The Movie:

While no one in their right mind would argue that Peter Medak's The Changeling isn't one of the finest horror films of the late seventies/early eighties but does one classic make him a master? One could probably make a solid case against that, but he does have an episode of Tales From The Crypt and a few episodes of The Twilight Zone to his credit and he did helm Species II. Still, when one thinks 'masters of horror' his name isn't one that instantly comes to mind and The Washingtonians isn't likely to help that situation.

The story follows Mike Franks (co-writer Johnathon Schaech), his wife Pam(Venus Torzo), and their daughter Amy (Julia Tortolano) as they move into the old Virginia home that Mike's late Grandmother has willed to him. After they meet with the seemingly kindly old barrister in charge of the estate, Sam (Myron Natwick), they get to sorting out the belongings in the old house starting with the strange painting of George Washington in the basement. Mike finds a note hidden in the frame of the painting that talks about eating children and making utensils out of their bones - to make matters even more unsettling, the note is signed "G.W." and Mike thinks it may have come from Washington himself.

Mike tells a few of the townsfolk about his discovery and while Pam doubts that the note came from Washington, Mike is pretty much settled on the notion. As Mike sets about trying to spread the word and let the truth about Washington and his crazy child eating ways be known, he learns that many of the people who live around him are 'Washingtonians' meaning that they will uphold the first President's legacy by whatever means necessary, and that includes preserving some of the founding father's more unsavory traditions.

About as subtle as a kick in the groin, The Washingtonians is predictable, silly, and over done to the point where it's no longer scary, it's just goofy. While some of the flaws may be there intentionally, there's no getting around the fact that almost the entire cast overacts and that the supporting players, those polite southern folk who populate the small town, are as clichéd as you can get. It's a shame that the picture turned out this way as the premise is an interesting one. The potential for the movie to serve as an interesting political allegory was ripe indeed, toying with the idea that this entire country was founded for all the wrong reasons by all the wrong people - but Medak and company blow it and instead opt for a hammy and ham-fisted film that, while definitely quirky, just doesn't work.

With the script and subtext established as hokey, does the movie deliver any solid scares? Sadly, it fails there as well. Medak doesn't bother with atmosphere (surprising considering how thick the atmosphere is in The Changeling, instead bombarding us with obvious foreshadowing such as the shadow of a hat moving across the wall of Mike's house - gee, could that hat belong to a 'Washingtonian?' Obvious and uninspired tactics such as that or a bit where Mike finds some severed fingers in his Cheerios don't make for good horror, they just unsuccessfully try to cover up lazy filmmaking and bad writing.

Video:

The Washingtonians is, like every episode in the series so far, presented in an anamorphic 1.78.1 widescreen transfer. For the most part, things look pretty good on this disc. There are some mild compression artifacts present here and there in the darker scenes, but aside from that the image is decent. Color reproduction looks accurate and at times quite bold while flesh tones look lifelike and natural. Some scenes are almost sepia toned thanks to some lighting tricks but the disc ensures that everything looks good from start to finish. There is a pretty solid level of both foreground and background detail present through the majority of the movie. Like the rest of the second season discs, this is not a flawless transfer, but it is a very good one.