Masters of Horror: Fair Haired Child
The ninth episode in the celebrated Masters of Horror series,The Fair Haired Child, unfortunately may have the least scare power. Director William Malone's (Feardotcom, The House on Haunted Hill) choice to cast the outcast teen, Tara (Lindsay Pulsipher), as a cute blond girl more suited toThe O.C.than to horror, spoils an initial opportunity to convince the viewer of her suffering. Weak acting is the biggest detriment, however. As Tara is kidnapped and thrown into a psychotic couple's basement as a sacrifice to the Devil to bring their dead son, Johnny (Jesse Haddock), back to life, Tara's fear fails to translate into real dread. Black-and-white flashbacks of the sick married couple watching helplessly as their son drowns are equally corny. Johnny, the child zombie haunted by guilt he feels for living at the expense of others, especially Tara's, is the only interesting character. The fact that he is mute, communicating by scribbling thoughts into dirt, makes him eerily prophetic. As a character, Johnny terrifies more than the stop-motion demon who steals teens away to the netherworld. LikeHouse of Whipcord, this story of a basement-turned-torture chamber has appeal for its archetypal plot concept, butThe Fair Hair Childlacks actors who convey real angst.--Trinie Dalton