Masters of Horror - Season 1

When stressed-out student Walter Gilman (Ezra Godden of DAGON) rents a room in a decrepit old house, his graduate thesis studies begin to take some very strange twists. He suffers nightmares about a voracious rat with a human face. He suspects that a gateway to another dimension may exist behind his wall and is seemingly seduced by a luscious she-demon who thirsts for souls of the innocent via a covenant that screams for blood. But when Walter must face the most depraved urge of all, will the line between madness, murder, and unholy mayhem be crossed forever? Chelah Horsdal (THE CABIN IN THE WOODS) and Jay Brazeau (INSOMNIA) co-star in this disturbing shocker directed by Stuart Gordon, co-written by Gordon & Dennis Paoli (RE-ANIMATOR), and based on the infamous short story by horror master H.P. Lovecraft.

In the near-future when nuclear war has turned much of our world into wasteland, the youth of America have become drug-crazed sociopaths who lawlessly prowl what's left. But for pretty teenage Peggy (Jessica Lowndes of TV's 90210), her sheltered life is far removed from the underground club The Doom Room where a depraved MC (Robert Englund of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) provides immoral entertainment for the murderous masses. Jonathan Tucker (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) co-stars in this extreme shocker adapted by Richard Christian Matheson from the celebrated short story by his father Richard Matheson (writer of I AM LEGEND, REAL STEEL) and featuring music by Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins.

Frank Spivey (Steven Weber of THE SHINING, THE STAND, DESPERATION) is a detective who rescues a strange young girl (Carrie Anne Fleming of THE TOOTH FAIRY) with a horribly disfigured face and lusciously ripe body from a deranged killer. But when Spivey takes responsibility for the mentally challenged orphan, she reveals herself to be a creature of untold carnal pleasures and unspeakable violent depravities that may lead him straight to hell. The legendary Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA) directs this jaw-dropper that features a haunting score by Claudio Simonetti of Goblin (DAWN OF THE DEAD).

Jamie (Henry Thomas of GANGS OF NEW YORK) is a depressed young divorced man who creates artificial flavorings until the day his life is hijacked by a series of random sensory flashes. Psychically linked to an unknown beautiful woman, Jamie suddenly begins to experience all the pain, passion, and forbidden pleasures of her existence. But when a murderous vision rips his obsession wide open, Jamie is driven to track down and confess his love to this mystery mate. Will psychosexual hunger lead to the girl of his dreams or does the ultimate horror await the lonely man who tastes someone else's chocolate? Matt Frewer (DAWN OF THE DEAD, TV's EUREKA) co-stars in this sexy and twisted shocker written and directed by Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris, the director of THE STAND and THE SHINING.

It's a few weeks before the Presidential election and an unpopular war still rages overseas. But when the Republican administration wishes that our dead troops could return to tell America how proud they were to serve their country, veterans begin to rise from their flag-draped coffins for the most horrific reason of all: to vote. Are they gloriously resurrected heroes or braindead zombie dissidents? And even if the administration can devise the proper spin in time to steal their re-election, will an army of men and women killed for a lie finally show our nation the true face of hell? Jon Tenney (TV's THE CLOSER), Thea Gill (TV's QUEER AS FOLK), and Robert Picardo (TV's STAR TREK: VOYAGER) star in this provocative stunner from director Joe Dante (GREMLINS,THE HOWLING, PIRANHA) that The Village Voice calls "jaw-dropping and easily one of the most important political films of the era!"

Detective Dwight Faraday is a burned-out cop demoted to the "weird calls" desk until a series of bizarre murders suddenly grabs his attention: Several men killed by massive blunt-force trauma while in a state of sexual arousal, all last seen in the company of a sexy Native American woman. But when it's discovered that these corpses were trampled into hamburger by what appear to be hooves, Faraday must hunt a killer who may not be totally human. Will one cynical cop be caught like a deer in the headlights or has a horrifying seductress risen from legend to slaughter the horny? Anthony Griffith co-stars in this erotic horror comedy co-written and directed by John Landis (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) and featuring grisly gore effects by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger (TV's THE WALKING DEAD).

Film is magic. And in the right hands, it can be a weapon. For on-the-ropes movie programmer Kirby Sweetman (Norman Reedus of TV's THE WALKING DEAD), the holy grail of cinema is LE FIN ABSOLUTE DU MONDE, a legendary lost movie whose sole showing was rumored to have driven its audience to a homicidal frenzy. But as Kirby gets closer to the truth about the film, he's sucked into a private hell of grisly hallucinations and brutal acts of violence. Now the only surviving print of the film is within his grasp and the most horrific screening of all is about to begin. Udo Kier (SUSPIRIA, THE KINGDOM) co-stars in this gore-drenched mind-blower written by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, and directed by horror legend John Carpenter (HALLOWEEN).

Lori Petty (TANK GIRL) stars as a grieving mother with a remote estate, a ghastly secret, and a locked basement where abducted teen outcasts await an evil that feasts upon their virgin flesh. To satisfy a parent's depraved bargain, the beast must feed one final time. And tonight, the ultimate horror will begin for those who do not heed the hunger of the Fair Haired Child. Lindsay Pulsipher and William Samples co-star in this relentlessly creepy saga scripted by Matt Greenberg (HALLOWEEN H20, REIGN OF FIRE), directed by William Malone, and called "a perfect dark fairy tale and one of the most solid and impressive episodes to date" by The Horror Channel.

Angela Bettis (MAY, TOOLBOX MURDERS) stars as a shy entomologist whose drab life is changed by the simultaneous arrival of a large, mysterious bug and a torrid affair with a sexy young woman played by Erin Brown (erotic scream queen Misty Mundae). But when the bizarre insect chooses a shocking place to secretly feed, Sapphic ecstasy turns to infection, mutation, and murder. Will these lesbian lovers let a venomous threesome tear them apart, or is the most horrific metamorphosis of all yet to come? Co-written and directed by Lucky McKee, this babes 'n' bugs shocker features extreme monster mayhem by KNB EFX in one of the most unique films of the series Fangoria calls "a smashing success and one of the best anthology fright shows ever!"

On a desolate stretch of mountain road, two urban myths collide in one night of chilling carnage - Wheeler (Michael Moriarty of LAW & ORDER, THE STUFF) is a friendly truck driver who enjoys slaughtering hitchhikers; Walker (Warren Kole) is a charming hitchhiker who prefers to butcher anyone who gives him a ride. Caught in the dueling psychos' depraved game of cat and mouse, Stacia (Fairuza Balk of THE CRAFT, AMERICAN HISTORY X) must find a way to outwit Wheeler and Walker before it is too late. But is the most horrific twist of all yet to come? Laurene Landon (MANIAC COP, HUNDRA) co-stars in this perverse tale written by 'splatterpunk' author David J. Schow (THE CROW, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING) and directed by Master of Horror Larry Cohen.

It is a time when the laws of science battle the secrets of magic, and medical student Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil) believes the power of life, death, and resurrection lies in his arrogant hands. But on a journey to visit his gravely ill father, he finds shelter in the home of an older man and his seductive young wife (Leela Savasta) who cannot be fulfilled by mortal hungers. Somewhere in the darkness of a nearby necropolis, a defiant necromancer (Jon Polito of BARTON FINK, MILLER'S CROSSING) will now summon them all to an orgy of the undead and unleash the ultimate depravity for those who do not heed the warning of Haeckel's Tale. Directed by John McNaughton in association with horror legend George A. Romero, this startling mix of erotic desire and gut-ripping horror is adapted by series creator/executive producer Mick Garris from the short story by Clive Barker.

In 19th-century Japan, an American journalist (Billy Drago of THE HILLS HAVE EYES) searches for the prostitute he'd loved and left behind years earlier. But on an island where demons and whores rule the night, a deformed courtesan awaits with a tale of extreme cruelty and perverse vengeance. What follows is an unspeakable orgy of torment and depravity, where the lusts of the damned will inflict wounds that remain forever. Youki Kudoh (RUSH HOUR 3) co-stars in this justifiably controversial mindblower directed by Takashi Miike (13 ASSASSINS), based on the Japanese horror novel Bokee Kyotee.