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Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
1985 | Horror
Part V of the Friday the 13th franchise is an absolute blast, and no one can tell me otherwise. Is it silly? Definitely. Does it go overboard with its goofy characters a little too often? Damn right it does (pretty sure someone gets called "a dildo" at one point) Are there better Friday films out there? Yes sir, but none of this stops the fact that Part V is a decent, entertaining, smack bang middle of the 80s slasher.

The killer this time around isn't Jason Voorhees, even if it is only by name, and this "mystery" surrounding the killers identity achieves two things - 1. It adds a whodunnit element to the series, otherwise only ever seen in the original and 2. It keeps the killer offscreen for most of the runtime, saving budget costs by not showing much in terms of kills (although that belt against the tree death is a doozy). This results in a less gory sequel, especially after the more brutal Part IV, but it's not a big issue. The whole thing almost feels like an R-Rated episode of Scooby-Doo. The reveal of the killer is definitely weak though. Not enough set up means and underwhelming payoff.

There are soooooooo many characters in this. I swear there are still new ones being introduced up until the last 20 minutes, and they're all just body count fodder for "Jason". Not necessarily a bad thing, pretty standard practice by now. I did like little Reckless Reggie. That dude is awesome. Way more awesome than Tommy Jarvis, who is just a whiny bitch for the whole runtime. Thankfully Thom Mathews is just around the corner.

It's not the best Friday movie, but far from being the worst. As far as 80s slashers go, it's damn good time.
  
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
2019 | Horror, Mystery
The comedy & characters (0 more)
Repetitivity (0 more)
Deja vue?
I loved the original Happy Death Day. It was a great blend between horror & comedy with a really great idea - person is being stalked by slasher and has to live the same day every day usually ending up being killed by the baby mask wearing killer. So when I saw there was going to be a sequel I was glad...what was advertised was this time its not just the main character but the whole main cast being stalked and killed off. Well that lasts for about 15 mins. Then we get some silly science bollocks to try and explain things and then puts the film back to the same day as in the original focusing on the main character again. Literally exactly the same as the first film - same shots and everything!!...the ending seems rushed and the killer reveal seems lazy and tacked as an afterthought. There are things to enjoy - the characters are well played and theres some good comedy it's just such a shame they didn't evolve the story and did something different to the first film.
  
Blown Away
Blown Away
Tate Clover | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Emmy Adler is living her dream, opening a kite shop called Strings Attached in Rock Point, Oregon, and living with her best friend Avery right on the beach. However, the morning her shop is due to open, Emmy discovers a dead body, that of Avery’s ex on the beach. With the police certain that Avery is the killer and the evidence mounting against her, Emmy jumps in to find the real killer. Can she do it?

I fell in love with the setting in the first chapter even with the discovery of the dead body by the end of it. The pace was off a couple of times, but everything did come together for the climax, and we got some good twists along the way. Emmy seemed to get angry easily, sometimes I understood and sometimes it seemed over the top. The other characters were a varied bunch and I enjoyed them. Overall, this was a good debut, and I look forward to visiting again soon.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-review-blown-away-by-clover-tate.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
With the restaurant closed for the season and most of her family out of town, Georgie figures now is the perfect time to do some much needed renovations on the restrooms. But Georgie comes back to find a dead body in the rubble of one of the bathrooms. The victim is her divorce lawyer, and the police are quick to arrest a former employee of the restaurant. While Russ is not a nice man, Georgie doesn’t think he’s a killer. But what happened to the victim?

With many of the series regulars out of town, it falls to a minor character from the previous books to step up. That’s not a problem since I really enjoyed getting to know Brenda better. The plot twists in some surprising directions, although I do have a couple of niggles with it. The book ties in some of the on going series plot threads, so it is best to read them in order to fully appreciate this book.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/06/book-review-killer-kebab-by-susannah.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.