Masters Of Horror - "Homecoming"

homecomingrating-4.0Coming hot on the heels of "Chocolate", "Homecoming" was a breath of unexpected fresh air, though it has an equally lauded and awful rap, depending on who you talk to.

Detractors point out its stupidity, its obviousness, its lack of depth, and its divisive nature. Advocates appreciate its political satire, its ribbing of asshole pundits, and its thoughtful pointedness about our times. So, as you can see, opposing viewpoints, much as you are wont to see in our political culture.

The plot involves a conservative pundit's opportunistic wish that all our fallen troops from the Iraq War would return, sure to vote for his neo-con President in a tight election. His wish, of course, comes true and the troops rise from the grave to the astonishment of the establishment.

They don't know how to deal with the troops, so they handle things badly. There's camps. People are told the apocalypse is coming.

Of course, all they want to do is vote. So they're allowed to and they pass back into death. Until their votes are discounted... The rest you'll have to see.

It has analogues for Cindy Sheehan, Karl Rove, a particularly nasty jab at Ann Coulter, all the biggest, dumbest talking heads in the business. It's a fairly astute vision of politics, filtered through the pathos of our troops and the sacrifice they make for... well, roughly nothing. It lampoons the assholes that run our world blisteringly.

The one criticism I have is the very end, which is far too cartoonish and pushes well past the point, which was already made. No need to drive it home, Mr. Dante.

Joe Dante is a horror fan and has made a name for himself as a director. It is well-deserved. Sam Hamm shows that he has an excellent handle on how to tell a horror story that has a social context. It's all very well-done and I enjoyed it very much, though other people would easily write it off because of the overtly political texture. To them I say "Eat it."

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