Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This episode written by the creator of Masters Of Horror Mick Garris isn't that bad at all. Sure, you have seen it a thousand times before but I enjoyed it somehow being a geek in the genre because there's more to spot then only the story itself.You can write the story in a few lines. Two youngsters, black and white are playing horror games, Doom 3, on their Xbox. When one is killed they want to go a step further. Let's visit a morgue, that would be more scarier then playing a game. Off they go but once at the morgue the horror comes in. One of the dead people laying there is undead. He's a cross between a vampire and a zombie. He does suck blood so it could be a vampire but he doesn't suck, he tears the neck in pieces before drinking the blood. But I guess the title refers to V from vampire. As simple as the story is it is rather a quiz to watch for the geeks. When one of the youngsters is saying They're coming to get you, Barbara! I jumped up and screamed, Night Of The Living Dead (1968). But not only that. We do have a few screen shots from Dracula (1931). Here again that was easy, Bela Lugosi and the flick itself. And I moved on, there were much more references to other stories involving feeling guilty (An American Werewolf In London (1981)) about the fact your best friend is being bitten, or trusting on friendship (Black Sabbath (1963)) when the black guy asks to enter his best friend's home once being changed into a vampire. Not only that, the score itself sounded very eighties and I did here notes referring to Halloween (1978) and The Thing (1982).But for the normal people watching this episode it is very simple with some extreme shots once the neck is being bleeding as hell. It will be for some a bit too gory. But the dark humour added, again a reference to An American Werewolf In London, when the black guy is drinking water makes it the more watchable. Michael Ironside plays the old vampire. I didn't like it the way he did it because he reminded me too much of a zombie. What I did like was the way they showed the POV from the infected. But at the end of the day, it's a very simple tale with a classic ending but it did work.Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0,5/5

Generally speaking, I am a huge fan of the great "Masters Of Horror" series, but one has to say that the individual episodes differ immensely in quality. While some episodes, such as Dario Argento's "Pelts" or Takashi Miike's "Imprint" are utterly brilliant, some other episodes are pure entertainment, and some episodes, such as Mick Garris' "Chocolate" or Tobe Hooper's "Dance Of The Dead" were, as far as I am considered quite disappointing. "The V-Word" directed by Ernest K. Dickerson (I wonder what qualifies him as a 'Master Of Horror' anyway), however, is by far the worst episode of this otherwise great Horror anthology. Not only is the story ridiculous and the suspense almost nonexistent, even worse, this quite poor attempt of an MoH episode was so obviously made to advertise a Video game, which the main protagonists not only play all the time, but about which everybody talks about throughout the episode. The performances are also quite poor, the only true reason not to skip this episode is the great Michael Ironside, who at least gives this thing a little bit of eeriness.I won't bother to describe the plot, since it it so thin that even a short description would mean writing a spoiler. "The V-Word" is watchable for Michael Ironside, but otherwise it's a waste of time. Watch ANY other MoH-episode before giving this a try.

Another stinker. Not that bad though. This is the V word, the story of vampires in a small town. Its not original at all very similar to fight night or Salem's lot, just put in a modern setting. It's pretty generic and doesn't seems to have the master's touch that this series usually has. The episode centers around two teens. One of them has divorced parents and the other is often teased by his brothers. What do the kids do to cope with their angst? Go check out a dead dude. So they venture of to the mortuary where they wander around in the for what seems like forever. This is where the director desperately tries to build tension for some kind of quick scare that'll make you jump and go "whoa i'm really scared right now!" This doesn't happen. long after you get sick of their aimless wander a vampire gets up really slowly and saunters around looking real spooky. When he bites the dude's neck it's pretty cool but that's about it. Micheal Ironside is pretty good vampire but its really nothing special.

The second season of Masters is going downhill quick. After a strong start, John Landis started the downward slide with the hohum "Family" and it keeps on going with Ernest Dickerson's "The V Word". for starters, the v word of the title is for vampire. Strike one. The vampire subgenre is so overused that its just become blase. The story is pretty boring too. Two friends break into a morgue and accidentally unleash a vampire, becoming night walkers as well in the process. The best thing about this episode is Michael Ironside. He is one mean mofo. Its too bad that he's underused in the episode. There are some great scenes of atmosphere, but alone they are not enough to save another episode from getting weighed down by itself. Here's hoping the season takes a turn for the better since John Carpenter is coming up with his take.