This Article Originally Ran On Blumhouse.com
Welcome to A Very Spooky… where we take a look at and review a classic TV series that is not known for horror but would, on occasion, dip its toes into the waters of terror…
This week we’ll be discussing Family Matters season 8, episode 7: “STevil”
Listen, I love doing these articles, I really do. I like when TV shows try to do horror, and I really love when sitcoms do it, because they usually know how to play the horror with the comedy really well. More than one smartie-pants has said that horror and comedy are cut from the same cloth - they both play on similar rules of writing, and they both elicit uncontrollable reactions from the viewer. I suppose if a show isn’t good at one, it likely won’t be good at the other. Here, we have Family Matters.
Now, to be fair to Family Matters, I am not the demographic they were aiming for. The show makes that very clear at the opening of the episode when the sucking pit of schlock called Steve Urkel warns the audience that this episode may be too scary for them. The show is telling parents, straight out, that their six year old may get a little creeped out. Fair play to the show for that, because there are a few moments that could creep out a child.
In case you don’t know what the premise of Family Matters is, here is a quick explanation - the Winslows, a normal family with varying amounts of children depending on the season, is forced to deal with the most annoying man in the world, Steve Urkel. He started off as their neighbor, but apparently moved into their home at some point, since he lives with them in this episode. Urkel is, according to the show, something of a genius, but he can’t seem to figure out how to buy pants that fit. The show, which was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, ran for nine seasons as part of ABC’s TGiF before moving to CBS for the final season.
Anywho… this episode takes place on Halloween. As the Winslow clan gets ready for the holiday together, Urkel decides to become a ventriloquist, building his own ventriloquist dummy that looks exactly like him (I suppose Urkel also has a giant ego). Ignoring that everyone is busy with their own lives, Urkel demands that they watch him do his act, which is all of one joke. Urkel, again a guy who is supposed to be a genius, doesn’t understand that the person who controls the dummy isn’t supposed to move their mouth when the dummy talks.
The Winslows explain to Urkel that he is a waste of human flesh, and Urkel heads up to his room to go to sleep. Urkel literally lays in a made bed still clothed, including his shoes, and goes to sleep. He is a cartoon brought to life.
A bolt of lightning comes through the window and strikes the dummy Urkel (the one made of wood, not the flesh cartoon), bringing it to life. When Urkel wakes, he sees that his dummy has moved, and reasonably freaks out. The dummy talks, and Urkel freaks out some more.
Urkel brings the dummy down to the family so they can see this new situation. The dummy does nothing, taking a cue from Michigan J. Frog. The Winslows suggest to Urkel that he is insane, and he should get some sleep. After the Winslows leave the room, Urkel watches the dummy for a minute, then decides that he is indeed going crazy and needs a nap. He heads upstairs and, in a moment that is honestly pretty creepy, the dummy jumps off the couch and follows him up the stairs. Then it dances, which is also creepy.
The dummy explains that because Urkel loves the Winslows, it hates them, for it is Stevil, the evil Urkel. Stevil has one goal, kill the Winslows. Urkel, not wanting to see the Winslows murdered, locks Stevil up in a trunk. Obviously, Stevil gets out pretty easily.
Stevil starts the killing spree. First it takes the oldest Winslow kid, Eddie, and drags him up the chimney, leaving his dead body up there. Then it gets in a car and runs over the youngest Winslow, Richie, and his buddy 3J, as they bike around trick or treating. Next, it kills the love of Urkel’s life, Laura Winslow, by cutting her into pieces and hiding her body in the cupboards. It kills the mom, Harriette, by cutting off her head and placing it on a Jack in the Box. These kills are all played for laughs, with Laura and Harriette still talking after their deaths, but they are really solid slasher kill concepts.
Urkel traps Stevil in the fridge. Stevil somehow breaks through the back of the fridge and vanishes. When Urkel enters the living room, he find the patriarch of the Winslows, Carl, sitting on the couch reading. Urkel explains that Stevil is alive and killing everyone, to which Carl is shockingly cool with. The way Carl sees it, maybe it is time for the Winslows to die. Urkel, a genius, starts to think something may be up with Carl. Sure enough, Stevil has killed Carl and is controlling him like a ventriloquist dummy.
Stevil explains his master plan - if the Winslows are dead, he and Urkel can take their show on the road, with Urkel being the dummy. Urkel and Stevil duke it out, with Urkel ripping the dummy into pieces. Victorious, Urkel lays back to catch his breath. This being horror, Stevil is not defeated - the limbs and head reattach, and Stevil chokes Urkel to death. For the first time ever, we cheer on the death of a hero because he is so very terrible.
Urkel wakes up in bed - it was all a dream! Thank goodness. He tells Eddie about his dream, then Eddy tries to kill Urkel. Urkel wakes up again, this time for real. Relieved, he goes downstairs. Episode over.
The jokes in the show are moronic, but again, they are meant for little kids, so I guess they may work there. I don’t know how the show usually goes, but in this episode, the Winslows are pretty pointless. None of them have personalities, and the jokes come mostly from Urkel and they way they react to him - that reaction is usually a step away from saying “Shut the hell up, you annoying bastard”. One joke I did like was when Urkel, who has a high pitched nasally voice is explaining to the Winslows that, in a ventriloquist show, the dummy should have a funny voice, he gives the dummy a normal voice, then laughs to himself. I kind of like the idea that, to Urkel, everyone else sounds goofy.
There is a grandma Winslow, who just vanishes halfway through the episode. I don’t know if she had a death scene that was cut out for time, or if the actress was not into it.
The most frightening thing about this episode is that there is a sequel, Stevil II: This Time He’s Not Alone.
Stevil is played, aside from the puppeteers, by two people. He is voiced by Rich Correll, who also directed the episode. Correll is going for a Tony Todd style voice, and he does fine, but I wish they had just gotten Tony Todd. When they needed Stevil to move in ways that a puppet can’t they had Josh Ryan in a puppet costume. Ryan is best known for playing Timmy, the living doll on the cult classic soap opera Passions. Sadly, Josh Ryan passed away in 2002 - something akin to a Tales From the Crypt story, Ryan died the same day that the death of his character on Passions aired.
You can find this episode online. I bought it through Amazon. For the rest of my life, I have to live with the knowledge that I paid to watch an episode of Family Matters. Never say I don’t sacrifice for you all.