AMERICAN HORROR STORIES (2021) – A pale shadow of the original AHS series
Rating: ⭐⭐

I am not sure whose great idea it was to come up with this anthology series which rides on the success of the original AHS (American Horror Story) that has so far churned out 9 seasons and counting with its latest Season 10 about to premiere at the end of August. American Horror Stories sounds like a great idea on paper that would satisfy the blood thirsty fans with stand-alone tales of horror in the veins of AHS, each week. However, sadly as the series progressed it became clear that this series would not be able to emulate the unique AHS stamp.
The series starts off with a two-parter story that takes place in the often revisited Murder House which is haunted and traps whoever dies inside the house to exist as ghosts in the house forever. While the settings of the plot is familiar with the inclusion of the amorous and killer, Rubber Man, the episodes came across as being too much of a campy version of AHS and hence, could not be taken seriously. Even the sex and gore came across looking like a tame version for what we are used to. The only saving grace for this pilot episode for me was the inclusion of Paris Jackson (daughter of Michael Jackson) in a supporting role as a deceivingly bitchy teenager. This is the first time I have seen her perform and I think she really has potential and screen presence.
As the series progressed further, the episodes were pretty uneven, with themes ranging from something a bit retro (Drive in) to witchcraft (Ba’al) to haunted forests (Feral) and downright silly and annoying (The Naughty List). I have to admit that I did enjoy Ba’al, and Drive-In, but Feral had an abrupt and poor ending while The Naughty List was just simply dreadful. The worst was yet to come in the form of its final 7th episode Game Over, which sort of provided some sort of closure to yet again the Murder House story. That episode was really the pits as its story was simply illogical and made no sense at all. To make matters worst, the acting was all uninspiring making everyone come across as one-dimensional. Unfortunately even returning AHS alumni cast members such as Matt Bomer, Dylan McDermott, and Billy Lourd could not save the series from its mediocracy. The bigger names like Sarah Paulson, Katie Bates and Evan Peters were thankfully spared from their involvement with this.
I love the AHS series, which to be fair, had its fair share of missed fires and poorer seasons as well. However, even when the seasons were not as great, they were still always very watchable. Here it was like watching an experimental series written and directed by novices or AHS film makers “want to be’s”. None of the episodes stood out and when they failed, they failed miserably. I am hoping they would not plan to have a follow-up season for this and just focus on the AHS franchise instead.