American Horror Story - Hotel

The beginning was great, somewhere around the middle I lost interest, but I finished the second half of Hotel, and I’m satisfied. For me, in fact the second best season of AHS (after Asylum). It helped a lot that Jessica Lange took a break (in the last seasons she was playing always the same character and it was boring already), and instead of her, Lady Gaga brought her own special aura. Hopefully, Murphy won’t make the same mistake and won’t let us pass the next season, like Jessica. I would also bring in some positive characters, though I could develop a taste for this panopticon of eccentricity. (18.01.2016)

AHS in einem Art-Déco-Hotel? Ich bin dabei. Hotel ist so eine entspannende Staffel, alte Freunde haben neue coole Fetische und seltsamerweise stört auch Gaga nicht. Es wird also eine rundum erfreuliche Saison werden. Liebe, Blut, Freude... Und eine zarte Verbindung zu Murder House und Coven. Und die Handlung mit Rambo und Valentino ist absolut zufriedenstellend. Das hat dem Ganzen keinen Abbruch getan, aber es war ein interessanter Ausflug in die Welt des unerfüllten Glücks. (16.10.2015)

American Horror Story isn’t usually my go-to, so it took me a while to finally dive into the Hotel season. Lady Gaga’s big debut as an actress was the main draw, and she definitely proved she’s more than just a great singer (even if Leo DiCaprio had a laugh at the Globes). But after watching, my main takeaway is that Lady Gaga is genuinely talented. As for the show itself, Hotel embodies everything that makes the series what it is. It feels like I’m watching a wild fever dream in a setting that reminds me of The Shining, but with characters so out there that delivering any of their lines must have had the crew in stitches. When they brought in vampires, I found myself questioning if Ryan Murphy is a genius or just completely off his rocker. Visually, the show is stunning, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe Murphy is wasting his talent on something so bizarre. But considering most people seem to love it, I’ll admit the issue might be more with me than with the show. Trying to find logic in this season is a lost cause — the opening scene sets the tone for all the madness that follows. (18.01.2022)

The series season has begun, and with it came another season of American Horror Story - Hotel, and it's incredibly ironic that the pilot could be called the best horror movie of the year. Huge hotel, lots of weird people (more or less no positive characters, just a cop), stylization, visuals, sex, grittiness, brutality, perversity, and gore at the absolute highest level possible. The detective line is reminiscent of Se7en, the brutality film is reminiscent of Inside. What more could you ask for? Around nine people have already died in the first episode, which in some shows doesn't even take a whole series to do. For me, it was a fantastic orgy, I was bursting with bliss. Lady GaGa does a perfect job here. We'll see how the next episodes go, but if the rest of the season takes a similar direction, we have a revolution here. Story 7/10, Atmosphere 9/10, Gore 10/10, Visuals 10/10, Action 7/10, Entertainment 10/10. (Compared to this A Serbian Film is like a Disney movie) 100% (15.10.2015)

It's as if, when Jessica Lange left the position of the perennial main character, they were looking for a new face. Not an acting face (which Ryan Murphy found immediately thanks to the phenomenal Lady Gaga), but the face of the entire show, because this year takes everything possible from previous years. It is closest to American Horror Story: Murder House, borrowing characters and atmosphere, from American Horror Story: Asylum the pervasive atmosphere of goosebumps, and from American Horror Story: Freak Show the storytelling pace with an endless number of supporting characters and detours. However, American Horror Story: Hotel has a crucial advantage over the last mentioned, as it remains gripping, focusing on the same storylines at the beginning and end, and more than ever before, it benefits from a delightful soundtrack. Even this time, the script cannot avoid certain mistakes, and for example, the civilian approach to John and his family's story feels last-minute, just like the reveals from his detective work. The contrast between the suffocating and fresh mood, the captivating performances of Denis O'Hare and the always brilliant chameleon Sarah Paulson, are such seductive temptations that the stay at the Cortez hotel became the second best season. (20.02.2016)

I was generally satisfied, except for the somewhat lackluster finale and several plot digressions which barely had any impact on the story itself (vampire students). I appreciated how the filmmakers shrewdly avoided the hassle of creating scary monsters by casting Lady Gaga. She gave me the creeps every time she appeared on screen. I was amused by the recycling of Finn Wittrock, which was a great move. The star of this season for me was definitely Denis O'Hare, whose performance was excellent. (12.11.2017)

5th season AHS is credited with the second-best place right after Asylum mainly due to its unusual but welcome simplicity. Ryan Murphy tends to create a plethora of storylines that intertwine, jumping from one to another, and usually the viewer loses track and impression. On the contrary, Hotel was sparing in this aspect. It offered us many characters, but it never felt overcomplicated. This time Murphy chose a somewhat more grateful theme than in the previous Freak Show, and thanks to Gaga's presence, he attracted other layers of the audience. I'm not saying that I'm not bothered by AHS becoming quite commercialized and trying to compensate for the absence of Jessica Lange with the presence of a globally famous celebrity. I can say that I quickly got over Jessica and I am glad that Gaga breathed new life into the series, and even though before Hotel was released, it seemed that Gaga would be the new leader of the series, fortunately, that was not the case. That's just another plus; you can't say who had the main role in this series. All the characters got a similar amount of space and time for their stories. Whom I would like to highlight in terms of acting is definitely Wes Bentley, who had no problem with his psychedelic role, and his frightening expression in his eyes suited his character perfectly. Then the captivating Dennis O'Hare, who finally got a significant space and no longer played just supporting roles as he did before and could show his incredible acting abilities in a particularly challenging role. And finally, Evan Peters, who with his performance, etched deeply into my heart and moved me incredibly with every word he uttered. Peters finally freed himself from his curse of being a lovestruck or psychotic teenager and got a role that showed that I had not rated him highly for nothing and that he could play a really twisted man. This performance of his was truly the most brilliant in his entire career. I rate this season in second place because it looks like one big story, and I also got a very interesting and atypical final episode. Overall, it feels like a new, fresh muse has kissed Murphy. (29.01.2016)