The Screwfly Solution

So all the men on the planet think God is telling them to kill all the women. Sucks to be a chick.
The Screwfly Solution is Joe Dante's fourth and final contribution to Movie Lottery (he directed the wraparound story in Trapped Ashes, Innerspace and Matinee) and it's the only one of the four that, if I had no beforehand knowledge of the movie, if someone had shown it to me and asked me to guess the director, Joe Dante never would have occurred to me. This may be the most serious movie he's ever directed.
I didn't like it.
The problem with Masters Of Horror is that all the episodes I've seen I either liked enough to only watch the one time, or I didn't even like them that much. Except Cigarette Burns. That movie kicks ass. (And Dance Of The Dead is worth keeping for Robert Englund reasons.) This falls into the "not even worth it the one time" category.
Actually ... No, it wasn't that bad. It started out really interesting. People were getting killed and claiming it was because God said it was a good idea. Okay, they're nutjobs. I like it. Go on.
Then (from here on there are some spoilers) it turns out that it's something more along the lines of chemical warfare: someone has created a disease or something that takes away the male distinction between libido and agression. Okay, I guess I'll buy that. Do continue.
Well, now we're going to spend the rest of the movie worrying about Jason Priestly's wife and obnoxious daughter. (Cue the "You just lost a game on The Price Is Right" music.) Aww, no new car for you.
I don't give a shit about them (especially not the daughter; she deserved punching). The big picture of this story is way more interesting than individual characters. And if you're going to focus on anybody, focus on Elliot Gould. He's the only really interesting or likeable person in this mess!
Then there's the "what about gay dudes?" factor. No mention is made of men getting killed, but if the illness or whatever it is affects all men, then there wouldn't only be female victims. Everyone would be getting killed. I think they kind of tried to cop out of that with the "everyone takes it as word of God" thing; they're killing women because a woman tempted Adam out of the Garden Of Eden and therefore ruined everything.
But the story also claims it's a mix up of sex drive and out-and-out aggression, so the killing patterns don't make any sense because if that were the case some men would be killing other men because that's what they're attracted to. Also, every guy seems to want to kill every woman he comes across, and that doesn't work either. Nobody is attracted to everybody. And I don't want to think about the implications of the guys in the movie who killed their daughters. That just makes my brain throw up.
I thought I had another complaint about the movie, but I don't remember what it was now.
Oh, the ending! I didn't get it. I mean, I understood the very end of it, but right before the very end there was ... an event that I didn't understand. It required CGI and it was very pretty, but I don't know what it was or what purpose it served.
I guess I'm not smart enough for this movie.
Masters Of Horror was such a disappointment because the concept was completely fantastic (let a bunch of horror directors have an hour to tell a story any way that they want) but none of the episodes lived up to what I, at least, wanted them to be. I guess if the directors are happy with them, then that's all that matters. But I would have liked to enjoy the series along with them.

End of line.
-Sally