The gripping TV series American Horror Story is taking over everyone’s televisions. Its story-lines have no boundaries, and each week we are shocked by what writer and producer, Ryan Murphy has in store for us. The show is very distinct since each series is (mostly) unrelated to the last, yet they do keep many of the stars of each season and recast them. For example, we have the talented Sarah Paulson playing a psychic in Season 1, a journalist in Season 2, a witch in Season 3, and a 2-headed singer in Season 4.

Since each series is completely different from the previous, it leaves us wanting more of the specific elements of horror that we love. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to create more AHS episodes, but I can put together a selection of films that are similar to each season. In that way, you can get a little bit more of what you love, whether it’s witches burning at the stake or freaks in asylums.

Season 1: Murder House (2011) – The Others (2001)

American Horror Story: Murder House (2011) – source: FX

The first season of American Horror Story focuses on the Harmon family: Ben (Dylan McDermott), Vivien (Connie Britton) and their daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga), and their move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien has a miscarriage and Ben has an affair. They move into a restored mansion, unaware that the home is haunted by its former inhabitants, and the inhabitants before that… and the inhabitants before that. The film that presents strong parallels with these aspects of horror is The Others.

The Others (2001) – source: Dimension Films

The Others is a film about a woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children. With spine-chilling events throughout, it is a clear match for the first season of American Horror Story. This award-winning film stars Nicole Kidman and captures scenes of terror as she comes to suspect that her house is haunted. Each family member has some kind of health issue, such as photosensitivity or migraine attacks.

The director Alejandro Amenábar was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, which is a rare occurrence for a horror film. In this supernatural motion picture, the nanny, servant and gardener all coincide with the creepy events that take place, and Grace (Nicole Kidman) fears that they are not alone. The added help is similar to the Harmon family in AHS, who have the added help of servant, Moira O’Hara (Frances Conroy) and neighbour, Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange) who are also intermingled with the paranormal activity that occurs. One of the key themes in both pictures is loss, such as the loss of love and a baby in AHS, or the loss of Grace Steward’s husband in The Others. We depict an uncertainty of what is real and what is supernatural or psychological, because we don’t really have a firm grasp of who is alive or who is there to help or harm the Harmon and the Stewart families. The two films also have a very similar ambiance and tone throughout.

The Others is more of a simplistic version of the ghost story when compared to AHS, due to minimal characters. AHS definitely has more complex scenarios and relationships, such as that between Tate and Violet, Ben and Vivien, the mistress Hayden, and many others. In conclusion, though, I would say that The Others is a perfect film to feed your hunger for American Horror Story: Murder House.

Season 2: Asylum (2012) – Shutter Island (2010)

American Horror Story: Asylum (2012) – source: FX

Season 2 of American Horror Story, called Asylum (also my favorite) is set in 1964. It focuses on the lives of patients, nuns and doctors who all live and work at Briarcliff Mental Institution For The Criminally Insane. The constant foreboding of mystery and precariousness keeps the audience fixated on the lives of Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson), Kit Walker (Evan Peters) and doctors Arden (Oliver Cromwell) and Thredson (Zachary Quinto). All the characters have secrets and sinful pasts, which begin to unfold and intertwine with one another as the story advances, each one more scandalous and sordid than the last. With themes of deception, death, morality, war, mentality, and entrapment, a comparison can be made to Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island.

Shutter Island (2010) – source: Paramount Pictures

Set in 1954, Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) investigates the disappearance of Rachel Solando, a woman imprisoned in a mental hospital for killing her own children and then vanishes from Ashecliffe Hospital on Shutter Island. As Daniels tries to find the missing murderer Rachel, he ultimately discovers even more about himself.

This film is very compatible with the second season of American Horror Story. A key feature of this is shown through the central characters in AHS and Teddy Daniels from Shutter Island. They all display large amounts of mental illness and attempt to cover up or convey saneness in order to be relieved of their circumstances. The eerie setting of mental institutions “for the criminally insane” is possibly the most horrific setting for any horror/psychological film. Both features are similar in their scenery, era, vibrancy, and cases, although very different in their outcomes.

Lana Winters in AHS is a stubborn and determined journalist, who we hope learns that there is more to life than work through her time at Briarcliff, and we see the diminishment of that idea when she returns after her escape from the hospital to document the institution and then publish an autobiography full of white lies. This is similar, and yet contrasts with Shutter Island, as the audience is deceived by the portrayal of instability in the character of Teddy Daniels/Andrew Laeddis. It is only when we reach the destination that we can we see how ignorant we were to to the clear Easter eggs throughout the film. An example is the invisible glass held by one of the patients during the interview (through the eyes of Teddy to imply his fear of water due to the demise of his children). It’s this deception that makes the motion picture a brilliant all-round film. Although it differs from AHS, it also holds a strong correlation with the series, due to the idea that the protagonists Lana and Teddy are foolish and dangerous. It allows us to decide if they are actually insane, or if it is just an insanity that developed because of the plight they were forced to endure throughout the series and film.

Overall, the vibrancy of Shutter Island matches that of American Horror Story: Asylum, because it tricks the mind into questioning one’s self and authority. They both include dark twists and turns, and subsequently may cause you to question your own mentality.

Season 3: Coven (2013) – The Crucibles (1996)

American Horror Story: Coven (2013) – source: FX

The third season of American Horror Story, called Coven, focuses on the lives of Salem descendants, with their species now facing extinction. Cordelia Foxx (Sarah Paulson) teaches the few witches at her school how to deal with and develop their powers, in hope to find the next Supreme to replace Cordelia’s mother, the bitter Fiona (Jessica Lange). It also includes the added Mary Shelly feature of a modern Frankenstein’s monster (Evan Peters), an immortal racist (Kathy Bates) and a rival clan on the scene (relatives of Tituba from Salem). The film that holds parallels with this series is the well executed adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play: The Crucible.

The Crucible (1996) – source: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

The Crucible is very similar to this series of American Horror Story, as Arthur Miller’s characters are what could be the ancestors of the witches that live at Miss Robichaux’s Academy For Exceptional Young Ladies in New Orleans. Set in the 1940’s, this movie gives us more historical context on the Salem witch trials.

The Crucible is about a group of women that go into the woods and experiment with witchcraft. After being seen acting obscurely, the town have suspicion that they are witches, which is an act punishable by death. However, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) has an affair with John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis), and she then manipulates the girls in order to keep their secret quiet. The largest theme in this film is sisterhood, and this is shown in the series with the way the students at the academy treat each other. The complex dynamic of hormonal teens combined with relationships, witchcraft, friendship, lies and deceit all play key roles in both features. Both pictures are trying to disguise their secrets, although in different circumstances since one is a tale about actual witches, and the other is a story about impostor witches. The court/council appears in both motion pictures, which is interesting because we can see the fates of these women slowly become decided.

Overall, The Crucible is a tale of sin, seduction and, of course, witchcraft. I have seen a variety of witchcraft-themed movies, but few matches up to its standards. It truly is a magnificent movie, one that will cure your craving for more American Horror Story: Coven.

Season 4: Freak Show (2014) – Freaks (1932)

American Horror Story: Freakshow (2014) – source: FX

The fourth and current season of American Horror Story is Freak Show. It begins its tale in Jupiter, Florida, set in 1952. A troupe of curiosities arrive to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that threaten the lives of the town’s citizens and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst segregation and the dying world of the American carny experience. A film that holds an incredibly strong link with this season is the movie Freaks.

Freaks (1932) – source: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Freaks is a 1932 American horror film in which the “freaks” were played by people who worked as carnival performers and had actual physical deformities. The original version was considered too shocking to be released, and no longer exists. Directed and produced by Tod Browning, whose career never recovered from it, Freaks has been described as standing alone in a sub-genre of one. That is, until the latest American Horror Story was released.

Like Coven, this latest season of American Horror Story has captured the story line and vibrancy of an old classic. Characters such as the Siamese twins, pinheads and the Bearded Lady are all present here. Here is an IMDB description of the film:

“A circus trapeze artist, Cleopatra, takes an interest in Hans, a midget who works in the circus sideshow. Her interest however is in the money Hans will be inheriting and she is actually carrying on an affair with another circus performer, Hercules. Hans’s fiancée does her best to convince him that he is being used but to no avail. At their wedding party, a drunken Cleopatra tells the sideshow freaks just what she thinks of them. Together, the freaks decide to make her one of their own.”

This idea of making an example of Cleopatra is similar to the character Penny in AHS, as she becomes deformed by her own father since he refuses to have a daughter who associates with the freaks. Contextually, this film was the basis for the current season of American Horror Story.

If you enjoy series 4 of AHS, you will love this film, as it is of a similar story and style. After all, the original version of the film was considered “too shocking” to be released.

I hope these films quench your thirst for more American Horror Story from your favorite seasons. Although with these films we don’t have the added bonus of Evan Peters, Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy and Sarah Paulson, we do gain a stronger understanding for the basis of each individual season, especially with Coven and Freakshow. Mostly, though, it allows us to relive our favorite horror elements all over again.

What is your favourite season of American Horror Story? And what film would you pair with it? Let me know in the comments!

(top image: American Horror Story: Freakshow – source: FX)