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American Horror Story: Hotel (1 Viewer)

JohnMor

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EricSchulz

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While an anthology approach would make perfect sense given the location, I wonder how it would tie in with the previous seasons and the revelation that all the seasons are actually connected.
 

TravisR

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With a hotel, you could have a season where the characters' stories are loosely connected. You could watch one episode and get a tale from beginning to end but if you watched the whole season, you'd see characters & events cross over and get a more full tale.


Considering that it's American Horror Story, I'm sure there will be different historical eras shown which also suits a hotel setting.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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My favorite seasons so far have been the two centered around a fixed setting -- the Murder House and the Asylum -- so this sounds promising. Certainly there is a rich history of horror stories set in hotels, with "The Shining" at the top of the heap.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Adam Lenhardt said:
My favorite seasons so far have been the two centered around a fixed setting -- the Murder House and the Asylum -- so this sounds promising. Certainly there is a rich history of horror stories set in hotels, with "The Shining" at the top of the heap.
Agreed. I started all of the seasons of the show, but only made it to start to finish on those two. For the other ones, they started off interesting enough but within a couple episodes, it felt to me like I was watching basically the same thing, same actors playing the same characters and doing the same story, just with the settings and names changed.
 

Matt Hough

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I haven't seen Freak Show yet (I'm hoping to review it), but I certainly liked season one more than any of the others. I have been waiting for the home video releases for the other seasons, but I think I might try Hotel as it airs as I did with season one.
 

TravisR

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I guess I'm the only person who thinks that the show is much better now than in the first season. Murder House just seemed interested in shock value but the show now seems to walk a line between being scary, really fucked up and funny.
 

Elizabeth S

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I watched seasons 1 to 3 (1 is by far my favorite) but bailed before "Freak Show". However, I will be back for "Hotel" for Matt Bomer (I know he had a small role in S4).
 

EricSchulz

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Wow...NOT ONE comment on the premiere?


I'm not sure I'm liking the "stylistic" approach this season...does every shot need to be through a fish-eye lens? And if the first episode is any indication, it's going to be more adult and violent than the past seasons.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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So far we only seem to have vampires, albeit not of the fanged variety. I think even the children are vampires. Not sure what the dude sewn into the Swedish girls' mattress was.


I like that this season is genuinely creepy again. I'm on the fence about whether I enjoy the extent that the premiere was an aesthetic exercise, far more than the already stylized prior seasons.


The art deco design of the Hotel Cortez is to die for.


Using "Hotel California" was more than a little on the nose, so I guess we should be happy they got it out of the way in the pilot.
 

Malcolm R

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Adam Lenhardt said:
Using "Hotel California" was more than a little on the nose, so I guess we should be happy they got it out of the way in the pilot.
Yeah, my eyes rolled hard when the song started. It was even predictable on which lyric they would fade out.

I was kind of confused at the change in ownership of the hotel. I assumed the Gaga character was the owner.

Vampires and whatever lives in Room 33 (which Kathy Bates' character needs to feed).
 

JohnMor

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http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/08/american-horror-story-hotel-ryan-murphy-checking-in

I was actually more excited by the teaser from American Crime Story than anything in the episode. Except the set. The set is fantastic.


Yep, vampires and ghosts. Kinda boring. Vampires have been done to death on other shows and movies. And the ghosts... been there, done that. Hopefully they will take it in some fresh, interesting direction. The sex and violence was also a bit lame I thought. Smacked of laziness to me. Can't write anything really interesting? Have a foursome and rape with a metal strap-on. Sigh. They may very well be running out of ideas. There is such a huge panoply they can tap into for this series, but they seem to be getting stuck in the same old ruts. Gee, where have we seen the mother hanging around the location (and facilitating the action within) to be near her dead (or immortal) son before? Oh yeah, Constance. And where have we seen the ghost battling with the woman who killed her? Oh yeah, Moira and Constance. And where have we seen a serial killer with a hidden identity before? Oh yeah, Bloody Face.


I am looking forward to the L.A. history and especially the silent film connections Ryan Murphy has teased about. That will make it at least worth watching to me for a while.
 

MarkMel

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So I need to watch this again because I kept falling asleep but from what I can remember, meh.


It seems like the violence and gore was there for shock factor (and I like violence and gore) without much of a narrative.


I do agree that the set of the Hotel Cortez is pretty great. But it just looks like they have the lobby, a hallway and a couple of rooms built.


Again, I need to watch again so my opinion may change.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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VERY interesting behind-the-scenes photo released from recent "Hotel" filming:

AHS_Hotel_027.jpg
 

MarkMel

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So far the only thing I'm liking are the music choices. Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees in one show - excellent.


And the fact that they killed a man bun hipster. Hate those man buns.
 

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