Femme Fatales

Just got Femme Fatales Season 1 and 2 with a Christmas gift card for myself and loved them. I don't have Cinemax so I never saw any episodes on TV but I did see a panel at San Diego and thought the show looked really cool and the women talked about how empowering it was for female characters which is something I like to see. I was not disappointed. While there were one or two clunkers, most of the episodes were terrific and it only got better as it went on. I also thought the special features were really good. There's a very funny blooper real and some great deleted scenes and behind the scenes material. All in all, I really recommend this show and thought it was very smart and sexy and the DVD is just as good with a lot of extra stuff that helps give insight into the episodes. I especially enjoyed the commentary with the girls talking about the episodes they're in. What I think is great about this show is you don't know what to expect. Just like The Twilight Zone or Tales From The Crypt or even Tales from The Darkside, each episode is it's own story so it's different. One can be a mystery, a sci-fi, grindhouse and most have some of my favorite cult actors. Early 1st season was Robert Lasardo, the guy whose head gets cut off in Death Race. He's great as a gangbanger who takes a hostage at the local hospital. Also Charlie O'Connell plays a sleazy video promoter who gets his due in another one of my favorites from the first season. Second year is even more consistent in terms of quality but each feels very different. I can't recommend this show enough. It isn't a dark brooding study of the human condition, but rather a fun, pulp show that's well written, acted and is incredibly entertaining.

Well mostly not "cute" that is. Maybe a little QT (the cover art of the Box Sets indicating that this is "Sin City meets Tarantino"), but not a lot either. What it is though, is erotic short stories, with strong female leads. You may not always like where they are leading to, but most of them are very satisfying nonetheless (in more than one way as you can imagine).

Not every short story does the trick, but even the weaker ones have something that is at least worthwhile. Some are more predictable than others and some have more sex than others. Some of them are even connected (characters popping up at different episodes making it a fun watch). Give the show a try. Curious to see if there is a third season with even more guest appearances (second season had Eric Roberts, Vivica A. Fox and others)

It's always nice to see more anthology shows on TV. Femme Fatales is probably the first erotica/crime anthology show since The Hitchhiker.

Femme Fatales shares The Hitchhiker's wildly uneven nature, as it luxuriates in gunplay, murder, and exploitation of women, all while trying to give lectures on violence and the exploitation of women (see the "Girls Gone Dead" slam with Charlie O'Connell pitch-perfect as the sleazy producer). The main difference between the two shows is the adrenaline jolts of humor and pure insanity which kept The Hitchhiker going. Femme Fatales usually takes itself very seriously, and often seems very flat, in everything from lighting to acting. It's half-baked noir. Worst of all is they continue to have a host who can barely read her lines and who was presumably hired solely for a British accent and for her large breasts. Imagine Alfred Hitchcock Presents hosted by the local sweater girl.

When you watch old Hitchhiker episodes, you can ogle the absurd fashions, hairstyles, pulsing synthesizers, and general paranoid cocaine blindness which makes up so much of 1980's TV. You get an extra kick from nostalgia. You don't get that with Femme Fatales. The show represents the directionless blandness of so much of today's pop culture.

I was pleasantly shocked when I saw this show. I expected the usual late night fare, but instead both of the first two episodes of Femme Fatales featured fun, fast-paced stories, recognizable actors, really nice production values, and great entertainment value, along with a heavy dose of sex and nudity. Unlike a previous reviewer, I think adding more sex would just ruin the pacing and make this just another late night show. As it is, it's a big step up into the big leagues of real programming for Cinemax. If this is indicative of what's coming from Cinemax in the future, I'll start watching the channel regularly. For now, I'll definitely be watching more of Femme Fatales.

Femme Fatales is a truly great anthology series and I'm not sure why it's not getting all the love it deserves. I've never seen an anthology show done quite this well before since The Twilight Zone...and that includes The Outer Limits, new and old. If you can imagine a sexy version of the Twilight Zone mashing up different genres with a sultry host and cool characters, then you have some idea of the show "Femme Fatales." There are great special appearances by cult stars such as, Agnus Scrimm & Paul Mazursky, to name some of my favorites. The other thing that deserves a shout-out is the cast. The acting is terrific and the "femme fatales" usually aren't only smoldering, but they're also really good actresses as well. Femme Fatales is way more edgy and entertaining than previous stabs at doing anthologies in the last few years, like Masters of Horror and Fear Itself, which I wanted to love, but kinda blew. For example, "Behind Locked Doors" is a woman in prison romp reminiscing 70's exploitation and grindhouse. "Something Like Murder" is an old school sexy noir. "Haunted" is a straight up horror episode in the realm of Paranormal State type shows. "Help Me Rhonda" is a home invasion thriller and a sort of prequel to "Behind Locked Doors" which I've never seen done in anthology before where episodes actually connect to each other even though they're different stories. "Speed Date" is a hilarious action comedy. "Girls Gone Dead" is a sex charged revenge episode. Seeing how they tackled all the different genres this season, I can't wait to see what they do with season 2. The one thing I've come to expect with "Femme Fatales," is expect the unexpected.