So I thought the first season of American Horror Story was brilliant—while the subsequent seasons were either ho-hum or unwatchable. But will the series turn itself around with its newest incarnation, American Horror Story: Hotel? Let's check the early and mostly positive reviews of Hotel (which co-stars Lady Gaga) and debuts tonight on FX at 10 pm!

From Screen Crush:

Without giving too much away, we’ll reveal that a jewel-encrusted drill-bit dildo makes an appearance in one of the most brutal moments of the entire series (as creator Ryan Murphy promised). There’s also a good amount of disemboweling, throat slitting and blood-soaked hotel sheets. Murphy is clearly operating at his most horrific level here, and reveals that he’s far from exhausted his playbook of nightmarish scenarios.

From the Verge:

Gaga is a fantastic match for the show, projecting an electric combination of danger and lust that sets the season’s heart pumping triple-time. She's fearless, and the same goes for Matt Bomer; after last year’s season of creepy clowns, the pair set the tone for Hotel with their characters’ blatant sexual chemistry, filling the screen with the energy of an after-hours fetish club.

From Vulture:

The Shining, Village of the Damned, Don’t Look Now... Se7en, Suspiria, Saw: You name it, it’s in here, plus dollops of Edgar Allan Poe and Clive Barker. But don’t bother keeping a running list of everything AHS: Hotel is referencing, or all of the commercial-TV taboos it’s busting, because your hand will cramp in minutes. It’s an explosion in a pastiche factory so immense that people will be finding bits of homage in adjacent counties for years. About 40 minutes into the premiere, I wrote on my notepad: “I give up.” Unlikely as it sounds, that’s a compliment, in its way.

From Flavorwire:

Hotel‘s tweaks will appeal to viewers who, like this one, are generally willing to meet AHS halfway unless the Lana Del Rey covers outweigh the insane asylum dance numbers. Gaga, whose theatricality fits in perfectly with American Horror Story‘s precise-yet-chaotic aesthetic, is a breath of fresh air. So, oddly enough, is Wes Bentley as a detective whose search for both a serial killer and his missing son leads him to the Cortez. After four seasons of Lange as antiheroine, it’s interesting to see a straight-up hero at the center of Hotel, particularly — I can’t believe I’m typing this — a male one.

From the Chicago Tribune:

"At the heart of "American Horror Story" is an obvious love of movies, as well as a clear desire, tinged with naughtiness, to push boundaries as far as FX's "Oh what's the use?" censors will allow. That said, there's almost an indifference to story — after the premiere, it's hard to see a huge motivation to watch in order to unlock the show's lingering mysteries."

Here's the opening title sequence—and oh, yes... THERE WILL BE BLOOD.