Friday, October 04, 2024

Scare Tactics (Reboot), on USA

Most Star Trek and Star Wars fans would love to jump into the movies they love, but you wouldn’t want to be a part of the action if you are a horror fan. Except, maybe you would, if you were a psycho-killer. Hopefully, participating (as the “prankster”) in horror-themed practical joke shows offer a harmless way of satisfying those impulses. Scare Tactics was the brand-name of horror reality TV, outliving most of its imitators. Since nobody has any better ideas, executive producer Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw production company help reboot the franchise, but he does not host, when “Bedeviled,” the first new episode of Scare Tactics, premieres tonight on USA.

Peele was a solid host of his
Twilight Zone reboot, so hopefully he is saving his hospitality cachet for something of similar cultural heft. Instead, we get “Flip,” a demonic horror-obsessed teen with a TV for a head. Flip feels like something a committee agreed on, so it won’t be shocking if a real host eventually replaces him. (Frankly, there are ought to be a dedication to original host Shannen Doherty, who passed away in July.)

Regardless, the first punking is quite cleverly executed. Two friends just “happened” to be passing by a chapel, where a mega-pregnant woman and her bridegroom are desperate to get married, but they have no witnesses, because all their invited guests were too scared to attend. It seems she is carrying Rosemary’s Baby, who will indeed become the Antichrist, if it is born out of wedlock.

There is plenty of gore and the old school stagecraft is impressive. However, some of the funniest lines sound like inspired ad-libs. Even the target laughs, despite the gross-out lunacy staged for his benefit.

The second prank lacks the ambition of the first, but it captures plenty of revealing reaction shots. Perhaps partly inspired by
The Menu, our two dudes were invited to a special tasting menu, featuring extreme courses. It is amusing, but it does not deliver the kind of horror fan service as did the episode opener.

If you have been missing
Scare Tactics, well, here it is again. This seems like a strange vehicle for Peele’s branding, but perhaps he was a fan. In any event, the reboot key art looks transparently inspired by the original one-sheet for Get Out. Yet, as of the first episode, there has been no social commentary, which is a further point in its favor. Humorous but very familiar, Scare Tactics is mostly for nostalgic fans, when it premieres tonight (10/4) on USA.