"Death Valley" and Inappropriate Humour: A Television Review ("Help Us, Help You")

Creator: Curtis Gwinn.

Director: Eric Appel.

Writers: Eric Weinbergand.

Cast: Texas Battle, Bryan Callen, Bryce Johnson, Caity Lotz, Tania Raymonde, and Charlie Sanders.

Episode 2, "Help Us, Help You," is available to watch at the MTV homepage for United States viewers and on the MTV Channel through re-airings for Canadians. Originally shown September 5th, this latest episode of "Death Valley" saw a lot of the same moments from the original. Yet, the show remains inappropriately funny. Gags on one-night stands, a sexually harrassing Police Captain and a theme of homo-eroticism should keep most watchers squirming and laughing in their seats. This is the second episode in a series that sees vampires, werewolves and zombies bounding about the San Fernando Valley. Full of comedy in the initial episode, this second chapter seemed to struggle a little near the end.

In this episode, John-John (Texas Battle) and Carla (Tania Raymonde) track down some teenagers who are themselves hunting zombies. These teenagers are taking the law into their own hands after a poster campaign has asked the community to help police to do their job better. The posters consist of male police officers getting cuddly together and the message seems to be unclear and a little too queer for some of the other officers. Moving along, some of the teens get a little to close to the undead and they turn into zombies themselves. Cue hand punch through a zombie's face (seen left, above). Also, a vampire prostitute returns in this episode. How come they don't just stake her? Captain Dashell (Bryan Callen) finally steps out of the office with the new rookie (Caity Lotz). There are sexual innuendos aplenty: "are you ready to take your clothes off and go on the ride of your life?" The Captain seems more than a little enamoured by the new rookie, who is herself, apparently and unbelievably, witless to his advances.

There were a few stumbling blocks in this latest showing, however. The battling of John-John and Carla with the undead seemed a little repetitive, compared to the first episode. Also, how does a vampire die by strangulation? A rat skit in the attic provided some initial laughs, but then seemed to putter out due to predictability. This show is still finding it legs and if one skit does not amuse you, then another likely well. This viewer found himself again laughing at the most juvenile elements e.g. a car of teens throwing rocks at a slow moving zombie, and at the sexually repressed Captain, who seems to be confused about his sexual identity. One thing is for sure, this show is not afraid of controversial or silly material.

"Death Valley" continues to air on Monday nights, with "Blood Vessels," a story of hijacked Blood Drive vehicles, being the next episode. This horror fan would again recommend fans of horror and comedy to check out this series, which has great repartee and inappropriate situations. MTV seems to have a winner on its hands, which only slightly faltered in this second episode. Maybe a transfusion in "Blood Vessels" will fill the next episode with a little more biting iron.

"Death Valley" at MTV:

Details on the Show at MTV's Homepage

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