Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A Major Disappointment

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Intriguing yet all-too-familiar and, therefore, middling entry in the “Masters Of Horror” series; interestingly, it had first been offered to George A. Romero (who was unavailable) and Roger Corman (who had to decline because of ill-health) – their original option was a natural, since the episode deals with zombies in a period setting. Still, the final choice of director wasn’t an entirely happy one – even if McNaughton was perfectly capable of handling intense gore (HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER [1990]) as well as twisted sex (WILD THINGS [1998]), the intended Gothic atmosphere is largely dissipated through the dreary and utterly flat look which (regrettably) has virtually become the standard in today’s TV and film work! Anyway, the narrative deals with a young follower of Dr. Victor Frankenstein(!) in the re-animation of corpses – though the first experiment he conducts (before a disbelieving audience) sees his female subject burned to a crisp(!), he’s later advised to seek the help of an itinerant necromancer. Dubbing him a charlatan after he brings a dog back to life, the scientist leaves to attend to his dying father – but, on the way, he’s taken in by an old man who tells him it’s not safe to rest beside a cemetery at night. The latter is married to a much younger girl, who naturally elicits the studious hero’s attentions (of which the husband is fully aware).That night, the scientist is surprised to see the necromancer visit the couple – after which, the girl exits the house; the young man goes after her against the elder’s pleas not to interfere. It turns out she had been married to another, who has died – but her passion is so strong that the girl has the necromancer resuscitate him to keep their sex life going(!)…for which not only are his buried ‘neighbors’ invited to join in, but the union had even borne her a monster child! Witness to all this, the hero obviously tries to put a stop to it by shooting the necromancer dead…though when the second husband intervenes, he’s attacked and feasted upon by the living dead – while the scientist himself faints.So far so good (that is to say, not that bad) – but the film is bookended by a sequence depicting the request of a grief-stricken young man to an old woman who’s said to be capable of raising the dead (during which Haeckel’s Tale itself unfolds). However, the ending – involving the wholly unsurprising revelation of the old lady as the girl in the story (though she looks nothing like the petite sexy actress of her younger guise!), who then informs the men in her life (i.e. two husbands, necromancer and scientist), obviously zombified yet conveniently residing inside the house, that dinner is served, all the while bottle-feeding her repulsive baby – is at once unnecessary, heavy-handed and potentially campy!

In the nineteen century, a man seeks help with a necromancer, asking her to revive his beloved wife. The woman advises him that the process could be dangerous, since she can bring the body back, but not necessarily the spirit and proposes him to listen to Haeckel's story to help in his decision. Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil) is a cocky medical student fascinated with resuscitation. When the illness of his father becomes terminal, he travels to visit him and in his journey he meets the necromancer Montesquino (Jon Polito), who claims to have the ability to bring the dead back to life. While preparing to spend the night nearby a cemetery, the old man Wolfram (Tom McBeath) offers him shelter in his home, telling him that it would be very dangerous to stay near the necropolis. Haeckel accepts the invitation and meets his young wife Elise Wolfram (Leela Savasta). He feels seduced by the sexy woman, and sooner he finds her eternal love for her deceased husband."Haeckel's Tale" is a great erotic zombie tale and one of the best episodes of "Masters of Horror". The atmosphere is creepy, and the Canadian is one of the sexiest actresses I have ever seen. Her sensual "zombie gang bang" is morbidly fascinating and absolutely original, but not for conservative and bigoted audiences. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "A Terrível História de Haeckel" ("The Terrible Story of Haeckel")

I just want to say that Haekel's Tale starts off like the classiest of all the Masters of Horror leading you to believe that Haekel will have a Frankensteinish encounter in his lust for control over necromancy that would ultimately be his undoing, however it completely goes to the gutter when Clive Barker got bored and started writing up sick stuff. (In fact Haekel is undone at the hands of a zombie baby which just made me grimace in disgust when this easily could have been one of the best MOH episodes)You can pretty much time line this out to how it was written: At 10 O'clock he wrote the first half of the story, at 11 O'clock he started looking at pornographic material, at 12 O'clock he finished writing the story.

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!