The Real Expendables of Horror

Ever since the rocky release of that one movie from 2017, many including but not limited to Bruce Campbell have been trying their collective best to create a work that is considered the definitive ‘expendables of horror’. What does that even mean? The only reason we as a society care about The Expendables was the casting. Something about that exact combination of action stars made it a staple in the early 2010s. With that, there exists an ‘expendables of horror’ and it’s not what you think…

Yup. J.J. Villard’s Fairy Tales is just as simply animated as it is simply gory. The Adult Swim mini series makes for a genuinely wild imdb that settles the debate. Peter Weller, Linda Blair, Alan Oppenheimer, Milly Shapiro, Warwick Davis, Casandra Peterson, Jennifer Tilly, Corey Feldman, Keith David, Robert Englund, Doug Bradley, and (my horror dad) Edwin Neal just to name a few. This isn’t one of those things where the writer cherry picked the top billed names. I simply read off the first handful of names as I scrolled down. While many of these performances are north of a cameo, fans can expect an ear-full from these genre icons as they provide a series of dopamine rushes throughout each of the six episodes. 

I proclaim J.J. Villard’s Fairy Tales to be the true ‘expendables of horror’ aside from the casting, because it’s the most entertaining piece of media that any one person can put into such a niche box. As the trailer implies this show takes the Brothers Grimm book of stories and makes it do a hit of acid. These 11ish minute episodes walk a similarly dark path of the original stories and gags that with so much blink-and-you-miss-it subliminal messaging you would swear you’re in a cult after watching. If you google ‘jj villards fairy tales subliminal messages’ it really is impressive what all they were able to get away with from a censorship standpoint. Especially when you consider the battles popular shows like this year’s Smiling Friends had to undergo to simply have a vape joke included.

I have always been a fan of Pinnochio for example and didn’t know I needed the Crypt Keeper himself John Kassir to ruin the pure disney image I had. Shows like this are why I maintain that Adult Swim is the best and longest running platform for animation to push boundaries for visuals and storytelling alike. If you dig the style and direction of the show J.J. Villard himself makes for a terrific social media follow that’s more than worthy of occupying your feed.

There really is nothing like these two forces coming together beyond prior collaborations King Star King and Trap Universe. I champion animation a-lot on here (especially after covid) because I don’t think people really understand or appreciate what all you can get away with in that art form. Even if your ideas are grounded in reality, animation can send them so far that South park for example managed to close in a near billion dollar deal last year. That’s part of why Hollywood loves cgi I guess. That’s another article for another time. For now, go to adultswim.com and melt your brain (free of charge) with J.J. Villard’s Fairy Tales.