American Horror Story became one of last year’s major television success stories and last night, on the Eve of Halloween, the British début of it’s second season was aired and it is TWISTED.
It was announced fairly soon after the show got renewed that rather than returning to the storyline of last season the second would be a complete reboot, making the show more of an anthology than a continuous story arc.
Many of season one’s cast have returned however, but with entirely different characters and story lines.
In addition some big names have joined this seasons cast, including Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.
It was a bold and dangerous move by the makers of the show but it has seriously paid off. Based on the first episode, the show has become stronger and improving on last year’s offering.
While last season focused on the theme of infidelity, this season has shifted it’s focus onto sanity and mental illness.
In line with this, the location of the show has also moved and is now almost entirely based in the Briarcliff Mental Institution.
In fact, little of the basic structure of the last season has remained, the main story lines take place in the 1960’s rather than the present, the main characters are either patients, nuns or doctors, rather than a single family, and unlike in season one there is a major question about the morality and motives of almost every main character.
This has meant that other than certain members of the cast, and of course the name of the show, it bares little resemblance to it’s preprocessor, and therefore has the ability to completely renovate itself.
Episode one does a fantastic job of introducing these new characters, themes and tensions which will undoubtedly play a major role throughout the season.
Ryan Murphy, the show’s co-creator stated very early in this season’s development that “this will really be the Jessica Lange show,” and it he was not kidding.
The actress who played the frankly freaky and disconcerting neighbour, Constance, last season has returned to the show with a leading role that is significantly different but no less terrifying.
If this series is going to focus on this new character it promises to be far better than last year.
Lange plays a fundamentalist nun, Sister Jude, who controls the day to day running of the asylum, and her performance so far has been flawless.
Sister Jude is an incredibly complex character, totally terrifying, utterly prejudiced and undoubtedly dangerous on the one hand but she also has a not insignificant streak of the caring nun about her and a tortured soul that makes you think there is more to this character than a two dimensional religious fanatic.
TWISTED: Jessica Lange as Sister Jude
This season, even more than last year’s, synthesises Gothic horror traditions with the perhaps more clichéd American horror film staples to make something quite new.
In doing so it has produced something which breathes fresh life into a genre which is frequently stale and formulaic.
For example, the cliché if you have sex in a horror show/film you have a countdown to your death tattooed across your head is tackled in the first scene of the season, which is also the début performance of Adam Levine’s acting career.
In the present day he and his wife (Jenna Dewan-Tatum), who are on their honeymoon, enter the abandoned building that was once Briarcliff.
This prologue to the show is highly sexually charged and shall we say definitely not for children, however it is well performed and when the couple is finally attacked it definitely catches you by surprise.
This sequence also reveals to us the most shockingly grotesque creature in the season so far, though we still have no idea who or what it is.
Fans of slasher movies with rabid killers will not be disappointed, however the sequence at no point falls into a parody of itself, maintaining a high level of terror throughout.
Other horror traditions/clichés that are introduced include religious fanaticism, mad scientists and serial killers, not to mention the fact that there is something… carnivorous in the woods.
Obviously the fact it is set in an asylum is also a Gothic horror classic and the set is so good it almost becomes a character in it’s own right.
However, due to its setting in the 1960s the show also manages to bring in elements of the social situation during that time, with racism, homophobia and sexism playing a significant driving force behind many of the story lines.
This gives American Horror Story it’s own flavour and adds an element of social commentary that wasn’t really present last year.
The one criticism I personally have with the season so far, and I am perfectly willing to retract this statement at a later date, is the possible introduction of aliens.
The story line of Kit Walker (played by Evan Peters – also a returning cast member) heavily suggests that he and/or his wife have come into contact with aliens or even been abducted.
This acts as one of the reasons he is seen as insane, along with the fact he is accused of being a serial killer, so it does fit into the overall story arc of the show.
However, to me, aliens and horror do not mix, at least within the style American Horror Story relies on.
Alien stories can definitely be scary but they bring in a different type of fear, from a different world if you will excuse the pun, and it doesn’t quite work in this type of show/film.
However, overall this is fantastic start to a season that promises to put American Horror Story on the map as one of the best modern productions within the horror genre. I can’t wait till next week!
Owen Jack Williams 