Masters of Horror/Deer Woman

Deer Woman
Season 1, Episode 7
Airdate	December 9, 2005
Written by	Max Landis, John Landis
Directed by	John Landis
← 1x06 Homecoming	1x08 → Cigarette Burns
Masters of Horror — Season One

Deer Woman is the seventh episode of the first season of Masters of Horror.

A series of bodies suggests a half woman/half deer is stalking men.

Cast: Brian Benben (Detective Dwight Faraday), Cinthia Moura (Deer Woman), Anthony Griffith (Officer Jacob Reed), Sonja Bennett (Dana), Alex Zahara (Detective Patterson), Maxine Miller (Dog Lady), John R. Taylor (Dead Monkey Man), Julian Christopher (Chief Einhorn), Travis Dugas (Casino Manager), Jordan Mackay (Cocktail Waitress), Clint Andrew (Mugger)

Plot Overview

Detective Dwight Faraday is stuck in a dead end assignment tracking animal attacks after a fatal accident that resulted in the death of his partner drove him to depression and divorce. His assignment gets him called into a bizarre case which is initially confused as animal related along with temporary partner Officer Reed. An abandoned truck at a truck stop is found with the passenger door severely damaged and unidentifiable remains in the backseat. The bloody mess contains a damaged human jawbone so the case shifts over to homicide and he's asked to leave. However, his interview with the truck stop owner described the victim as having left with a beautiful woman with yellow eyes. The person who discovered the body saw deer surrounding the truck before disappearing before his eyes.

The case strikes a chord with him and he realizes that the body could have been killed by trampling. He visits the morgue where the coroner is just starting to sift through the remains. Noting that the man died during a state of arousal and dying of severe blunt force trauma. She agrees that blows could be caused by hoof prints but the two of them can't come up with a situation where a deer could get in the truck to kill him without accounting for the attractive girl. He also dreams up several preposterous ideas at night.

A second set of trampled remains are found with a deer hair under the fingernail. While not his case, he and Reed are in the morgue as a second set of remains missing an arm. Faraday and Reed go to the location of the second body, a pawn shop, and find the missing arm on the roof. Faraday spots a set of bloody hoof prints that suggest a long stride by a biped with hooves. In a meeting with his Chief, he puts forward that it could be an unknown kind of creature and asks for the lead on any future bodies.

Faraday and Reed break for a lunch at a local Native American casino and are overheard by the casino manager talking about the case. The manager breaks in to ask if they're talking about Native mythology, specifically about the deer woman. Per the legend, she is a beautiful woman who lures men aside and kills them after sex.

Reed returns to the casino later that night and is approached by the deer woman while he is gambling. Beautiful but mute, she leads him on to big wins at Craps before the two go back to his place. She is about to seduce him when Faraday calls him about research that suggests the Deer Woman has struck 100 years ago. Reed tries to get him off the phone by telling him he has a beautiful girl there and Faraday asks him if he's seen her feet.

Reed immediately realizes what has happened and Faraday rushes over to find his trampled corpse. Coming from the closet, the Deer Woman approaches him and he gets off a quick gunshot but she kicks him into a wall and runs away. Faraday gives chase in his car and blocks her path but she easily kicks his car out of the way. His pursuit is interrupted by the phantom deer but he corners the Deer Woman and pins her to a tree with his car. Unstopped, she starts lifting his car up and he shoots her repeatedly but she simply vanishes into thin air.

Notes

• Deaths and Gore: Deer Woman leaves four pulverized mounds of men with various dismembered parts while she is later shot repeatedly and pinned to a tree by a speeding car.

Trivia

The Show

• During his discussion with his Chief, Faraday says 'In London, in 1981, a series of brutal animal attacks were directly linked to a freak wolf that was gunned down in Piccadilly Circus'. This references the werewolf of Landis' An American Werewolf in London.

Behind the Scenes

• Director John Landis has a varied career across many genres, including well known comedies like Trading Places and The Blues Brothers and is well known for the influential horror film An American Werewolf in London. He also directed the well received short form film version of Michael Jackson's Thriller music video.

Quotes

• Faraday: Why? Why does she do it? What's her motive.
  Casino Manager: Why does everything have to have a why with you people. You know, she's a woman with deer legs. Motive really isn't an issue here.