Last week’s Movie Mondays column highlighted three recent supernatural thrillers. This week, we’re taking a look at three creepy, sinister TV series to watch under our dark, rainy skies this fall.
Now in its third season, American Horror Story (2011-) has established itself as a twisted treat for viewers. It follows a unique format, in which largely the same cast (with Jessica Lange at the helm in an Emmy Award-winning performance) but plays a different character each season. “Murder House” (season 1) takes place in a haunted house; “Asylum” (season 2) takes place in an insane asylum; and “Coven,” currently airing on the FX network, follows a group of witches. It’s campy, scary, gothic, funny, original, visually dazzling and over-the-top.
Bates Motel (2013-) premiered this year on the A&E network to critical acclaim. This prequel to Psycho stars Freddie Highmore as a teenaged Norman Bates, whose mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) buys the Bates Motel in a small coastal town in Oregon. The pair’s attempt at a fresh start is thwarted by outside events as well as the emotionally unhealthy relationship between mother and son. The program’s strength lies in Hitchcockian suspense and psychologically disturbed characters.
Another prequel, Hannibal (2013-) took to the airwaves this spring on NBC. It follows Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), a criminal profiler for the FBI who can also see into the minds of serial killers. He is teamed up with a brilliant psychiatrist to catch a murderer who eats his victims. The psychiatrist’s name? Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). The series, part police procedural and part gruesome horror, examines the early life of Hannibal Lecter, with future seasons designed to introduce characters and storylines from Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon.
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