Deer Woman Year: 2005 Director: John Landis Written by: Max Landis, John Landis Threat: Deer Woman Weapon of Choice: Hooves IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
Please see the Masters of Horror series page.

Rish's Reviews
Tyranist and I have quite enjoyed this Anchor Bay series of short horror films, renting them as they are slowly released on DVD. But the installment of "Masters of Horror" I was most excited about was this one, directed by John Landis.
Brian Benben plays a down-on-his-luck, burned-out police detective who stumbles upon a murder scene that could only be--the more that he looks into it--supernatural in origin.
Oh, and there's a Deer Woman, seducing, then trampling men to death.
Since it was a short film, the preview had given most of the surprises away, but this was still a very enjoyable little flick. Some of the supporting performances are quite weak, but the script is good enough that I frankly didn't care. Written by John Landis and his son Max, the plot went by without any lags and there were a couple of scares, but many, many more laughs.
There aren't a great deal of special effects, and the couple of times they are used, they were excellently done. The fantasy sequences, though probably not for everyone's tastes, really amused me, as did the constant mention of how absurd the idea of a deer woman was.
I like Brian Benben and I really like John Landis. I'd like to see him do another theatrical horror film sometime (though that doesn't appear to be in the cards for him anymore, as the poor guy's career has really gone downhill).
I quite enjoy hearing about the myths and folklore of other peoples and other lands. This one, based on (supposedly) real Native American legend, I had never heard of before.
And hey, the Deer Woman was hot. She doesn't speak, simply seducing men with her eyes and body language. I was afraid of her, because I would frankly be completely powerless against her charms. Who wouldn't be?
I did think the ending left a bit to be desired. It wasn't a terrible ending, not by any means, but I wondered, "And then what happened?" as I have with more than one in this "MOH" series. I'm sure I would've enjoyed this one more as a full-length feature. And that's something of a compliment, right?
Line To Remember: "Have you seen her feet?"
I'd Recommend It To: I had a cousin who was nearly maimed by what he described as a Muskrat Woman. I wonder if he would enjoy this film.
Posted: July 7, 2006

The tyranist's thoughts
A movie with a title of Deer Woman just doesn't seem like it would be anywhere near the top of the quality scale. Fortunately, John Landis is a fine filmmaker and capable of making the best of nearly any material. Even the ridiculous premise that there is a half-woman/half-deer out there somewhere seducing men and then trampling them to death.
Of course, we've long accepted movies in which it is posited that there are humans out there that sometimes become wolves. Maybe that's why monster movies aren't as popular as they once were. They require us to set aside our belief in a rational world and accept that there is something else out there.
At any rate, there is plenty about Deer Woman to love. The cast (at least, the two main characters--the cop and the deer woman) is good. The acting does come across slightly wooden at times, but for me it added to the charm of the flick. The dialogue is exceptional. There are a couple moments when they manage to make the deer woman truly frightening as she is far more powerful than she seems.
I too was dissatisfied by the ending, but they did plenty to foreshadow it, and I can respect them for warning us that all would not be as cleanly tied up as we might like.
I am hoping that season 2 of Masters of Horror brings us another Landis gem as this has easily been the best of the first season thus far.
Posted: July 7, 2006

Total Skulls: 13

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?