I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I enjoyed this entry into the innovative anthology series Masters of Horror. Itsure does have flaws, which have been gone into with great deal and relish I may add, but the story of a secret concerning our Founding Father George Washington purporting him, his family, and other important figures to be a cannibalistic cult had me in stitches and horror throughout much of this episode. Washington's legacy is at stake here as a new family inherit the house of a now-deceased relative who had belonged to that cult. Soon, real evidence is found and threats by men in powdered wigs are brought to the house by pounding on doors and windows. Director Peter Medak, no stranger to the world of the strange - aftreall he directed The Ruling Class with Peter O'Toole, gives us quite a bit to digest in an hour. much of it is incoherent and makes, well, not so much sense. Nonetheless, the episode zips by and is entertaining if for no other reason then your jaw will be slightly dropped by the whole story of George Washington having eaten little girls. The scene where the Washingtonians are convening is eerie, horrific, oddly amusing, and way over-the-top. Even creepier are some of the actors playing the elderly people of this area. The acting was decent given the bizarre subject matter. The episode certainly has many flaws, most of them in the script. But I enjoyed this from the very first minute to the very last. No lie.

"The Washingtonians" was a pretty funny episode. It's an hilarious concept, though I admit that there were a few moments when I thought what I was seeing on the screen had to be somehow blasphemous.Nevertheless, I found it funny and think it's great that such taboos can be explored, though I pray the average viewer is smart enough to slough off the ridiculous notion that Washington was a cannibal. With the amount of, and overall zaniness of conspiracy theories today, this one could be off to the races.That small bit of social commentary aside, the film has a bit of gore, a funny concept, few scares, and a lot of camp.The concept alone makes it worth watching if you're bored. From a critical standpoint, the "concept" itself seems to straddle an objective line, poking fun at both lame conspiracy theories and our pre-conceived idolization of certain historical figures.Sadly, it almost seems as if the director took a fine piece of complex satire and dumbed it down to a Michael Moore film, to convey that "America sucks. Oh yeah, George Bush, too."

I read the short story first and when I heard it was going to be a Masters of Horror, I was thrilled. Masters of Horror is the greatest show ever created. The Washingtonians was very well written and stayed pretty true to the story, except for the ending. The story's ending was very much a horror ending and I was highly disappointed that they made the movie's ending so corny. Other than that, I'd recommend this movie to any horror fan or Bentley Little fan. That being said, I'd like to say that I highly enjoyed the Thomas Jefferson scene. Very creative. Very gory. Extremely entertaining. A must-see for any horror fan. And I'd also recommend buying the book with this story in it. It's called The Collection.

"The Changeling" is one of the most effective haunted-house films ever made; paradoxically, 'The Washingtonians' is one of the weakest entries in the "Masters of Horror" series. However, I do not think Peter Medak (the director of both) is entirely to blame for this--what begins as a very cool concept rife with horrific potential (the notion that our concept of 'history' has glossed over the transgressions of our forefathers, including George Washington's penchant for dining on virgins) disintegrates into a tug-of-war between seriousness and camp. While Medak exhibits the same skilled use of light, shadow, fog, and flourishing camera moves that made "The Changeling" so endearing, 'The Washingtonians' script (by Johnathon Schaech and Richard Chizmar) is clunkily paced and tonally unfocused, shooting for satire, straight horror, or broad comedy at any given moment. The result is simply too uneven to be satisfying on any level. And possibly the biggest detriment is co-writer Schaech's performance in the lead role--unable to emote or recite dialog convincingly, his presence leaves us rooting for the cannibals all the way (Saul Rubinek--looking a lot like George Wendt--fares slightly better with his comedic bits). And while there is some suspense, and the wigs, makeup, and costumes are superb (including some of the most imposing orthodontics ever filmed), 'The Washingtonians' comes off as coldly as a corpse in winter.4.5 out of 10