An anthology series centering on different characters and locations, showcasing different aspects of horror.An anthology series centering on different characters and locations, showcasing different aspects of horror.An anthology series centering on different characters and locations, showcasing different aspects of horror.
- Won 17 Primetime Emmys
- 132 wins & 413 nominations total
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Summary
Reviewers say 'American Horror Story' garners mixed opinions, with early seasons like 'Murder House' and 'Asylum' lauded for compelling narratives, strong performances, and innovative horror. Conversely, later seasons such as 'Cult' and 'Double Feature' face criticism for quality decline, political themes, and weaker storytelling. Despite inconsistencies, the anthology format and recurring cast maintain a dedicated fan base. Overall, 'American Horror Story' is viewed as groundbreaking yet uneven, with significant variations in quality and reception across its seasons.
Featured reviews
American horror story is a great if you're into this kind of horror, people that are into slasher movies/shows will probably not like this.
Overall AHS has its low seasons and high seasons, every season is very different and that's why most people aren't into all the seasons. Overall probably the best thing about this show is the casting and acting. Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates for example are incredible actors/actresses that never disappoint in this show.
I personally think its genius how Ryan Murphy managed to make every season very different from the ones before but still manages to connect all of them.
My opinions on the seasons;
1. Murder House: 7.5/10, Great season with some real scary things, not my favorite season, it had flaws but the casting was amazing. 2. Asylum: 9/10, Scariest season of all for sure, my kind of horror. You'd expect that a season that is mostly filmed in just one building would be kinda boring, but it sure wasn't. Incredibly great season 3. Coven: 8.5/10 probably the most hated season of the show, but why? I loved it. Sure, it wasn't that scary and it had flaws but the casting was perfect. Lange and Emma Roberts were both perfect for their roles. Evan Peters annoyed me though, his role with the whole love triangle with Madison and Zoe was stupid. Probably my favorite season although it wasnt scary at all. 4. Freak Show: 5.5/10 Doesn't compete with the other seasons to me, the casting was good but that was about it. Overall I kinda enjoyed it, I guess? The ending was disappointing although Lange left the series in a great way. The only character I really enjoyed was the villain. Not a great season, sorry. 5. Hotel: 6.5/10 Not a very beloved season by most, but to me it was watchable and I dont feel like I wasted my time watching it. The casting was okay, Lady Gaga did great job acting and definitely added a great touch to the season but apart from that it wasn't a really interesting season all around. A lot of blood and sex but not the best season of the show. Overall I would recommend watching it although most people aren't into it. 6: Roanoke 7/10 Finally another scary season. The season felt like a haunted-House horror movie but longer. Sarah Paulson did incredible as the "crazy, paranoid wife". A big plot twist in the middle of the season and it left me with some confusion but I sure did enjoy this season. 7. Cult 7/10 Before the season started I was really scared I wasn't gonne like this, politics, clowns and Evan as the villian, but after watching it I actually enjoyed it. The concept was alright to me and some episodes were just boring. Again, Sarah Paulson played the crazy wife but again, she portrayed it well. Her wife was very annoying and I hoped she'd die early on but she didn't. The "different" episode with Frances Conroy was incredibly boring and didnt feel needed but sure let's forget about it. Sarah did a perfect job and her character was great, excited to see more of her next season.
I love this show and I'm definitely excited for season 8 (Apocalypse) and season 9&10. I can understand why people dislike it but it just is your cup if tea or it isn't. Hope to see more of these horror shows in the future.
Overall AHS has its low seasons and high seasons, every season is very different and that's why most people aren't into all the seasons. Overall probably the best thing about this show is the casting and acting. Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates for example are incredible actors/actresses that never disappoint in this show.
I personally think its genius how Ryan Murphy managed to make every season very different from the ones before but still manages to connect all of them.
My opinions on the seasons;
1. Murder House: 7.5/10, Great season with some real scary things, not my favorite season, it had flaws but the casting was amazing. 2. Asylum: 9/10, Scariest season of all for sure, my kind of horror. You'd expect that a season that is mostly filmed in just one building would be kinda boring, but it sure wasn't. Incredibly great season 3. Coven: 8.5/10 probably the most hated season of the show, but why? I loved it. Sure, it wasn't that scary and it had flaws but the casting was perfect. Lange and Emma Roberts were both perfect for their roles. Evan Peters annoyed me though, his role with the whole love triangle with Madison and Zoe was stupid. Probably my favorite season although it wasnt scary at all. 4. Freak Show: 5.5/10 Doesn't compete with the other seasons to me, the casting was good but that was about it. Overall I kinda enjoyed it, I guess? The ending was disappointing although Lange left the series in a great way. The only character I really enjoyed was the villain. Not a great season, sorry. 5. Hotel: 6.5/10 Not a very beloved season by most, but to me it was watchable and I dont feel like I wasted my time watching it. The casting was okay, Lady Gaga did great job acting and definitely added a great touch to the season but apart from that it wasn't a really interesting season all around. A lot of blood and sex but not the best season of the show. Overall I would recommend watching it although most people aren't into it. 6: Roanoke 7/10 Finally another scary season. The season felt like a haunted-House horror movie but longer. Sarah Paulson did incredible as the "crazy, paranoid wife". A big plot twist in the middle of the season and it left me with some confusion but I sure did enjoy this season. 7. Cult 7/10 Before the season started I was really scared I wasn't gonne like this, politics, clowns and Evan as the villian, but after watching it I actually enjoyed it. The concept was alright to me and some episodes were just boring. Again, Sarah Paulson played the crazy wife but again, she portrayed it well. Her wife was very annoying and I hoped she'd die early on but she didn't. The "different" episode with Frances Conroy was incredibly boring and didnt feel needed but sure let's forget about it. Sarah did a perfect job and her character was great, excited to see more of her next season.
I love this show and I'm definitely excited for season 8 (Apocalypse) and season 9&10. I can understand why people dislike it but it just is your cup if tea or it isn't. Hope to see more of these horror shows in the future.
American Horror Story is interesting, unique and has a clever way of twisting Americans and making one examine perception vs reality under the guise of horror. The better seasons were Season 1, and season 5 Hotel, and of course there are cool concepts in others including Freak Show. The last several seasons have not even attempted to mask their social message and political opinions and frankly it's getting old. We get it, move on. Many of us want good old fashioned story telling with more subtle messages, but that's not what we see. Many of the main cast have moved on, that we loved to see in different but predictable roles and that has dimmed the lustre. I would honour the roots of the show and go back to what worked. I must say the new American Horror STORIES is a bit more palatable and I enjoyed several of these episodes including Dollhouse, Facelift, Necro, and Game Over amongst others. This is a modern Twilight Zone!
American Horror Story writers- don't bank on cult following to have viewers continue watching - Perceiving as long as you have some gore and an iconic theme you can avoid good story telling and saturate us with political agenda. We can flip on the news, we want entertainment and your viewers are smarter than this. This is a good way to kill a show, and unlike many of your characters it won't come back to life and the series will go out in flames like Dexter!
American Horror Story writers- don't bank on cult following to have viewers continue watching - Perceiving as long as you have some gore and an iconic theme you can avoid good story telling and saturate us with political agenda. We can flip on the news, we want entertainment and your viewers are smarter than this. This is a good way to kill a show, and unlike many of your characters it won't come back to life and the series will go out in flames like Dexter!
The first seasons of AHS was very good. Something fresh, always a story with a twist, and they had Jessica Lange and then unknown Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters. I really liked the dark, gritty style, changing from season to season. Unfortunately, after Freak Show, which I really liked, there has been a letdown in quality for each season. The departure of Jessica Lange made a big void, but Sarah Paulson has shown us that she is indeed a versatile star. But Hotel was the beginning of a decline, with the infamous, stupid glorified serial killer episode. Ryan Murphy himself said 3 years ago he was out of ideas, so time to put a lid on it. You aint doing any favors with the new American Horror Stories. And the new actors are terrible, with an exception in Billie Lourd.
A dysfunctional family moves into an old house, a house with a history of horror. For the main characters, history is what the first episode is all about: the husband's history of infidelity, the wife's history of having a bloody stillbirth, the daughter's history of cutting herself -- for each a long history of pain and resentment and longing for change, though it quickly becomes apparent the only change coming will leave them hysterically screaming to the sudden, violent, gory end. The one sure thing this show promises is that people will die horribly, and we will all be terrified by it.
The characters are not likable; they may not even be redeemable. Even the suffering wife is bitter and cold and hateful. But do they deserve what horrible things will assuredly happen to them? Nope. Which means their fight is our fight, and their fear is our fear.
American Horror Story is interesting, entertaining, suspenseful, and ambitious. After watching the first episode, I want to watch some more.
The characters are not likable; they may not even be redeemable. Even the suffering wife is bitter and cold and hateful. But do they deserve what horrible things will assuredly happen to them? Nope. Which means their fight is our fight, and their fear is our fear.
American Horror Story is interesting, entertaining, suspenseful, and ambitious. After watching the first episode, I want to watch some more.
I remember watching the first season of American Horror Story (now called Murder House) and thinking "WHAT THE H*** WITH THIS SHOW?" - it was unexpected, visceral, graphic and just really compelling. Twists came out you so fast and the characters were all memorable and stunning.
Seasons 1-7 really are good with my favorite being "Asylum" - Murder House, Coven, Hotel all add pieces to already stunning puzzle. Good writing, well shot. Both Roanoke and Freakshow were a bit weak but in both cases you could see the writers were trying to stretch and pushed past what they could do. Cult was the worst of this group as showrunners tried their hands at politics which didn't really translate to this genre. Still, it was visual and interesting.
Season 8 picks up characters and storylines from the best of the previous seasons and gives a full-circle story. Worth every minute with characters (particularly from MH and Coven) you really like.
Season 9 forward shows what happens when a series runs out of what made it great. In trying to start a "new" arc - the show is all over the place and really poor in quality. The emphasis on "hot gay characters' replaces deep or quirky people, and the show itself searches for a genre - 1984 can't decide if its making fun of 80's slasher films or if its trying to be one, Double feature gives anthology style a chance and fails twice - neither story is long enough to tell a good story or short enough to dismiss. NYC is the AIDS allegory no one asked for, and Delicate shows AHS at its saddest grasp yet - writing a vehicle for Kim Kardashian because. Love her or hate her, people will watch here.
AHS has gone from ground-breaking TV to the lowest of low hanging fruit. Watch 1-8 or at least watch 1,2,3, 6, 8. Let go of the rest.
Seasons 1-7 really are good with my favorite being "Asylum" - Murder House, Coven, Hotel all add pieces to already stunning puzzle. Good writing, well shot. Both Roanoke and Freakshow were a bit weak but in both cases you could see the writers were trying to stretch and pushed past what they could do. Cult was the worst of this group as showrunners tried their hands at politics which didn't really translate to this genre. Still, it was visual and interesting.
Season 8 picks up characters and storylines from the best of the previous seasons and gives a full-circle story. Worth every minute with characters (particularly from MH and Coven) you really like.
Season 9 forward shows what happens when a series runs out of what made it great. In trying to start a "new" arc - the show is all over the place and really poor in quality. The emphasis on "hot gay characters' replaces deep or quirky people, and the show itself searches for a genre - 1984 can't decide if its making fun of 80's slasher films or if its trying to be one, Double feature gives anthology style a chance and fails twice - neither story is long enough to tell a good story or short enough to dismiss. NYC is the AIDS allegory no one asked for, and Delicate shows AHS at its saddest grasp yet - writing a vehicle for Kim Kardashian because. Love her or hate her, people will watch here.
AHS has gone from ground-breaking TV to the lowest of low hanging fruit. Watch 1-8 or at least watch 1,2,3, 6, 8. Let go of the rest.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSarah Paulson's reporter walk-through scene in "Asylum" was pulled directly from actual footage of Bill Baldini's exposé piece on Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, Pennsylvania. Baldini's work led to the closure of Pennhurst and the release of all of its patients. Pennhurst is now the location of a seasonal haunted house and has been featured on numerous shows, due to the reported extreme paranormal activity in Pennhurst's buildings.
- GoofsFrances Conroy ("Old" Moira O'Hara) is right-eye dominant. Many times you can see that she, as Moira, is focusing on the object she's looking at using her "blind" right eye instead of her left eye.
- Quotes
Cordelia Foxx: In the absence of the council, as reigning Supreme of this coven, I hereby decree... for the murders of our sister witch, Cecily Pembroke and our college, Quentin Fleming... you... Myrtle Snow, are hereby sentenced to death by fire.
Myrtle Snow: Delia, my sweet daughter, I have never been more proud.
Cordelia Foxx: Any last words?
Myrtle Snow: Only one. BALENCIAGA!
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2012)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- American Horror Story: Asylum
- Filming locations
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA(season 3 & 4)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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