FROM: Parallel Universe on MSN
by Don Kaye
There was a time — at least there seemed to be, in the dim haze of memory — when horror seemed to be prevalent on television. In addition to series like Rod Serling‘s short-lived but often creepy “Night Gallery” and Dan Curtis’ Gothic daytime soap “Dark Shadows,” there was a slew of truly scary TV movies such as “Duel,” “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” “The Night Stalker,” “The Norliss Tapes” and others. Some of these don’t hold up 35 or 40 years later, but they were honest and sometimes even edgy (for the era) attempts to scare the pants off viewers.
The next three decades saw intermittent attempts to bring the supernatural to television, with at least two failed “Twilight Zone” revivals and a string of hot and cold Stephen King adaptations to show for it. The biggest successes from that period? Undoubtedly “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and, to a lesser extent, “Supernatural” (which is still running and which some fans have declared the best “undiscovered” horror show around).
But in the past three or four years, things have been gradually changing, and we’re now into a period where horror on TV might be entering one of those vaunted “golden ages.” The first sign was the ability of “Supernatural” to survive network cancellation and continue to thrive. But the second and crucial event was the success of HBO’s “True Blood.” The blood- and sex-soaked series is heading into its fifth season and is more massive than ever.
Say what you will about its histrionic acting, its sometimes incomprehensible stories and situations, and frequent descent into camp (intentional or not), but “True Blood” brought a new Gothic sensibility to TV while breaking some of the few remaining taboos on cable TV, bringing monsters like shapeshifters, witches and maenads to mainstream audiences, and visualizing the connections between sex, death and blood that have been a staple of horror (especially the written kind) for years.
“True Blood” seemed to touch something off, because just in the last year and a half, some of the most extreme horror seen on the small screen has burst into our living rooms in all its bloody glory, thanks to “The Walking Dead” (AMC) and the new “American Horror Story” (FX).
“The Walking Dead” has, amazingly, taken the gut-munching antics of ’70s zombie fare, like the movies of George A. Romero and Lucio Fulci (via Robert Kirkman’s comic book), and transferred them to the small screen virtually intact. The gore and sense of decay on the show is more prevalent than even in some recent big-screen zombie epics. “American Horror Story,” on the other hand, takes the out-of-control, almost satirical aspects of “True Blood” and ramps them up, while also delivering some truly eerie and nasty horror imagery as it liberally splashes the walls of the Harmon family’s new home (aka “the Murder House”) with blood and body parts. Both shows are hits, meaning that more than horror hounds are watching.
“I’m not sure that ‘American Horror Story’ could have happened four years ago,” said Stephen Moyer, who plays vampire Bill Compton on “True Blood” “I was very lucky to see the pilot, and it’s extraordinary. My great friend Denis O’Hare is in it and he emails me regularly with updates about the crazy s— they’re getting up to: He’s like, ‘You’re not going to believe what we’re doing!’
Moyer, speaking at a recent press junket in L.A. for his new movie “The Double,” added, “But I don’t think that FX or AMC would have commissioned something like this not knowing if it would work. Who knew that there was an audience in such mass amounts for this stuff? I mean, the ratings for ‘The Walking Dead’ are unbelievable.”
The British actor also mentioned “Game of Thrones” as one of his favorites, and it’s true that HBO’s hit dark fantasy series also takes a few cues from the horror genre, most notably with the mysterious race of ice creatures that live north of the Wall. Continuing that trend, NBC’s new “Grimm” is a blend of cop show, fairy tale and the supernatural that has won solid reviews from critics for its darker, adult tone, while ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” hits on some of the same themes (fairy-tale characters existing in modern-day reality).
There’s more to come as well, most notably with “The River,” a “found-footage” series set on the Amazon, while other upcoming shows like “Alcatraz” might incorporate darker elements into science-fiction premises.
“We are in this kind of world where hopefully the people who give awards will start recognizing this kind of stuff instead of pushing genre off into a side category,” said Moyer. “They’re getting the casts, the writers and the filmmakers to make this stuff, so I hope it carries on.”
