10 Dark And Terrifying Fear Itself Episodes – Explored – An Extremely Underrated Show!

Fear not, horror aficionados are on the lookout for something fresh and terrifying to watch: we have got a great recommendation for you today. Tales from the Crypt and Freddy’s Nightmares are two notable horror anthologies that have been explored extensively, and today we bring you another one.

Fear Itself is an American horror-suspense anthology television series. It premiered on NBC on June 5, 2008, but was canceled by the network in late July 2008, with five episodes still unaired. On March 13, 2009, the show was officially canceled and would not be returning to NBC. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” says Franklin D. Roosevelt in the film’s title. The popularity of Masters of Horror inspired the anthology, which contains many of the same creative components.

t features standalone horror and thriller stories directed by some of today’s most well-known horror filmmakers. Both series were conceived by Mick Garris and are produced by Industry Entertainment’s Andrew Deane, Adam Goldworm, and Ben Browning. Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson, John Landis, Ernest Dickerson, and Rob Schmidt directed at least one episode of each series.

Many people who used to watch the show recall it fondly as a show that ended far too soon. While the series had a number of well-known and new filmmakers, as well as a number of well-known cast members, it was simply not as successful as one might expect a horror anthology to be, resulting in the program being canceled. Today, however, we will look at ten of the best episodes from this horror anthology and deconstruct all of the screams, thrills, and chills it has to offer. Let us get right to work!

Family Man [Season 1 Episode 3]

Family Man is the third episode in the series and was directed by Ronny Yu with a script from Daniel Knauf. The story follows an intriguing plotline in which a loving father and an infamous serial killer swap bodies following a car accident. Dennis Mahoney is a pleasant individual. He has a good job at the bank; he attends church with his lovely wife and children every Sunday; he has a nice house and a bright future.

Richard Brautigan, on the other hand, is one of the world’s most ruthless serial killers. He’s been dubbed “The Family Man” because of his penchant for torturing, rapping, and killing entire families. He’s been linked to at least 26 victims, beginning with his own family, whom he murdered when he was 12 years old. He’s not a nice guy, and he’s the polar opposite of Mahoney’s sweet and kind nature, so when their paths cross, it’s bad news.

Both Mahoney and Brautigan are rushed to the hospital after a horrific and unexpected car accident. They are both in desperate need of surgery. The nice guy Mahoney wakes up in the body of Brautigan, which can only mean Brautigan is now a free man with a new family, in a Freaky Friday twist.

It’s not a particularly original twist, but it’s well-executed, and Knauf is a gifted writer, so there’s more to the story than it meets the eye. In the vein of the old Twilight Zone, The Family Man is a brilliant and disturbing piece of television. Thanks to Knauf, it’s gritty, suspenseful, well-shot, and incredibly well written.

Eater [Season 1 Episode 5]

Stuart Gordon, one of the low-budget gore kings, directs the fifth episode of the series, Eater. He’s the guy who can do creepy for almost no money so, he is definitely the man for the job. Bannerman is a new cop in the force. Worse, she’s a female cop, which means she gets twice as much ribbing and half as much respect as a male cop. When you consider that she’s petite, blonde, and a bit of a horror nut, it’s no surprise that her fellow cops Steinwitz and Mattingly are constantly teasing her.

Bannerman’s life isn’t easy, even though the Sergeant respects her and defends her. However, things go from bad to worse when Cajun serial killer Duane “The Eater” Mellor, played by the incredibly creepy Stephen R. Hart, shows up at the station for a night’s stay while in transit to FBI custody in the middle of a snowstorm.

Even though the fiend is safely imprisoned in his cage, no one wants him there. After all, he’s a cannibal who turns his victims into meals, clothing, bowls, utensils, and even lampshades, in addition to being a murdering giant. With a taste for human flesh, he’s like Martha Stewart.

Stuart Gordon knows how to craft a creepy piece of entertainment, despite the clichés handed to him by writers Richard Chizmar and Johnathon Schaech. Eater isn’t the best or even second-best Fear Itself episode, but it’s a close third in a series with more ups and downs than a manic depressive on a rollercoaster. This is unquestionably one of the best episodes, and it’s a testament to Stuart Gordon’s ability to direct horror, as well as some excellent casting for all of the major characters.

Skin and Bones [Season 1 Episode 8]

Larry Fessenden, a sort of art-house scare-meister who directed the film Wendigo, directed this episode. The story revolves around the Edlund family, who own a ranch somewhere in the mountains. Uncle Rowdy is arguing with his oldest nephew Derek at the start of the episode. Derek’s father, Grady, is said to have led a hunting party into the mountains and gone missing, and Derek wants to track him down.

However, the father reappears, but we’re not sure if it’s really their father. The movie progresses from here as it is revealed that the father is possessed by a Wendigo, and the Wendigo’s story is told by a Native American ranch worker. There is actually a fair amount of tension as things start to get weird and it becomes clear that Grady didn’t make it through those ten days trapped in the mountains alone, thanks to Fessenden’s strong visual work and Doug Jones’ channeling of his “Buffy” alter ego as one of The Gentlemen. Grady finally gets out of bed and begins feeding on people in the second half of the episode, which sees the majority of the action. The Wendigo is inherently a creature that is perpetually hungry and thus, the feeding frenzy begins. The make-up department, as well as Doug Jones’ naturally emaciated self, deserve a lot of credit for the creepy visuals.

The Sacrifice [Season 1 Episode 1]

The first episode of the series that started it all, features spam in a cabin setup of four criminals on the run, one of whom is injured and ends up stumbling upon a remote fortification out in the middle of nowhere inhabited by three beautiful women. However, this is not your regular story about dangerous creatures taking the shape of beautiful women to lure and trap men. In the story, rather than hunting the vampire lose in the world, the girls serve as guardians, keeping the vampire contained within their fortification, feeding it, and protecting the world from it in a unique way. Of course, vampires must eat, and we all know what vampires eat, so our guardians aren’t exactly saints, but their intentions appear noble enough.

The acting is mediocre at best but the execution was charming. There are no overt negatives that can’t be traced back to Mick Garris’s script and the limitations of the hour-long format, which is competently directed by Breck Eisner, son of former Disney kingpin Michael Eisner, and starring Jesse Plemons from NBC’s Friday Night Lights and Rachel Miner. The story is pretty standard and is a solid kickoff however, there are ones that are much better. If you enjoy vampire stories and tropes, then this one should definitely pique your interest!

Community [Season 1 Episode 7]

Another obscured movie remake is featured in the seventh episode of NBC’s Horror Anthology. Brandon Routh and Shiri Appleby, a young couple living in the city, are the focus of the story. They are eager to start a family, but they are concerned about raising a child in the city. As a result, they set out to find a house in the suburbs. They visit the Commons community after hearing about it from their friends.

On the surface, the Commons appears to be an ideal place to raise a family. A gated community with spacious homes, an active community, and self-contained shopping and necessities is available. Knowing that the large McMansion they’re looking at is out of their price range, they tell the Realtor that it’s simply too much. The Realtor, on the other hand, encourages them to give it a shot, claiming that they might be surprised, which they are.

They move into their new home after being approved for a large mortgage and begin to plan for a family of their own. Unfortunately for them, it soon becomes clear that living in the Commons entails more than they were led to believe. They quickly learn that the head of their Home Owners Association is far more than just a soccer mom with a clipboard, with talk of tribal community and social/biological balance.

For this episode, the suspense is there, and the idea of a brainwashed community is something that the horror genre seems to love from time to time. It is well made so it is definitely worth the watch!

The Spirit Box [Season 1 Episode 11]

After the Masters of Horror episode Right to Die, this paranormal thriller is Schmidt’s second entry in the series. From beyond the grave, a dead schoolgirl, suspected of suicide, communicates with her classmates Becca and Shelby. The dead girl reveals that she was in fact murdered, and she asks for her classmates’ assistance in obtaining vengeance. Shelby and Becca decide to make their own spirit box on Halloween night, a method of communicating with spirits that requires a little more preparation than pulling an Ouija board from a box. They learn of the murder of one of their former classmates. Emily communicates with them from beyond the grave in vowel-less English, the slang for “l8r” or, in Emily’s case, “mrdr.”

The Spirit Box is a clever invention. In a horror film written and produced between 2007 and 2008, there are some gimmicky elements that work. The almost-l33t speak messages are a reflection of how teenagers and young people communicated via text at the time. By removing the vowels, more important parts of the message could be included without wasting more than one text.

This was also before cellphones had full keyboards, so typing fewer letters was faster than cycling through the two or three groups of letters on each number key to get a more complete spelling. Naturally, Shelby and Becca’s spirit box’s planchette is a flip phone with an arrow drawn on it. The Spirit Box is a suspenseful supernatural thriller. There are just enough new twists on old tropes to make the story feel authentic and dangerous. Cellphones are the focal point for using modern technology to channel supernatural energy. The rest is a clever and effective short thriller, a fully realized horror film in 45 minutes.

Something with Bite [Season 1 Episode 9]

Ernest Dickerson returns to the Masters of Horror/Fear Itself franchise with Something with Bite. In season two, he was featured in The V Word, one of the series’ most shocking, dark, and violent episodes. His second run is an over-the-top horror/comedy about good people who turn into werewolves and go on violent crime sprees. Any size patient can be accommodated by a veterinary clinic. That’s fantastic news for the injured werewolf who was brought in by a concerned citizen, but it’s bad news for the veterinarian who is bitten.

Wilbur is initially stuck. He’s lost interest in life outside of assisting animals. Wilbur is merely a bystander in his own life. However, he’s becoming the ideal version of himself after the attack. He despises junk food, heals quickly, and is self-assured enough to strike up a conversation. Best of all, he can communicate with his patients and learn things like whether a dog ate AAA batteries without having to conduct a full examination. Watch the episode for the twist at the end!

Because of the direction and casting, Something with Bite works. Dickerson has a knack for keeping his cast members in the same horror universe. Even when the world appears to be spiraling, his films are all about tone, detail, and control. There isn’t a single moment in the episode that suggests a different reality could exist. As the veterinarian who transforms into a werewolf, Wendell Pierce is hilarious. He has to carry a lot of different perspectives on the genre. It’s a show that focuses on subtle shifts in behavior and reaction. Pierce’s physicality as a human determines the transformation’s plausibility.

Spooked [Season 1 Episode 2]

Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts’ brother, Emma Roberts’ father, and The Master from Doctor Who’s 1996 reboot, takes center stage this week as Harry, a former cop turned detective with a haunted past. With the help of his partner James, he turns to heavy drinking, sleazy sex-recording, and blackmail to make a living after losing his job and reason for living. Because there isn’t much else for disgraced cops to do once word gets out, they brutalize and beat their suspects in the hopes of extracting information.

It isn’t a particularly pleasant existence, but it is one. Until Meredith shows up with another simple watch and tape job, that is. The only difference is that instead of using his private eye van full of equipment, Harry is forced to take a job across the street in a long-abandoned house that is haunted, as we learn from an interloper. There, Roberts must confront the ghosts and memories of his twisted and dark past.

Despite the limitations of 40 minutes of network television and the jarring interruptions of commercials that disrupted the show’s flow, it was a fantastic piece of programming. For the most part, Eric Roberts kept his usual scene-chewing to a minimum and gave a strong performance. Watros was good as the kindhearted social worker/femme fatale, and Gilliard was good in his comic-relief role.

The Circle [Season 1 Episode 13]

The Circle is the final episode of Fear Itself, a short-lived television series. The story of a horror novelist who receives an unexpected package is told in this episode. To aid his creative process, a writer and his wife relocate to a small town. He’s having trouble writing a story about a coven of witches performing a Halloween ritual. His life becomes stranger as he continues to work on the story. The big villain, the encroaching force of darkness, appears to be surrounding their cabin, and elements of the story seem to be coming to life.

His new book is in the mysterious package, but he hasn’t written it yet. The horror novelist’s quiet night alone with his girlfriend on Halloween is disrupted by his book associates. His colleagues begin reading his new book as soon as it arrives, oblivious to the consequences. He aspired to be a horror novelist, but there was a price to pay. The horror novelist and his associates start living in a never-ending nightmare as the events of that Halloween night repeat themselves like a never-ending circle.

Fear Itself’s The Circle is by far one of the best episodes and the visual storytelling is great in this one. It’s a book lover’s dream come true to discover that they’re living the story they’re reading. However, it is their worst nightmare in this case. The Circle is a never-ending nightmare that the horror writer must experience again and again. Fear Itself comes to a satisfying conclusion.

New Year’s Day [Season 1 Episode 6]

Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV, directs New Year’s Day. Helen had a little too much fun the night before New Year’s Day. It’s not surprising, then, that she wakes up hungover at 4:32 the next morning. The fact that she wakes up in the middle of the apocalypse may surprise you. I’m talking about a zombie-style apocalypse. The shots are shaky and the idea of a zombie apocalypse is a little overplayed however, the twist, in the end, ties it all up and more or less explains why Helen is quite bad at escaping and getting to a safe place because she turns out to be a zombie herself.

The episode has nice flashback scenes and while this one is weaker compared to the ones higher up on the list, it is still a fun watch if you like a lot of distorted footage and the zombie apocalypse genre in general. The acting in this one is actually quite great so sitting through it is not as tough as one would imagine

With that, we come to the end of this list. For those who are interested in this less-known horror anthology, the only way to watch the series right now is on DVD, which you can get for around $12 on Amazon. It’s one of those inconvenient double-sided DVD sets, with a cool but odd case. It’s the only way we’ve found to watch this show; it’s not available on the NBC streaming site or on Hulu, so this is your only option right now. “Fear Itself” has a lot of action. It was well-produced, and it was the icing on the cake for fans on a Sunday. I’m going to have to say that there’s plenty to celebrate in these 593 minutes, and it should find its way onto genre fans’ shelves.