HORROR
This four-part series adapted from Stephen King short stories starts off with a must-see performance by Oscar-winner William Hurt—the same kind of funny, ferocious, uninhibited turn that gave such a live-wire jolt to A History of Violence. There's not even dialogue in the hourlong "Battleground." It's just a fugue of grunts, groans and growls as Hurt, playing a world-class hit man returning to his apartment after offing a toy mogul, comes under retaliatory assault from a battalion of plastic, matchbox-size soldiers. This is followed by the next-best installment, "Crouch End." Claire Forlani and Eion Bailey are newlyweds lost in a monstrous netherworld in a London suburb. It's one of those queasy tales full of putrid, tarry mutations. Cheap but effective shock: disgusting cat in need of eyepatch. The other episodes (at least the ones provided for review) don't have much oomph. But Hurt towers. Literally.
