The Quibi short-bite 5-to-10-minute programming-platform folly was only in business from April to December last year, but it still managed to squeeze in two “seasons” of Sam Raimi’s horror anthology. They still didn’t have time to get to all fifty states, let alone territories like Guam. Nevertheless, if any of their series had a following this would be it, so fans will be happy to see Raimi’s 50 States of Fright will be available again this Friday on the Roku Channel.
To hook fans, Raimi himself helmed the first episode, “The Golden Arm (Michigan),” up in Hemingway’s and Nick Adams’ neck of the Michigan woods. The golden arm has nothing in common with Frank Sinatra in Man with the Golden Arm. It is the sparkly prosthetic of the old folk tale Mark Twain and scores of others used to tell. In this case, it belongs to Heather, the vain wife of Dave, a rugged furniture artisan, following her misadventure in the forest. She intends to keep that arm with her even if it kills her and even then, she still isn’t letting go.
Michigan probably boasts the most star-studded cast of the anthology, with Rachel Brosnahan and Travis Fimmel portraying the ill-fated couple. However, it is John Marshall Jones who really makes the three-episode arc work with the way he tells the tale as Dave’s friend Andy. Old man Clemens would approve.
Yoko Okumura’s “Ball of Twine (Kansas)” should have been titled “What’s the Matter with Kansas.” Regardless, it does a nice job tapping into both the nostalgia of road trips and the uneasy feeling you get when driving through long, flat, not-particularly-well-lit states like Kansas. In this case, the scenic attraction Susan and her daughter Amelia stop to gawk at, the titular twine, seems to exert an uncanny control over the entire town. Even Sheriff Stallings is rather unhelpful when Amelia disappears, but Susan is not about to be intimidated by their cultish small-town ways.
Ming-Na Wen really makes these three ex-quibis standout with her fierce axe-wielding performance as Susan. She is pretty awesome, plus Karen Allen is quite sinister, in an unusually understated kind of way, as Sheriff Stallings. There are also some cool makeup effects going on, as an extra bonus.
