Meagan Navarro (Lead Staff Writer)

The Best // Ash. vs Evil Dead

If anyone has followed my continued coverage for this Starz series, it should be no surprise that this easily tops my list of favorite horror shows. Of course, I was predisposed to like it; I’m a huge fan of the original films after all. With a built in fan base, it would have been so easy for Sam Raimi and team to just give us more Ash rehashing the same events and shticks from the film series. I mean, that’s what fans wanted, right? They didn’t go there, though.

ASH vs EVIL DEAD--Courtesy of STARZ

ASH vs EVIL DEAD–Courtesy of STARZ

Not only did they create a series that both fervent fans could love, but it still managed to serve as a gateway for new fans. Plucky, yet self-centered Ashley J. Williams doesn’t really have any room to grow as a character, so they introduce us to two new sidekicks. Both Pablo and Kelly serve as an audience proxy to the Evil Dead universe, and give a surprising amount of emotional center to the show. Not only do we grow to love them, but they manage to give Ash depth where he previously had none. The show also expanded the Evil Dead universe in unexpected ways.

Between Ash and his famous one-liners, there’s an overwhelming amount of humor in the show, and the excessive gore is an absolute blast. Of course, the inaugural season isn’t without its flaws; it’s obvious that the show was still figuring itself out somewhere in the middle and the development of side characters were a little problematic. Yet, despite its flaws, the show remained an absolute joy to watch week after week. Even better? The 30-minute episode format doesn’t take much commitment.

The Worst // Scream Queens

Unpopular opinion: save for the fantastic first season of American Horror Story, I’ve not been a fan of any season that’s followed. The series has suffered from pacing problems, half-baked concepts, and overstuffing to compensate. So while initially skeptical of Ryan Murphy’s latest attempt at a horror show, especially after a press snafu where Ryan Murphy claims to have invented the horror-comedy sub-genre, I’m typically an enormous sucker for horror-comedies. A campy slasher set in a sorority house sounded like the perfect setup for both gore and laughs.

SCREAM QUEENS--Courtesy of FOX

SCREAM QUEENS–Courtesy of FOX

I stuck out the entire 13 episode run, and I’ve concluded that the problem with Murphy’s shows is that 13 episodes might be a bit too long for him to consistently tell a horror narrative. Season one suffered from pacing problems, namely a too thin plot to stretch over so many episodes resulting in an inconsistent story arch. Then there was the humor; Murphy and writers tried way too hard to push the envelope with its humor and, unless you were scene stealer Glen Powell as dumb fraternity jock Chad Radwell, the humor often fell flat. Perhaps worst of all is that most of the characters were intentionally unlikeable.

No. Scratch that. The worst offense is that Scream Queens “borrows” too heavily from ‘90s horror flick Urban Legend. College settings are generic for sure, but both lead heroines team up with the school’s ambitious newspaper writer turned love interest, both feature an uptight college dean that wants to brush any campus murders under the rug, and both killers are female. Don’t even get me started on how Niecy Nash’ Denise Hemphill is a blatant carbon copy for Loretta Devine’s plucky rent-a-cop Reese Wilson from the film. So we can add unoriginal to Murphy’s list of horror show offenses as well.

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