Masters Of Horror: Homecoming

When I first heard of the Showtime series, Masters Of Horror, I have to admit that I was less than excited. My first reaction was, ‘Oh, another tired Twilight Zone-ish rip off with these poor directors using their name to just make a little money.’ But after visiting the Fangoria Weekend Of Horror in Chicago last March, my curiosity was peaked. They were promoting the first of the series, Stuart Gordon’s, Dreams In The Witch House, and I got the chance to briefly meet Mr. Gordon and series creator, Mick Garris. So, after seeing several of these, and being completely impressed by both the quality and the style, I find myself still waiting for the other boot to fall and for one of the episodes to be so bad that I feel justified in my skepticism. Well, after seeing the latest, Joe Dante’s The Homecoming, I’m still waiting!




The Homecoming is a zombie movie of a different sort, it’s also biting political commentary. Here’s the story: In an election year, the President (who sounds strangely like George W.) makes a speech and during the speech he wishes that the soldiers who have died in Iraq could come back, so that they could tell everyone themselves that the sacrifice they made was worth it. Well, that wish starts the whole ball rolling, they dead soldiers do start coming back, but it’s not the standard flesh and brains they crave, it’s the vote! That’s right, the fallen soldiers want to vote, which starts a whole web of political intrigue behind the scenes. Now, it’s up to one of the President’s political advisors to set things right, and if he can’t who knows what might happen!

The Homecoming is totally in keeping with the high standards that this series has already set. It takes a standard horror premise and turns it on its head, and while it’s not a scary as some of the other entries, it’s still great fun! I’m giving The Homecoming 3 out of 4 cigars , it lost one cigar because, while I love the sympathetic zombies, I actually think I prefer my horror slightly more scary than this was, still it’s a DVD I’m proud to add to my collection! So, until next time, when I’ll reinvent the werewolf, no longer a slavering, evil beast, now he’ll need to go for a walk twice a day and make a great guard god, remember that the best movies are bad movies!