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Lou Grande (148 KP) rated Teratologist in Books

May 15, 2018  
Teratologist
Teratologist
Edward Lee, Wrath James White | 2011 | Horror
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Like a Buddy Cop movie directed by Satan
THE TERATOLOGIST--a researcher of physical abnormalities--is both a disgusting and fun (short) horror novel. Something like a Buddy Cop movie, a writer and photographer go to the mansion of a young billionaire who collects people with birth defects for a single nefarious purpose: to see God.

If you've read Edward Lee's Infernal Series, you may notice the similarities in theme. It isn't just good vs evil, it's Good vs Evil. It has the same dash of irreverent humor and more than enough depravity to make it a fun read for readers with iron stomachs.

That said, this is absolutely not for the faint of heart. If you're easily offended, why are you looking at a book by Edward Lee and Wrath James White to begin with? Both are masters of the splatterpunk genre, which has given birth to the "extreme horror" subgenre. This book will gross you out. Even seasoned readers might cringe at some of the acts depicted in THE TERATOLOGIST. They disgust on a moral and visceral level, but isn't that the point?
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated X2: X-Men United (2003) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019 (Updated Jun 20, 2019)  
X2: X-Men United (2003)
X2: X-Men United (2003)
2003 | Action, Sci-Fi
A strong follow up
X-Men 2 builds upon the first in pretty much every way possible - were introduced to new characters (Brian Cox as William Stryker being a stand out here) and some really thrilling set pieces.


Notable amongst them - the opening scene of Nightcrawler attacking The White House (set to Mozart's Requiem in D Minor) is honestly one of my top scenes in a comic book film ever.
The scene where the mansion is attacked at night - we see Wolverine a lot more feral here than in the first film, and we're introduced to Colossus.
And the almost everything on Alkali Lake - the glimpses into the Weapon X project, the hints at Dark Phoenix - are all comic book ticks (until they were a bit shat on in future sequels)


There are still faults - the biggest one here for me is Lady Deathstroke - second X-Men movie in a row that backbenches a classic Wolverine villain in favour of a fairly useless mute version.

I remember and appreciate X-Men 2 for what it was at the time - a movie for a young franchise brimming with future possibilities. It still stands strong as far as Marvel adaptions go.
  
Fantasy Island (2020)
Fantasy Island (2020)
2020 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Much like the recent adaptation of the Banana Splits Hour, Blumhouse's Fantasy Island took a show from my childhood and added horror elements to the premise. Five strangers land on an island where their fantasy is granted. The island is overseen by a mysterious Latino named Mr. Roarke, played by master monologuist Michael Pena. As you may have seen in the trailer, two are given everything that they want (money, sex, a mansion), one plays soldier, one is given a fresh start, and one gets revenge on a middle-school bully. However, a fantasy can easily become a nightmare and the island does not distinguish. As the five strangers are slowly brought back together, they learn that the island did not randomly select them. Someone else has their own nightmarish fantasy to live. I will not spoil the secret, but the mysterious person behind it all makes precious little sense unless he or she had a traumatic brain injury before and during the plot of the movie. Some scenes were very good and it could have been a good horror movie if it had just left the storylines separate like the tv show managed to do.
  
The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House
2018 | Horror
Characters (1 more)
Story
Confusing timeline scenes (0 more)
Netflix's: a haunted Mansion
I was roped into watching this by my partner, but I wasn't disappointed.

NETFLIX as usual has given us a great horror story just in time for Halloween, haunting of hill house is a diamond in the dark that follows a group of distant siblings who are troubled and haunted by their childhood.

A brilliant offering with some very strong "the shining" vibes that were very welcome.
Dark, intense and deep with common issues.

After the death of one of their own, the siblings are forced to reach out and come face to face with each other....and their estranged father.

With storys of past, present & future dangerously entwined and nightmares clawing their way back in, time, trust & understanding may be their only means of surviving.

Although some parts seemed to drag a little, it more than made up for it with sub plot explaining and some great cliffhangers.

The show is an adaption of the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name from 1959.

It is definitely something I will watch again and something I'd like to see more of.