American Horror Story (Season 1)

TV producing mavericks Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk spin a tale combining every horror film trope they could think of into a messy glob of a television program that starts off well but ends horribly (and not in an good way).  It's Amityville meets Beetlejuice meets Rosemary's Baby.  I really wanted to like this one; there are some fantastic parts: a maid who is hot for the sex-addict husband but an old one-eyed woman by everyone else, Jessica Lang's over the top but perfectly evil neighbor and the mysterious rubber suited man.  Sadly, for me, the rest of it is an unsatisfying soup of style over context.  The potential scares are diminished by over explanation and the characters we care for are tossed about like insignificant leaves.  What's interesting is that every season of this show is supposed to be a new story.  That gives me some hope but ultimately I'm going to be cautious and probably skip the next one. Grade: C