AHS: 1984
By Sophia Fineza
Image Source: IMDb
logline: In the summer of 1984, five friends escape Los Angeles to work as counselors at Camp Redwood. As they adjust to their new jobs, they quickly learn that the only thing scarier than campfire tales is the past coming to haunt you.
Source: AHS Fandom
so i know i’m a little late for halloween, but my excuse is that they’re putting this on netflix on the 13th, so here we go. i’m not gonna lie to you, compared to some of the earlier seasons of ahs, 1984 was a little underwhelming. i’m not saying that it was terrible, because it was FAR from that, but it wasn’t amazing. this season really didn’t have the best writing; all the dialogue had a weird layer of that ‘80s horror movie’ cheesy-ness that was most likely intentional, but just got really old by the end of the season. however, all the characters were likeable in a slightly annoying way, which made watching it more bearable. i remember hearing about this season when it first came out, and i was really excited about having an 80s theme, and it really did not disappoint. the vibes were immaculate, of course. ryan murphy always does a great job with setting the scene, especially when a show or season is focused around a specific decade, like Hollywood. something that i’m not quite sure is a pro or con is that this season has REALLY desensitized me to any form of gore. 1984 really played into the shock factor with all the blood and aggressive murder tactics, but a lot like the dialogue, i just got bored with it. HOWEVER, if i cut my hand or something, i’m way less likely to freak out, which is great. this season didn’t slow down as opposed to some of the other seasons, which was really nice. if you’re a sucker for 80s vibes, especially horror movies, i would highly recommend you watch ahs: 1984! it’s a really fun watch, even though it is centered around a bunch of kids getting murdered at summer camp.
my favorite characters:
Emma Roberts as Brooke Thompson - emma roberts is too good for this world, and ahs: 1984 only backed this idea more. not only is she really hot, brooke’s character development was probably my (second) favorite out of all the characters. SPOILERS! her arc from good girl to ‘i’m going to murder you for putting me in jail’ just makes me think of that bill hader quote, “well, mark me down as scared and horny!” me too, bill. me too.
John Carroll Lynch as Benjamin Richter, aka Mr. Jingles - alright, i put brooke’s character development as my second favorite in order to make way for jingles’s arc. ironically, it is almost the exact opposite of brooke’s arc. believing that he was a killer to going to murder a REAL killer in order to save his son was a great redemption, and he was a major underdog. he was a victim of margaret’s crazy, and it made me really happy to see that he got a happy ending with his mom and younger brother, living with them forever.
this show is rated TV-MA. if you’re wondering why, you’ve clearly never seen ahs before, but here goes:
Extreme Violence and Gore
Sexual Content
Language
Alcohol and Drug Use
Extremely Frightening and Intense Scenes (most of the entire show)
something I liked: so, you guys know how i’ve said a few times that i want certain costume designers to redo my whole wardrobe? THROW ALL THAT SH*T OUT THE WINDOW, I WANT THIS ONE. 80s style is like kryptonite for me. i want every single thing in brooke’s closet, especially the stuff she wears after she gets out of prison. don’t be shy, hand it the f*ck over.
where to watch:
note: available on netflix and prime video starting nov 13th (yes it’s a friday)
IMDb:
