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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
9.2
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Movie Watch
From a novella by best-selling author Stephen King comes this poignant tale of the human spirit. ...
Awix (3310 KP) rated La derniere vague (The Last Wave) in TV
Aug 8, 2020
Le goings-on spooky in the south of France: a mysterious, apparently sentient cloud which may or may not embody nature's vengeance on civilisation abducts a group of surfers for five hours and then returns them, with strange powers. (Not that the media takes any notice of any of this.) This provides everyone in town with un beaucoup lovely chance to work through all their various personal issues before the end of the last episode.
Comes across a bit like a mid-table Stephen King novel, or possibly just a very glossy soap opera with a guest appearance by Giant Space Monster Dogorah. Fairly engaging stuff, though unlikely to feel terribly original to the clued-up viewer; passes the time nicely without demanding your full attention. Avoids too many explanations (they're clearly hoping for a second season), which could be irritating, but the end-of-series cliffhanger is okay.
Comes across a bit like a mid-table Stephen King novel, or possibly just a very glossy soap opera with a guest appearance by Giant Space Monster Dogorah. Fairly engaging stuff, though unlikely to feel terribly original to the clued-up viewer; passes the time nicely without demanding your full attention. Avoids too many explanations (they're clearly hoping for a second season), which could be irritating, but the end-of-series cliffhanger is okay.
Full Dark No Stars
8.6
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Book
A new collection of four never-before-published stories from Stephen King. 1922 The story opens...
The Living Dead (The Living Dead, #1)
7.7
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Book
Ideal for fans of iZombie, Colin Morgan, The Walking Dead, iZombie comics, Resident Evil anthology,...
Mothergamer (1536 KP) rated Chapelwaite in TV
Sep 30, 2021
It's not a bad show, but it definitely could be better. It's based on the short story by Stephen King from his Night Shift anthology setting up a prequel to Salem's Lot. The premise is good, but the execution is lacking. It's meant to be a horror show, but sometimes it feels very dull with one or two jump scares. It takes far too long to get to the point and reveal with what is going on in the town and with Charles and his family. The cast is uneven too. Adrien Brody does a great job and some of the other cast are great too, but then you have some of the cast that don't deliver lines well, in a stilted robotic manner. If you're going to do a horror show, then do a horror show that is actually scary rather than boring and hardly any horror.
Sisters
8.0
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Book
Something unspeakable has happened to sisters July and September. Desperate for a fresh start,...
Literary Fiction Gothic
Rhys (240 KP) rated The Outsider in Books
Jun 30, 2018 (Updated Jul 7, 2018)
Contains spoilers, click to show
‘The Outsider’ is a crime/horror novel of four distinct parts. The first is the murder and investigation described in the blurb. This part is more traditionally crime novel than horror and introduces the main characters, giving them all distinct personalities and building up to the twist. Part two takes place after said twist (obviously, giving this away would destroy the enjoyment of the first part) and involves a new focus on the ‘antagonist’ of the third part: Ralph Anderson.
Part three introduces Holly, a character from the Finders Keepers books (that I have not read at this time) and continues for most of the book. This part is heavily inspired by several vampire novels and series including ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Strain’ but keeps a distinct Stephen King feeling.
(Part four is epilogue, which ties up loose ends and ensures that the characters who survive, as well as some who do not, have a happy ending.)
Previous King novels can feel forced, or full of ‘fluff’ that exists only to pad out the time between gruesome murders and intense horror. In this novel, every piece of dialogue has a purpose, whether to build on a character’s.... character... or to make the world seem more real, ground the supernatural in reality.
Despite what is said on the ‘bad’ section, this novel works well as a stand alone. Holly, the character that connects this to previous works, is written as though it will be a reader’s first encounter with her. She is built up from scratch and goes through development at the same rate as the other characters (her previous appearances are described enough that a reader will know the gist, but do not give away anything from the ‘Mr. Mercedes’ trilogy other than that Bill Hodges at some point dies.)
(For context, I am not a regular reader of King’s novels, having tried ‘It’ and ‘Insomnia’ but quickly loosing interest in both.)
Why not full marks? Around half way through the novel there is a scene that simply does not fit in with the rest of the story. The character that will eventually become King’s equivalent of Renfield from ‘Dracula’ meets the Outsider in the bathroom, with said character appropriately terrified. Why is this such an odd scene? Throughout the tense conversation (in which the Outsider’s powers are shown in full) Jack is suffering from an upset stomach (and King seems strangely obsessed with describing.) Horrible, yes, but horror it is not.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to a fan of Stephen King or to someone who wants to get into his writing.
Part three introduces Holly, a character from the Finders Keepers books (that I have not read at this time) and continues for most of the book. This part is heavily inspired by several vampire novels and series including ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Strain’ but keeps a distinct Stephen King feeling.
(Part four is epilogue, which ties up loose ends and ensures that the characters who survive, as well as some who do not, have a happy ending.)
Previous King novels can feel forced, or full of ‘fluff’ that exists only to pad out the time between gruesome murders and intense horror. In this novel, every piece of dialogue has a purpose, whether to build on a character’s.... character... or to make the world seem more real, ground the supernatural in reality.
Despite what is said on the ‘bad’ section, this novel works well as a stand alone. Holly, the character that connects this to previous works, is written as though it will be a reader’s first encounter with her. She is built up from scratch and goes through development at the same rate as the other characters (her previous appearances are described enough that a reader will know the gist, but do not give away anything from the ‘Mr. Mercedes’ trilogy other than that Bill Hodges at some point dies.)
(For context, I am not a regular reader of King’s novels, having tried ‘It’ and ‘Insomnia’ but quickly loosing interest in both.)
Why not full marks? Around half way through the novel there is a scene that simply does not fit in with the rest of the story. The character that will eventually become King’s equivalent of Renfield from ‘Dracula’ meets the Outsider in the bathroom, with said character appropriately terrified. Why is this such an odd scene? Throughout the tense conversation (in which the Outsider’s powers are shown in full) Jack is suffering from an upset stomach (and King seems strangely obsessed with describing.) Horrible, yes, but horror it is not.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to a fan of Stephen King or to someone who wants to get into his writing.
Hag 12 Down (6 KP) rated The Fireman in Books
Dec 30, 2017
The Book I can't forget
This is the book I can't let go of. There are several books that give me withdrawal, but this one. Oh my! I read it 15 months ago and I can't get over it. I check out my books from the library, but I keep thinking daily that I should buy a copy and re-read it. The fun part is that when I read this book I had no idea who Joe Hill was. Simply not a clue. When I finished reading it I started researching to see what else he had written. I was pleasantly surprised to find he is Stephen King's son! I read so many King books when I was younger! Pick this up and read it. Don't be intimidated by it's size, you won't regret it. I realize I haven't said anything about the actual plot. That's because you deserve to enjoy every minute of it on your own.
SummerLGrant (185 KP) rated The Dark Tower (2017) in Movies
Sep 10, 2017
Average
Hollywood seems to be going for a Stephen King binge at the moment, and this one isn't great. I haven't yet read the books and even though this doesn't do anything to promote them it hasn't put me off.
There was so much potential for this film to be amazing but it felt so rushed, as if they weren't confident it would be good enough to get a sequel so they crammed as much as they could to get the story properly resolved (like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children). None of the characters developed beyond your initial impression of them, almost as if that was all sacrificed at the expense of fitting too much into the film. I'm sure there were also little details about the world that would have made it much more interesting, if the few bits that made the final cut were any indication.
An easy film to watch that doesn't ask you to engage your brain but very disappointing.
There was so much potential for this film to be amazing but it felt so rushed, as if they weren't confident it would be good enough to get a sequel so they crammed as much as they could to get the story properly resolved (like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children). None of the characters developed beyond your initial impression of them, almost as if that was all sacrificed at the expense of fitting too much into the film. I'm sure there were also little details about the world that would have made it much more interesting, if the few bits that made the final cut were any indication.
An easy film to watch that doesn't ask you to engage your brain but very disappointing.