Masters of Horror: Episode 12 Haeckel's Tale

Haeckel's Tale didn't stick out in my mind on my first viewing of this series some years ago. Since then, my tastes have changed a great deal, and looking at it now I find it to be nearly as good as Cigarette Burns. It's directed by John McNaughton, whose Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer I have yet to see, but which I've been meaning to check out for some time.

Just as significantly, it's based on a story by Clive Barker, a Master if ever there was one. I haven't read the original story, but Clive's fingerprints are evident here. Perverted sex is mixed with cosmic horror, as people seek out forbidden pleasures.

The episode is presented as a frame story, with a young man (Steve Bacic) visiting an old witch (Micki Maunsell) to beg for his recently deceased wife to be raised from the dead. The witch tells him that if he listens to the story of Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil), and still wishes it, she will agree to bring his wife back.

The story she tells is hinted to take place in the same universe as Frankenstein, and I find the episode to be a thematic inversion. In the original Frankenstein novel Frankenstein was inspired by mysticism, but ultimately found the secrets to reviving the dead in science. Haeckel, on the other hand, is an atheist medical student with the same obsession, but seeking to use science, who eventually discovers that the mysticism he initially rejected was very real.

Haeckel fails in his experiments to restore life to the dead, but hears of a necromancer named Montesquino (Jon Polito). Out of morbid curiosity, Haeckel travels to see Montesquino's show, and watches what he believes to be a scam play out. He fakes interest in learning Montesquino's secrets in an effort to get the man to confess, but is blown off.

Montesquino is an interesting character. I'm not entirely sure the extent to which he's on the level. Yes, he can revive the dead, but he still comes across as quite shady. He claims that every dead person he revives takes a year off his life, but later seems to revive several people for a task that only requires one. He also fails to mention that his revivals only last until sunrise, and the people return as zombies, since he has no means of restoring the soul. I'm also unsure if he actually revived a dog in his show, or just used puppetry just because it was easier.

Haeckel then receives a letter telling him that his father is on the edge of death, and he immediately sets off to see him. When he attempts to sleep next to a cemetery, he's approached by an old man named Wolfram (Tom McBeath), who offers him a place to stay for the night. Wolfram shows very little concern at Haeckel's obvious attraction to his wife Elise (Leela Savasta), who spends the night acting very distracted.

When Montesquino comes in the night and takes Elise away to the cemetery, Haeckel convinces himself that he's fleecing the poor couple. Elise's first husband is dead, and Haeckel determines that Wolfram has paid the necromancer to revive her husband to sexually satisfy Elise. Naturally, Haeckel still believes that Montesquino is a con man, so he assumes the necromancer was doing the job personally. So, Haeckel pursues the to the cemetary, as Wolfram follows him and tries to stop him.

To Haeckel's shock, they walk in on Elise surrounded by zombies, being pleasured by her zombified husband, just as advertised. Haeckel, in a rage, kills Montesquino, while Wolfram is eaten by the zombies. While dying Montesquino reveals to Haeckel that the spell cannot be stopped, he will just have to wait until morning and let it play out.

It's been said of Barker that he re-invented Cosmic Horror, independently of influence from Lovecraft. I find it unlikely that he wasn't at least familiar with Lovecraftian horror, but his concept of a Cosmic Horror Story is quite different. Lovecraft dealt in vague, indefinable concepts. Barker typically deals with human experiences, sexuality especially, distorted in ways that are deeply disturbing. Haeckel believes himself to be above Victorian understandings of good and evil, but upon witnesses the restoration of life he seeks he's just as horrified as any of his fellow Victorians would have been.

The ending is a bit predictable, but not really the point of the episode. It serves mainly to wrap-up loose plot threads, and tie the story together. Haeckel is killed by Elise's zombie child, Elise becomes a necromancer of her own right, and we find out that Elise was the witch from the beginning. More disturbingly, she seems to find the entire affair to be hugely romantic.

This is definitely an episode I recommend. Horror and comedy fuse like peanut butter and jelly, and the episode manages to be both downright disturbing, and absolutely hilarious.