Top Ten Treehouse of Horror Segments
By Edwin Davies
October 31, 2011
4. Dial Z For Zombies (Treehouse of Horror III)
“Dad! You killed Zombie Flanders!”
“He was a zombie?”
Finally, the episode that answered the question everyone was asking themselves in 1993; is Homer Simpson more concerned about his car or his kids raising the dead? It turns out that he’s okay with the latter as long as the former is fine and dandy. On top of that there’s the incredibly easy – and hilarious – joke about the zombies leaving Homer alone because he doesn’t have brains worth bothering with, the scene of Homer walking through the corridors of Springfield Elementary with a shotgun and cutting zombies down with lead and blunt, action movie-level wordplay (Take that, Washington! Eat lead, Einstein! Show’s over, Shakespeare!) and Barney chewing on an arm, not because he is a zombie, but because everyone else is doing it. When it Rome…
1-3. The Shinning/Time and Punishment/Nightmare Cafeteria (Treehouse of Horror V)
Groundskeeper Willie: Ach, I’m bad at this. [Dies]
Owing to the anthology nature of the Treehouse of Horror format, most editions have one or two great segments mixed in with weaker ones. It’s both the key strength and weakness of them, since it forces the writers to cram as many jokes in to as little time as possible, yet the lack of a clear through line means that each segment has to stand on its own merits. I’ve grouped these three together not just because they are all hilarious, but because Treehouse of Horror V is the only instalment which doesn’t have a single weak segment; they’re all terrific. From the pitch perfect satire of The Shinning (which not only does justice to my favorite horror film but also has Dan Castellanata’s great delivery of the line “Don’t mind if I do!”), the wacky alternate timelines of Time and Punishment (and James Earl Jones, as Maggie, saying “This is indeed a disturbing universe,” which is as true today as it was then) and the entire plot of Nightmare Cafeteria, which is a tour de force for Harry Shearer as Principal Skinner. (“Oh, relax kids. I've got a gut feeling Uter's around here somewhere. (starts to laugh) After all, isn't there a little Uter in all of us? (laughs harder) In fact, you might say we just ate Uter and he's in our stomachs right now! (laughs) Wait. Scratch that one.”) Each segment is so pristine and great, and together they add up to the finest Treehouse of Horror ever. Considering the competition, that is really saying something.
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