Before Dominating The Horror Genre, Ryan Murphy Created A Grisly Medical Drama
When most people these days think about TV writer and producer Ryan Murphy, they’re most likely to think of one of his many horror-based projects. He’s created or co-created a number of high-profile horror projects over the years, from the ambitious anthology series “American Horror Story” to dramatizations of true crime stories ranging from Jeffrey Dahmer to O.J. Simpson. Blood and guts just seem to be a part of his creative vision. For fans who have been following the campy creator for a long time, however, his habit for horror storytelling really isn’t a surprise, because he created one of the gnarliest (and most exploitative) medical dramas of all time: “Nip/Tuck.”
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“Nip/Tuck” followed Miami-based plastic surgeons Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) as they dealt with a whole lot more than a few nips and tucks. There were torrid affairs, a couple of love triangles, a surprising serial killer, and many more soapy storylines. To make it even more addictive, the show’s surgery sequences were just as intense as the more salacious elements. Sometimes “Nip/Tuck” veered toward pure horror, and it’s easy to see early hints at the scary storyteller Murphy would one day become. “Nip/Tuck” is one of Murphy’s better shows (even though some elements have not aged well), and a big part of that is its willingness to get truly grisly.
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Nip/Tuck was a great mix of sexy and scary
No one goes into a Ryan Murphy show expecting it to take its content deadly serious, as he’s created a kind of heightened soap opera tone for his work that allows for all kinds of exploitation elements. Shows like “American Horror Story” and Netflix’s “Monsters” anthology series revel in tabloid-esque shock tactics but have just enough of a campy twist to make it a little more palatable (most of the time). “Nip/Tuck” is a great example of Murphy’s scandalous sensibilities, combining sex and surgery in ways that even body horror king David Cronenberg could appreciate. The surgery sequences on “Nip/Tuck” are incredibly graphic with some phenomenal special effects work, and we get to see everything from your more traditional rhinoplasties and breast augmentations to trying to reattach a nipple after it was bitten off and repairing a botched self-circumcision. Ouch.
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In addition to the blood and gore of the surgery sequences, “Nip/Tuck” also had plenty of other horror elements, including more than a fair share of murders. The show even had its own slasher in the form of The Carver, the serial rapist who disfigured victims in season 2 and 3, targeting those tied to the plastic surgery world. That’s pretty horrific stuff for a show that’s billed more as a sexy soap opera, but it’s proof that Murphy has been telling us American horror stories all along.
