MASTERS OF HORROR: JOHN LANDIS' "DEER WOMAN"

MASTERS OF HORROR: JOHN LANDIS' "DEER WOMAN"
By Ken Leicht

FINALLY… a good episode of Masters of Horror. In fact, “Deer Woman” is not just good, it’s great. John Landis shows them all how with his entry in the Masters of Horror sweepstakes co-scripted by his son Max. Taking cues from Native American legend, “Deer Woman” concerns a series of violent murders which resemble animal attacks which turn out to be the work of a mythological creature.

The case falls into the hands of a detective (played by DREAM ON’s Brian Benben), who has been pulled from homicide and relegated to investigating animal attacks. Benben is intrigued by the oddness of the case. In a series of amusing flashbacks, he speculates as to how a trucker could be a victim of some missing woman and a hostile deer.

As previous installments of the Masters of Horror anthology had driven me to despair, it was quite a relief to finally get a good episode that delivered as being something resembling a “master” work. After the TWILIGHT ZONE movie and the ensuing controversy surrounding the accident that killed Vic Morrow, it seemed as if Landis’s work was never the same. “Deer Woman” is a return to form. It had the humor and characterization of his older work. The episode could easily stand side by side with AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and not be overshadowed.

Hopefully this episode is just the beginning of a new Golden Age for Landis who once could do no wrong.