American Horror Story - Coven - Blu-ray

Content: When her boyfriend dies during their first sex, young Zoe Benson (Taissa Farmiga) learns that she is to blame. That's because she's a witch who has yet to get a handle on her newly awakened abilities at all. In order to learn to control them, Zoe is sent to a school for witches in New Orleans. Along with three other young witches, she is to be prepared by headmistress Cordelia Fox (Sarah Paulsen) for a life of supernatural powers. But when Zoe attends a fraternity party with her classmate, snooty actress Madison (Emma Roberts), she is mercilessly confronted with the darker side of life as a witch. For after Madison is raped by some of the guys at the party, she causes her tormentors to crash a school bus. Among the victims is an innocent: sympathetic Kyle (Evan Peters), with whom Zoe has fallen head over heels. To thank Zoe for killing the sole survivor of the hospital accident with her very special powers, Madison steals a revival formula from the school to bring Kyle back to life. But this has unforeseen consequences.

At the same time, Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange), the head of the coven, causes quite a stir at school after she frees Madame Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates), who was buried alive 180 years ago, from her grave in her quest for eternal youth. She wants to learn who allowed her to live this extremely long life. While the racist Madame must make her way in a world where the U.S. has elected a black president, Fiona must contend with her old rivals, the Voodoo priestesses, to achieve her goal. But the powerful Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) has a very different plan that could spell the end of the coven...

Witches, zombies, axe murderers, voodoo and ghosts - the third season of American Horror Story once again has plenty of material worth watching for horror fans. The concept that Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee) has come up with for the series pays off again. Thus, this season once again tells a self-contained story that stands out from the others not only dramaturgically, but also stylistically. Individual actors, such as Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, and Sarah Paulsen, have been in every season so far, but they always play completely different roles. So on the one hand, American Horror Story has a certain recognition value and a very specific, recurring character. On the other hand, the series is able to keep reinventing itself from year to year, offering viewers variety in a way that other series are denied.

In its third year, the women clearly set the tone. While there are some male protagonists in the circle of supporting characters, it is primarily pure female power that reigns supreme here. But what dark excesses this can have becomes clear after the first episode, when Madison decides to put together the perfect Kyle from the individual body parts of her victims for Zoe, or when Fiona frees the crazy racist Madame Delphine from her grave. But this is only the beginning of many bloody events, during which topics as diverse as beauty mania, revenge, slavery, unfulfilled baby wishes or incest are dealt with - not exactly light fare. But this is exactly where the very special strength of the series lies. Through its very weird, slightly macabre humor, the creators succeed perfectly in making the dark topics entertaining. American Horror Story is more than just a horror series. It is also satire, drama, grotesque and thriller. And that versatility, both dramaturgically and stylistically, is what makes the series so worth watching in its third year.

Unfortunately, as with the first seasons, the final episodes of Coven don't quite live up to the promise of the beginning. Still, the series clearly stands out from the crowd simply because of its concept, its unusual camerawork and its very special atmosphere. The good actors (especially Kathy Bates is quite great this season) and some extremely intense scenes ensure that American Horror Story: Coven has become absolutely worth watching for all genre and series fans!

Picture + Sound: The dark atmosphere of the series, the wonderfully morbid set and the excellent camerawork are shown to excellent advantage thanks to the high image sharpness, the coherent colouring and the very good contrasts. In some moments, the picture can easily keep up with larger cinema productions and thus reveals the high quality of current TV productions. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix sound is also convincing. The rather directional mixed dialogues are contrasted by some successful sound effects, which provide for a successful use of the surround channels and thus for an overall very atmospheric sound carpet. Goosebumps are guaranteed more than once here! Good!

Extras: In terms of bonus material, the third season disappoints a little. There is only on the first disc a short making of the Halloween episode (approx. 10:22 min.), as well as on disc 3 a general season making of (approx. 16:16 min.), as well as a short documentary about the shooting in New Orleans (approx. 11:58 min.). Still: even though the extras disappoint in terms of quantity, and unfortunately no subtitle options are provided, the three featurettes are of very good quality and offer an entertaining, informative look at the making of the season. Good!

Conclusion: American Horror Story breaks new ground again in season 3. The story about a school for witches in New Orleans convinces with its atmospheric locations, the good actresses, a good pinch of macabre humor, as well as quite a few successful goosebumps moments. Even if the finale is not exactly one of the strongest moments of the series, this season again testifies to the genius of the concept of this horror series. The Blu-ray box presents the episodes of Coven in very good picture and sound quality and also offers few, but worth seeing extras. For this there is a more than deserved: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp