American Horror Story: Hotel: Difference between revisions

American Horror Story: Hotel is the fifth season of the FX horror anthology television series American Horror Story. It premiered on October 7, 2015. The series was renewed in October 2014, with the subtitle Hotel being announced in February 2015. Hotel marks the first season to not feature series mainstay Jessica Lange. Returning cast members from previous seasons of the series include: Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Denis O'Hare, Lily Rabe, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Angela Bassett, Chloë Sevigny, Finn Wittrock, Wes Bentley, Mare Winningham, and Matt Bomer, along with new cast members Lady Gaga, Cheyenne Jackson, Naomi Campbell, and Max Greenfield. Breaking from the anthological format like Freak Show, the season is interconnected to the first season, and features an appearance by the Murder House and its realtor Marcy (Christine Estabrook).

The plot centers around the enigmatic Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles, California, that catches the eye of an intrepid homicide detective (Bentley). The Cortez is host to the strange and bizarre, spearheaded by its owner, The Countess (Gaga), who is a bloodsucking fashionista. This season features two murderous threats in the form of The Ten Commandments Killer, a serial offender that justifies his actions in accordance with biblical teachings; and The Addiction Demon, who roams the hotel, armed with a drill bit dildo.

According to creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy, thematically Hotel will be much darker than previous ones, and will see the reprisal of other characters from past cycles. Inspiration came from old hotel horror films and actual hotels situated in downtown Los Angeles, with a reputation for sinister events. This included The Cecil. The cycle also marks a return to filming in Los Angeles, where the first two seasons were shot. Hotel features one of the most expansive sets in American Horror Story history, with production designer Mark Worthington building two stories on a soundstage, along with a working elevator and stairway. From July 2015, FX launched a marketing campaign for the series, with most trailers and teasers touting Gaga's involvement.

The series focuses on the Los Angeles hotel known as "Hotel Cortez", which has been purchased by fashion designer Will Drake. The hotel is cursed, filled with mysterious demons and ghosts, as well as the mysterious 115 year old vampire "The Countess" (Lady Gaga) and her paramour, former drug addict Donavon (Matt Bomer). Employees in the hotel include Donavon's mother Iris (Kathy Bates), a crossdresser bartender known as Liz Taylor (Dennis O'Hare), who help The Countess imprison and feed upon hapless visitors to the hotel, and the ghostly laundress Miss Evers (Mare Winningham).

They are intersected with the tribulations of Los Angeles police detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley), who's son was kidnapped by the Countess and Donavon and converted into a vampire living in the hotel. Lowe is brought to the Hotel Cortez after a resident at the hotel was murdered by a serial killer known as "The Ten Commandment Killer", who is targeting Lowe and forcing him to separate from his family to protect them.

Other characters include a mysterious woman named "Hypodermic" Sally (Sarah Paulson); a drug addict that shares a past with Donavon and his mother; a mysterious demon with a drill-shaped strap-on called "The Addiction Demon", bad boy model and drug addict-turned vampire Tristan Duffy (Finn Wittrock), the ghost of the original owner of Hotel Cortez (Evan Peters), and Lowe's daughter, Scarlett, who sets out to rescue her brother from the Countess' clutches.

Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters (left to right).

Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer and Denis O'Hare (left to right).

Cheyenne Jackson, Angela Bassett and Lady Gaga (left to right).

• Kathy Bates as Iris (2 episodes)
• Sarah Paulson as Sally (2 episodes)
• Evan Peters as James Patrick March (1 episode)
• Wes Bentley as Det. John Lowe (2 episodes)
• Matt Bomer as Donovan (2 episodes)
• Chloë Sevigny as Dr. Alex Lowe (2 episodes)
• Denis O'Hare as Liz Taylor (2 episodes)
• Cheyenne Jackson as Will Drake (2 episodes)
• Angela Bassett as Ramona Royale
• Lady Gaga as Elizabeth – The Countess (2 episodes)

• Mare Winningham as Ms. Evers (2 episodes)
• Finn Wittrock as Tristan Duffy (1 episode)
• Naomi Campbell as Claudia Bankson (1 episode)

• Max Greenfield as Gabriel (2 episodes)
• Richard T. Jones as Detective Hahn (2 episodes)
• Shree Crooks as Scarlett Lowe (2 episodes)
• Helena Mattsson as Agnetha (2 episodes)
• Kamilla Alnes as Vendela (2 episodes)
• Lennon Henry as Holden Lowe (2 episodes)
• Lyric Lennon as Lachlan Drake (2 episodes)
• Christine Estabrook as Marcy (1 episode)
• Mädchen Amick as Mrs. Ellison (1 episode)
• Lily Rabe as Aileen Wuornos^[1][2]
• Darren Criss as Justin^[3][4]
• Emma Roberts^[5]

On October 13, 2014, FX renewed the series for a fifth season set to premiere in October 2015.^[12] Network president John Landgraf stated that the season would necessitate a "huge reinvention" for the series.^[13] The season's subtitle was confirmed as Hotel. The theme and Gaga's involvement were hinted in the previous installment as an image of a top hat, an arcane clue alluding to the 1935 screwball musical comedy film Top Hat, which is set in a hotel and features a song called Cheek to Cheek, also the title of Gaga's duet album with Tony Bennett.^[14] Co-creator Ryan Murphy explained that the casting included a number of actors and singers, but would be a much darker season compared to the previous ones. Inspiration came from old hotel horror films and actual hotels situated at downtown Los Angeles, with reputation of sinister events. This included The Cecil in Los Angeles, where the death of 21-year-old Canadian student Elisa Lam occurred. Murphy had watched a surveillance video of Lam in the hotel, in which she displayed erratic behavior just hours prior to her supposed death.^[15][16] It was around this time that the writing for Hotel was conceptualized,^[17][18] and included Murphy's personal phobia and fears which he explained that had not been explored since the first season.^[19]

The upcoming season that we're doing is much more horror-based; it's much more dark. It's about a theme and an idea that's very close to my heart that I've always wanted to do that's a little bloodier and grislier I think than anything that we've done before; it's straight horror this year. Murder House, I thought, was a very primal season because everybody's great fear is about the bogeyman under the bed in their house, and this feels similar to me in that when you check into a hotel, there are certain things beyond your control... Other people have the keys to your room; they can come in there. You're not exactly safe, it's a very unsettling idea.^[17]

Murphy and some of the cast appeared at the 2015 Comic-Con International and revealed further information about the series. "[Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Matt Bomer, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters] are bad boys and girls this time."^[20] Regarding the season having no primary character, Murphy confessed that "the thing that's different about the season is that before we've always been very driven by the Jessica Lange character. She was always the lead character... This year, it's a true ensemble and I think we have more male parts and more male stories. The Wes Bentley part is really big, the Matt Bomer part is really big; Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock are really big. [But] that's not to say that the women aren't either."^[19]

Co-creator Brad Falchuk explained that like the first and second season of the series, Hotel would explore the "trapped" horror trope, though the actions would not be limited just within the premises. "This season, the horror is sneaking out of the hotel," he added explaining that the plot would revolve keeping the hotel in the center, with a more noir like ambience.^[21] Named as Hotel Cortez, the titular structure was built by James March in 1930, who was created as a rich and charming but deeply psychotic character. The season will feature two tormentors, The Ten Commandments Killer, who is inspired by biblical teachings, and The Addiction Demon, who wields a drill bit dildo. They are in the vein of previous seasons' Rubber Man and Bloody Face, respectively.^[22] The two-part Halloween episode, "Devil's Night", will feature a dinner with "the biggest serial killers of all time", including Wuornos and John Wayne Gacy.^[23] It has been confirmed that Hotel will be connected to all the previous seasons of the show, and will include previous characters checking in the hotel.^[20]

The Hotel's two-story lobby set, along with a working elevator, was constructed over the course of seven weeks. While no particular hotel served as inspiration, production designer Mark Worthington was influenced by Timothy Pflueger and William Van Alen when selecting patterns and schemes, stating, "Tonally, I thought Art Deco would make sense for the horror genre because it can be dark and spiky and odd and the composition is strange. It's beautiful, but it isn't necessarily inviting." The hotel consists of labyrinthine structures housing March's murderous fantasies with dead ends, secret rooms and includes plot-lines corresponding to it. A painting of Hernán Cortés, after whom the establishment is named, hangs in the reception area. Worthington and his team had a hand in creating even the smallest of details; such as hotel insignias for the light fixtures, bar coasters, and a venus flytrap column carving that reflects the nature of Gaga's character. The staircase was structured in such a way as to not pull focus from the elevator, which will serve as prime location.^[24]

In February 2015, it was announced that American singer Lady Gaga had joined the show, and is set to appear in eight episodes of Hotel.^[26][27] Murphy had discussed the singer's role in the series, saying she wanted it to be "evil". However, Murphy explained to her that Hotel would be devoid of any musical numbers. Instead Gaga's character, Elizabeth/The Countess, is a fashion icon and owner of the Hotel Cortez.^[2][28] Created as a glamorous socialite character, The Countess maintains her beauty by imbibing human blood.^[22] Murphy was so pleased with Gaga's performance that he invited her back for the yet-to-be-confirmed sixth season of the series, before Hotel had even made its debut.^[29] In March 2015, series star Jessica Lange definitively announced that she would not be returning for the fifth season.^[30][31] During PaleyFest 2015, it was announced that Matt Bomer and Cheyenne Jackson would co-star.^[32] Afterwards, more castings were confirmed, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, and Angela Bassett.^[33] Murphy tweeted about the latter's involvement in Hotel, including a plotline with Gaga, as a character called Ramona Royale, an actress and former lover of The Countess returning to the titular hotel for revenge.^[2][34] Chloë Sevigny, who was a recurring special guest in Asylum, will return to the series for Hotel, playing the wife of Wes Bentley's character, a detective.^[35][2]

In May 2015, it was announced that Max Greenfield would also be joining the cast, in a role later revealed to be that of an addict. Greenfield had to dye his hair blond for the role.^[36][2] His plotline would be intertwined to that of Sally's (Paulson) and together with The Addiction Demon would feature "the most disturbing scene" the show had ever produced, according to Murphy.^[37] In an interview with Vanity Fair, Paulson described Sally as someone who is "selfish and greedy", with hygiene problems.^[38] The next month, Murphy announced that Denis O'Hare would return as a cross-dressing bar worker in the hotel.^[39] He also confirmed that Finn Wittrock would return as Tristan Duffy, a male model who will be involved in a love triangle with Gaga and Bomer.^[33] Wittrock explained that the character might have similarities to his previous Freak Show character, Dandy Mott.^[40] In July 2015, Murphy stated that Coven alum Emma Roberts would return for a few episodes toward the finale, after completing filming on her Fox series, Scream Queens. Her character will be associated with James March (Peters).^[5] While promoting Queens in September 2015, Roberts spoke about her role with less certainty, but optimism, stating, "...it's just everything you could dream of and more. Everything you could nightmare about and more. Granted, things over there are always changing, but I definitely want to go back to it. If it still stands, what Ryan told me, everyone's in for a great shock."^[41]

Later in July, Richard T. Jones joined the cast as Detective Hahn, a homicide detective,^[42] for an eight-episode arch. That same day, Helena Mattsson announced that she had also joined the series in an unspecified role.^[43] Series alum Lily Rabe will portray famous serial killer Aileen Wuornos during the two-part Halloween installment.^[2] With her appearance in the season, Rabe is one of three cast members to appear in all five seasons (along with Paulson and Peters) of the show.^[1] Naomi Campbell has been cast as a fashion editor who does not get along with Gaga's character.^[44] In August 2015, Murphy revealed that Mädchen Amick joined the season as a "mother of a boy who becomes ill", and shares screen time with Alex Lowe (Sevigny). Later in the month, Darren Criss joined the season as a hipster that has conflicts with Iris (Bates),^[3] while Mare Winningham joined as the laundress of the Cortez, who works closely with Mr. March, in the 1930s.^[45] Christine Estabrook will return to the series as Marcy; the realtor who sold the first season's Murder House to the Harmons.^[46]

Principal photography for the season began on July 14, 2015, in Los Angeles, California, marking a return to where the series shot its first two cycles (Murder House and Asylum).^[47] According to the Los Angeles Times, creative reasons, not economic factors, was the deciding key for moving the series from Louisiana back to Los Angeles since Hotel's story is connected to the city.^[48] Murphy revealed a six-story hotel set was being built on the Fox lot. A dummy set of the hotel was built at Comic-Con, showing an Art Deco style building from the 1920s, inspired by the old Hollywood era.^[49] Murphy announced at the TCA Summer Press Tour in August 2015 that he would be directing the season's two-part Halloween episode, "Devil's Night", marking the first time in series history that he will helm more than the premiere. He stated he would direct it "because I love the script so much, when we finished it I said, 'I can't give this to anybody else.'"^[2] In an interview with Entertainment Tonight Murphy spoke about Gaga's entrance to the series, "[it's] a six-minute [scene] – almost like a silent movie with no dialogue, and lots of blood and nudity".^[50]

Greenfield recalled that Murphy wanted to push the limits of the scenes between him, Paulson and The Addiction Demon, while admitting that it was scary. Paulson described it as a normal day of shooting for her since she was accustomed to the theatrics surrounding the show. She added, "None of it's crazy to me. I walk in and I'm like 'Hello conical dildo demon person'. I don't even think twice."^[37] For The Countess and Donovan, who both suffer from blood lust, Murphy was insistent on chainmail gloves being used as their weapons of choice. Costume designer Lou Eyrich created the custom gloves in the mold of armor, deriving inspiration from artist Daphne Guinness; "We wanted it to look both rock-n-roll but old at the same time. But then the nail that pops out with diamonds on the edge to slice you," said Eyrich.^[51]

Filming also took place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in front of Chris Burden's art installation called Urban Light, where Gaga was seen in a floor length pink gown shooting scenes. Media reported that the filming involved a party scene with Gaga walking through the installation while singer Dinah Washington's "Coquette" played in the background.^[52][53] Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack spent three days on set, where he witnessed the filming of a foursome/murder scene, involving Gaga and Bomer's characters. Murphy recounted Gaga's day of filming stating, "You write a foursome for her and you expect a lot of questions. She never did that. She showed up and she was wearing diamond pasties, a Band-Aid on her hoo-ha, heels, and a black veil that Alexander McQueen made for her on the day before his death."^[54]

O'Hare revealed that he had filmed three episodes by September 2015, with his scenes involving Bomer, Sevigny and Bates mostly. "We're kind of doing it piecemeal. You'll do five days on this one, three days on that one. You know, they always start out rocking. There's no warm-up. You're in it," the actor explained.^[55][56] He later went on to compare the aesthetic to Murder House, stating, "It feels like season 1 in many ways... and I think it's because we're back in LA. You can't help it!" He also revealed that his character, Liz Taylor, would be wearing a dress that Lange was supposed to wear in Coven.^[57] The actor explained that for his part, he had to shave his body including his head, and wear eye make-up, since the character was inspired by actress Elizabeth Taylor's films like BUtterfield 8 (1960) and Cleopatra (1963).^[58]

In February 2015, Gaga tweeted a link to the first promotional video for the upcoming season with the caption "Make your reservation now. #GagaAHSHotel" announcing her presence in the season and the official title.^[59] In July 2015, a promotional trading card was unveiled by Entertainment Weekly, available at Comic-Con, where after entering the hotel set built there, one could receive the trading card with a promotional key.^[49][60] The first official teaser for the season was released later that month, showing Gaga's long-nailed hand ringing the bell at the front desk.^[61] In August 2015, FX revealed the premiere date of the season alongside with a new teaser poster, showing an Art Deco peephole on a wooden door, beyond which an obscure image revealed a blond woman putting a body to bed.^[62] Later that month, Entertainment Weekly exclusively unveiled two teaser trailers of the season, entitled "Beauty Rest" and "Do Not Disturb", set to singer Heidi Feek's cover of Elvis Presley's 1956 single, "Heartbreak Hotel".^[63]

On August 26, Entertainment Weekly revealed exclusive cast photos, along with character descriptions.^[64] Gaga also took to her Twitter account to release another photo, showing her as The Countess with three cherubic blond boys, who are seemingly sucking on bottles of blood. The singer captioned the image: "We are family. Meet my magical children. HOTEL #AHS."^[65] Murphy released three new teasers through his Twitter account, titled "Towhead", "Sleepwalk", and "Jeepers Peepers", all set to "Heartbreak Hotel".^[66] Jef Rouner from Houston Press complimented the teasers, describing them as "things of fleeting, awful beauty. So far I've seen six for this season and at least one of them is creepier than every episode of Coven combined... Each one of these is usually less than 15 seconds long and they are murderously effective. I find myself wanting to watch the show again."^[67] On September 10, 2015, an extended teaser was released, featuring a psychedelic tour of the hotel, with cameos by most of the cast.^[68] Few days later, two more trailers were released, one showed the hand of an addict, with a keyhole in place of the needle point, while the other, titled "Above & Below", portrays Gaga as The Countess, with several psychedelic intercuts inside a hotel, featuring Rammstein's "Du hast".^[69][70]

American retail chain Hot Topic announced on their Instagram account that starting September 28, 2015, they will launch a clothing and apparel line based on Hotel, that will be sold in-store and online.^[71] On September 16, 2015, a featurette was released, giving more details about the season and showing some footage.^[72] An actual scene from the season, released in October 2015, showed Bentley's character resting in the Hotel, while Greenfield's character hiding underneath his bed.^[73] Same day the title sequence of the season was released by Murphy, consisting of the same soundtrack like previous seasons, intercut with scenes of a dirty hotel and the Ten Commandments written across a wall.^[58] Jacob Bryant from Variety was impressed with the clip, saying that "The opening credits for [American Horror Story] have always managed to be unsettling, but season five's creepy credits might top the list."^[74]

Unlike the previous seasons, American Horror Story: Hotel has received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the season a 54% approval rating with an average rating of 6.8/10 based on 50 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Favoring garish style over effective storytelling, the fifth American Horror Story strands a talented cast at Ryan Murphy's Hotel."^[75] On Metacritic, the season was given a score of 60 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally mixed reviews".^[76]

Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review, writing, "Early on, Hotel hasn't hooked me with its storytelling, but it's always fun to see what the series does with its repertory acting company and with new additions. Throw in the normal grotesquerie and visual panache and that should keep me going for a while, even if all of the humor appears to have been funneled into Scream Queens."^[77] Amber Dowling of TheWrap also gave a positive review, saying, "It's a visual, visceral romp into what is being set up to be another haphazard foray into the world of horror, as imagined by Murphy and his writing counterpart Brad Falchuk. The show has rarely made sense in terms of story, and this is no exception."^[78] Willa Paskin of Slate called this season a "promising new start", saying, "AHS: Hotel more obviously resembles the first two, better seasons of American Horror Story than it does the latter, lesser two."^[79] Writing for San Francisco Chronicle, David Wiegand praised the cast, calling it "mostly terrific". However, he said Gaga is an "exception", adding, "She makes an enormous visual impact, but the minute she opens her mouth to deliver a line, it's obvious that acting just isn't one of her many talents."^[80] Despite this, Gaga's acting was praised by many critics. Writing for Variety, Brian Lowry praised Gaga's character as "gloriously photographed" and felt her addition to the show was "extraordinarily well-timed".^[81] Emily L. Stephens from The A.V. Club and Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly both gave a B- rating. Stephens praised Gaga's first appearance as "slickly exploitative and hellishly effective"^[82] while Jensen described her as "the show's most potent symbol for all of its themes about our Bad Romance with fame, fortune, sex, sex, and more sex, materialism and consumerism, the denial of death and the corrupt want for cultural immortality".^[83]

On the other hand, Matt Zoller Seitz of New York Magazine found the episode "confusing, tedious, annoyingly precious, and often ostentatiously brutal", but also praised it for being "darkly beautiful, deeply weird, and (sometimes) exhilarating."^[84] Although Scott D. Pierce from The Salt Lake Tribune praised the production design and the cinematography, he said "the storytelling is derivative; the scares are non-existent; and it's all about style without much substance."^[85] Mike Hale from The New York Times complained that it "suffers from the absence of Jessica Lange".^[86] IGN's Matt Fowler gave a rating of 5.9 out of 10, criticizing the episode as "mediocre" and concluding "all weight and meaning is gone".^[87]

Hotel's premiere episode, "Checking In", was initially watched by 5.81 million viewers. After factoring in delayed viewing, the episode rose to 9.1 million, with 6.13 million in the 18-49 demographic, while combined linear, nonlinear and encore viewing, it drew 12.17 million viewers through October 11. Variety stated that "Checking In" could become FX's most-watched telecast, with the 60 full data tabulated.^[88]

• Official website
• Behind Lady Gaga's killer look in 'American Horror Story: Hotel' at Entertainment Weekly
• American Horror Story at IMDb
• List of American Horror Story episodes at TV.com