recommended

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Warning do not read unless you've seen episode.This tale surprised me, this turned out to actually be one of my favorite tales for the show in my book.It's a really twisted and dark urban brothers Grimm like tale which is cool because I love Grimms Fairy Tales most of them were really dark even scary which made this short true in it's tradition.I like the use of the seedy basement locale, from how dark, dusty, decrepit it is it really has just this unsettling and claustrophobic sensibility. The suspense is very good, the highlight no doubt is the hide and seek sequence with Tara and the monster, I couldn't help but grip the chair a little as I was constantly hoping Tara would find ways to evade and maintain stealth from the monster's sight. The monster doesn't disappoint, I really like the design it's really creepy looking from the blank white glowing eyes, gray skin, and hollow facial expression it reminded me of The Scream painting which may have been the partial inspiration for the design.The two villains were solid, I like that there was some depth to them so their not totally two dimensional. And we see there sympathetic but only to an extent, it's not an excuse for what they've done. To me I feel they weren't saving their lost son's but dooming his soul. However the worst part was that they've doomed their own souls, as we see their both not the same people they use to be in the past, those guys are gone.However to me what really drive the episode are Tara and Johnny it's somewhat of a "Beauty and the Beast" dynamic (I said sort of). Johnny is a tragic character, despite being a mute throughout most of the tale you know exactly what he's saying through his expressions in emotion. This poor guy is anguished over the monster he's become and what he's been forced to do against his will.I really like the character Tara whom is a sympathetic and also tragic character. Like most protagonists in Fairy Tales she's an underdog as she's obviously a outsider, we see from the beginning she doesn't really fit with the in crowd were most in the class look like they came out of a damn Macy's catalog. You get hints that she has been a target of bullies as well as a little hint of her home life in one scene where she calls her mom, the mom is complaining about her missing pills and not the least bit bothered that her child is missing; so we see her mom is a drug addict and doesn't care about Tara.But what I really like about Tara is she's clearly a person that has a lot to offer the world, that has big dreams or at least a dream. From her sketch of a dragon and an amazon warrior riding that looks like it would be worthy to be up there with the fantasy art of Frank Rasetta. We then here in a conversation with Johnny that sketch is part of a fantasy book series she's trying to create, the story she proposes is ironic since she somewhat in the same predicament.And strangely despite such a dire situation you really see in a way she gets more beautiful because her internal beauty comes out as she is exercising inner strength. From trying to survive, find a way out, but best of all exercising compassion and understanding for Johnny, being his rock. Even Johnny likewise does the same for her, as he is also doing what he can to save her life he seems to demonstrate more strength in character.I really like how both interact which is sweet but you see through it both have formed a deep bond, yeah I know it's a short amount of time but in life and death situations characters shouldn't waste a minute. Both of them are outsiders in a way and have been hurt by forces from the outside, yet we see when both are together they are strong. Which makes it all the more tragic, I constantly hopping what happens won't but there's nothing I can do about it or they can which is what hurts the most.However I wouldn't fret too much, because like in most of the Grimm's Fairy Tales there's sometimes a twist.Rating: 3 and a half stars

Shy high school misfit Tara (an excellent and endearing performance by the pretty Lindsay Pulsipher) gets abducted by a sinister couple and locked in the basement of their large remote mansion with strange mute boy Johnny (an impressive pantomime portrayal by Jesse Haddock). Tara learns that resolute cellist Judith (a fine Lori Petty) and her nerdy pianist husband Anton (a splendidly antsy turn by William Samples) made a pact with a powerful demonic force to sacrifice twelve children to a vicious beast in order to bring their dead son back to life. Director William Malone, working from an intriguing and original script by Matt Greenberg, does an expert job of creating and maintaining a supremely eerie and unnerving atmosphere and milks plenty of nerve-rattling tension from the dusty claustrophobic cellar setting. Moreover, Malone puts a welcome and refreshing emphasis on sustaining a spooky and unsettling dark fairytale-style mood throughout while downplaying the gore. Better still, the story even makes a profound and poignant statement on the extremes people are willing to go to in the name of love; while Judith and Anton are undeniably quite ruthless in the lengths they resort to resurrect their son, they still elicit the viewer's sympathy just the same. The acting is uniformly first-rate, with Petty a stand-out in a rare full-blown wicked role. The freaky and grotesque skeletal beast makes for a genuinely scary monster. The surprise twist ending likewise packs a punch. Brian Pearson's stunning cinematography offers a few striking stylistic flourishes which includes an especially inspired use of black and white for several flashback scenes. Nicholas Pike's shuddery score does the shivery trick. A very solid and satisfying entry.

Calling William Malone a "Master Of Horror" is quite an overestimation since he is probably not a bad director, but is work is far away from being essential Horror. "Creature" (1985) is certainly no genre classic, and his 1999 "House On Haunted Hill", was an OK remake due to a very good performance by Geoffrey Rush, but it was nowhere near the eeriness and brilliance of William Castle's original masterpiece starring the great Vincent Price. Malone's "Masters Of Horror" episode, "The Fair Haired Child", however, is immensely creepy and atmospheric, and definitely increases Malone's worth as a director. The performances are entirely very good, the episode has a great atmosphere and the classical score fits in perfectly. I personally didn't quite find it as suspenseful as some of the other episodes I've seen so far. I've become a big fan of the "Masters Of Horror" series, and I have to say that the quality of the episodes differs immensely. While there are some episodes that I found brilliant, such as Takashi Miike's "Imprint" (the absolute greatest episode of the entire series), Dario Argento's "Pelts", John Carpenter's "Cigarette Burns" or Peter Medak's "The Washingtonians", some other episodes were disappointing, such as Mick Garris' "Chocolate" or Tobe Hooper's "Dance Of The Dead". "The Fair Haired Child" fortunately belongs to the first category as one of the best episodes of the first season. Warning! Possible Minor Spoilers! - Teenage Tara (Lindsay Pulsipher), an outsider at her high school, is kidnapped and brought to a mansion in the middle of nowhere by a creepy couple, Anton (William Samples) and Judith (Lori Petty). The two have lost their 15 year old son in an accident 12 years ago, and made a pact with a mysterious and evil deity, to sacrifice teenagers in order to bring their own son back to life...Lindsay Pulsipher delivers a great performance in the lead, and so do William Samples and 'Tank Girl' Lori Petty in their roles of the parents who are willing to do anything to get their son back to life. The atmosphere is quite creepy, and, as mentioned above, the score fits in really well. "The Fair Haired Child" has all the ingredients a great MoH episode needs. It is immensely creepy, suspenseful from the beginning, well-acted and macabre. And What else could a Horror fan ask for? 8/10

I love the "Masters of Horror" series and the opportunity it creates for experimental "little movies" for we who love horror and for the directors in question. This series has spawned several complaints about the "Masters" in the title. Maybe they could have chosen a better word for the world's retentive but in a society riddled with hype, I took the "Masters" with a grain of salt. I'd like to see a series of "Unknowns". I like the way different directors bring different nuances (and wild opposites)to the idea of a horror film.Which brings me to "Fair Haired Child". I know IMDb has lifted this one above the 5.0 middle but, you know what ... it didn't work for me. I couldn't get in the saddle. I loathed "Fear.Com" because it wasted an opportunity, I own "House on Haunted Hill" because of ... the house, not the tale. For tale, I also own the original B&W. I don't mean to pound Malone because I genuinely believe something is stirring there and maybe his "Parasomnia" will let it loose. I felt "FHC" tried to insert "art" into the movie. Horror films can go "art" but it is a syncronicity or "aftermath". Do the horror first. Time and audience (not critics)will determine if a horror film made the "art" level. It's a wobbly distinction at best. Trying to force it into a film is nearly a warranty that it ain't gonna happen. It's an afterward, not a strategy. Unless, of course, you genuinely are a "master" of horror. There aren't many. After riding the clichéd story to the revelation of the FHC, I said aloud "Oh, &*^%" because it was just a tremendous letdown. So, so buildup and way the wrong direction for FHC. All the above with a very pedestrian wrap up ... I wanted to but just couldn't.