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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Lamplighters in Books

Mar 14, 2022

The Lamplighters

Emma Stonex | 2021 | Contemporary, Horror, Thriller

7.0

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

The Lamplighters is a locked room (lighthouse!) mystery, which had me gripped up to the last page. How could three men go missing from a tower lighthouse, with no way off back to land. There’s no boat, no-one visited them - and what’s more, the lighthouse is locked from the inside when the investigation team arrive.

This is a mystery that affects their wives and partners even 20 years later. A writer contacts the three women and asks them to cooperate with him as he writes a book about the mystery. It seems that all three women held back secrets during the original investigation - but will the uncovering of these secrets make any difference?

The Lamplighters is told in flashbacks, alternating between the present day with the women, and the lead up to the disappearance with the men in the lighthouse. The lighthouse chapters in particular are seriously atmospheric, threatening, even. I had so many ideas as to what could have happened, my opinion changing constantly as more information was revealed. I didn’t guess the actual ending though, even after I’d described the basic storyline of the book to my husband, and he got it in one (note to self: do not discuss mystery books with the husband, AKA “Dr” Poirot…)

Highly recommended.

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Weather and Travel

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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated My Cousin Rachel (2017) in Movies

Nov 12, 2017 (Updated Nov 12, 2017)

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

2017 | Drama, Romance

6.5

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Wonderful acting (0 more)

Slightly frustrated at how quickly he becomes infatuated (0 more)

Gothic Victorian suspense surrounding the mysterious Rachel

This film is no doubt atmospheric and evocative, rather than old fashioned Victorian horror, all about the widow of recently deceased cousin who died under mysterious circumstances.

Sam Claflin plays the vengeful nephew, who plots to find out the truth about Rachel, believing that she murdered his guardian. But his feelings become complicated as he finds himself falling under the beguiling spell of her charms.

Daphne Du Maurier was an excellent writer of course and many of her novels have been transferred to both the big and small screen to much acclaim. As it is, this is a film of intrigue and intent that is not quite what it at first seems. The outcome is not mind-blowing and you don't have to be Hercule Poirot to follow the plot or work things out. However, the 'did she didn't she murder' question is left rather open-ended and down to the interpretation/thoughts of the viewer. While it is not in the same league as Rebecca, the director makes a decent effort in creating an uneasy ambience.

It is a fascinating film which delves (in a shallow way) into the workings of the human mind and its psychological ways and how suspicion can play havoc in relationships.

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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Mummy (2017) in Movies

Feb 11, 2018 (Updated Feb 11, 2018)

The Mummy (2017)

2017 | Action, Adventure

5.1

(122 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Oh, Mummy.

Laborious attempt by Universal to grab a slice of Marvel's meta-franchise pie by launching a series of fantasy blockbusters based on their stable of famous monster characters. Tom Cruise plays an annoying mercenary who catches the eye of an ancient and evil supernatural creature unearthed in Iraq.

There's a good reason why sensible studios don't try to make horror blockbusters, and especially horror blockbusters starring Tom Cruise - every time the film starts to be effectively creepy or atmospheric, along comes a CGI-enhanced chase sequence, or Tom Cruise doing that smirk, or some other manifestation of corporate blandness. Isn't Tom Cruise too old for this sort of thing? Watching him flirting with a considerably younger actress is by far the creepiest thing in the movie, and he seems quite incapable of the moral ambiguity the part probably requires - Russell Crowe, in the Samuel L Jackson plot-device-character role, acts him off the screen.

You scratch your head wondering how this thing is supposed to work - are all the monsters going to team up together? And do what, exactly? No-one seems to have thought this through. It's much more of a zombie movie than one about an actual mummy, anyway. The depiction of the one-way system in Oxford City Centre is also very misleading; I nearly knocked off a point because of it.

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Sarah (7800 KP) created a post

Oct 24, 2019

Last night I went to watch The Exorcist at the Opera House in Manchester. I've never been a huge fan of The Exorcist film, I think it's a tad overrated but I was intrigued to see how they'd bring a story like this to life on the stage. And they've put together a well produced and atmospheric show. The set design is brilliant and the effects are spot on, producing a chilly and at times scary show, which isn't something you'd usually expect in such a big theatre and a large audience. The show is that well produced that it's a shame it's rather let down by the acting. A lot of the acting seemed very over the top and exaggerated, and some was just plain poor. Which is a shame as there was a standout performance from Tristram Wymark as Burke who was downright hilarious and a welcome relief to the scarier aspects of the show. Also having Ian McKellen voice the demon is a work of genius. Hearing such a seasoned actor voice a horrible character is brilliant and the young girl miming him is impressively good, even if she does seem to overact at times.

Overall definitely worth seeing for the production if nothing else, and I would've marked a little higher had it not been for some of the acting! 7.5/10