For a less than an hour TV series episode,this is a darn good one.The story is quite simple,yet original and effective.A notorious film that can cause extremely violent reactions to the audience is the object protagonist Norman Reedus is paid to find,since it was banned after only one viewing in the theaters.His curiosity and urgent need for money is what pushes him to accept the job,only to find out that the stories about the movie are more than just simple mythology...This episode has a uniquely dark atmosphere you cannot find in other Masters of Horror episodes.The plot builds up through the stories you hear about the infamous film from various characters,and when you actually get to see segments of "La Fin Absolute du Monde"(the name of the film),it seems totally disturbing and creepy,while nothing over-the- top is actually shown in it.Reedus was a great actor even from back then,and succeeds to portray a "badass" yet likable character who is also tormented from his own demons.Even before sh*t hits the fan and serious stuff goes down,the addictive storytelling and eerie atmosphere wont let you get bored.Everything is great about this episode.I highly recommend you to see this one,even if you had bad experiences with other MoH episodes.

JOHN CARPENTER'S CIGARETTE BURNS (as it's called) is an interesting mix of a dozen ideas (at least). In the movie LEGION, an angel loses his wings (the hard way). In Carpenter's classic IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, insurance investigator Sam Neill attempts to track down a mysterious author whose books seem to have altered the reality of his readers; before long, Neill can't tell the Real World from the Fictional. In RINGU (THE RING), the mere viewing of a video tape warps the fine line between Life and Death and soon the distinction becomes no distinction at all. In CIGARETTE BURNS, Norman Reedus is sent to track down a copy of LA FIN ABSOLUE DU MONDE (THE ABSOLUTE END OF THE WORLD), a film so something or other that anyone who sees it goes nuts. En route, he meets an angel whose wings have been clipped and starts to experience some of the symptoms laid out in some of the aforementioned movies. Not Carpenter's best (although as a director he seems incapable of directing BADLY), but certainly the best episode of the MASTERS OF HORROR series.

Back in 2005 this was the first release in Europe of Masters Of Horror. And it immediately set the tone of what to come. Cigarette Burns is done by John Carpenter and it looks okay. The atmosphere created worked out fine and for a John Carpenter release it was rather bloody.The story itself makes it all the curiouser because it's in fact an episode about a so-called lost flick "Le Fin Absolue du Monde." hunted down by a collector Bellinger (Udo Kier) who wants to lay hands on this flick. He knows that one copy survived the years and he asks Kirby (Norman Reedus) to hunt it down. Kirby should know his way because he's an owner of a film theatre. But there's something wrong with the flick. It is shown only once and all viewers became homicidally insane. While searching Kirby come across a mysterious collector who has the flick. But the collector is insane and that part is were the horror really comes in.Not only that, the living angel used as a prop in the lost flick is in the hands of Bellinger. The way that is shown gives this episode a strange feeling. And you just can't see coming that the other collector has a dark mind. The part in his cellar is as I said pure horror and on-camera and it works. Overall some supernatural things going on and a few gory shots and even full frontal from Annie (Zara Taylor). This really gave the other episodes a trend to make it bloody and even some rather gory. Cigarette Burns, the meaning of that is explained in the beginning but still you are left with questions but that's exactly what happened to the lost film too. Gore 2/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

I'd first like to echo some of the other postings here by saying I found this to be John Carpenter's best work in years, it had me glued to the screen.There are so many things to like. The script and particularly the dialogue are quite sublime, building up upon the sense of foreboding established early on. All the actors put in quality performances, this is well directed work. The shocks and moments of gore work effectively, if this had been released in the UK during the 80s it would have been banned as a 'video nasty'.Is this too plagiaristic? I don't think so. While it has similarities to earlier presentations (such as The Ninth Gate), I think there's plenty of room in this genre for more horrors in this style. Rather this than more 'body count' and/or 'torture porn' movies. Like others, I'd have been quite happy to see this (expanded) as a full length movie.And excellent addition to the series, possibly the best. Highly recommended.