Revisit This Psychedelic KISS-Fueled Halloween Horror Episode of ‘Millennium’

“By no means imagine something you see on Halloween.” That is the Reverend M. Goodman quote that opens up Millennium‘s second Halloween-themed episode, “…13 Years Later,” and immediately units the temper for this uncommon and spooky hour of tv. If this had been your first foray into the world of Millennium, you’d in all probability be questioning what a star like Lance Henriksen could be doing on a present like this. Let it’s identified that, whereas the Chris Carter-created collection did partake in some excessive strangeness in its three quick seasons, no episode is sort of like this one. Mixing Halloween and B-horror motion pictures with the rock band KISS is a bit uncanny, little question, however it is a journey you will always remember. As the network’s own promotion boasted, “Should you like slasher movies… You are gonna love this. Blood, guts and music’s wildest band. Do not miss one hell of a present.”

‘Millennium’s Second Halloween Episode Is Like a Fever Dream

13 years after FBI profiler Frank Black was final within the small city of Trinity, South Carolina, investigating a string of homicides he helped clear up, he and his new companion Emma Hollis (Klea Scott) return to research a brand new set of murders. Sadly for Frank, the city is now the epicenter of a B-horror image very loosely based mostly on the very case that Frank solved over a decade earlier, now with the rock band KISS set to carry out a live performance within the third act. Yeah, they obtained the precise band to point out up for this one, with the newly reunited authentic lineup — Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss — performing their hit 1998 single, “Psycho Circus,” collectively on stage.

Even funnier, the band themselves have components within the episode, too. Stanley performs the murdered director Lew Carroll; Simmons exhibits up because the pretend killer, Hector Leachman; and Frehley and Criss cameo as “Sick Cop” and “Good Cop,” respectively. Maybe unsurprisingly, given their on-stage personas, Simmons and Stanley specifically give high quality performances, with the latter’s work because the opening’s sleazy movie director being essentially the most genuine of the bunch. When speaking in regards to the band in an on-set interview, Lance Henriksen once aptly noted that, “[KISS is] a beautiful circus,” highlighting the appearing abilities of some of them. In fact, KISS has their own unique history of film and television appearances, however this episode of Millennium takes all of it to the subsequent degree.

As Frank struggles to discover a motive for his killer, he and Hollis lastly make a breakthrough after they notice that the assassin would not have an ordinary felony profile (which almost drives Frank insane, “for the third time in his life”). As a substitute, the killer takes direct inspiration from the horror motion pictures airing domestically every evening main as much as Halloween. Meaning Halloween, Friday the thirteenth, A Nightmare on Elm Avenue, and The Texas Chainsaw Bloodbath are all honest recreation because the brokers try to deduce who the killer is earlier than it is too late. To make all of it just a bit stranger, Frank and Hollis deal primarily with showbiz folks right here, the self-absorbed and “pretend” Hollywood varieties who refuse to take any of the hazard significantly.

“…13 Years Later” Is a Unusual Ode to B-Horror Flicks All over the place

As a lot as “…13 Years Later” looks like an excuse for Fox to air an hour-long commercial for KISS’s 1998 reunion album, Psycho Circus (which is a good album by the best way), the episode is equally a tongue-in-cheek critique on the movie enterprise as a complete, not in contrast to The X-Recordsdata‘ “Hollywood A.D.” or Supernatural‘s “Hollywood Babylon.” In fact, each of these episodes aired after Millennium did it first. However at it is core, “…13 Years Later” performs as a riff on B-horror motion pictures simply good for the Halloween season. Not solely does the ultimate act happen on October thirty first, simply after a Michael Meyers-inspired copycat kill, however the entire thing is framed as a meta tackle how ridiculous most B-horror footage are, with an ending that feels simply as weird as any of the flicks the episode takes the time to name-drop.

“…13 Years Later” could not be extra completely different from Millennium‘s earlier Halloween episode, the melancholy and meditative “The Curse of Frank Black,” however that does not imply there’s no benefit to this one. It is a enjoyable, oddball expertise that feels very unlike most episodes of Millennium (certainly, it was their first actual comedic try within the present’s third and last season), however nonetheless shines due to Henriksen’s deadpan response to the madness of all of it. The episode’s last twist, which we can’t spoil right here, is very notable because it re-frames the whole episode and retroactively explains simply why it feels so weird in comparison with your standard Millennium hour. Even over twenty years later, “…13 Years Later” continues to be a enjoyable watch, and positively price breaking out the outdated DVDs for, particularly round this time of 12 months.

Millennium is obtainable for buy on Amazon and sadly has but to stream.

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