[8.4/10] This is a great spoof of traditional horror tropes, while also showing how well Dan Harmon and company know their characters. The premise of somebody in the group being a psychopath is a nice spine for this one, and the coining of “Britta” as a verb is a Community classic.
My favorite of the stories here are Abed’s and Annie’s. Abed’s story of a hyper-prepared and overexplained couple at a cabin in the woods is both a nice take on his sort of hyperliteralism and nitpicky story sense, but also a nice broader spoof of the boring movies that cinemasins-style critiquers would create. At the same time, Annie’s “teach a vampire how to read” tale is an amusing parody of Twilight and a hundred other monster romance books, which also speaks to Annie’s need to help fix people (“You should be so proud of how I changed you!”), and has an amusingly disturbing twist with the werewolf dismemberment material that leaves her classmates in shock.
The next two runner-ups in the story department are Shirley’s and Britta’s. Shirley’s is a great visual take on a sort of Chick tract come to life. The misguided drug slang and low key disdain for her friends’ lifestyles, mixed with the self-righteous “I forgive yoooouuu!” and a great turn from Dean Pelton as the Him-esque devil is outstanding. And while Britta’s story is pretty standard stuff, the way her perfunctory storytelling is reflected in the skit and the dialogue is hilarious.
Jeff’s story is true to form as a way to get the group on the same page. Pierce’s turn as “Magnum” is pretty unpleasant, even if that’s supposed to be a reflection of Pierce’s prejudices and self-inflated ego. And Troy’s low grade take on a Human Centipede-type story isn’t full of as many laughs as you might expect, but at least reflects Troy’s teenage boy sense of “awesomeness!”
The group’s mutual paranoia and eventual realization that they’re all psychopaths is an amusing place to take the frame story (not to mention Britta imagining herself reading “Warren Peace”), and goes out on a fractured but sweet note which characterizes this show.
Overall, this is a great Halloween outing, with very funny takes on classic horror movie beats and knowing takes on each of the characters.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-10-29T03:26:41Z
[8.4/10] This is a great spoof of traditional horror tropes, while also showing how well Dan Harmon and company know their characters. The premise of somebody in the group being a psychopath is a nice spine for this one, and the coining of “Britta” as a verb is a Community classic.
My favorite of the stories here are Abed’s and Annie’s. Abed’s story of a hyper-prepared and overexplained couple at a cabin in the woods is both a nice take on his sort of hyperliteralism and nitpicky story sense, but also a nice broader spoof of the boring movies that cinemasins-style critiquers would create. At the same time, Annie’s “teach a vampire how to read” tale is an amusing parody of Twilight and a hundred other monster romance books, which also speaks to Annie’s need to help fix people (“You should be so proud of how I changed you!”), and has an amusingly disturbing twist with the werewolf dismemberment material that leaves her classmates in shock.
The next two runner-ups in the story department are Shirley’s and Britta’s. Shirley’s is a great visual take on a sort of Chick tract come to life. The misguided drug slang and low key disdain for her friends’ lifestyles, mixed with the self-righteous “I forgive yoooouuu!” and a great turn from Dean Pelton as the Him-esque devil is outstanding. And while Britta’s story is pretty standard stuff, the way her perfunctory storytelling is reflected in the skit and the dialogue is hilarious.
Jeff’s story is true to form as a way to get the group on the same page. Pierce’s turn as “Magnum” is pretty unpleasant, even if that’s supposed to be a reflection of Pierce’s prejudices and self-inflated ego. And Troy’s low grade take on a Human Centipede-type story isn’t full of as many laughs as you might expect, but at least reflects Troy’s teenage boy sense of “awesomeness!”
The group’s mutual paranoia and eventual realization that they’re all psychopaths is an amusing place to take the frame story (not to mention Britta imagining herself reading “Warren Peace”), and goes out on a fractured but sweet note which characterizes this show.
Overall, this is a great Halloween outing, with very funny takes on classic horror movie beats and knowing takes on each of the characters.