Deer Woman

I believe John Landis lost his "Master(s) of Horror" title when he contributed to the series of the same name that aired on Showtime several years ago.  Honestly, the director really had only one title to place him in the lofty company of folks like Dario Argento and John Carpenter (who also contributed to the anthology) : 1981's excellent AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.  1992's INNOCENT BLOOD? Eh.  I've always had this unexplainable fascination with Landis' work - the good, bad, and the merely watchable.  Deer Woman is mostly bad, and much of the blame goes to Landis' son Max, who wrote it.  But John does little of interest with his staging, and this episode is reflective of his curiously indifferent style seen on display since the mid 1980s.

Det. Faraday (Brian Benben) is your typical burnout cop - demoted after his partner was killed, wife left him, etc.  He's now in the "Animal Attacks" division. When hoof prints appear at a particularly grisly murder scene,  Faraday is in his element.  Certainly a sort of graduation from dog bites.  But another detective is given the case and our hero is reduced to snooping in the morgue and trolling other murder sites.  And life still sucks - he's accosted by a mugger on the way home one night and ends up plunging a knife into his attacker's shoulder, telling him to heal up and straighten out his life.

More killings.  Could the assailant be, a deer? Or a deer woman? A waiter at the casino on the Indian reservation tells Faraday and his partner of an ancient forest legend - a gorgeous woman (who is actually an evil spirit) with deer legs lures men for an encounter and then kills them.  The detective lies in bed one night, conjuring increasingly ridiculous deer woman scenarios in his head.  These scenes come the closest to recapturing Landis' old comedic style.

The rest? Ugh.  Max's dialogue is painful.  John's direction is dull, never transcendent of a low grade T.V. program.   The production values are very modest.  Lifeless supporting cast - Sonya Bennett, as a wisecracking forensic pathologist (is there any other kind?) - notwithstanding.  No good effects moments or interesting kills, either.  Yes, there is some nudity.  But essentially, this is an hour wasted. 

But...if you pretend that Deer Woman is a bizarro episode of Benben's sitcom Dream On (which Landis co-created) you may yield greater enjoyment.  I mean, it's perfect! Martin Tupper, the eternal divorcee, scores a date with an indescribably hot brunette.  Gets her back to his place.  And, and, notices her feet........

P.S. Fans of the director will enjoy a few references to AMERICAN WEREWOLF and even THE BLUES BROTHERS.