, a Native American spirit - part woman, part deer - comes out of the wilderness and begins seducing locals - first a trucker, then a business traveler, a pawnshop owner, and a cop. After seducing the men, the Deer Woman basically tramples them to death. Pretty gory, too. Now, the premise is right on the verge of being too ridiculous for a movie and the humor is a little flat, but the movie itself is a pretty enjoyable piece of horror. Not the best of the Masters of Horror series (so far, my vote for that goes to Don Coscarelli's Incident On and Off A Mountain Road and John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns), but pretty good nevertheless.

"deer woman" - not too bad

[janetplanets · 6/10 · 18 May 2009]

"Deer Woman" was okay. I was pleasantly surprised. That especially so after having seen the horrendous "Imprint" right before it. Model Cynthia Moura did a good job as the mysterious Indian deer woman who has hoofs. The director John Landis ("Twilight Zone movie", "American Werewolf in London") makes the most of the subject, by turns making a spoof and also giving us some genuine scares.

This is probably one of the slightly better ones to be expected in the series. The only thing that bothered me quite a bit was the storyline kept going in circles when we knew all along that she was the killer. It was very predictable in that regard. It was also the first episode that was shot in the series back in 2007. This is one of the ones from Masters of Horror that should at least be checked out if you are into the series. 6/10.

don't take it seriously

[trashgang · 7/10 · 17 June 2013]

If you take Deer Woman seriously then you will have some problems with it but if you just watch it with a kind of humour then you will love this. The reason is simple, the killer, in fact a deer woman can't exist and secondly John Landis, the director, added some funny dreams in it when Detective Dwight Faraday (Brian Benben) is thinking in his mind what could have happened with the trucker. It surely had some funny situations but not only that, when Faraday is explaining everything to his boss he even refers to something that happened in London in 1981 with a wolf thing, guess what that was about, An American Werewolf In London (1981) made by Landis.

Never been really nasty or gory it still works due the myth about the deer woman (Cinthia Moura) killing innocent men. Cinthia does not speak in this flick, in fact it was her only on-screen appearance once ranked #68 on the 2006 edition of Maxim's Hot 1. And she shows why revealing her juggs a few time in close-up.

A funny episode that works on all parts.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 1/5

An excellent Comedy /Horror Movie In The MOH Series

[loveablejohn-46629 · 10/10 · 15 March 2019]

First off this movie was based on an actual Native American legend and the movie did a great job of bringing it to life plus it kept switching back and forth between comedy to horror plus there was some nudity also which made it entertaining to watch . It had a well written script along with outstanding special effects. The actors did a great job in their roles and the cinematography was superb. Also on the DVD that I watched had a commentary track which I didn't like as it had two of the actors in the movie on it as I prefer to have the director doing the commentary. But there were also interviews with the director and the cast along with a photo gallery and behind the scenes featurette which are worth watching.

Masters Of Horror: Deer Woman (TV) (John Landis, 2005) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 14 January 2009]

This is easily one of the best MOH entries I've watched thus far, and definitely the most entertaining. I missed out on Landis' second horror outing – INNOCENT BLOOD (1992) – so I was relieved to note that he has lost none of his talent in this field (to say nothing of his uncanny ability to mix chills and gore with broad humor) in the years since AN American WEREWOLF IN London (1981); by the way, there's a brilliantly funny reference to that landmark film here. As can be guessed from the title, what we have in this episode is a half-woman half-deer who seduces and then brutally murders her prey (actually reminiscent of "Carpathian Eagle", one of the more successful entries in the HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR [1980] TV series). Of course, nobody at first can make the connection between the presence of both a sensual native American girl (one minor gripe I have with this is the fact that everybody seems to fall for her obvious charms without once questioning her inability to speak, unless we're to believe the victims are all lechers) and a deer-apparently-gone-berserk at the scene of each crime!; the single funniest sequence is the hero having multiple (and wildly divergent) visions of the first murder – culminating in a bit where a deer, clothed and walking upright, makes off with a girl into the woods! Running hand in hand with the investigation is his story – a disgraced cop forced to deal with cases of animal aggression slowly regaining his integrity and faith in the job. Ironically, since he'd been demoted after having accidentally shot his own partner, it's only after his new assistant succumbs himself to the titular creature that he's able to bring her to book. Wisely, Landis leaves his comic baggage behind for the intense (if somewhat abrupt) finale – though coming in again at the very end as the hero realizes that he won't be able to satisfactorily explain the mystery to his superiors, so that it's back to 'harmless' animals for him from there on in

This is horror how? Where's the gore?

[puddytay · 1/10 · 22 August 2006]

The first 15 minutes were pretty cool, but then the next 20 minutes were deadly boring. I thought too many characters brought the pacing down. There was no need for the other 2 cops. There was no need for a back story about Dwight Faraday. I would have found it more interesting had the character been dating the girl in morgue. This episode could have been awesome had it not been so packed for time. I think another 20 minutes, and a couple of sex scenes would have made this a keeper. Why not show more of the Deer Woman, and what she does to her victims? Why not show a sex scene? We already know it's a Deer Woman because of the title. Out of the 8 or so episodes I've watched I'd consider it the worst. Hopefully they release a full length version in the future. Actually I doubt that would even help it.

Landis' sense of humor is 'Deer Woman''s secret weapon

[Jonny_Numb · 8/10 · 28 June 2006]

Of the "Masters of Horror" episodes released on DVD thus far, John Landis' 'Deer Woman' is by far the best (putting the incredibly overrated 'Cigarette Burns' to shame), and not due to the scare factor (of which there is next to none). No, 'Deer Woman' succeeds because of its relentless--often knee-slapping--brand of smart-ass humor. As this is an element that has been lacking in the episodes previously released to DVD, Landis infuses this ridiculous tale (about a Native American woman who transforms into the murderous title creature after seducing hapless males) with all the jokes and jabs it can contain without bursting under the pressure. The very funny Brian Benben plays a disgraced cop now taking calls for 'animal accidents,' when several corpses stomped into hamburger cross his radar; all leads wind up dead ends (and are encapsulated in a side-splitting 'what if?'-montage), until an Indian casino employee unspools the myth of the Deer Woman. Like I said before--anyone looking for horror (in spite of a decent ration of gore) will be disappointed; those seeking a fast-paced comic romp with mild horror overtones will be ecstatic.

7.5 out of 10

killer legend

[Fernando-Rodrigues · 4/10 · 21 November 2020]

Here we are.. the point of no return. the series quality went down water. weak CGI, bad edition, and cartoonish acting (especially the deer woman, ugh). the ending lacks sense: the deer woman just vanishes. WHAT?? WHAT HAPPENED??

Kudos to John Landis for "Deer Woman"

[ahmednawaz · 10/10 · 10 February 2007]

One of the best, by far, out of both seasons of the "Masters of Horror" series. It gains points for low-key and on-point direction of the actors, a storyline that neither patronizes nor overestimates the average viewer of the series, and most of all- sheer originality. Brian Benben, for example, is vastly enjoyable in his role of a cop out to arrest a mythic, folkloric beast guilty of several murders. In addition to this, the storyline is easy to follow (once you agree with Benben's character- and he will persuade you to do so- that is time to suspend disbelief), and yet it will keep you hanging to the edge of your seat. And finally, it is wonderful to see a skilled director such as Landis (paired with his son for the writing of this story), insert a bit of humor and quirkiness into a series much too full of villains that have just been done to death (no pun intended): demons, succubi, evil clowns, zombies, aliens, etc.