CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Coog30 "The Washingtonians" was a pretty funny episode. It's an hilarious concept, though I admit that there were a few moments when I thought what I was seeing on the screen had to be somehow blasphemous.Nevertheless, I found it funny and think it's great that such taboos can be explored, though I pray the average viewer is smart enough to slough off the ridiculous notion that Washington was a cannibal. With the amount of, and overall zaniness of conspiracy theories today, this one could be off to the races.That small bit of social commentary aside, the film has a bit of gore, a funny concept, few scares, and a lot of camp.The concept alone makes it worth watching if you're bored. From a critical standpoint, the "concept" itself seems to straddle an objective line, poking fun at both lame conspiracy theories and our pre-conceived idolization of certain historical figures.Sadly, it almost seems as if the director took a fine piece of complex satire and dumbed it down to a Michael Moore film, to convey that "America sucks. Oh yeah, George Bush, too."

causeiwantto2001 If there is one thing that freaks me out, even at the age of 28, it's southern old people! I felt shot back to being a small child, watching Poltergeist 2 with Jullian Beck and Zelda Rubeinstien. The lawyer is as close as I have come to feeling that creeped out, since the 80's. I got over Freddy, and Jason, still alittle fear when a Halloween sequel pops up, but to this day, the vision of Jullian Beck playing Kane still spooks me out, and I must do a scan of the room I am in! The Washingtonians seems to have that effect on me, and it really took me back to that time. The Masters of Horror series has some real gems, and this episode has left that impression on me.

Paul Andrews Masters of Horror: The Washingtonians starts as Mike (co-writer Jonathon Schaech) & Pam Franks (Venus Terzo) along with their 10 year old daughter Amy (Julia Tortolano) drive to the house left to Frank by his recently deceased Grandmother, once there they start to explore their new home. Amy decides to look in the basement & discovers a large painting of George Washington the founder of the United States, upon closer inspection Mike finds a letter & a fork made of bone behind a tear in the canvas. The letter talks of Washington engaging in cannibalistic activities, Mike realises that if the letter turns out to be genuine then it could rewrite American history but so do a group of loons called Washingtonians who will do anything to get the letter back...This Canadian American co-production was episode 12 from season 2 of the generally hit-and-miss Masters of Horror TV series, directed by Peter Medak I actually thought The Washingtonians was a definite hit & I rather liked this darkly comic story despite it's largely negative reviews. The tongue-in-cheek script by Richard Chizmar & star Jonathon Schaech was based on a short story of the same name by Bentley Little & has a cool twisted central premise, the thought of George Washington being a cannibal & there being people who call themselves Washingtonians who still carry on the tradition is an interesting & perverse idea that I thought made for a very watchable & entertaining 60 odd minutes. However it's far from perfect, the tight time scale means it feels a bit rushed no more so than the frustrating ending because the episode was going really well as far as I was concerned & then all of a sudden everything just seemed to end abruptly without a satisfactory conclusion which is the only real criticism I have with The Washingtonians & I deify anyone to say The Washingtonians is a worse Masters of Horror episode than The Screwfly Solution with a straight face.Director Medak is yet another strange choice to direct a so-called Masters of Horror episode, apart from The Changeling (1981), a Tales from the Crypt episode called The New Arrival (1992) & Species II (1998) he hasn't exactly been prolific within the horror genre has he? He does fine here, there's not many scares but at least he keeps things moving & there's a nice atmosphere to this one especially the cool juxtaposition at the end when amidst all the splendour & opulence of The Washingtonians posh surroundings they indulge in very vulgar acts of cannibalism. As usual there's some top gore, there's a decapitation at the start & the expected various cannibal scenes including someone eating chunks of flesh from a severed foot, a huge tray with a chopped up body on it, there's intestine eating & plenty of blood splashed around.Techncially these Masters of Horror episodes are very well made & don't look like the cheap made-for-TV show's that they are in reality. The special effects are excellent as always & it has high production values. The acting was alright but the 10 year girl annoyed like a lot of child actors do.The Washingtonians seems to have a bad reputation which frankly I couldn't give a toss about because I liked it & that's all that matters to me & it's as simple & straight forward as that, I reckon it's well worth an hour of your life.

clockwork_mike83 Forget the previous post about this episode. The guy must be Roger Ebert Jr, another pompous-uptight ***hole. I really hate it when someone comes on here with a half-hearted attempted to sound like a NY Times film critic, when in fact they probably live in their parents' basement.Though this episode is by far the strongest of the season I would say I thought the story was very cool. It was both gallows-humorous and a gore-junkie's delight. I will not dare spoil any of the plot lines for anyone of you, except that it gives the viewer a new, grim outlook on United States history. If you enjoy the Masters of Horror series, please give this one a look, ESPECIALLY if your an American History buff, I guarantee you'll never look at a dollar bill the same way again!