The premise of horror is one that is timeless and every culture has had horrific tales, some of which have been passed down through the ages. Those gruesome tales have paved the way for modern storytellers to craft equally and in many cases more disturbing tales and in the modern age, the craft of frightening people has gone from pen and paper to cinema, and that’s where Masters of Horror has managed to succeed. It has often adapted literary works into a horrible creation, and the series has seen the works of the infamous H.P. Lovecraft brought to life, and now a man who is a master of horror of a different kind; Clive Barker.

Haeckel's Tale is one of Barker’s many short stories, this on in particular first appeared in Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre. The episode originally was to be directed by another master of horror, George A. Romero, but unable to take on the assignment, the direction was handed over to John McNaughton, director of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but given the subject matter, it’s very easy to understand why Romero was originally considered for this episode. Haeckel's Tale isn’t set in the modern age, but one quit long ago, and John Ralston (Steve Bacic) is seeking the aid of an old woman rumored to be a necromancer. She instead tells him the tale of another man, Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil) who sought to raise the dead himself. Haeckel soon met Montesquino (Jon Polito) who claimed that he could in fact raise the dead, but it seemed to be nothing more than a trick, but Haeckel would soon meet a couple and learn of the terrible secret and grim depravities that took place in the graveyard late at night.

Much of Haeckel's Tale plays itself out somewhat like another familiar story; Frankenstein. Mary Shelley’s timeless classic has been retold a number of time in a variety of ways, so finding someone like Barker making use of the story and adjusting it in new ways isn’t terribly surprising. Very early in the story in fact, we see another scientist making an attempt to raise the dead via electricity, though this isn’t something done in some secret laboratory but instead in front of a number of witnesses, though the experiment doesn’t have the expected results.

Montesquino’s claims also seem very far-fetched although he supposedly, Haeckel discredits him, believing instead that he is nothing more than a charlatan using simple trickery to convince people. It isn’t until his meeting with Mr. Wolfram (Tom McBeath), an aged gentleman and his young wife Elise (Leela Savasta) that Haeckel observes the truth and that the dead can be brought back, but they are definitely not the same people as they were when they were alive. Haeckel's Tale takes the Frankenstein idea and turns it into an orgy of the dead with Elise committing carnal acts with zombies. I guess that the dead need a little action as well.

Although Haeckel's Tale isn’t a bad episode, it does tend to play on too many previous stories, and the first and most obvious is Frankenstein, but there are other similarities. The experimentation sequence brought back some memories of Re-Animator, a tale that itself is based on Shelley’s tale. There is a feeling that makes the tale feel almost like it should be an Edgar Allen Poe story, though I don’t think that Poe himself would have ever written about fornication with the undead, that’s something that is more in line with a director like Joe D’Amato or perhaps a movie like Nekromantik, though that’s more about necrophilia, but it’s the same general idea.

I can’t really label Haeckel's Tale as being a bad episode of Masters of Horror, but I can’t necessarily say that it’s a great one either. It simply borders between the two. It has some great camera work, some excellent scenery and costuming, but I often found that the dialog was a bit ridiculous, though I understand that there is an attempt to get an “old world” flavor added into the episode. It could have been quite a bit worse, but it certainly needed more polishing to be a fantastic entry into the series.

Even though the series itself hasn’t been perfect and I can’t think of an anthology series that truly is, Masters of Horror has delivered quite a few bonus features to fans, and Haeckel's Tale is no exception to that trend. The feature itself includes commentary by director John McNaughton, but this is no real shock as every episode of the series has included commentary, in some cases more than just one, but there is more found on the DVD. There is a stills gallery and a collection of storyboards as well as a bio on John McNaughton, but those are just the little extras. There behind the scenes features which include interviews with the primary cast members, McNaughton talking not just about this episode but what drew him into the business and even the screenplay and screensavers which are accessible via a DVD-ROM, so as always, Masters of Horror delivers quite a bit outside of storytelling.

Haeckel's Tale will most certainly appeal to some horror fans, but I wouldn’t necessarily go in expecting to be overwhelmed with something completely different. This tale is one you’ve heard over and over again, it’s just the name and locations have been changed to protect the innocence, or maybe it was the undead.

-mike-