DVD Review: Masters of Horror – Family

By Jeff Swindoll Apr 18, 2007, 15:19 GMT

Family, directed by John Landis and written by Brent Hanley, tells the story of a young married couple (Meredith Monroe and Matt Keeslar) that moves into a new home in a new city and finds out that their neighbor (George Wendt) is not what he seems. ...more

John Landis’ contribution for the second season of Masters of Horror makes its way onto DVD to join the other members of the family on the shiny disc.  Most interesting is that if you didn’t know that Landis directed it you might not guess that. 

Harold Thompson (George Wendt) is a bit of a loner but his family doesn’t seem to mind.  In fact when we meet George he’s preparing a new member of the family in the basement.  Preparing?  Well, you see his family is made up of folks that he’s murdered, stripped off their flesh, and wired their skeletons back together.  All this happens in the first few minutes of the piece so I really don’t think I’ve spoiled it – the back of the box says the same as well.  David (Matt Keeslar) and Celia (Meredith Monroe) move in next door and Harold starts to think that she’d make a good addition to his “family.”

Preparing Grandpa to join the family

If it didn’t say “directed by John Landis” at the start of the episode you might not know that he actually directed it.  His other horror comedies seem broader and have more gags in them.  Family really plays darker than anything that I’ve seen him do before (well maybe since American Werewolf in London, which was pretty dark).  There are bits of comedy but the motivations and actions of Harold are gruesome enough to take off the edge created by the comedy. 

Even Landis makes the comment in the documentary in the special features that it seems like something that he didn’t direct.  I’m not going to tell you what it is, but there’s a twist at the end that will make you rethink some of the things that came before it and make you want to watch it over again.  The piece was written by Brent Hanley, who also had a bit of a twist in his other screenplay Frailty. 

George Wendt plays against type well as Norm’s evil serial killer twin who is prone to hearing what he wants to hear coming from other folk’s mouths (this is played to great comedic effect).  Meredith Monroe and Matt Keeslar play their roles well too. At first I didn’t think that Family was going to be much different to Psycho (Hanley says it’s his version of it on the commentary), but the twist gave me a twisted little grin and that was a good thing. 

Family is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include the 15 minute “Skin and Bones: the making of Family” which has interviews with director John Landis, George Wendt, Meredith Monroe, writer Brent Hanley, Matt Keeslar, and visual effects supervisor Lee Wilson.  Next is the 7 minute “Terror Tracks: Mastering the Family Score” which interviews Landis and composer Peter Bernstein. 

Speaking of family, Peter is the son of famous film computer Elmer Bernstein.  There’s an audio commentary from writer Brent Hanley that’s a fun listen.  The rest of the special features are a photo gallery, original storyboards (by William David Hogan), a text John Landis bio, previews, and the script on the DVD-ROM side of the disc. 

Welcome to the family

At first I thought that Family was going to be old hat, but a twist at the end made me like it better.  It is a different change of pace for Landis and a good against type performance from Norm. 

Masters of Horror – Family is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.