While one day going through her recently deceased grandmothers house, an average housewife, ventures into the basement were she finds a mysterious root with a ring hanging on one of its spikes, she tries to grab it, but, is cut in the process. She returns later to discover it has grown into a full man, the hunky man for witch her grandmother had been having an affair with was produced by the erotic root threw black magic known as the "mandrake root", she quickly falls for him, but, learns he needs blood to survive as apparently he was feeding off the remains of her grandfather for years, and now he wants her husband. Pretty middle of the road episode it has a nice premise behind it, but, the execution and some bad acting and character motivations really put it down, I mean the lead actress goes from good to bad to good again all in the span of like five minutes. There's some blood, but, other then that the special effects are limited. Also this is another one of those episodes that have a mostly black cast, which I find strange, not sure why they seem to segregate episodes instead of just having both play together.
4 Reviews
Offbeat humour in an all-black episode
Leofwine_draca17 August 2015
Another 'black' episode of the MONSTERS TV show with an all-black cast. I find it a little odd that episodes were segregated into 'black' and 'white' stories with little mixing of race in between. This one is a rather silly comedy piece in which an unhappy housewife discovers a strange mandrake root growing in the basement. Before long the mandrake has turned into a magical being who takes her into his bed, but unfortunately it turns out he has vampiric tendencies...
THE MANDRAKE ROOT is played for quirky laughs although truth be told it isn't very funny. Acting-wise, I recognised Frankie Faison (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) playing the long-suffering husband. The special effects are limited although not bad, although this is definitely more of a racy sexual story than a true horror as you'd expect from the premise.
THE MANDRAKE ROOT is played for quirky laughs although truth be told it isn't very funny. Acting-wise, I recognised Frankie Faison (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) playing the long-suffering husband. The special effects are limited although not bad, although this is definitely more of a racy sexual story than a true horror as you'd expect from the premise.
Dull & rather illogical Monsters episode.
poolandrews31 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Monsters: The Mandrake Root starts as Angela Lyle (Melba Moore) rummages through her recently deceased grandmother Marianne's house, upstairs & downstairs seem fine so Angela decides to inspect the mysterious basement that her grandmother always kept locked. Growing out of the basement floor Angela see a small strange root like plant with a ring stuck to a spiky offshoot which catches & cuts her finger as Angela tries to grab the ring, returning to the basement a short time later Angela is shocked to see that the small root like planet that her grandmother called a Mandrake Root has grown an entire man (Byron Minns), as you would be really. This man just so happens to be young, well toned, sexy & rather captivating as Angela quickly falls for his poetic yet cryptic talk. Unfortunately this Mandrake Root's love comes at a price, the Mandrake Root needs blood to survive & wants Anegla's husband Jack (Frankie Faison) to provide it...
Episode ten from season two of Monsters this originally in the US during December 1989, directed by Brian Thomas Jones this is a rather dull episode that to me felt like it wanted to be a steamy erotic drama more than a dark episodic horror anthology story. The whole structure of The Mandrake Root bothered me, the character's were poor & especially Angela. I mean you discover a half hunky bloke half root vegetable in the basement & she just accepts it, she falls in love with it within fifteen minutes, lets it drink her blood, she kills for it, lures her husband there & then at the last second for no apparent reason quite literally cuts it down in it's prime before trying to patch things up with Jack. Then there's the business of why the Mandrake Roor hunk drinks Angela's blood without killing her yet the estate agent dies yet Jack doesn't which is never explained. Of course if we go with the theory based in reality that Angela was hallucinating the entire thing still doesn't make any sense & I don't thing the majority of viewers will know what a Mandrake Root is anyway. The story as whole is limp & lifeless, at only twenty odd minutes it feels a lot longer, there's virtually no horror, scares, tension or atmosphere & The Mandrake Root is a definite mid-season low.
Afetr a quick bit of research (so you don't have to bother) I have found that Mandrake is a real term & used to commonly describe members of the plant genus Mandragora that contain hallucinogenic drugs their roots have long been used in magic rituals, so now you know. Mandrake Root is apparently also the title of a song by Deep Purple that featured on their debut album but I don't think that has any relevance to this Monsters episode. This one plays & feels more like a steamy erotic drama than anything else just without the eroticism, this Mandrake hunk bloke thing has a lower half conspicuous by the fact he has no dangly bits, how was he going to satisfy Angela anyway? Melba Moore seems to be well known for her stage & singing work.
The Mandrake Root is a poor Monsters episode that doesn't make much sense whichever way you look at it, the obscurities of the possible real life meaning or significance will be lost on most.
Episode ten from season two of Monsters this originally in the US during December 1989, directed by Brian Thomas Jones this is a rather dull episode that to me felt like it wanted to be a steamy erotic drama more than a dark episodic horror anthology story. The whole structure of The Mandrake Root bothered me, the character's were poor & especially Angela. I mean you discover a half hunky bloke half root vegetable in the basement & she just accepts it, she falls in love with it within fifteen minutes, lets it drink her blood, she kills for it, lures her husband there & then at the last second for no apparent reason quite literally cuts it down in it's prime before trying to patch things up with Jack. Then there's the business of why the Mandrake Roor hunk drinks Angela's blood without killing her yet the estate agent dies yet Jack doesn't which is never explained. Of course if we go with the theory based in reality that Angela was hallucinating the entire thing still doesn't make any sense & I don't thing the majority of viewers will know what a Mandrake Root is anyway. The story as whole is limp & lifeless, at only twenty odd minutes it feels a lot longer, there's virtually no horror, scares, tension or atmosphere & The Mandrake Root is a definite mid-season low.
Afetr a quick bit of research (so you don't have to bother) I have found that Mandrake is a real term & used to commonly describe members of the plant genus Mandragora that contain hallucinogenic drugs their roots have long been used in magic rituals, so now you know. Mandrake Root is apparently also the title of a song by Deep Purple that featured on their debut album but I don't think that has any relevance to this Monsters episode. This one plays & feels more like a steamy erotic drama than anything else just without the eroticism, this Mandrake hunk bloke thing has a lower half conspicuous by the fact he has no dangly bits, how was he going to satisfy Angela anyway? Melba Moore seems to be well known for her stage & singing work.
The Mandrake Root is a poor Monsters episode that doesn't make much sense whichever way you look at it, the obscurities of the possible real life meaning or significance will be lost on most.
Nifty episode
Woodyanders26 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Married young woman Angela Lyle (a solid performance by Melba Moore) finds an exotic plant in the basement of her grandmother's house that turns out to be the mandrake root that creates the perfect lover (a persuasive portrayal by the hunky Byron Mills). However, there's a catch: Said perfect lover requires a steady supply of human blood in order to stay alive.
Director Brian Thomas Jones relates the offbeat and enjoyable story at a constant pace as well as ably crafts a sultry'n'spooky atmosphere. The interesting script by Harvey Jacobs offers a neat exploration on the themes of love, loyalty, and betrayal. Frankie Faison lends sturdy support as Angela's bumbling man-child husband Jack while Claudia Silver has an amusing bit as annoying real estate agent Maude Villdorf. A cool show.
Director Brian Thomas Jones relates the offbeat and enjoyable story at a constant pace as well as ably crafts a sultry'n'spooky atmosphere. The interesting script by Harvey Jacobs offers a neat exploration on the themes of love, loyalty, and betrayal. Frankie Faison lends sturdy support as Angela's bumbling man-child husband Jack while Claudia Silver has an amusing bit as annoying real estate agent Maude Villdorf. A cool show.
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