2013 July 03 « HORROR BOOM

I watched a preview of the pilot when I was still under the weather and running low on things to watch that showed promise, and I more or less agree with the review. My favorite scene (for some reason; it wasn’t the most dramatic or suspenseful moment on the pilot) was a contestant showing another contestant a frog he’d found… but they decided not to add it to the dinner menu (I hope) because it had three legs. I also tuned out the “confessionals” and the standard reality show boring bullshit, kind of on reflex. I’m not a fan of competition reality shows. Actually, I’m not a fan of reality shows (with a few exceptions such as MONSTER MAN, Immortalized –more on that here, what’s not to like– sometimes Face Off, Scare Tactics when it was on …seeing a pattern?) and I the elimination/survival ones are my least favorite. Anyway, I think even people who avoid reality shows as a rule know the basic formula and structure. I only got interested during the few moments that showed things were going to go horribly wrong, including not just the frog but a monster-ish roar that had the contestants–the smart ones, anyway–shaken up when they realized no animal that mother nature produced naturally could possibly make the roar, the moment a cameraman was discovered half-covered with blood, and the aforementioned 3-legged frog. The most frightening aspect to me, however, is that SOME VIEWERS THINK IT IS REAL. I dout anyone who has seen a horror flick where the premise is the filming of a reality show (Wrong Turn 2: Dead End for one) before the slaughter starts won’t be fooled. When I was Googling Siberia, however, one of the suggestions that popped up way too fast was “is Siberia TV show real”. Really? People think a reality show pilot that contains two deaths would air on TV (with no warning that it contained upsetting content)? The hell with it– I’m watching The Dome instead, which NBC unwisely decided to go head-to-head with in the same time slot as Siberia.