Every The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror - Rated and Ranked (Part Five)

There is only one day left until Halloween, which means only one day left until I publish my full ranked list of every single The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. As such, I've got twelve episodes and two specials to catch up on today.

If you need a recap, you can find the first four parts of my full Treehouse of Horror review linked down below. If you don't then skip ahead as we revisit the next episode on the list.

Every The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror - Rated and Ranked (Part One)

Every The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror - Rated and Ranked (Part Two)

Every The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror - Rated and Ranked (Part Three)

Every The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror - Rated and Ranked (Part Four)

Treehouse of Horror XXV (Season 26, Episode 4)

Treehouse of Horror XXV gets things started with a short, variety show intro from Kang and Kodos, that leaves audiences with at least a little more anticipation for things to come than they had when the episode began.

"School is Hell" starts things off by, well, sending Bart and Lisa to Hell, where they are meant to pay for their sins only for the former Simpson sibling to stumble upon his true calling. "School is Hell" could honestly be its own series, and while the pacing feels off at times, it is more than endearing (and gruesome) enough to make up for any shortcomings it might have.

"A Clockwork Yellow" puts Moe back in the spotlight for The Simpsons' version of A Clockwork Orange, which not only know exactly what it is, but knows exactly what its source material is, as well. There is a genuine, palpable appreciation for A Clockwork Orange on display in every second of "A Clockwork Yellow," even those spent satirizing it in an especially harsh manner.

"The Others" suffers from a slow start, and almost lost me until the eponymous Others were revealed to be none other than the Simpsons themselves, albeit from their days on The Tracey Ullman Show. Apart from being able to play on the ways that the characters themselves have evolved, "The Others" is happy to lean into the shifting interpersonal dynamics between individual members of the Simpsons clan.

Treehouse of Horror XXV does a lot of things right, and finds new ways to send up old The Simpsons tropes without forgetting itself along the way. I'm giving it most of a Kang and a full Kodos.

Treehouse of Horror XXVI (Season 27, Episode 5)

Very quickly, I am going to note that John Kricfalusi fucking sucks. That being said, his couch gag for Treehouse of Horror XXVI is phenomenal. Seriously, though, fuck that guy.

"Wanted: Dead, Then Alive" brings about a shocking conclusion to one of The Simpsons' oldest and most infamous rivalries, as Sideshow Bob finally catches up to and murders Bart Simpson. This is by far the best short from Treehouse of Horror XXVI, which is surprising because it also feels like the most safe of the three. There are a lot of classic dynamics at play here, and all of them are taken to utterly absurd extremes that are equally baffling and hilarious.

The second short from Treehouse of Horror XXVI, "Homerzilla," is a black-and-white spoof of Godzilla that doesn't seem to ever know exactly which iteration of the iconic kaiju it wants to harken back to during its runtime. "Homerzilla" has a few deeply atmospheric moments and a few good jokes, but the self referential time skip is unnecessary and undercuts the first half of the segment.

At first, I wasn't sure what "Telepaths of Glory" was supposed to be referencing. Then I realized that it was a riff on Chronicle. Then I remembered that Chronicle was a thing. For those who don't know, Chronicle was a found-footage superhero movie that is definitely not as good as anyone remembers, but is still super solid. "Telepaths of Glory" is not Chronicle, nor is it that strong of a Treehouse of Horror segment apart from its final minutes.

Treehouse of Horror XXVI isn't quite strong enough to stand out, and it has some other things working against it that we won't get into here. I'm giving it half of a Kang, two-thirds of a Kodos, mostly for just how good "Wanted: Dead, Then Alive" is on its own.

Treehouse of Horror XXVII (Season 28, Episode 4)

Treehouse of Horror XXVII features one of the best opening sequences of them all, as the ghosts of Homer's past come back to haunt him on Halloween night. Leading the charge is Frank Grimes, Homer's former coworker who was killed while having an absolute meltdown over the latter's utter ineptitude. I would watch 25 minutes of this by itself.

What follows is an uneven mash-up of The Hunger Games and Mad Max: Fury Road entitled "Dry Hard." While "Dry Hard" isn't excessively long, it certainly feels like it at times, as the short is built around a four-chapter storytelling structure that doesn't add enough to be worth the extremely niche joke.

"BFF R.I.P." proves how good a Treehouse of Horror special can be when the creators behind it aren't stuck building their entire narratives around those established in other popular franchises. What starts as a sad story of Lisa continuously losing her closest friends to gruesome accidents soon gives way to a tale of ghastly terror that lingers well after it has come to a close.

The final segment from Treehouse of Horror XXVII is "Moefinger," which does the exact opposite of "BFF R.I.P." by turning The Simpsons into a blatant spoof of Kingsman: The Secret Service. Unfortunately, nothing about "Moefinger" is interesting enough to really draw viewers in, while the jokes and references to other properties are only ever good for a chuckle. The action is certainly a nice change of pace, yet that doesn't make up for the rest of "Moefinger."

Treehouse of Horror XXVII varies wildly in quality depending when you tune into it, though it is rarely if ever just bad. It's getting a full Kang, for sure, and no less than sixty percent of a Kodos.

Treehouse of Horror XXVIII (Season 29, Episode 4)

Treehouse of Horror XXVIII skips any need for an themed intro or couch gag and instead drops audiences into "The Sweets Hereafter," a Sausage Party inspired short that might be better than the film it is riffing on. Where Sausage Party was something of a slog at times, "The Sweets Herafter" is short, brutal, and just dark enough to set the tone for the rest of the episode.

Next up is "The Exor-Sis," a super solid The Exorcist spoof that is never afraid to let the possessed Maggie steal the show (as she rightfully should). "The Exor-Sis" is hardly the best entry from Treehouse of Horror XXVIII, which only speaks to how good the rest of the episode is both as a whole and in terms of its individual parts.

"Coralisa" is a fairly straightforward retelling of Coraline that only gets better by leaning further into classic The Simpsons tropes than it does by trying to stay in line with its source material. "Coralisa" doesn't waver when it comes to embracing the overtly creepy nature of Coraline, nor does it have any problems letting that same creepiness give way to suburban sitcom trappings.

"Mmm... Homer" is the final entry from Treehouse of Horror XXVIII, and where other episodes have been preceded by content warnings that were played up solely for laughs, this entry is preceded by what might be the only genuine content warning in The Simpsons' history. It's still funny, to be sure, but this animated retelling of Stephen King's Survivor Type is infinitely darker than it is humorous. Like the John Kricfalusi couch gag before it, however, it suffers from an unfortunately timed appearance from guest star Mario Batali, who appeared on The Simpsons only weeks before the sexual misconduct allegations against him surfaced in 2017.

There are a few minor missteps throughout Treehouse of Horror XXVIII, yet I doubt anyone could recall more than one or two of them after watching the episode in its entirety. Treehouse of Horror XXVIII is damn near perfect, and both Kang and Kodos are here for it all the way through.

Treehouse of Horror XXIV (Season 30, Episode 4)

Viewers are dragged through an intricate, captivating, and incredibly fun opening crawl that takes them deep within Springfield Cemetery ahead of the main entries from Treehouse of Horror XXIX. This is another one of those intros that is way too short for how good it is and could have probably been its own segment if explored further. It is also the best part of Treehouse of Horror XXIX, which is incredibly disappointing.

"Intrusion of the Pod-Y Switchers" is an obvious riff on Invasion of the Body Snatchers that is so close to being a pitch perfect Treehouse of Horror short, only to absolutely biff the ending. The stakes were high, the tension was higher, and the number of fluid gags were at their highest right up until the last minute or so of "Intrusion of the Pod-Y Switchers," and it's bad enough that there is simply no recovering from it.

"Multiplisa-ty" takes on M. Night Shyamalan's Split to an amount of success, though not quite enough to make it particularly interesting. There isn't a whole lot going on in terms of moving parts, which makes sense for a six-minute short. That being said, for almost everything "Multiplisa-ty" does try to put into play, there is another element that is either reduced to a punchline or abruptly dropped altogether, much to its own detriment.

"Geriatric Park" closes out Treehouse of Horror XXIX with a fun if plodding send-up of the entire Jurassic Park franchise. "Geriatric Park" does a great job of playing off of the most ridiculous defining aspects of Jurassic Park and its successors, though it struggles with maintaining its pace while making fun of the elderly denizens of Springfield.

Treehouse of Horror XXIX is worth showing up for, it's just that only Kodos is here for this one. He brought part of Kang with him, but it isn't any particularly good part, so do with that what you will.

Treehouse of Horror XXX (Season 31, Episode 4)

Treehouse of Horror XXX continues the trend of turning its opening sequences into full-fledged entries of their own, and it continues to work. This time around, Maggie serves as a stand-in for Damien from The Omen, terrorizing the doctors, neighborhood children, and her parents alike. Ned's drive to protect the world from the forces of darkness is on full display here, and everything about it is peak Simpsons.

The Simpsons' takes on Stranger Things with "Danger Things," which feels like an excuse to dig into the Van Houten family at their own expense for a full five minutes. It's funny, sad, and endearing all the same, and is worth a B- at the very least.

"Heaven Swipes Right" is the weakest entry from Treehouse of Horror XXX, and almost derails the entire experience. I get that we're doing Heaven Can Wait here, but why? And also, for who? The whole short just feels wildly out of place, and more than a little off-putting at times. If not for "Heaven Swipes Right," Treehouse of Horror XXX would have been an easy Top 5 contender.

Closing out Treehouse of Horror XXX is "When Hairy Met Slimy," which replaces Elisa and The Amphibian Man from Guiellermo del Toro's The Shape of Water with Selma and Kang, and to great effect. "When Hairy Met Slimy" is easily the funniest entry from Treehouse of Horror XXX, and it certainly gets a pass for its lack of any overt scares for how brilliantly it spins The Shape of Water into a story set within the world of The Simpsons.

I wish I could give Treehouse of Horror XXX a higher score, but "Heaven Swipes Right" really mucked things up. As it is, I'll award the episode a vague most of a Kang and one entire Kodos.

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Just two more of these to go before my review of every single The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror is done. Check back tonight for Part Six, and tomorrow for the final entry in the series.