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RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Dracula (English) (1931) in Movies
Mar 7, 2019
Where it all began...
Contains spoilers, click to show
The year was 1931: Two years after the success of The Jazz Singer and the final introduction of sound movies into the mainstream, sound was still revolutionising the industry. But in 1931, a bit like 3D now, there was still much confusion over to how make films, with directors, producers and actors alike, were still moving over from the suddenly dated silent era, with varying success.
Tod Browning was a man who would unfortunately find little success in the sound era, but not necessarily because he couldn't move with the times, but because his career was derailed a couple of years later by his disturbing horror pic, Freaks.
Dracula was shot THREE times. One, this one, was the conventional sound version that we all know. An other was shot at night and in Spanish for the benefit of that audience, which the studio supposedly preferred. This was quite common at this time, but little known nowadays. And the third was a straight forward silent version for the many theatres still un-equipped to handle sound.
But the styles of the silent era are all over this film. From the long silent reactions shots and the over acting, especially by Bela Lagosi in the titular role. This was also the adaptation of the stage adaptation of Bram Stoker's chiller, and was faithfully adapted from that source, hence the lack of more complex special effects, with bats on strings and fog machines, over more cinematic effects.
The transformation scenes for example, where the Count morphs from a bat to the undead human occur off-screen, rather than some form of cross fade etc. Is this a choice driven by lack of money? Lack of cinematic ambition of a choice to stick to the stage material? To be honest, I have too little knowledge or experience of Tod Browning's work to suggest a reason, but when all's said and done, it did work.
Let's be honest, this is 80 years old and is not the least bit scary and it is hard not to laugh, but in context, I'm sure it worked well at the time and the story is well conveyed. Lagosi's undead performance is hammy by today's standards but he was somewhat likable. He was very deliberate, slow and the silent era has certainly left its scars, as the subtly of sound performing was yet to take hold.
But this is the sort of film were silent melodramatic acting still worked. This is of course a piece Gothic Horror, the home of melodrama if ever there was one. This is surly a product of its time, both as the industry went through one of it's most dramatic changes, which ended so many careers as well a created so many new ones, but it's also, let's not forget, the first direct adaptation of Bram Stoker's book, besides the 1922 German version, Nosferatu, which changes a fair few details to try to get around the copyright, failing to do so mind, resulting in failed bid to have every copy of the film destroyed.
This is the film that ingrained the image of the Dracula that we know today into popular culture. This was were the Universal horror franchise began. For whatever faults it has by today's standards, it did something right.
Tod Browning was a man who would unfortunately find little success in the sound era, but not necessarily because he couldn't move with the times, but because his career was derailed a couple of years later by his disturbing horror pic, Freaks.
Dracula was shot THREE times. One, this one, was the conventional sound version that we all know. An other was shot at night and in Spanish for the benefit of that audience, which the studio supposedly preferred. This was quite common at this time, but little known nowadays. And the third was a straight forward silent version for the many theatres still un-equipped to handle sound.
But the styles of the silent era are all over this film. From the long silent reactions shots and the over acting, especially by Bela Lagosi in the titular role. This was also the adaptation of the stage adaptation of Bram Stoker's chiller, and was faithfully adapted from that source, hence the lack of more complex special effects, with bats on strings and fog machines, over more cinematic effects.
The transformation scenes for example, where the Count morphs from a bat to the undead human occur off-screen, rather than some form of cross fade etc. Is this a choice driven by lack of money? Lack of cinematic ambition of a choice to stick to the stage material? To be honest, I have too little knowledge or experience of Tod Browning's work to suggest a reason, but when all's said and done, it did work.
Let's be honest, this is 80 years old and is not the least bit scary and it is hard not to laugh, but in context, I'm sure it worked well at the time and the story is well conveyed. Lagosi's undead performance is hammy by today's standards but he was somewhat likable. He was very deliberate, slow and the silent era has certainly left its scars, as the subtly of sound performing was yet to take hold.
But this is the sort of film were silent melodramatic acting still worked. This is of course a piece Gothic Horror, the home of melodrama if ever there was one. This is surly a product of its time, both as the industry went through one of it's most dramatic changes, which ended so many careers as well a created so many new ones, but it's also, let's not forget, the first direct adaptation of Bram Stoker's book, besides the 1922 German version, Nosferatu, which changes a fair few details to try to get around the copyright, failing to do so mind, resulting in failed bid to have every copy of the film destroyed.
This is the film that ingrained the image of the Dracula that we know today into popular culture. This was were the Universal horror franchise began. For whatever faults it has by today's standards, it did something right.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Night of the Living Dead (1968) in Movies
Apr 1, 2020 (Updated Apr 1, 2020)
They're Coming To Get You Barbra
Night of the Living Dead- i love this film, such a classic. Its a fantasic phenomenal movie, about survival, surving, the living dead and survival of the finest. Plus you have George A. Ramero directing it. He is missed, he was such a phenomenal and excellent director.
The plot: The story follows seven people who are trapped in a rural farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, which is under assault by an enlargening group of cannibalistic, undead corpses.
The film is regarded as one of the launching pads for the modern zombie movie, and thanks to George we have all of these zombie tv shows and movies today, if it wasnt for him, we wouldn't have all of these zombies tv shows and movies today.
In 2001, the film was ranked No. 93 by the American Film Institute on their AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills list, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies. The zombies in the picture were also a candidate for AFI's AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains, in the villains category, but failed to make the official list. The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 5th scariest film ever made. The film also ranked No. 9 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Many critics of this movie find this movie very groundbreaking for its time due to its having a black protagonist.
Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain in the United States because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints.
Like I said before its a excellent and phenomenal movie.
The plot: The story follows seven people who are trapped in a rural farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, which is under assault by an enlargening group of cannibalistic, undead corpses.
The film is regarded as one of the launching pads for the modern zombie movie, and thanks to George we have all of these zombie tv shows and movies today, if it wasnt for him, we wouldn't have all of these zombies tv shows and movies today.
In 2001, the film was ranked No. 93 by the American Film Institute on their AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills list, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies. The zombies in the picture were also a candidate for AFI's AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains, in the villains category, but failed to make the official list. The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 5th scariest film ever made. The film also ranked No. 9 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Many critics of this movie find this movie very groundbreaking for its time due to its having a black protagonist.
Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain in the United States because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints.
Like I said before its a excellent and phenomenal movie.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies
Nov 3, 2020
Bill Paxton (1 more)
Lance Henrikson
Finger-Lickin' Good!
Near Dark- is a great neo-western horror film about vampires. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it was also her debut film.
The plot: Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.
Vampire films had become "trendy" by the time of Near Dark's production, with the success of Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), the latter released two months before Near Dark and grossing $32 million. Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention.
The combination of the genres had been visited at least twice before on the big screen, with Curse of the Undead (1959) and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966).
Bigelow knew (and later married) director James Cameron, who directed Aliens (1986), a film that shares three cast members (Paxton, Goldstein and Henriksen) with Near Dark. Actor Michael Biehn was offered the role of Jesse Hooker, but he rejected the role because he found the script confusing. Lance Henriksen took over the role. A cinema seen in the background early in the film has Aliens on its marquee and Cameron played the man who "flips off" Severen.
Its a classic and a cult film.
The plot: Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.
Vampire films had become "trendy" by the time of Near Dark's production, with the success of Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), the latter released two months before Near Dark and grossing $32 million. Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention.
The combination of the genres had been visited at least twice before on the big screen, with Curse of the Undead (1959) and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966).
Bigelow knew (and later married) director James Cameron, who directed Aliens (1986), a film that shares three cast members (Paxton, Goldstein and Henriksen) with Near Dark. Actor Michael Biehn was offered the role of Jesse Hooker, but he rejected the role because he found the script confusing. Lance Henriksen took over the role. A cinema seen in the background early in the film has Aliens on its marquee and Cameron played the man who "flips off" Severen.
Its a classic and a cult film.
b.Young (97 KP) rated Apocalypticon in Books
Jun 1, 2018
Witty dialog (1 more)
Humorous take on apocalypse genre
The most humorous apocalypse book I've ever read
I found this book offered for Kindle and decided to read it based on the fact that it was humorous instead of serious.
Apocalypticon is a story of two friends in Chicago that somehow survived M-Day, the day the monkey shaped missiles were launched from Jamaica to destroy most of the inhabitants of Earth, only to pack up 3 years later and make a whirlwind trip to visit Disney World, of all places.
Along the way, Patrick and Ben come across some very colorful survivors like Violet, a woman who runs the only bridge out of town like a restaurant: hostess stand, bus boys, wine and all; an Amtrak Captain who happens to be the only one left in the country, that is obsessed with keeping a schedule he never can seem to keep; a futune teller that warns Patrick of his fate; a couple of religious cults, each morbidly twisted in their own way; zombie-like creatures called Runners that snorted their way into the realm of the semi-undead; a gun-toting chick that thinks that the Runners can be cured; and journalist who is trying to make sense of why certain people survived the decimation of 98% of the world's population.
Now, don't get me wrong, there were plenty of action scenes where people and things got effed up, but not so much of the blood and gore that typically goes along with genre.
I surprised myself by actually laughing out loud while reading this...several times, I might add.
I recommend Apocalypticon to anyone who enjoys a good apocalypse story and can accept the hilarity of the situation at hand.
Apocalypticon is a story of two friends in Chicago that somehow survived M-Day, the day the monkey shaped missiles were launched from Jamaica to destroy most of the inhabitants of Earth, only to pack up 3 years later and make a whirlwind trip to visit Disney World, of all places.
Along the way, Patrick and Ben come across some very colorful survivors like Violet, a woman who runs the only bridge out of town like a restaurant: hostess stand, bus boys, wine and all; an Amtrak Captain who happens to be the only one left in the country, that is obsessed with keeping a schedule he never can seem to keep; a futune teller that warns Patrick of his fate; a couple of religious cults, each morbidly twisted in their own way; zombie-like creatures called Runners that snorted their way into the realm of the semi-undead; a gun-toting chick that thinks that the Runners can be cured; and journalist who is trying to make sense of why certain people survived the decimation of 98% of the world's population.
Now, don't get me wrong, there were plenty of action scenes where people and things got effed up, but not so much of the blood and gore that typically goes along with genre.
I surprised myself by actually laughing out loud while reading this...several times, I might add.
I recommend Apocalypticon to anyone who enjoys a good apocalypse story and can accept the hilarity of the situation at hand.
The start of Bram Stokers biography?
And to think that I nearly gave up on this to begin with! At about 20% in, it just didn't seem to be drawing me in at all. So how pleased am I that I persevered?!!
This is a prequel to Bram Stokers Dracula, and is the story of Bram himself. It postulates that Dracula and vampires really do exist, Bram and his family had an intimate relationship with one (not like THAT!), and Dracula was written as a warning about the Undead. Well, I clearly don't know what to believe now!
The language used in this novel is a little more up to date than Bram Stokers original: it's written for the modern reader (as Bram's was at the time, I suppose), and is consequently much easier to read. This book is supposedly based on notes that Bram left behind - whether they were ideas for another book, or they were 'actual occurrences', we'll never really know.
Bram and his family are followed from Bram's early childhood, up until well after their encounter with Dracul. It's exciting, there's loads of action, and I had some serious worries about Bram's siblings! There's loads of historical detail (potato famine in Ireland, disease, poverty) which I rather enjoyed. But it's the encounters with the vampires that I really loved. There's always going to be someone that makes the comparison to 'that' vampire series, and so I'll be the one. There IS NO comparison. These aren't nicey-nicey vampires who sparkle. These are largely speaking, evil, dark-magic-using, killing machines. Much more fun.
I think this is probably going to be a series. Which I will obviously be reading. Obviously.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
This is a prequel to Bram Stokers Dracula, and is the story of Bram himself. It postulates that Dracula and vampires really do exist, Bram and his family had an intimate relationship with one (not like THAT!), and Dracula was written as a warning about the Undead. Well, I clearly don't know what to believe now!
The language used in this novel is a little more up to date than Bram Stokers original: it's written for the modern reader (as Bram's was at the time, I suppose), and is consequently much easier to read. This book is supposedly based on notes that Bram left behind - whether they were ideas for another book, or they were 'actual occurrences', we'll never really know.
Bram and his family are followed from Bram's early childhood, up until well after their encounter with Dracul. It's exciting, there's loads of action, and I had some serious worries about Bram's siblings! There's loads of historical detail (potato famine in Ireland, disease, poverty) which I rather enjoyed. But it's the encounters with the vampires that I really loved. There's always going to be someone that makes the comparison to 'that' vampire series, and so I'll be the one. There IS NO comparison. These aren't nicey-nicey vampires who sparkle. These are largely speaking, evil, dark-magic-using, killing machines. Much more fun.
I think this is probably going to be a series. Which I will obviously be reading. Obviously.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) in Movies
Nov 19, 2019 (Updated Nov 20, 2019)
Drunk Johnny Part 1
Yo-Ho, what do you get when you based you movie off of a disney ride, a great movie. Yes you read the correctly, this movie is based off of the ride at disney. So how does a 20-30 minute ride turn into a 2h and 20min movie, well you expand it. Expand it and make it have a great plot, good charcters, a great villian and a drunking Johnny Depp or Johnny Depp playing pirate Keith Richards.
The Plot: Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) arrives at Port Royal in the Caribbean without a ship or crew. His timing is inopportune, however, because later that evening the town is besieged by a pirate ship. The pirates kidnap the governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), who's in possession of a valuable coin that is linked to a curse that has transformed the pirates into the undead. A gallant blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) in love with Elizabeth allies with Sparrow in pursuit of the pirates.
It was also significant in being the first film released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA.
The film spun off four sequels, with the latest sequel released in 2017. The first two were back-to-back sequels in 2006 and 2007, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, respectively. The third sequel, On Stranger Tides, was released in 2011. The fourth sequel, Dead Men Tell No Tales, was slated to begin production in October 2014 for a summer 2016 release, but was eventually delayed to May 2017. It was directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. While none of the sequels matched the critical acclaim of the first film, they were still box office successes nevertheless.
It is a classic movie, it has comedy, action, adventure and most importanly pirates.
The Plot: Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) arrives at Port Royal in the Caribbean without a ship or crew. His timing is inopportune, however, because later that evening the town is besieged by a pirate ship. The pirates kidnap the governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), who's in possession of a valuable coin that is linked to a curse that has transformed the pirates into the undead. A gallant blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) in love with Elizabeth allies with Sparrow in pursuit of the pirates.
It was also significant in being the first film released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA.
The film spun off four sequels, with the latest sequel released in 2017. The first two were back-to-back sequels in 2006 and 2007, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, respectively. The third sequel, On Stranger Tides, was released in 2011. The fourth sequel, Dead Men Tell No Tales, was slated to begin production in October 2014 for a summer 2016 release, but was eventually delayed to May 2017. It was directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. While none of the sequels matched the critical acclaim of the first film, they were still box office successes nevertheless.
It is a classic movie, it has comedy, action, adventure and most importanly pirates.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Mother/Android (2021) in Movies
Jan 14, 2022
Whilst there are a handful of positives about Mother/Android, they are woefully overshadowed by just how unoriginal the overall movie is.
Starting with said positives - Chloë Grace Moretz is always trying her best and here is no different. It's also nice to see Raúl Castillo popping up more and more at the moment and here is no different. There's a scene fairly late on, set in a house full of androids that is genuinely quite tense and is an obvious highlight.
Other than that, it's pretty dire. The dialogue is shoddy, and the writing is all over the place. None of the characters are particularly likable and there's not really anyone to root for (started rooting for the androids by the end). The opening scene is one of intrigue, promising something vaguely resembling Detroit: Become Human, but the story is rushed along so quickly that we're thrown straight into 9 months later, following a pregnant lady through some woods in America, whilst trying to stay silent. Very A Quiet Place. The android designs do nothing to differentiate from the designs seen in Terminator.
However, the most insulting moment of plagiarism comes during the climax, the events of which are quite bleak, and aim for the heartstrings. This moment is intercut with flashes of a happier time, whilst chaos unfolds in the distance, set to some somber music. All of which would have landed way better if it wasn't ripped straight from the undead hands of Train to Busan!
I'm sure that there will be plenty of people out there who find something to like when it comes to Mother/Android but for me, it just came across as plain lazy, lifting ideas from far superior movies left, right, and centre.
Starting with said positives - Chloë Grace Moretz is always trying her best and here is no different. It's also nice to see Raúl Castillo popping up more and more at the moment and here is no different. There's a scene fairly late on, set in a house full of androids that is genuinely quite tense and is an obvious highlight.
Other than that, it's pretty dire. The dialogue is shoddy, and the writing is all over the place. None of the characters are particularly likable and there's not really anyone to root for (started rooting for the androids by the end). The opening scene is one of intrigue, promising something vaguely resembling Detroit: Become Human, but the story is rushed along so quickly that we're thrown straight into 9 months later, following a pregnant lady through some woods in America, whilst trying to stay silent. Very A Quiet Place. The android designs do nothing to differentiate from the designs seen in Terminator.
However, the most insulting moment of plagiarism comes during the climax, the events of which are quite bleak, and aim for the heartstrings. This moment is intercut with flashes of a happier time, whilst chaos unfolds in the distance, set to some somber music. All of which would have landed way better if it wasn't ripped straight from the undead hands of Train to Busan!
I'm sure that there will be plenty of people out there who find something to like when it comes to Mother/Android but for me, it just came across as plain lazy, lifting ideas from far superior movies left, right, and centre.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Reds Robin ( vampire memoirs book 1) in Books
Mar 11, 2022
🔞🔞🔞🔞
45 of 230
Kindle
Reds Robin ( Vampire Memoirs book 1)
By Nicola Omerod
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Robin is a rather self-absorbed model. On a night out, she bumps into Red, a vampire. One unholy and lustfully fantastic night later she finds herself a member of the undead. Having shied away all of her life from love, she now has to adjust to the fact that she and Red are soul mates. But something appears to be amiss with Robin. She doesn't like human blood. She is a Santorian, a special breed of vampire thought to be extinct. As she matures, she will become indestructible, impervious to sunlight. But to accomplish this, she must survive on the blood of other vampires. Robin learns to love for the first time and finds her place in her new family, who have welcomed her into their arms. However, when a vicious rival vampire pack kidnaps Red, it falls solely in her hands to use her newly tuned senses to seek him out and she must battle her way through the entire vampire pack to get him back.
Holy hell this book was filthy 😂 and I mean filth, but in a good way! It was constant but not so you skipped paragraphs or pages like most smut books! Robin was a bitch, she swore like a sailor and was a proper nymph oh and she’s British! Red was just jaw dropping I loved all the characters and under it all it had a decent vampire story. Best smut book I’ve read in a long time and I’m one of those that skips these scenes if I get bored. Brilliant!!
45 of 230
Kindle
Reds Robin ( Vampire Memoirs book 1)
By Nicola Omerod
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Robin is a rather self-absorbed model. On a night out, she bumps into Red, a vampire. One unholy and lustfully fantastic night later she finds herself a member of the undead. Having shied away all of her life from love, she now has to adjust to the fact that she and Red are soul mates. But something appears to be amiss with Robin. She doesn't like human blood. She is a Santorian, a special breed of vampire thought to be extinct. As she matures, she will become indestructible, impervious to sunlight. But to accomplish this, she must survive on the blood of other vampires. Robin learns to love for the first time and finds her place in her new family, who have welcomed her into their arms. However, when a vicious rival vampire pack kidnaps Red, it falls solely in her hands to use her newly tuned senses to seek him out and she must battle her way through the entire vampire pack to get him back.
Holy hell this book was filthy 😂 and I mean filth, but in a good way! It was constant but not so you skipped paragraphs or pages like most smut books! Robin was a bitch, she swore like a sailor and was a proper nymph oh and she’s British! Red was just jaw dropping I loved all the characters and under it all it had a decent vampire story. Best smut book I’ve read in a long time and I’m one of those that skips these scenes if I get bored. Brilliant!!
Merissa (11731 KP) rated Prophecy of the Mayan Undead in Books
Jan 5, 2021 (Updated Aug 7, 2023)
PROPHECY OF THE MAYAN UNDEAD is most definitely a book of two halves. I won't go over the blurb again as it explains the story quite well.
In the first half, Keisha and Yuri, along with their friends, Casimiro and Apolinar, are trying to stop a centuries-old vampire from taking over her mind and causing her to hurt innocents. You find out the whys and wherefores, mixed in with non-stop action and enough steam to melt your Kindle without taking away from the story. In the second half, although Keisha and Yuri still play a huge part, Niu Ying is a new character, along with Frank. These two also have a massive role in the forthcoming events.
I loved how it all blended together and gave me all the information I needed to understand the overall story arc. Keisha is intelligent, unashamedly so, and Yuri makes no bones about finding her mind attractive. Casimiro and Apolinar I wanted to dislike, simply because of their attitudes at the beginning. However, once they met Keisha, I couldn't help but like them and applaud their efforts to help.
The pacing was smooth, with action and love scenes mixed nicely together. The world-building was what you would expect from a paranormal/erotic/science fiction mix, and nothing stood out to me as being 'wrong'.
All in all, this was a great escape from reality and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 5, 2021
In the first half, Keisha and Yuri, along with their friends, Casimiro and Apolinar, are trying to stop a centuries-old vampire from taking over her mind and causing her to hurt innocents. You find out the whys and wherefores, mixed in with non-stop action and enough steam to melt your Kindle without taking away from the story. In the second half, although Keisha and Yuri still play a huge part, Niu Ying is a new character, along with Frank. These two also have a massive role in the forthcoming events.
I loved how it all blended together and gave me all the information I needed to understand the overall story arc. Keisha is intelligent, unashamedly so, and Yuri makes no bones about finding her mind attractive. Casimiro and Apolinar I wanted to dislike, simply because of their attitudes at the beginning. However, once they met Keisha, I couldn't help but like them and applaud their efforts to help.
The pacing was smooth, with action and love scenes mixed nicely together. The world-building was what you would expect from a paranormal/erotic/science fiction mix, and nothing stood out to me as being 'wrong'.
All in all, this was a great escape from reality and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 5, 2021
Lee (2222 KP) rated Black Summer - Season 1 in TV
May 1, 2019
A refreshing new take on the familiar zombie format
I gave up on The Walking Dead a few seasons ago. Continually disappointing story-lines and characters, along with frustrating pacing issues had made this show hard work to watch, and a far cry from it's early days of action packed originality. Black Summer recently arrived on Netflix, described as a companion piece to the show Z Nation, and consisting of just 8 episodes ranging in length from 20 to 40 minutes. After seeing some online recommendations, I gave it a shot, and it's safe to say that it has reignited my passion for zombie shows.
We're in the fairly early stages of a full on zombie apocalypse. The military are evacuating a small town, taking survivors to a nearby stadium for safety and eventual extraction. There's a lot of panic and confusion, and not a great deal of undead around at first in the mostly deserted town. The first episode is broken into smaller, titled scenes, introducing us to single characters or groups who are located about the town, and it's a style of story telling that continues throughout the season. Some episodes focus on a single character while some focus on a particular mission, with different scenes shot from the perspective of different characters, highlighting how their actions affect others. There's not a single character who is more important than the others in the show, and characters can be lost to the undead in the blink of an eye, with new ones immediately taking their place to become core characters.
Black Summer shares some of its ideas with The Walking Dead, not to mention many other zombie movies and shows. The virus which turns you into a zombie appears to be there within all of us, lying dormant, so you don't necessarily need to die from a zombie bite in order to become one. Turning is pretty much instantaneous too, and the resulting zombies are of the more vicious, faster and cleverer kind. Running, climbing, very determined and able to learn in order to catch you whatever it takes. Luckily then, it's not very often that our characters are having to deal with more than just a few of these things at any one time, which helps to keep things more focused and terrifying.
Black Summer is very dialogue light - something which definitely works in its favour, and is a refreshing change to the long conversations and monologuing of TWD. Many of the scenes are single camera shots, following our characters around and really immersing you in the action. It's taking a simple idea and giving it a fresh spin, providing the viewer with a harrowing and intensely enjoyable thrill ride. For me, the perfect example of this is the episode titled 'Alone', where an unlucky coward called Lance finds himself all alone after escaping a school. He meanders around town before picking up the pace when a zombie decides that it wants to feed on him. I spent a pretty intense 30 minutes just wishing this poor guy would find himself a weapon and catch a break. But even when he does, he manages to blow his chance and lose it again! It's a standout episode, and a perfect example of what I love about this show.
I couldn't really fault a single episode of Black Summer, as it builds towards it's intense but relatively short finale where a number of survivors converge on the stadium, while zombies come at them from all directions. I really hope it gets renewed, and I really hope it continues to find ways to remain original and enjoyable too.
We're in the fairly early stages of a full on zombie apocalypse. The military are evacuating a small town, taking survivors to a nearby stadium for safety and eventual extraction. There's a lot of panic and confusion, and not a great deal of undead around at first in the mostly deserted town. The first episode is broken into smaller, titled scenes, introducing us to single characters or groups who are located about the town, and it's a style of story telling that continues throughout the season. Some episodes focus on a single character while some focus on a particular mission, with different scenes shot from the perspective of different characters, highlighting how their actions affect others. There's not a single character who is more important than the others in the show, and characters can be lost to the undead in the blink of an eye, with new ones immediately taking their place to become core characters.
Black Summer shares some of its ideas with The Walking Dead, not to mention many other zombie movies and shows. The virus which turns you into a zombie appears to be there within all of us, lying dormant, so you don't necessarily need to die from a zombie bite in order to become one. Turning is pretty much instantaneous too, and the resulting zombies are of the more vicious, faster and cleverer kind. Running, climbing, very determined and able to learn in order to catch you whatever it takes. Luckily then, it's not very often that our characters are having to deal with more than just a few of these things at any one time, which helps to keep things more focused and terrifying.
Black Summer is very dialogue light - something which definitely works in its favour, and is a refreshing change to the long conversations and monologuing of TWD. Many of the scenes are single camera shots, following our characters around and really immersing you in the action. It's taking a simple idea and giving it a fresh spin, providing the viewer with a harrowing and intensely enjoyable thrill ride. For me, the perfect example of this is the episode titled 'Alone', where an unlucky coward called Lance finds himself all alone after escaping a school. He meanders around town before picking up the pace when a zombie decides that it wants to feed on him. I spent a pretty intense 30 minutes just wishing this poor guy would find himself a weapon and catch a break. But even when he does, he manages to blow his chance and lose it again! It's a standout episode, and a perfect example of what I love about this show.
I couldn't really fault a single episode of Black Summer, as it builds towards it's intense but relatively short finale where a number of survivors converge on the stadium, while zombies come at them from all directions. I really hope it gets renewed, and I really hope it continues to find ways to remain original and enjoyable too.