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TV Review: Masters of Horror - Episode Four
By James VanFleet
Nov 20, 2005, 07:40

Dario Argento works with narrative cinema to produce evocative images.  His stories are rarely more than excuses for him to exercise his skills in visual and emotional suspense.   Suspiria's coven of witches shouldn't have been threatening, nor did Deep Red's killer really deserve resonance.  But those are two of the most well-regarded horror films of all time, and Argento has carved out a spot in Italian horror alongside Mario Bava.

In "Jenifer", he tells yet another story about a disturbed young girl.  However, this time, he chooses to tell it from the perspective of a detective named Frank (Steven Weber, who also wrote the teleplay).   During a stakeout where nothing of interest seems to be staked out, Frank sees a man try to cleave off Jenifer's head.  Frank kills the man and feels pity for the pig-faced girl, whose empty black eyes recall Quint's monologue from Jaws.

From there, the story treks through Frank's struggles to understand Jenifer's true nature, as well as her feelings toward him.   To give away Jenifer's nature would be unfair, since that's the real meat of the story (and since it's open to interpretation), but the relationship between the two has potential to examine why men and women desire each other.   Also, her disfigured appearance (visible in her first scene) functions as what might be double irony.  When people in movies are this deformed, they're invariably noble.   Jenifer might not be.

While on the subject of her appearance, I must give credit to Carrie Ann Fleming, who put her heart and soul into the project, judging from the constant makeup and nudity.   One wonders how conversations with her parents went after she absolutely nailed the role of a grotesque and ravenous Playboy pinup.   But she plays it perfectly, and there's a genuine sense of menace and imbalance to her character, who alternates glee, self-pity, gratefulness, and hunger.  Steven Weber brings the right attitude to his role, allowing his character vital moments of empathy even as he does the most illogical things for the convenience of the plot.  

The major problem with the story is that there isn't enough of it.  Weber's teleplay provides us with a map of what happens, but he never connects the individual places into a journey.   I knew, for example, that Frank's family abandoned him, but it's not clear where they went, or why they had to leave, rather than him.  I know that Frank is attracted to Jenifer on a deep level, but that deep level is never examined.   The characters simply accept its existence and never comment on it.  These would not normally be significant problems in an Argento movie.

There are shades of a classic Argento in the film.  Claudio Simonetti, of the legendary band Goblin (responsible for the infamous Dawn of the Dead soundtrack), contributes one hell of a score, calling to mind the work of Bernard Herrmann in Hitchcocks' Vertigo.  In a series that's already played too much hard rock and metal-core, I appreciated the presence of a classical, orchestral score.   There's even a haunting melody cooed by a young girl.  The music certainly sets the stage for the director to flex his muscles.

At his best, Argento has the eye of a painter, with a style so exuberant and colorful and alive that criticizing his story means you've missed the point.   Unfortunately, in "Jenifer", he doesn't use enough of that style, which hurts the episode's potential.  There are glimmers of it.   There's a wonderful scene where Steven Weber leaves a bar and the colors oversaturate while the camera dips to an angle, mocking his lack of balance.

Indeed, Argento seems to be in his element most when he's working with the purely emotive parts of the story.  An ethereal sex scene.  A traipse through the woods.  Jenifer's sudden switches in mood.  These scenes make the episode worthwhile, scenes where violins shriek and the camera springs to life and the actors affect mood rather than depth.   But those don't happen enough, and Argento doesn't go for broke like I kept hoping he would.  I recommend the episode, but I wish it had been bolder in its style so the story seams wouldn't show.   Instead, "Jenifer" wavers back and forth, an uncertain dancer on a balance beam.

Checkout our review of Episode One: Don Coscarelli's  Incident On and Off a Mountain Road

Checkout our review of Episode Two: Stuart Gordon's H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House

Checkout our review of Episode Three: Tobe Hooper's Dance of the Dead