Nothing good ever comes out of scary movies or TV shows that take place in a hotel – just think of "Psycho" or the prequel TV show "Bates Motel."
"American Horror Story: Hotel," the fifth season of the series premiered on Wednesday, Oct. 7 – and it certainly lived up to its predicted creepy hotel vibe.
If you’re an AHS fan, there is no doubt you noticed the one major difference between this season and the past four seasons of the show from the first episode – the absence of the Queen B of AHS, Jessica Lange.
When Lange announced that she wasn’t returning to AHS, it was a big deal - she was the star of the show in every season.
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of AHS, needed to quickly find a new heavy hitter to replace Lange – and his decision couldn’t have been more perfect for the role.
Lady Gaga.
The response was mostly positive in regard to the replacement. Lady Gaga is known for being weird and bizarre – like when she wore a meat dress on the 2010 MTV Music Awards red carpet.
Many people were shocked the creators and producers didn’t think to cast her for this series from season one.
According to Lady Gaga in an interview on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, she has always wanted to be an actress but was too awkward during auditions – so she became a singer instead.
When she was asked about starring in AHS, she said she is fascinated by the sex horror factor of the show.
The premiere itself revealed that this season is going to feature a lot of this type of horror. Most of the deaths from the first episode were caused from sex.
But at times the sex horror felt a little excessive, making it seem like the show was thought up from a sick fantasy. It didn’t seem seriously scary – these scenes seemed more like jokes.
Sex horror is more of a “look away from the screen” gory type of scary than the usual creepy scary feeling you get from AHS.
If this season is going to be scary and use sex horror throughout, the setting of season needs to go along with the plot.
For example, the first season of AHS took place in the “murder house” and the events that followed throughout the show were events that would take place in a creepy house – ghosts, murderers and family issues like cheating.
The fourth season took place at a circus, where the issues of self-loathing, class divide and family dynamics took center stage. These issues made sense, because they related to a circus whether or not it was scary.
But this premiere was missing those obvious elements and it seems difficult to gauge what the season will be about from the premiere.
What is the reason behind killing people? Is it for fun or is a more complex game? Many people believe that Lady Gaga and her accomplices killing the people who come to the hotel are vampires, but they could just be sex-craved psychos.
Season five looks like it’s going to be a combination of season one and season two of the show – the murder house and the asylum. The setting is similar to season one – just substitute a hotel for a house – and like in season two, the plot seems confusing because it has so many different story lines.
This season does have a lot of potential. Anything that happens in a hotel can be creepy and scary – but I don’t think that Ryan Murphy and Lady Gaga will reach people in that way by doing it through sex horror.
email: features@ubspectrum.com
Dani Guglielmo is a features desk editor and can be reached at dani.guglielmo@ubspectrum.com.
Photo: Courtesy of Tracey Drury
