TV: Masters of Horror/‘Homecoming’

Joe Dante takes Showtime’s horror anthology series in the truly terrifying direction of current events. The episode veers from sharp satire – this is how I hope Ann Coulter is in real life, but something tells me that it ain’t necessarily so – to surprising lump-in-the-throat moments. The scene in which the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers killed in an Iraq-style conflict burst open so that the dead can vote their leaders out of office is a dizzying pop culture sucker punch, the kind of moment that becomes an instant footnote to history. TV staple Jon Tenney anchors the madness with a heartfelt performance.

The show is racking up plenty of accolades, as well as attention from gloating political blogs. If I were a Republican, I hope I’d find ‘Homecoming’ funny. If I were a Democrat, I wouldn’t be so quick to clutch it to my blue-state bosom. The only characters in the film are either zombies or in the G.O.P. That’s it. Democrats have fallen to the level of Hollywood agents in The Player. They’re not even worth mocking anymore.