American Horror Story (AHS): Hotel is the latest in the wonderfully gratuitous horror anthology series
drawing on The Shining, Psycho and Salem’s Lot to name a few; but does it
measure up with its predecessors? Starburst
finds out!
AHS: Hotel centres around LAPD Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley) investigating
a series of murders all connected by the Ten Commandments. The investigation
itself, as well as his own crumbling personal life, draws him to the Hotel
Cortez, which is riddled with its own secrets including: The Countess (Lady
Gaga) a decades-old vampire who is manipulating the hotel’s new owner (Cheyenne
Jackson), the dysfunctional relationship between receptionist Iris (Kathy
Bates) and her ex-drug addict son (Matt Bomer), the legacy of the hotel’s
original owner, James Patrick March (Evan Peters) as well as the vendetta of
ex-Blaxploitation actress Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett). Their lives
intermingle as Lowe draws closer to the Ten Commandments Killer.
To start with, sincere credit must go to Lady Gaga’s
acting ability. In what could have been a largely superficial capacity, she
creates a character with all the seductive, campiness of Julie Newmar and
Delphine Seyrig (Daughters of Darkness being
a heavy creative influence); you can’t predict whether she will kiss you or rip
your throat out! In fact, AHS has
always been blessed with an excellent regular cast: Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates,
Evan Peters, Angela Bassett and Denis O’Hare are always challenged to do new things
with new characters and it is always entertaining.
However, Hotel
feels more predictable than previous series; the premise of haunted inhabitants
in a haunted building is very reminiscent of the first series (whether this is
intentional, with AHS becoming a
shared universe) Hotel needs more
unpredictable meat on its metaphorical bones.
Overall, Hotel
is not the best AHS series, but is
certainly not the worst either. Is this a good series to draw in new fans?
Absolutely! The performances make up for the slightly repetitive storyline and
the extras are standard fare with behind-the-scenes featurettes to explore the
series further.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: RYAN MURPHY / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: CHEYENNE JACKSON, EVAN PETERS, LADY GAGA, KATHY BATES, SARAH PAULSON / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 24TH
