Please note: this article contains spoilers from the first episode.
The ninth installment in the “American Horror Story” franchise, this year called “1984,” aired on FX last night to the joy of many long-standing fans of the show. This “homage to slasher flicks” (TV Guide) is already gritty and addictive, leaving viewers as tense and on edge as it’s eight previous seasons have. However, this is a whole new “American Horror Story.”
As is AHS’s style, viewers can expect a whirlwind of chaotic and bloody action this season, with the psychological aspect being just as fierce as the ones before it, if not more so; but this season is -so far- utterly independent of former seasons of AHS. And like a fine wine, “American Horror Story” gets better and better as time passes, in this diehard fan’s opinion.
AHS isn’t for the faint of heart. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, airing first in 2011, each season of “American Horror Story” is like its own mini-movie, with a beginning, middle, and end. Some of the story lines carry over into others, but not necessarily every one. The seasons are, in order: “Murder House” (2011); “Asylum” (2012-13); “Coven” (2013-14); “Freak Show” (2014-15); “Hotel” (2015-16); “Roanoke” (2016); “Cult” (2017); and “Apocalypse” (2018) and now “1984” (2019-). Many of the main cast members this season are recurring, and this is certainly pleasing to fans, who can’t seem to get enough of these actors. Returning to “1984” from past seasons include Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, and John Carol Lynch; however, fan favorite Evan Peters will not be returning this season, and it’s rumored that Sarah Paulson will have only a limited role.
This will be the first season that Peters isn’t included in, and he will be missed! Newcomers to the series this season include: Pose’s Angelica Ross; Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy; Glee’s Matthew Morrison; and Zach Villa, who plays Richard Ramirez (who was a true serial killer who terrorized the streets of Los Angeles during the years 1984-1985). It’s a twist to include Ramirez in this new script; although Ramirez was included in the fifth season, “Hotel”, these characters seem to have no connection. It’s always more believable to me when true stories are mixed into fiction; it adds a more chilling vibe, in my opinion.
What to expect from season nine of “American Horror Story: 1984”? Set in the title year, from the decade of hairspray and neon, this is a summer-camp slasher-horror tale, complete with spandex-loving, hair-sprayed camp counselors set on having a good time, a campground named “Camp Redwood” with a fatal history, and a dark force haunting, stalking the campground. A new villain, “Mr. Jingles”, lurks in the background of the storyline; considering past villains from “American Horror Story,” “Mr. Jingles” is sure to become another iconic character (think Twisty the Clown, Kai Anderson, Dandy Mott). Perhaps next Halloween, (maybe even this year?) there will even be a Mr. Jingles costume on sale at your local superstore.
I sat riveted watching the first episode of “1984”. The story begins in the year 1970. Three camp counselors are getting hot and heavy. Suddenly, a jingling sound. Keys. (Aha! I already know the villain’s name is Mr. Jingles, now I know why!) Sure enough, the scene plays out as expected (typical 80’s style massacre). The body count is high; very high as the shot pans away to show many bloody bodies laying on top of each other and scattered around in a cabin. (Very Friday the 13th!) Next, scenes of a combat-booted, raincoat-befitted figure lumbering around said bodies; we see him cut an ear from a victim, slip it onto a string with more ears already gloppily strung before it, then clomp away in the rain, his boots echoing and thudding on the wet deck.
Welcome to the intro, which like each season, is uniquely patterned together to hook the viewer right from the start. We hear a poppy 80’s beat, along with the creepy soundtrack of chaos in the background, shown images of people wearing unitards and classic 80’s gear, doing aerobics; moonwalking; even Ronald Reagan; with disturbing images slipped in between of blood and tragedy. The intro this season is absolutely epic; I look forward to it every year. Very befitting to the theme of this season.
After the introduction, in the first scene, set 14 years after this incident at Camp Redwood, we are in an aerobics class, and it really feels as though this could have been filmed in the 80’s. As we flash to each character, their name pops up, almost cornily, in classic magenta slasher-font (that’s the best way I can describe it), next to each character as a funky pop song bumps in the background.
We meet Xavier (Cody Fern), Brooke (Emma Roberts), Montana (Billie Lourd), Ray (DeRon Horton), and Chet (former Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy); all playing stereotypical roles of jock, rebel, princess, etc. These characters make up the group that will eventually decide to follow Xavier up to a new camp that’s re-opening for the summer, to become camp-counselors. Also, Xavier says, he wants to get away from what his cousin, a cop with the LAPD, has predicted to be a summer of bloody repeat, comparable to 1978’s Son of Sam rampage (another true story AHS has included). Initially hesitating, the self-proclaimed “last American virgin”, Brooke, declines…until later that evening, after she herself becomes a victim of the “Night Stalker” (who we know to be real-life Richard Ramirez, played by Villa). Brooke manages to get away by clobbering the intruder over the head with a frying pan and thus alerting the neighbors, causing Ramirez to flee, but not before promising Brooke that he would find her, with the help of Satan. He runs off, and the next day Brooke decides to join the others and go to work at Camp Redwood, away from the threat of her assailant.
The group travels by van (a very cool van with stripes, absolutely resonating the gaudy 80’s) to their destination; encountering a mysterious gas station owner who begs them off heading on. He ominously warns them that they are all going to die. Later, a hiker bumbles into the road, injured, so the group takes him with them in hopes of getting him help at the camp. A strange trip, indeed. After indulging in pot and coke, the merry group continue toward their destination, seemingly undeterred by their strange passenger and the warning from Roy, the Gas-n-Grub owner.
Their destination: Camp Redwood. This is a place that has been closed for 14 years, ever since the massacre took place there. Leslie Grossman plays Margaret Booth, a woman who not only claims to be the only survivor of the 1970 attack, but was saved only by the grace of God. Devout, she has bought the camp from an inheritance from her husband’s “untimely death”, determined to turn her dark memories into better, brighter days; into a place of fun and safety for children to escape to for the summer. As her new employees pull up, she is chopping wood, and explains that employees are scarce due to the Olympics. Therefore, the camp will be short-staffed and each counselor would need to wear many hats to achieve a successful summer. This seems agreeable to the fivesome, who then take their injured passenger to the camp nurse, Rita, played by Angelica Ross, who is a no-nonsense woman who later tells the group what happened there in 1970. Rita explains that Benjamin Richter, a Vietnam veteran who had found his calling in killing during the war; dishonorably discharged for collecting trophies from his kills (ears); sent back to the USA where could only find work at Camp Redwood, Rita claims he went crazy one night, killing ten. At this point, Margaret joins the group around the campfire, and admonishes Rita to tell the story right. “Nine,” she says. She shares her tale of being one of the victims, of being saved by the mercy of God, of watching her body from above as Mr. Jingles sliced off her ear. Margaret is determined to reopen the retreat, no matter what, putting the past behind her; and she’s counting on these young people to help her.
Meanwhile, other things are happening. On the drive up, Xavier calls his voicemail only to hear someone threaten him, saying that Xavier can’t hide… whoever this is leaving this message, knows where Xavier is headed. The hiker warns Brooke to get out of the camp. A woman is seen driving into a facility, where it seems chaotic, as the entire lawn is covered with people standing in the rain: this turns out to be the institution where Benjamin Richter is being held- but has escaped after faking his own death by hanging and fooling a guard, who’s life he chokes out of him. Finally, we meet Mr. Jingles, aka Benjamin Richter, played by the epic John Carroll Lynch, also a return cast member (well known as Twisty the Clown). Later, Roy, the gas station owner, a seemingly curmudgeonly man with a soft side for cats, becomes victim number two (the guard being the first) of the escaped psychopath. Mr. Jingles then heads back to his familiar stomping grounds, Camp Redwood.
Unbeknownst to this development, Brooke goes out to check on their infirm patient, only to discover him dead and hanging from the door. Naturally, she freaks out and runs back but after telling the others, the group searches but the body is gone. Does Brooke know more than she’s letting on? My gut says no, but this IS “American Horror Story,” and it wouldn’t be first time a character carried with them more knowledge than they let on. Where did the body go? I can’t wait to have this question answered.
As usual, the ending is a cliffhanger. The payphone outside the main camp building starts mysteriously ringing in the darkness. Brooke goes out to answer, after prodding feisty Montana to help her, unsuccessfully. As she answers, keys can be heard jingling, and then, to her horror, she spots the “Night Stalker”, whispering, “Satan, Satan, Satan.” Somehow, he’s at the camp. Somehow, he’s found Brooke…. And, cut to black.
Talk about a cliffhanger!
I’m already hooked on the newest season of “American Horror Story, 1984”. Full of classic songs like “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama, and “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell; with catchphrases like “Eat my shorts,” (no, Bart Simpson didn’t coin this term!) and with Van-Halen being accused of being ‘ungodly’, this season truly is an homage to classic slasher flicks from within the past 40 years. The 80’s are making a comeback in a big way (Stranger Things for example) and I’m beyond excited to see where “AHS: 1984” takes us. Full of fun Easter eggs in a nod to classic horror films and trends from that era, this child of the 80’s is thrilled to see AHS pay such respect to that decadent, radical decade.
Written by Mandie Stevens
