Search

Search only in certain items:

#Alive (2020)
#Alive (2020)
2020 | Action, Drama, Horror
10
8.0 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
#Alive is a Korean zombie movie that focuses on the survival of Oh Joon-woo, a young man who is stranded in his family's apartment at the outbreak of the zombie virus and follows him as he tries to work out what is happening, how he can survive and how he can cope with the fact that his family is probably dead.
#Alive is defiantly a film of 3 parts, the first part focuses solely on Oh Joon-woo and his attempts at survival alone in his apartment as he struggles to cope with the zombies, running out of food and the lose of his family. The portrayal of Isolation and loneliness is very well done, leading up to what could almost be a very short film.
Then Oh Joon-woo meets Kim Yoo-bin, another survivor who lives in the apartments across the street from him. The isolation continues as the two find ways to communicate and survive but now there is hope.
The two are eventually forced from their apartments and have to meet up and move up as they try to find somewhere safe to survive.
#Alive is a film without a big main cast and this helps the sense of isolation and loneliness which is only increased by the fact that they spend most of the film separated by a street full of the undead.
Surprisingly #Alive manages to avoid becoming a love story. Normally when you have two survivors who meet in films like this they fall for each other and, at least part of the film is taken up by their relationship. However #Alive doesn't do this, Oh Joon-woo and Kim Yoo-bin obviously become friends but they are too busy surviving but their relationship doesn't overtake the main point of the film, survival.
There are moments of tension and relief in the film and they work well making #Alive a different type of film than a lot of other zombie films, including the other Korean zombie blockbuster, Train to Busan.
  
The Apartment Upstairs
The Apartment Upstairs
Lesley Kara | 2022 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Let me give you a piece of advice; if you have never read one of Lesley Kara's books, get yourself to your usual book supplier or library and put it right by picking yourself one (or more!) You will not regret it because each and every one is unique and enthralling and The Apartment Upstairs is no different.

This is yet another cracker by Lesley Kara.

Would you want to live in a house where a beloved family member was brutally murdered? I don't think I could but Scarlett is clearly stronger than I am. Not only has she moved back into her flat beneath where her Aunt Rebecca was murdered by her partner who then committed suicide, but she is having to organise the funeral and manage the debilitating condition, ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis).

Dee is the owner of the 'alternative' funeral directors Scarlett contacts to make arrangements for her aunt's funeral. Dee has struggles of her own; as well as her own personal circumstances, her best friend went missing almost 10 years ago and she is organising an event to keep her in the public consciousness.

Little do Scarlett and Dee realise but their lives are going to become intertwined in the most unexpected and shattering way.

There is creeping sense of tension and unease from the very beginning which continues throughout and which had me gripped desperate to know what was going to happen but I definitely didn't see that ending coming ... and what a great ending it is!

With strong characters, a good pace and an engaging and enthralling plot that had me guessing, this is a book that I devoured quickly and one which I have no hesitation in recommending to those who enjoy a character-driven, gripping thriller.

Thanks go to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for enabling me to read The Apartment Upstairs and share my views.
  
WH
Witch Hunt (Preternatural Affairs, #1)
S.M. Reine | 2014
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Poor Cèsar. He just can't catch a break at the moment. He catches a criminal, goes out for a drink to celebrate and then things get a bit blurry. He wakes up with a hangover from hell and an apartment that's been trashed. What would you do?

This story all takes place during one week as Cèsar tries to figure out what's going on, who he can trust but more importantly who he can't. You are kept on your toes throughout the book as you wonder if that person was involved, or did that person have something to do with it. Cèsar has one helluva week.

Witch Hunt is full of twists and turns and gives you an insight into the Office of Preternatural Affairs and the Union, who we have met from the other side in the Descent series. It is a highly entertaining tale that is not as dark as some of S.M. Reine's previous works. Recommended.