THE SIMPSONS Greatest Hits: “Treehouse of Horror II”
Welcome to The Simpsons Greatest Hits, my never-ending quest to find the greatest episode of The Simpsons. Please come find me on twitter @FirsttoLastpod and let me know what is the best episode, and keep a look out for it on this weekly column.
Treehouse of Horror II
Season 3/Episode 42 overall
First aired: 31 October 1991
Written by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jeff Martin, George Meyer, Sam Simon and John Swartzwelder
“And I don’t want any zombie turkeys.”
It’s very hard to review a Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons. They exist outside of continuity, so any character development is short-lived or non-existent (especially as more often than not the characters end up dead), and they are mostly simply a way for the show to spoof horror stories with no rules.
However, there is a bit of a demarcation between when the Treehouse of Horror episodes were gory homages to the horror genre and when they later became ways to do movie spoofs of whatever was popular when the episode went into production.
The very early episodes are excellent horror stories with strong wraparound segments that were full of their own strong gags, a trend that dropped away as the show progressed.
“Damn it, this isn’t rocket science; it’s brain surgery!”
After taking a vote on Twitter, I decided to focus on the second Treehouse of Horror episode; the excellent “everyone has a nightmare” episode. The framing device for this one is Homer, Lisa, Bart all gorge on Halloween sweets before bed, ignoring Marge’s warnings that they’re going to have nightmares from too much sugar.
Obviously, they all then do have nightmares, and we’re treated to a wonderful ghost story, Twilight Zone homage, and a Frankenstein story.
The key to a good Treehouse of Horror episode to me is when the stories manage to be Simpsons stories first, with the supernatural elements put on top and not the other way around.
“I’m a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and my butt smells, and I like to kiss my own butt.”
That aspect is probably most on show for Bart’s story, a riff on the classic Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life,” in which Bart has reality-altering powers and insists that everyone think happy thoughts, lest they feel his cruel wrath. He rules the Earth with an iron fist and when Homer tries to stop him, he turns his father into a jack-in-the-box.
However, for Bart the true nightmare is not him going mad with power or the effect he has on his terrified family, it’s actually the fact that by the end of the nightmare Homer and him have bonded and become a model father and son. That is what causes him to wake up screaming.
The other two stories are great versions of classic horror stories, Frankenstein and The Monkey’s Paw. Lisa’s Monkey Paw nightmare gives four of the family a wish that backfires (except Maggie’s), and each matches their personality perfectly: Barts wants fame and fortune, Lisa wants world peace, and Homer wants a turkey sandwich.
The Frankenstein story with Mr Burns in the eponymous doctor role is the slightest of the three but manages to get some great laughs from Mr Burns’ callousness as a mad scientist.
Overall, the Treehouse of Horror episodes are a mixed bag, but when they’re on fire, they are excellent, as Treehouse of Horror II proved. It’s almost tempting to work my way through all of them now, but I’ll save them and look forward to some Simpsons-style horror and violence later down the line.
Overall Score: 5 Jasper Dog Hybrids out of 5
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
