Since we knew that the bloody series American horror story and its new spin-off, titled American Horror Stories (Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, from 2011 and 2021), were going to be added to the increasingly large catalog of the Disney Plus platform, some of us have been making jokes about how little they fit with the company’s candid spirit. What a crazy world this and stuff. They come for Star’s part though. But welcome, of course.
The fact is that, if the anthology of the original FX television fiction is by season, in the most recent one it is reduced to one or two episodes at most, in the style of the four versions of The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling, since 1959). And, for giving us the opportunity to continue with the exploration of this particular terrifying universe, we can only be grateful for the occurrence. Especially, if the two parts of “Rubber (Wo) man” (1×01-2) serve to return to one of the most mythical scenarios: that of American Horror Story: Murder House (2011).
Returning again to the House of Crime
This is not the first time we have returned here, as in seasons five and eight, hotel (2015) and Apocalypse (2018), of the mother series we again enter the darkness of such a Californian house. And they do not focus on it directly at the beginning but prefer to play with the expectations of the spectators. Because the first chapter of “Rubber (Wo) man” it is a kind of rediscovery of the possibilities of the place to American Horror Stories, and they approach it with that audiovisual awareness and respect.
The mechanisms of suspense Faced with the threat of the horror that it hides, they still work very well there, seasoned with the audible echoes of it, of what caused us shudders before and now it returns to finish the job with a brand-new mystery. Not that terror hasn’t lost its freshness, of course. Familiarizing yourself with the elements of any narrative proposal makes it inevitable. But effectiveness is somewhat different, and in these circumstances it depends on a more or less skillful composition above all.
Date of high in Disney Plus now and save thanks to the annual subscription, with which you can enjoy its entire catalog of series and movies, access to the latest releases, to the catalog of Star and the best National Geographic documentaries.
From the work done by the American Loni Peristere according to lines written by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk themselves (Pose), it is not brilliant but it is dignified. He could have hardened himself directing episodes of Scream queens (Murphy, Falchuk and Ian Brennan, 2015-2016), Outcast (Robert Kirkman, 2016-2017), A series of catastrophic misfortunes (Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld, 2017-2019), Castle rock (Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason, 2018-2019) o Truth Be Told (Nichelle D. Tramble, since 2019). Besides the same American horror story, in which he has dealt with nine chapters so far.
A vindictive twist on ‘American Horror Stories’
However, in order not to vary with the vices that we know the primeval series, in the episode with which the derived anthology begins, they also throw violent bait at us as a serving of pure arbitrariness. Because you have to kill some poor unsuspecting character that we don’t care about a sovereign pepper at the first exchange so that the scriptwriters of American Horror Stories, and the viewers maybe, stay at ease.
On the other hand, one of the main turns is seen coming from far away; Among other reasons because, otherwise, the personal matter would not be funny. Scarlett’s emotions, played by a compelling Sierra McCormick (The Vast of Night), so that the true terror finally explodes. And the close swerve with which this happens does not have anything predictable, so Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk They use a cliché and give it a vindictive twist. And, when his almost fifty minutes are up, one cannot help but think: “We have come home.”