Tara (Lindsay Pulsipher) is a blonde and beautiful, but she’s far from popular at her high school. She’s a bit of a nerd — she daydreams about comic bookish superheroes in class, she’s painfully shy, and out of style. One afternoon while taking a shortcut home through the woods her inattention gets the better of her; she’s snatched by a madman, thrown into the back of a van, and held prisoner in an isolated mansion.

Tara’s troubles double after she’s thrown headlong into the disheveled basement and she quickly encounters a suicidal young man. Johnny (Jesse Haddock) seems to know more about her predicament than he lets on. Not that he can do much about his caginess — he can’t speak. The unnerved teen communicates as best he can, but still, he can’t stop the hellish, cellar-dwelling creature from coming for Tara’s blood.

Directed by William Malone (The House on Haunted Hill remake, Feardotcom), Fair-Haired Child is the ninth episode to air in the 13-part Masters of Horror anthology on Showtime. The only thing it has in common with its forerunners is that it’s as different from the rest as each (far be it from moi to quote Forrest Gump, but you get the idea). That’s what I love about Masters of Horror — the directors really were allowed to do their own thing, and each one’s singular style shines through.

Malone does some interesting things with flashbacks and dream sequences, adding bold splashes of black and white and stop-motion special effects to visually spice up the tale as the mystery unfolds. This story is one of the more traditional horror yarns (but Incident On and Off a Mountain Road is still the champ in that arena), and it’s got some great scares. A still has been released showing the “demon” but don’t think you’ve seen it all judging from that photo… it’s a creepy creature that only fully comes into its own through its supernatural slithering.

The younger actors are largely unknown (but they’re both quite good). Veterans Lori Petty (Tank Girl, Route 666) and William Samples (Smallville, The Twilight Zone) play the seemingly sinister roles of parents who grieve the loss of their “fair-chaired child” and will stop at nothing to bring the soul back to an earthly existence.

The attention to detail in Fair-Haired Child — from the elegant décor of the stately mansion inside, to the bony wind chimes that gruesomely clink in the night outside — is breathtaking, and the cinematography is sumptuous (this is the first episode to show off Brian Pearson’s work). The music, too, plays an important role.

The story is simple (perfect for its one-hour timeframe) but it’s fun and effective. Be sure and tune in for Fair-Haired Child’s premiere airing on Friday, January 6th. (Note: Showtime will be having a Masters of Horror marathon over the New Year’s Weekend so if you’ve missed any of the episodes, there’s your chance to catch up.)

= = =

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

Click here for more on Masters of Horror