The Simpsons (TV Series) Treehouse of Horror XIV (2003) User Reviews

Death and Stopwatch

[MarkLynnIreland1294 · 6/10 · 21 November 2022]

Opening segment I recall it well with a bit of fighting and Grampa Simpson set ablaze and says "I feel cold". I still had enough of seeing the alien duo.

First segment is Reaper Madness (based on episode from Family Guy): Grim Reaper turning up on the Simpsons' house, so like Homer's response "Death? We don't want any". Then there's the unfunny Benny Hill-style chase and Homer terminates the Grim Reaper which causes immortality to everyone. Then, as Homer puts on the robe, inadvertently turning himself into the new Grim Heaper - which somehow reminds me of Christmas Santa Clause movie with Tim Allen's Scott Calvin. This seems a bit too comical rather than scary for Halloween.

Second segment is obviously a spoof to the 1931 movie: Frankenstein. I don't know much or have anything say about this.

Third segment is also very cool and likeable, and based on an episode from Twilight Zone. Bart's pranks nearly caused the end of the world again. When he buys a time-stopping watch (I often wished I had one of those in real-world), he and Milhouse like cause chaos in the town. This sci-fi premise is milked for all it's worth. Bart and Milhouse live with no rules and do whatever they please with their fellow Springfieldians. Fortunately, they were able to fix the watch by completing eight one-house lessons. Unfortunately, it takes them fifteen years to get through them all.

The real Horror: the Simpsons' Treehouses of Horror lose their touch

[gizmomogwai · 5/10 · 12 June 2009]

This may be a strange time of year to write a review on a Halloween special, but then again, it was originally aired in a strange time of year for a Halloween special- November. I've always thought the Halloween-themed Treehouse of Horror episodes were so good they ought to be put in museums- THOH I-IX, anyway. In fact, even though The Simpsons began to decline in quality during season 10, the THOH episodes were still all right. I found THOH X, XI, and XIII enjoyable, at least in parts. Alas, like the rest of the show, they've now fallen apart. Later THOH episodes have been horrible; the decline seems to have started here with THOH XIV. More specifically, the Treehouses of Horror lost it after the first segment of this episode. The first segment, featuring Homer becoming Death, is actually good.

First we have an opening scene where the Simpsons fight and kill each other; some might think this scene is a bit too extreme, and personally I did think they went too far in having 10-year-old Bart calling 8-year-old Lisa a "hussy." But anyway, with the Grim Reaper storyline the episode improves. It's been noted Family Guy already did a similar story- this is one of the rare times where a case can be made that The Simpsons took from Family Guy rather than the other way around. But I don't much care (as South Park noted, everything's been done), especially given that The Simpsons do it well. "Death?" Homer asks the Reaper at the door. "We don't want any." Some of the jokes are actually clever, like the wind joke and the Curb Your Enthusiasm reference. The swipe at According to Jim was funny because that really was an awful show, but it might be hypocritical coming from a fifteenth season Simpsons episode since that show went bad, too.

And indeed, this very episode went bad with the next segment, a spoof of Frankenstein. Actually, the Simpsons already did a Frankenstein spoof- in THOH II. There's little reason to justify this new one, as it lacks energy. I guess I mean it lacks wit and compelling writing. The only good things to say about it is that we hear Lisa describing the 2000s, we have Flanders' death and some female nudity (non-frontal). The next segment is a parody of the movie Clockstoppers (2002). It wasn't a relevant reference- this is a movie that was already forgotten when the episode aired, which has a 5.0 average here on IMDb (as of this writing) and a 28% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The pranks Bart and Milhouse pull here make for juvenile humour and Homer being decapitated yet still surviving is just dumb.