THE DAMNED THING

A morbid masterpiece of calculated suspense, naturalistic technique, and the human body as meat, no other film has proved as profoundly disturbing, oft-imitated, or consistently misunderstood as first-time director Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The same nihilistic imagery, passion, and demented energy that evoked such heights of terror and pain in that film shine through in some of the director's later projects. This is particularly true in The Damned Thing, Hooper's latest instalment in the wildly successful Mick Garris created Showtime series Masters of Horror. Combining sex, folklore, and humor, Hooper made Deer Woman come alive in season one. With this newest addition to his horror empire, based on the seminal short story from Ambrose 'bitter' Bierce, Hooper crafts a modern nightmare retranslating the archaic, archetypal terrors of yesteryear.

The Damned Thing was one of the earlier 'what is it?' story themes, which evoked terror precisely because it didn't attempt to explain away the nightmarish entity that its author's characters were facing. The script, by Matheson, retains a sense of the unknown while spicing the fundamentals up with perhaps a bit too much moralistic claptrap. Kevin, a youngster, is enjoying supper with his parents one night in Rural Texas when pop looses his marbles and shoots his wife. Kevin runs into the woods, barely escaping a similar fate as his father is consumed by an invisible force. Years later, Kevin is now the sheriff of Cloverdale. Divorced from his wife, Dina (Marisa Coughlin), he finds himself becoming increasingly alienated from his son, Mikey and watched life roll by via a security camera. When some bizarre electrical occurrences strike the area, neighbors and friends begin dying in inexplicable situations. Finally, Kevin and his sidekick investigate only to find that the same terrifying force that attacked his father years ago is back.

Retaining the cosmic terror of the unknown that made the original story so frightfully successful, Hooper and scribes are careful to make the characters and setting contemporary enough -- and meaningful enough -- to absorb the viewer. Both timely and timeless, the basic premise is lent energy and atmosphere through careful direction and the very eeriness of the threat itself. Securing his importance in genre history with this dark orgy of psychological realism, fetishistic brutality, and the dark fantastic, this story is easily worthy of the concepts of Lovecraft and his ilk of visionary horror -- if lacking the ironic twinge and primal power of the original author's literary vision. Yes, the original story is superior, with the understatement of the prose capturing more shudders than the admittedly wonderfully conceived special effects. This is simply testament to the durability and power of Bierce's imagination. Scripter Richard Christian Matheson does manage to move the plot along quickly though, the characters are convincing, and the terrors sincerely felt. Overall, this is a minor triumph in moody, smart, evocative horror television.

The Damned Thing is featured in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 television. The print is clean and crisp, with colors rich and vivid in detail. Audio is clean and evenly distributed.

Special features for this unsettling literary redux include a Commentary by writer Richard Christian Matheson. Matheson speaks eloquently and well, bringing several thematic and stylistic points to bare. Less successful are his suggestions that HIS script somehow is a statement against pollution, etc. Also included is "Building the Oil Monster," a feature on the effects of this graphic entry, which features interviews with Mick Garris, storyboard artist John Lund, and visual effects supervisor Lee Wilson. Strangely enough, Hooper doesn't appear in either this or the commentary, leaving it for cast and crew to speak on his behalf. "Texas Terror" interviews Sean Patrick Flanery, Matheson, special effects supervisor Howard Berger, Ted Raimi, Andrew Cohen, David Fischer, and Jim Dunn. Last up is PDF script (DVD-ROM), the standard photo gallery, a Hooper bio, and trailers for other Masters of Horror.

Review by William P. Simmons