IN SICKNESS AND IN
HEALTH (Episode 104)
Directed by: John Landis / Written by:
Victor Salva
Starring: Maggie Lawson, James Roday, Christie Laing
SYNOPSIS:
A young bride’s life unravels when, on her wedding day, she receives a mysterious handwritten note that reads, “the person you are about to marry is a serial
killer.
AMMON GILBERT (Rating:
4 out of 4):
NBC’s FEAR ITSELF finally hit the nail on the head with John
Landis’s IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH, a clever (and entertaining) mix of mystery
and horror, diving head first into the slasher subgenre (at least, to some
degree).
From the horrific imagery of the bloodied and arrowed
statues of Christ, to the screaming little children in the beginning, having
the majority of the story set in a creepy church at night contributed to the
episodes overall spook level. But what
worked best for me (in terms of style and storytelling) was the mystery of
finding out the truth behind the mysterious NOTE, the groom’s checkered past,
the bizarre twin uncles, the whereabouts of the brides MIA brother, and of
course… the woman in the red scarf.
Adequately using the commercial breaks to its storytelling
advantage, this was the first episode of the series that I felt worked
masterfully at just an hour long—even though I wanted it to last a little
longer (I was sucked into it that much!).
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH explored the horror of marriage
and the wedding day (horror of the unknown), and gave us a swift kick to the nuts
of an ending, regardless of the logic problems it presented.
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ERIC WALKUSKI (Rating 2.5 out of
4):
This installment of FEAR ITSELF gave me hope, initially, because it came
from director John Landis, who – no matter how spotty his track record –
will always be a name for geeks like myself to look out out for.
Furthermore, his second MASTERS OF HORROR offering, called
“Family”, was a very nice example of Landis’ capable blend of
weird comedy and icky horror (when he decides to toil in the genre, that
is), and since he hasn’t been working on much funny business lately, I
figured he’d sink his teeth into this tale of matrimonial mystery.
But Landis, unfortunately, plays it fairly straight. This story is
begging for some levity, and yet it’s mostly dour and off-putting (I guess
Victor Salva’s bland script deserves some “credit” for that). Landis’
most significant contribution is multiple shots of religious iconography, for
added depth, I suppose, although all they really amount to are pretty pictures.
Also, and I hate to be “that guy”, but I knew how this episode
was going to end about five minutes in. The main “twist” is
telegraphed incredibly early on, and so IN SICKNESS AND HEATH relies on its
director (as I previously stated, is not at the top of his game) and cast – who
aren’t very good. No real offense meant toward the two leads (who I understand
are on PSYCH, and are popular) but neither of them have much OOMPH, and so the
story never lifts off. Oddly enough, throughout the episode I thought both of
them were just about ready to let loose, but it never happened…
I guess the episode has weird touches: the identical twins, the bride’s
brother.. but what do they really
amount to, other than being weird touches? Not alot. So again, FEAR ITSELF has
delivered an average product. Too average, as it were, to get very upset about.
A problem Masters of Horror had in spades…. Just sayin’…
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JARED
PACHECO (Rating 2 out of 4):
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH had a great start too it. I was hooked when Sam
opened the mysterious note. It kept me hooked but never really got the ‘line
and sinker.’ The reason being is that there wasn’t much too the episode.
John Landis did a great job. The story was great and he kept me into it. The
score was awesome and the creaky old church with the countless shots of the
eerie statues was all a plus.
One of the biggest turn offs
for me, like I mentioned, was the lack of plot points. It just seemed to drag
and drag following one crucial thing. Nothing really new introduced to us to
make us take notice until the end. .. Speaking of the end… it can definitely
be seen as predictable. The twist crossed my mind not long after Sam got the
note. It does confuse you a bit as to what’s really what, but it falls
together in the end. The twist does kind of butt heads with some parts of the
episode though.
Another thing that really
threw me off was the casting of the main two characters. See, I’m a HUGE fan
of the TV show PSYCH, so imagine how surprised I was to see the same two leads
in the PSYCH serious starring in IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH. And the kicker
is… they’re occasional love interests in the world of PSYCH, so to see
them as newlyweds in this wasn’t much different. They’re performances were
mediocre as well. I’m a big fan of James Roday’s, but he should definitely
stick to the comedy. Maggie Lawson didn’t do a horrible job either… just
wasn’t spectacular. The best performance in this episode came from Marshall
Bell… wish we saw more of him. Christie Laing was looking good too!
A tad boring and potentially predictable, on the plus side IN SICKNESS AND IN
HEALTH was a decent episode that kept me into it.
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MIKE CATALANO (Rating 1.5 out of
4):
THE MS. CATALANO SCALE: (Rating 4 pansies out of 4)
Well, here we go again with another episode of FEAR ITSELF, the fourth to be
exact. And I can’t help but sadly
groan as I write this review, considering (in my opinion) that the horror series
is batting a dismal 25% thus far, having only hit one of its four out of the
park. And trust me, IN SICKNESS AND
IN HEALTH, this past week’s airing, ain’t that one homer.
At least it inspired me to invent a new means for reviewing horror:
“The Mrs. Scale”.
To not sound like a complete cynic, I’ll start out with
the positive because there was some. There
were a few nice dashes of humor (which should come as no surprise seeing as how
this one was directed by ANIMAL HOUSE’s John Landis).
It was written by Victor Salva (JEEPERS CREEPERS) who also is adept at
sprinkling laughs throughout his work. I
mean, POWDER was meant to be a laugh riot, wasn’t it?
Anyways, from some screaming children to an old guy coughing during the
wedding ceremony, I got my chuckle on. Also,
I thought that Maggie Lawson, who played the cold-footed bride was as believable
as she was easy on the eyes.
Uh, that’s about it.
Now it’s time to invoke the negative which will bring out the
aforementioned “Mrs. Scale”. See,
The Mrs. loathes horror and scares on every level.
I could probably write a book entailing the numerous levels of her
hatred. She wouldn’t go near the
first three FEAR ITSELF episodes. However,
she actually watched ALL of IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH with me!
For horror lovers, that’s not a good sign.
Nothing was scary. The gore
was minimal.
And the story was just plain lame—the “twist” at the
end felt like such a letdown and even nonsensical.
Plus, the great Marshall Bell (TOTAL RECALL) had a double role in this
one, playing twin brothers… yet for absolutely no good reason.
What’s the point of running with that gimmick if it doesn’t deliver
any form of a payoff? I’m sorry,
but I just felt cheated. Hence,
would I take this episode in sickness and
in health? Hell no!
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