Masters Of Horror: Deer Woman
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You have just got to love John Landis. This man has brought us some hellaciously funny movies. Let me give you a quick list;

TRADING PLACES
COMING TO AMERICA
ANIMAL HOUSE

Etc., etc., etc. A huge list truly. Now is he known as a Master of Horror? Not really. He did give us a great segment in TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and the underappreciated INNOCENT BLOOD. Check out the review section to read my thoughts on that last one. I guess that is close enough to being a master for me. Now the one thing about Landis’ horror is that he just cannot help but throw humor into his scares. That is definitely not a bad thing, and in all reality I enjoy his films more than normal because of that. He knows horror, but dammit does he also have one hell of a sense of humor. These moments make his films seem like one giant ride that encompasses all emotion. Hell, watch AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON to see what I am talking about.
Now DEER WOMAN is an odd bird. Written by John Landis’ son, this is a movie that is so out there you can’t help but enjoy it. It had some issues and was far from flawless, but I have to say that I had a blast watching this.

Detective Dwight Faraday (Brian Benben) is a cop that has some issues. While once a great detective he is now looked at as a wash up, and is assigned to only animal attacks. A murder takes place at a redneck truck stop bar that has police baffled. The body is mutilated to the point that no one can tell that it was even a man. While Faraday is called onto the case with his rookie partner Officer Reed (Anthony Griffin), he is soon taken off and replaced by a “real detective”.

From looking at the body he finds that there are hoof marks present on the mashed up body. His detective skills go to work in his mind while lying in bed trying to determine the murder scenario in the film’s most comedic moments. Turns out also that the male victims all die aroused. More murders are taking place, and soon Faraday believes that this was in fact killed by a new type of animal. A deer like animal that walks on two legs. But every witness mentions a gorgeous woman seen with the murdered man. How does she fit in with the killer hoofed animal? Also, what sick bastard gets aroused from a hoofed monster? I’ll tell you one thing, from watching the film I can see how. Good lord.

Like I said, DEER WOMAN is quite the odd bird. No matter how hard you try, you cannot take it seriously. I mean really! A deer woman? This could have been the most absurd and stupid idea, but Landis works his magic and makes this a tongue in cheek, straight faced joy ride. Try to catch also the AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON mention. Great nerd moment. While you do not get a sense of urgency in the characters you do get sense of seriousness from the actual murders that take the ridiculous killer into a level of any other type of monster. What is more absurd; Killer rats, vampires, werewolves, undead men in hockey masks or a deer woman? In all reality they all are pretty dumb when you think about it. It is all in the execution and the execution is done well.

One thing that really helped the movie additionally was the casting of Brian Benben. Where has this guy been lately? He is good and deserves to be seen in a whole lot more. Loved him in I COME IN PEACE and of course DREAM ON, but it has been some time since I’ve seen him. This is a good welcome back for him, because he plays the role of Faraday perfectly.

The one complaint that I had about this film was a big one. Overall the film did not work in its short time frame. Everything was there and worked, yet it just seemed stilted and slightly rushed. The characterization, the deer woman attacks, trying to solve the case; all seemed slightly rushed. I know these all are done with only an hour timeframe, but I needed more of an arch. In the hour timeframe this was good. I think if it could have been stretched out in a longer timeframe this could have been great. While that did knock it down a peg, I have to say that a smile did not leave my face after 5 minutes into this movie. There are some jump scares, and while this is not scary by any means, there is suspense all over the place. Sometimes you want to sit back and have a blast. Sometimes a movie will have you smiling in delight for every single scene, and hating when the film stops. This was one of those films. While more could have been done to flesh the film out some, this is still a wonderful time and great work by both Landis’. This is a great addition to the Masters of Horror, but may disappoint those looking for a horrific, gruesome episode, or even a feeling of a complete one. At least I had a great time though, and I’m still smiling thinking about the DEER WOMAN.

Added:  Tuesday, June 13, 2006

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