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Alan Zornes (1 KP) rated Betrayal at House on the Hill in Tabletop Games

Apr 2, 2019

Betrayal at House on the Hill

2004 | Adventure, Exploration, Horror, Miniatures

8.3

(56 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Randomized board layout. (2 more)

50+ scenarios each with it's own set of rules.

Great teamwork and strategy.

Awesome co-op game

You start the game as an unlikely group of explorers who venture inside a creepy haunted house only to have the door shut and lock behind you, now you must find a way out. As you explore the various rooms you begin to find items like weapons, ritualistic artifacts and other "useful" things. If it's not an item or an empty room its an endless barrage of haunting, psychological events and hallucinations that keep the game thrilling and entertaining. When enough hauntings have occurredone of the explorers fall victim to the evil within the house and turns traitor. At this point you desipher what scenario you will be playing based on what cards/character initiated the haunt. After this each team (explorers vs traitor) takes their designated guide book and discovers their new goal. The game includes 50 scenarios with an addition 50 in the Widows Walk expansion. Every game is like you've never played it since the board layout, items, events, and even win goals are random every time. Just don't get trapped in the basement!?

Kudos

Hazel (1853 KP) rated Clockwork Dollhouse in Books

Oct 19, 2018 (Updated Oct 19, 2018)

Clockwork Dollhouse

Jordan Elizabeth Mierek | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Short but gripping

A very short novella, Clockwork Dollhouse by Jordan Elizabeth is a haunting steampunk tale of revenge. Set in a previous century, Governor Robert Pendleton is shocked to discover an intruder in a set of rooms that have not been entered for years. He is even more shocked to discover the intruder is his niece, Ainsley, the daughter of his sister, Jane.

When Jane was young, unable to walk due to a disfigured foot, she took delight in creating mechanical dolls, representing her family. Ever since Ainsley, now an orphan, appeared at the castle, the dolls have taken on a life of their own, acting out events to suggest Robert had murdered his parents and sister. Unnerved, Robert wonders who is moving the dolls; is it Ainsley or have the mechanical figures come to life. Could it even be Jane's ghost?

In under thirty pages, Jordan Elizabeth engages readers with a gripping tale of secrets and deceit. The steampunk genre adds an extra element of thrill, making Clockwork Dollhouse an apt short story to be published at this time of year. Although short, it proves the author's skill and wide imagination.

Kudos

Sarah (7799 KP) rated We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) in Movies

Jan 15, 2019

Lacks the punch of the book

The book about this is one of the most enthralling and haunting books I’ve ever read, and I was really hoping the film would be just as good, but sadly it falls a little short. And I know I shouldn’t compare film to book, but that’s pretty much impossible.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is quite good. It’s has great performances from Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, with an unusually creepy soundtrack and in general it’s a very bleak and dark film. It does well to get across the main parts of the book, but the main problem for me is that it doesn’t include anywhere near enough detail from the book. It covers the bare minimum, but i feel like it misses out a lot of the detail. I know a film can never include everything from a book, but for me this was missing a lot, especially about some of Kevin’s crimes and dark deeds. This is probably a case of reading the book ruining the film, I’ll admit I maybe should have watched the film first!

Kudos

Kelly (279 KP) Jan 15, 2019

I agree, totally. The book was disturbing and stayed with me for a long time, challenging my perspective on nature vs nurture in the case of Kevin. The film seemed to lack same punch, I think this is because a lot of the book is wrote around Eva’s personal thoughts and feelings, sadly books like this rarely translate onto the big screen.

Kudos

Sarah (7799 KP) rated Dark Waters (2019) in Movies

Mar 4, 2020

Good, if a little drawn out

I recall watching a documentary on DuPont and Parkersberg a while back, but was really interested to see the dramatised version of how this all came about.

Overall this is a rather haunting and tense film, with a great score and performances especially from Mark Ruffalo. It has such a dark appearance and overtone, and this works really well. It all feels rather ominous. The story itself is hugely interesting, although I think there are parts in this that are way too drawn out. Virtually all of the family related scenes were entirely unnecessary and made the film a lot longer than it needed to be. They could have cut all of these out and it would've had no impact on the main story. Because of this lengthy run time, the film only just held my attention and purely because the story itself is fascinating. I mean how a company gets away with doing something like this is absolutely crazy.

However if they'd have cut a good half an hour out of this, I probably would've rated it a bit higher.