Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Woodyanders
Shy high school misfit Tara (an excellent and endearing performance by the pretty Lindsay Pulsipher) gets abducted by a sinister couple and locked in the basement of their large remote mansion with strange mute boy Johnny (an impressive pantomime portrayal by Jesse Haddock). Tara learns that resolute cellist Judith (a fine Lori Petty) and her nerdy pianist husband Anton (a splendidly antsy turn by William Samples) made a pact with a powerful demonic force to sacrifice twelve children to a vicious beast in order to bring their dead son back to life. Director William Malone, working from an intriguing and original script by Matt Greenberg, does an expert job of creating and maintaining a supremely eerie and unnerving atmosphere and milks plenty of nerve-rattling tension from the dusty claustrophobic cellar setting. Moreover, Malone puts a welcome and refreshing emphasis on sustaining a spooky and unsettling dark fairytale-style mood throughout while downplaying the gore. Better still, the story even makes a profound and poignant statement on the extremes people are willing to go to in the name of love; while Judith and Anton are undeniably quite ruthless in the lengths they resort to resurrect their son, they still elicit the viewer's sympathy just the same. The acting is uniformly first-rate, with Petty a stand-out in a rare full-blown wicked role. The freaky and grotesque skeletal beast makes for a genuinely scary monster. The surprise twist ending likewise packs a punch. Brian Pearson's stunning cinematography offers a few striking stylistic flourishes which includes an especially inspired use of black and white for several flashback scenes. Nicholas Pike's shuddery score does the shivery trick. A very solid and satisfying entry.
Claudio Carvalho
The virgin teenager Tara (Lindsey Pulsipher) is outcast in school and neglected by her mother. While riding her bike back home from school, she is drugged, kidnapped and brought to an isolated mansion by the insane pianist Anton (William Samples). His cellist wife Judith (Lori Petty) lures Tara to obtain personal information, and then they lock her in the basement where she meets their son Johnny (Jesse Haddock) trying to commit suicide. Tara discovers that the creepy couple lost their son drowned in a lake twelve years ago, and have made a pact with a demon to bring him back to life. The price would be the sacrifice of twelve teenagers, and Tara is the last one."The Fair Haired Child" is another good episode of "Masters of Horror". The story is original, with a surprising twist in the end and very well acted and directed. Lori Petty is unrecognizable, with a creepy appearance of a deranged woman and the unknown and gorgeous Lindsey Pulsipher recalled me Emilie de Ravin, the Claire Littleton of "Lost". My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Pacto com o Demônio" ("Pact with the Demon")
Max Gardner
I question William Malone's status as a "master" of horror, but that goes for the majority of the directors Mick Garris has assembled to helm the series. "The Fair-Haired Child" is a middle-of-the-road episode with a lot of potential that's largely wasted. The music hall setting is atmospheric but underused. The monster is unsettling and well-designed, but we don't see enough of it. It's been a while since we've seen Lori Petty, who's starting to show her age, and she's not given much to work with here; it seems odd to give an actress primarily known for her kinetic goofiness such a stiff and humorless character. "The Fair-Haired Child" is one of those episodes that could have been better as a feature-length film. It certainly would have benefited from a less irritating protagonist; the kidnapped girl is unbearably shrill and seems to get dumber as the episode progresses. There were a few mildly frightening sequences here, and some skillful visual direction from time to time, but I can't justify a rating higher than a 6. It's not bad, but it's far from masterful.
cemetary_gates16
Not worthy of any more than one star didn't like it never will and I can't see why anyone would enjoy this movie. anyone out there who hasn't seen it i recommend you do that way if you ever see another bad movie you can say "hey at least it wasn't as bad as the fair haired child" It's worse than that movie Darkness I saw with that girl who played rogue from x-men god that movie was almost as bad as this one. I'm hungry I think I'm gonna make a pizza. Shoot all out OK well Grilled cheese should do me. Ow silly me I'm still typing. Well ya so I spoke my mind and it's up to you the people if you want to listen to my negative criticism. Go on now.
