Plot
A young medical student, mesmerized by Baron Frankenstein’s revolutionary theories, clashes with his college professor’s narrow-minded viewpoints. Convinced he can bring the dead back to life using scientific means, the young man decides to prove his skeptics wrong by setting up a practical demonstration, one which will end in disaster, however.
But even when science is powerless, it doesn’t mean black magic won’t work: in fact, the dark arts practiced by the necromancer Montesquino are apparently capable of producing far more convincing results…
To resurrect a simple beast is not nearly so taxing as bringing back a human being.
Critique
4“Haeckel’s Tale”, a disappointing adaptation of a Clive Barker short story, represents one of the least successful episodes of the first season of “Masters of Horror”. To be fair, it starts off bursting with Frankenstein-style promise, but all that promise falls by the wayside. The gloomy atmosphere typical of nineteenth-century Gothic horror is effectively recreated, and the costumes and sets are well done. Despite all that, as the minutes pass, the slow pacing turns catatonic and the story simply fails to take off.
The plot, weighed down by a core group of not very interesting characters, becomes increasingly more annoying. As if that weren’t bad enough, the final twist into zombie-movie territory turns downright irritating, ushering in a wave of ludicrous scenes that are completely out of place.
The whole thing winds up in a necrophiliac orgy that’s as forced as it is ridiculous. McNaughton, who had to pinch-hit for George A. Romero at the last moment, has given us far better work in the past.
More Info
- Based on the short story "Haeckel's Tale" (2005) by Clive Barker
Quotes
- To resurrect a simple beast is not nearly so taxing as bringing back a human being. A man with a soul.
- Have you heard the story of Ernst Haeckel?
Trivia
- Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), noted German biologist, zoologist and philosopher, is considered the founder of the theory of recapitulation.
Products
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| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
 | Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World's Greatest Horror Writers (Dark Delicacies Series Book 1) | |
 | Masters of Horror - John Mcnaughton - Haeckel's Tale |
| Nome del prodotto | Prezzo |
|---|
| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
![Masters of Horror - John McNaughton: Haeckel's Tale [DVD] [2006]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NdtgKi35L._SL75_.jpg) | Masters of Horror - John McNaughton: Haeckel's Tale [DVD] [2006] | |
| Masters of Horror: Haeckel's Tale [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] | |
| Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World's Greatest Horror Writers (Dark Delicacies Series Book 1) | |
 | Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World's Greatest Horror Writers |
| Nombre del producto | Precio | |
|---|---|---|
 | El Cuento de Haeckel / Masters of Horror: Haeckel's Tale (Blu-Ray) |
| Produktname | Preis | |
|---|---|---|
| Masters of Horror - John McNaughton: Haeckel's Tale |
| Nom du produit | Prix | |
|---|---|---|
| Haeckel's Tale-Master of Horror [Import allemand] |
| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World's Greatest Horror Writers | |
| Masters Of Horror: Haeckel's Tale |