American Horror Story: Double Feature (2021)
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American Horror Story: Double Feature Review
The tenth season of American Horror Story is called Double Feature. It premiered in 2021 and it was an entertaining mess.
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“You guys have got to start taking care of each other.
We have enough enemies on the outside“
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Due to the dumb pandemic, Murphy and the team decided to make two seasons in one, thus they aptly named it Double Feature. I did not care for this approach as both stories deserved more episodes, especially the latter one that only got four of the ten. And the two aren’t all that connected, which was odd.
Red Tide wasn’t my cup of tea. This is the inferior story of the two as it was overly drug-oriented, which I simply do not care for. The emphasis on the creative process was interesting and the story was at its most entertaining in the cannibal sequences, but overall it did not lead to anything and it was quite forgettable.
Most of the cast got back for this season. Finn Wittrock was very good in the main role while Leslie Grossman and Angelica Ross had the most fun out of all the actors and it showed. Sarah Paulson was almost unrecognizable in an interesting role for her while Macaulay Culkin genuinely surprised me as the most interesting character here. He did such a good job and was so well cast that hopefully Hollywood takes notice and brings him back for more projects.
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Death Valley is the main attraction here. This is what personally entertained me the most as a fan of SF and stories about aliens. AHS had an alien subplot before in ‘Asylum’, but this was the first time when they tackled them with full force and I was having a blast watching this story. It was too short, but just so much fun.
I loved both the past and the present scenes. The past sequences were beautifully shot in gorgeous black-and-white and the actors doing the accents of the time coupled with the whole aesthetic and amazing otherworldly score made for a fittingly retro 50s atmosphere. The present was more shocking and fun, but the segments set in the past were more polished and better crafted overall.
I liked how he incorporated all of these different US presidents in the story as well as all these crazy conspiracies that were literally given life here. Even the reptilians in the government were there, but I wanted more of those. The aliens were so fun in their retro look while the whole conquest narrative through inbreeding with humans was interesting, though of course silly. The most ridiculous moments were the pregnancy scenes, but I just loved every second of it as it was pleasantly campy and exceedingly fun.
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Sarah Paulson as Mamie Eisenhower stole the show. She was just so much fun as this overly confident, over-the-top first lady who will pursue her own interests above all else. Leslie Grossman as Calico was as amusing as you’d expect from her. Angelica Ross was very menacing as one of the aliens. Cody Fern was fittingly creepy as Valiant Thor while both Nixon and Eisenhower were perfectly cast and performed.
Overall, American Horror Story: Double Feature is a mixed bag. Red Tide did not appeal to me personally as the story was slim and just not particularly interesting but Death Valley was so much fun. It was a silly alien story, but one that was pleasantly retro, pulpy and wildly entertaining. The acting is stupendous throughout with Leslie Grossman and Sarah Paulson stealing the show. The audio-visuals were also terrific. I just wish that this second story was longer.
Worst Episodes: Cape Fear and Gaslight.
Best Episodes: Take Me to Your Leader and The Future Perfect.
