American Horror Story: [Nearly] Complete Series – Review

American Horror Story: [Nearly] Complete Series – Review

 

American horror stories a series with a lot of potential the elements of drama suspense and horror all intertwine into this intriguing anthology series how could that possibly be bad well there's a reason only two of the seasons are actually worth watching why well let's take a look as an anthology series

 

American Horror Story features a new and usually original plot every season but while each season has an intriguing premise all of them fall apart is the episodes continued the main issue with HS is that no season tells a coherent story from beginning to end.

 

The show is a jumbled mess that introduces new characters and subplots far too frequently additionally character motivations change and a win throughout breaking what little immersion AHS already offers this likely has to do with Ryan Murphy's creative control over the series.

 

He's an awful writer another problem results from the failed attempts at horror I don't remember a single scary scene throughout the entire series for show with horror in the title that's a major concern the series also tries too hard to satirize contemporary issues being too on-the-nose with Ryan's views on society.

 

Now AHS isn't always awful season 3 has several interesting moments throughout its in cohesive plot in season 8 is literally the only one with a focus story every other season is atrocious well the writing leaves a lot to be desired the cast do not as they frequently elevate much of the material the main trio of actresses and AHS brilliantly portrayed new character every season Jessica Blaine Cathy beans.

 

Angela Bassett are among the greatest actresses of all time and each consistently steals the spotlight from one of the other two well not quite at the same level frances conroy and sarah paulson also deliver excellent performances in a myriad of ranged roles denters Lily gray taissa farmiga and Emma Roberts all three illustrate great potential as actresses.

 

Something that should improve as they get older a couple of underutilized actors on the series are Billy Eichner and Leslie Grossman both are phenomenal though neither has been given the lead roles that they deserve of course not all of the actors fit in with the series well Adina Porter has her moments I never liked her role as an American Horror Story seaman Lady gaga there are also some weak actors in the series like Dylan McDermott Evan Peters and Burton.

 

Who failed to deliver any believable conviction production for AHS is a hit and a miss well the makeup hairstyling and costumes are almost always fantastic the music isn't memorable in the slightest probably due to its focus on the abstract instead of actual memorable melodies and though the set design and special effects are incredible the lighting frequently feels off as the cinematography.

 

In the direction of the show for instance a Dutch angle meant to disorient the viewer loses its power when it's featured at least three tons in a single episode this is the mistake of an amateur ultimately and EHS is not one of the most entertaining shows on TV.

 

Yes it does have its moments of brilliance but they are surrounded by a lack of cohesion and production elements meant to be weird for the sake of being different do yourself a favor and pick up seasons three and eight skip the rest American Horror Story gets a 4 out of 10.