Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Fantastic!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I've watched maybe five episodes so far and this is by far the best I've seen yet for one particular reason, the late 19th century set design and atmosphere. There are way too few movies which portray the gloomy side of this era, graveyards, fireplaces, darkness, it's all there. Perfect watch for a rainy autumn night. There is a bit of an studio like feel to some scenes, but it doesn't make it any less attractive.I must say I wasn't too keen on the necrophilia part, but for what it's worth, it could've been a lot more disturbing. This is more of an old school "fun" horror. And even tho there is a bit of gore, it's not disturbing as it has been in some episodes.Watch it for the atmosphere, not so much for the story.

Nasty piece of business from director John McNaughton has atheist scientist Ernst Haeckel(Derek Cecil)finding out that his father is gravely ill, and as he is returning to his home runs into a couple who have had dealings with a man he knows from his past..a necromancer named Montesquino(Jon Polito)who can bring the dead back to life. There's a catch, however, and that is the dead remain in their same condition..and thirst for flesh as all zombies apparently always do.The couple Haeckel meets on his journey home is an old man named Wolfram(Tom McBeath)and his lovely, very young wife, Elise(Leela Savasta, who has an incredible body). Elise has need of the necromancer as her love and devotion is to one man..her dead husband! So here is Haeckel in amongst all this madness ceaselessly trying to find out how to send the dead back to their graves, but understanding futilely that there is no way.This yucky MOH offering has some wild sex scenes between Elise,who really lets go and makes the sexual love-making with a corpse erotic in the disgusting sense. There is gut-munching for zombie fans and even a homage to FRANKENSTEIN thanks to an inspired Mick Garris teleplay. Garris uses a narrative device from an old female necromancer telling some poor sad soul(who has returned from his beloved wife's funeral and wishes her resurrected)this tale of what Haeckel experienced. There's an ending only a horror fan could love..it is indeed a unique twist to cap it off.I'm not real fond of the idea showing sex with corpses, but there is a built in audience for this sort of thing. McNaughton relies on some mediocre filler scenes designed to make a person jump(such as a dead pederast hanging from a noose or a stones falling from a hole in the wall housing rats)which take away from the overall story. This shows signs of a mini-film having to work through a plot rather quickly instead of giving it the proper development it really does need.

This is squarely in the tradition of AIP/Hammer/Bava period Gothic chillers (with a touch of Romero) which mixed horror and eroticism back in the 60s and 70s on a routine basis, before nudity again became somewhat taboo in our increasingly conservative culture. For me, this one has it all - a naked nympho, atmospheric sets, cool monster makeup, and best of all - ZOMBIE SEX! This is totally a B movie - B meaning going back to the basics of breasts, beasts and blood - and I loved it unashamedly. The scene in the fog-shrouded graveyard with the orgasmic babe being mauled by horny zombies is stunning, like an uncensored full page panel from one of those B&W horror mags of the 70s, Creepy, Vampirella or Eerie - in the full-colored flesh. I'd like to freeze-frame it and hang it on the wall of my tiki lounge. This is the greatest zombie sex flick since "Cemetery Man" and the addition of the zombie baby is a nice nod to Pete Jackson's "Dead Alive." Along with the equally erotic (and twisted) "JENIFER" and "SICK GIRL" - another very entertaining drive-in throwback - this is my favorite of the MOH series so far (season one.)

I don't think I'm on my own when I say that the first few episodes of the Masters of Horror series were largely disappointing; but the series certainly took a turn for the better mid-way through, and alas; it ended up being minnow Masters of Horror; Lucky McKee and William Malone that delivered the best episodes, while John McNaughton isn't far behind. Whether or not McNaughton is actually a master of horror is debatable; as Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer aside, his successes have all been outside of the genre. But whether or not his past credits warrant his presence is beside the point, as McNaughton steps into zombie master George A. Romero's shoes nicely. The episode is based on a short story from the great Clive Barker, and features themes of necromancy and bringing the dead back to life. Haeckel's Tale might not be very original, but the way that all the story elements are brought together is superb, and this instalment certainly never lets its audience know what is going to come next, as the story jumps from science to magic, while still retaining the same basic point. I was surprised at how much gore was featured in this episode given that it was made for TV, and the pivotal sequence involving zombies towards the end is a major highlight. Overall, I won't hesitate to name this as one of the best of the Masters of Horror efforts, and it gets a big thumbs up from me!