Video: WAKENER

When a derelict ship arrives at a space station orbiting Earth, one that has a nuclear engine, a soldier and a technician are sent to investigate.

This is a sci-fi Lovecraftian horror short film written and directed by Anthony Ferraro of Create Sci-Fi (website,  youtube channel). The sets are fantastic and the special effects remarkably good for a short indy film. The actors do a great job. It's worth the watch. 

Movie Review: The Blob (1988)

Directed by: Chuck Russell

IMDb listing

Pros: some genuine scares, suspenseful music, decent special effects

Cons: attempted date rape, some gore

A crashed meteorite unleashes a blob that begins amalgamating people from a small town. Some teenagers trying to find out what’s happening while a government agency arrives to get the situation under control.

This was a surprisingly good 80s horror film. While it starts off following the ‘plot’ of the 1950s film, it quickly veers off into its own thing, with a different explanation of where the blob comes from.

The movie makes great use of suspense, with a lot of foggy night scenes and some mood music. After the second death I realized I didn’t know where the film was going and that ramped up the horror factor.

The creature is genuinely terrifying at times, reaching out with fleshy arms to grab people. There were a few green screen moments that looked terrible, but on the whole the special effects were pretty good. I was legitimately surprised by how many people died and who some of those people were. Some of the deaths are pretty gruesome, so if you’re squeamish this won’t be for you.

A few character building scenes from the beginning come back at the end as being important plot points, which was kind of fun.

One of the football players gets frisky with his passed out date, in a scene I could have done without. The rape never happens and the scene manages to avoid nudity, making it feel less from a ‘male gaze’ than similar horror film scenes of its age. It’s played for horror, not titillation.

The ending was a rather exciting action scene, where the main girl and guy play important roles. If you’ve never seen it and like 80s horror, I highly recommend it.

Movie Review: The Blob (1958)

Directed by Irvin Yeaworth, Jr. (and Russell Doughten Jr.)
IMDb listing

Pros: good acting

Cons: kind of boring, cheesy monster

A crashed meteorite unleashes a blob that begins amalgamating people from a small town, while a group of teenagers try to warn them.

Steve McQueen stars in his first role, as a teenager who witnesses a death by the blob but no one believes him. It’s a strange movie with very little plot. The teenagers are all played by actors who are clearly in their late 20s and early 30s. Similarly, the actor who plays Jane’s younger brother was 6 but seems to be playing a much younger child, which just feels bizarre.

When Steve finally does convince a couple more teens that there is danger, I was left unsure whey they believed him. There’s one scene where a guy has to call the cops because they won’t listen to Steve anymore, and he complains he doesn’t know what to say. Because he hasn’t seen a monster or any trace of a monster.

The monster looks comical rather than scary, not helped by the fact that all the deaths are off screen. A character comments towards the end that the monster must have killed 40 or 50 people, but only 4 or 5 people are shown vanished and presumed eaten. I guess we’re supposed to assume a lot of people got eaten at the movie theatre.

The ending is rather exciting, with some tense moments. Spoiler warning: We’re left with the creature - unable to handle cold - sent to the arctic with the message that so long as it stays frozen humanity is safe. The film ends with a question mark on the screen. Makes you wonder if the director, or someone involved in the project, was already aware of the effects of global warming.

If you’re interested in 1950 SF/horror films there are much better ones out there (Invasion of the Body Snatchers is brilliant). If you want a good Blob movie, check the one from the 80s, which is surprisingly well done.

NeoText flipbooks - Wereworld by Benjamin Percy and Francesco Francavilla

NeoText is a publisher of “illustrated short fiction and narrative non-fiction”. Their catalogue consists of true crime, pulp mysteries and SF noir. The stories are available on Amazon for a nominal fee, while a few are up in full on their website as free ‘flipbooks’.

If you want a good Halloween read, try Wereworld written by Benjamin Percy and illustrated by Francesco Francavilla.

 

“What if The Purge were supernatural? What if, instead of one night a year, the world went wild once a month?”

   

 You also can read it on their site or purchase it for the Kindle for less than $2.

Shout-Out: Classic Monsters Unleashed edited by James Aquilone

Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, the Headless Horseman, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Wicked Witch of the West--they're all here, in this collection of horror short stories that reimagine, subvert, and pay homage to our favorite monsters and creatures.

Written by the biggest names in the genre--including Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Morton, Owl Goingback, Richard Christian Matheson, Seanan McGuire, Maurice Broaddus, Dacre Stoker, Linda D. Addison, Alessandro Manzetti, Tim Waggoner, John Palisano, Mercedes M. Yardley, Lucy A. Snyder, Gary A. Braunbeck, Rena Mason, and Monique Snyman.

And monstrously illustrated by Colton Worley and Mister Sam Shearon.

Movie Review: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Directed by George Romero
IMDb listing

Pros: good acting, political commentary, tense moments

Cons: some gore (but very minor), violence

The dead walk the earth and cities are trying to mitigate their spread. But some people doubt what's going on and don't want to hand over their departed loved ones.

After a harrowing escape from an increasingly overrun city, four people take refuge in an abandoned mall.

I was impressed by Night of the Living Dead, which I watched a few years ago and wanted to continue the series. And this film holds up shockingly well. There were a few scenes I might have thought unrealistic or over the top before living through the Covid pandemic. Now, it’s impressive how true to life the film is.

The story does a good job of setting up the 4 protagonists. You watch them in harrowing circumstances, in downtime, and slowly falling apart due to the constant stress. The actors are great.

I watched the ‘complete cut’, which apparently added back some character development scenes and gore to the theatrical version. There was some gore, but only once scene (towards the end of the film) seemed gratuitous. Though it was 2 1/2 hours long it never really dragged. There were some tense moments, some subversions to expectations, and some genuinely sweet moments when things were calm.

The film made some very cutting remarks about politics and racism at the time (and our current time, as it turns out). I loved that one of the protagonists was a black man who was by far the most competent of the bunch. I also liked that the woman refused to be ‘den mother’ to the guys.

The special effects were basically just make-up and done very well. There is a lot of violence, especially at the beginning and end of the film.

It’s a good movie. It’s great when older stuff holds up well, though a bit sad we haven’t progressed much as a society from the lessons it was trying to teach.

Shout-Out: Dark Lullaby by Polly Ho-Yen

For fans of Black Mirror and The Handmaid’s Tale, a mother desperately tries to keep her family together in a society where parenting standards are strictly monitored.

The world is suffering an infertility crisis, the last natural birth was over twenty years ago and now the only way to conceive is through a painful fertility treatment. Any children born are strictly monitored, and if you are deemed an unfit parent then your child is extracted. After witnessing so many struggling to conceive – and then keep – their babies, Kit thought she didn’t want children. But then she meets Thomas and they have a baby girl, Mimi. Soon the small mistakes build up and suddenly Kit is faced with the possibility of losing her daughter, and she is forced to ask herself how far she will go to keep her family together.

Shout-Out: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

In horror movies, the final girls are the ones left standing when the credits roll. They made it through the worst night of their lives…but what happens after?

Like his bestselling novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix’s latest is a fast-paced, frightening, and wickedly humorous thriller. From chain saws to summer camp slayers, The Final Girl Support Group pays tribute to and slyly subverts our most popular horror films—movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream.

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

Book Review: The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

Pros: interesting premise, compelling protagonist

Cons:

Every time Molly Southbourne bleeds, she creates doppelgangers that try to kill her.

The novella takes this fascinating premise and explains how Molly grew up, how her parents taught her to kill her doppelgangers, and how she survives into adulthood. It’s a weird and horrifying story that’s hard to look away from.

Molly goes through a series of emotional ups and downs as she grows, finally becoming mostly emotionless as an adult as the reality of constantly fighting herself takes its toll. The stages she goes through, of rebellion and trauma, fit her circumstances and make her compelling even if it’s hard to see yourself in her place.

The book is the perfect length to tell her story. There’s enough detail to give it weight and the ending is punchy. I’m curious where the sequel takes the story.

Movie Review: Train to Busan

Directed by Sang-ho Yeon, 2016
IMDb listing

Pros: great acting, fast paced, tense

Cons:

Passengers on a train from Seoul to Busan try to survive a zombie outbreak.

This is a fantastic horror movie. The acting is spot on with a good mixture of people you’re rooting for and a few you’re hoping die quickly. There’s very little introduction to the main group of initial survivors on the train, but among them are a pregnant woman, two older women, several high school baseball players, and a number of business men.

The film focuses on two principle characters: a father and daughter heading to Busan for the girl’s birthday. While he loves his daughter the father is a distant figure in her life, working long hours and hardly aware of what she’s up to. As the movie progresses, so does his relationship with his daughter and the world at large.

The cinematography is excellent. There’s a wonderful shot when the zombie first infect the train and people are starting to realize something is wrong when the camera zooms in on one zombie and then follows it in a close-up as it starts attacking people. With pulse pounding music it’s a terrifying scene, showing the chaos of infection and confusion.

The movie is hyper focused on the train but you do get occasional glimpses of what’s happening in the cities they pass, through news broadcasts, texts, phone calls and scenery as the train passes.

If you haven’t see this and enjoy zombie movies, I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Dead Moon by Peter Clines

Pros: lots of twists, some tense scenes

Cons:

Cali Washington took the job as caretaker (burying the dead) on the moon to get away from her failed dreams. A month in, a meteor hits and suddenly thousands of dead start to rise. She and her co-workers must figure out what’s going on as they try to survive.

This is an engaging horror story that takes an interesting premise and runs with it. I was impressed with the number of twists the story had, as the characters learn more of what they’re up against. This isn’t a simple zombie story.

You’re introduced to characters in small batches so it’s easy to keep everyone straight. Lots of people die, which keeps the tension high as each encounter could be your favourite character’s last.

It’s a quick read, that isn’t overly gross or terrifying. I enjoyed it.

The Phantom of the Opera: The Graphic Novel - Script, art, and letters by Varga Tomi

Pros: expressive artwork, faithful adaptation

Cons:

Christine Daae’s astounds the Paris opera house with her voice despite having no teacher. Even her old childhood friend Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, is entranced. But she has a secret teacher, the opera ghost that’s terrorizing the theatre. The ghost is a jealous master, who demands Christine’s affections for himself.

This is an adaptation of the novel by Gaston Leroux. If you’re only familiar with the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical there are a fair number of differences. The general story is the same and Tomi’s adaptation hits all the necessary beats.

The art, though not my preferred style, fits the subject matter. The colours are subdued with a lot of dark shadows. Faces are very expressive. The author apparently did research for the book in Paris, and illustration of the opera house that begins chapter one is magnificent in its photo realism. The costumes and opera house are lavishly detailed. The ghost looks suitably horrifying with his red eyes and missing nose. The illustrations really bring home the horror of Christine’s position.

It’s a faithful adaptation of a great book.

Book Review: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Pros: very tense, interesting characters

Cons: is a bit gory at times

Ten years ago four friends went into the forbidden elder’s section of the reservation for their end of season elk hunt. Now the spirit of one of the elk they killed is back for revenge.

This is the first contemporary fiction book I’ve read in years so it took me a while to get into (in part because I’m not conversant with the shorthand for car names so spent some time trying to figure out what the character was talking about). The book is split into 4 sections, each dealing with a different point of view character involved with the elk event.

I wasn’t a fan of Ricky and Gabe, but really enjoyed reading Lewis and Cassidy’s stories, hoping they could shake the horror coming their way. The pacing was great, really ratcheting up the tension in all the right places.

In the first sections the author makes you doubt what’s going on, especially with Lewis. Is there really an elk spirit or is he having a psychotic break from reality? Either way things get horrifying fast. I almost stopped reading it was getting so intense.

While the horror is mostly one of anticipation, there is some gore. Thankfully the descriptions aren’t overly graphic. Part of the earlier horror is simply seeing the level of everyday, casual racism natives face. The characters are constantly double checking their surroundings for danger, ignoring slights, conscious of how ‘native’ their actions appear, due to criticism from others: natives and non-natives alike, for being both too native and not native enough. There’s a strong undertone that no matter what the characters do it will never be ‘enough’, whatever ‘enough’ even means. Because the characters aren’t just up against the supernatural, they’re against the biases and prejudices of themselves and everyone around them.

I was shocked by some of the people who died. Which made the ending, that last section, very tense. I DID NOT want that character to die. Not this way. I was on the edge of my seat urging them on, not to give up, just one more step.

The ending fits the story.

If you can handle horror this year (no shame if you can’t, 2020’s horror enough for a lot of us), this is a good read.

Book Review: The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Pros: interesting characters, quite scary and intense

Cons: uncomfortable race relations

Sixteen year old Immanuelle Moore is the daughter of a black man from the Outskirts, who burned on a pyre for having relations with her mother. Her mother was a white bride of the Prophet, who went mad after seeing her lover die. Raised as a good believer in the Holy Scriptures, she doesn’t understand why the Darkwood, home of the witches who once terrorized Bethel, calls to her so strongly. When she finally succumbs to that call, she unwittingly unleashes a series of curses on her home.

Immanuelle is a great protagonist, conflicted in her beliefs and desires. She’s strong willed and passionate. Her terror of the witches and determination to end the curses were palpable. I loved the slow burn romance with Ezra.

The world itself was terrifying for a liberal reader. Bethel is a closed community with very strict religious rules and no recourse against the hidden evils Immanuelle discovers taking place within the church: abuse of power - physical and sexual - and the subjugation of women.

The division between the villages of the ‘holy’ white congregation and the shanty towns on the Outskirts of the black former refugees was stark and left me feeling uncomfortable. I would have thought that with the conversion of the refugees, more intermingling would have occurred. The fact that Lilith, the head witch, was a black woman also left me feeling unsettled as it seems to continue this ‘black is evil, white is good’ theme, which is clearly undercut by the churches’ abuses on one hand but not really by anything on the other. Yes, Immanuelle fought against the witches, but as she was from the village and not the Outskirts it didn’t feel like she broke that aphorism. Nor does Vera, as it’s unclear if she ever practiced witchcraft or simply used protective sigils.

The horror elements are very terrifying. There’s a lot of blood and the story centres on events in womens’ lives that feature blood. The witches are evil and things get so grim I had to take breaks when reading this. Descriptions aren’t overly graphic, so though the imagery can be intense, it never feels gratuitous.

The writing is quite lyrical, which brings the world to life and really drives home the terror.

On the whole this is a fantastic story, provided you can handle a horror novel right now.

Movie Review: Us

Directed by Jordan Peele, 2019

IMDb listing

Pros: psychological horror, fantastic acting, great twists

Cons: some of the backstory doesn’t fit if you think about it too much

It’s the start of a family’s summer vacation and the mother reluctantly returns to the beach where she had a terrifying encounter as a child. That night a strange family of doppelgangers shows up at their house.

This is a very scary movie. While there’s some blood and gore, for the most part it’s psychological horror, the kind of horror that will have you jumping at shadows while you wonder what’s going to happen next.

There are a few inconsistencies with the backstory that makes up the deeper plot, but you’ll think of those after the film’s over not while you’re watching it, trying to figure out what’s going on.

The actors are brilliant in their roles. Each does their human and doppelganger’s parts. I was particularly impressed by Evan Alex who played the son, as his doppelganger seemed especially challenging to play.

I expected the film to play out on a small scale - with only their family affected - so I was surprised when things branched out. There were several twists I didn’t see coming.

If you haven’t seen it and like to freak out, this is a good film.

Shout-Out: The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Sky in the Deep in this bewitching, historical horror novel, perfect for fans of Holly Black and V.E. Schwab.

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the deeply-buried truths about themselves. Equal parts classic horror novel and original fairytale, The Bone Houses will have you spellbound from the very first page.

Shout-Out: The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North

South Africa in the 1880s. A young and naive English doctor by the name of William Abbey witnesses the lynching of a local boy by the white colonists. As the child dies, his mother curses William. 

William begins to understand what the curse means when the shadow of the dead boy starts following him across the world. It never stops, never rests. It can cross oceans and mountains. And if it catches him, the person he loves most in the world will die.

Book Review: Salvaged by Madeleine Roux

Pros: great characters, interesting story

Cons:

On the run from her past, Rosalyn Devar took a job with Merchantia, cleaning up ships when missions go bad. Excessive drinking means this next mission is her last chance. But the Brigantine’s not the dead, drifting ship the company believes. To survive, she’ll have to face her past and a new alien threat.

If you like the claustrophobia of Alien and the mysterious alien element from The Expanse, you’ll love this book. My only complaint was that the holidays cut into my reading time so the paranoia had time to wear off between reading sessions. Otherwise, it gets very intense.

The characters were all quirky and interesting. The storytelling tight and focused. I did figure out one aspect of the mystery a lot sooner than the characters. The ending is a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

I really enjoyed it.

Movie Review: The Devil’s Backbone (El Espinazo del Diablo)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2001
IMDb listing

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256009/
Pros: atmospheric, slow paced, creepy

Cons: little explanation of surrounding events

After Carlos’s father is killed in the Spanish civil war he’s dropped off at a boy’s orphanage where a child recently died. Carlos starts seeing a ghost as he learns more about the Republican sympathizers who run the place and the volatile caretaker the kids are afraid of.

This is a great atmospheric horror story. It’s slow paced, giving you time to get to know the principle characters. Carlos is a great protagonist, curious and sweet, bullied a bit by one of the older boys.

The ghost effects are subdued but very creepy. They’re kept to a minimum so you never get used to seeing it. There are no jump scares and minimal gore.

There’s very little explanation of what’s happening outside the orphanage. They mention a war but you really have to piece things together to know what war (if you didn’t read it on the case). I’d have liked a bit more information.

On the whole this is a good, creepy film.

Shout-Out: The Passengers by John Marrs

You’re riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then, a mysterious voice tells you, “You are going to die.”

Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man.

From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?...And who should we kill first?"