SimCity BuildIt
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3.0
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Welcome, Mayor! Be the hero of your very own city as you design and create a beautiful, bustling...
Action Movie FX
Entertainment and Photo & Video
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Apple App of the Year ACTION MOVIE FX lets you add Hollywood FX to iPhone and iPad movies that YOU...
Vegas Crime Fighting
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Get ready to experience thrilling action packed unique open world underground adventure in this free...
Record your music, sing - nana
Music and Social Networking
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Sing, Play, Create and Share your music worldwide. From beginner to professional, nana provides a...
I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution
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From The New Yorker's fiercely original, Pulitzer Prize-winning culture critic, a provocative...
Eli Explorer
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***** Winner of ‘Best App Award’ - 2014 European Game Based Learning Competition ***** *****...
The Spinner of Dreams
7.0
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Inventive, empathetic, and strange in all the best ways, The Spinner of Dreams draws from the...
Darren Fisher (2465 KP) rated 13 Dolls In Darkness (2017) in Movies
Jul 24, 2022
Over the last 20 years I have felt that the horror genre hasn't really offered it's fans anything new (bar a few exceptions). Having been left despondent, disappointed and bored senseless by the over-saturation of remakes, reboots and just plain dull horror fare, it comes with great surprise that a black and white silent film from Australia would be the breath of fresh air that the horror genre desperately needs.
The plot of 13 Dolls is pretty straightforward. Marjorie receives a letter from her ailing mother to return home after a 13 year absence. On her return home Marjorie realises that things are not what they seem...
Written and directed by the talented Zeda Müller, this is a film that demands your attention from the start. With its eerie score and moody camerawork it sets a very atmospheric and claustrophobic feel to proceedings. It's a great take on the 'old dark house' horrors of a bygone era, Robert Wiene and Tod Brownings early work springs to mind... yet draws on influences from the likes of Dario Argento, Mario Bava's gothic horrors, giallo and slasher films (there are some nicely placed references for the sharp-eyed viewer). The fact that this is a silent film (I'll get to the score in a bit) actually works in its favour. Gone are the usual mundane dialogue pieces that fill out most horror films these days and the viewer is reintroduced to dialogue cards when required to move the story along. This also means that the actors are given room to act through expression and emotion and they all do a sterling job.
The masterstroke of 13 Dolls though is the excellent use of camerawork and soundtrack. The soundtrack is interspliced with sound effects (church bells, howling wind, dripping taps etc) and moody piano/tension building synths, all used to full sensory effect. The footage and score intertwine brilliantly together and I found some scenes genuinely eerie and creepy (a rare feeling for me whilst watching a new film these days).
Overall 13 Dolls is a mesmerising experience, interspersed with some cleverly executed gore scenes, and at a scant 75 minutes long, it motors along at a cracking pace.
So, you have probably guessed that I liked this film a lot. I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you are looking for something different. It's a great film and I for one am looking forward to Zeda Müller & Co's next venture...!
Mendel's Ladder: A Grimdark Scifi Epic
Book
Outlast. Outgrow. Outlive. In the ashes of Earth, evolution is the ultimate weapon. Inspired by...
Debbiereadsbook (1595 KP) rated Mating With Monsters (The Red Agency #2) in Books
Dec 11, 2025 - 10:32 AM
This is book 2 in The Red Agency series, and while not strictly necessary, I do recommend you read book 1, Matching With Monsters before this one. Somethings happen in that book that are referenced in this one, and they are not fully recapped. I think you can get the gist of it, so it is just a personal recommendation, is all.
Cami is Ari's best friend, one of them. After dealing with her boss for so long, and at Ari's insistence, she signs up for The Red Agency to be matched with a monster (or 4!) She finds herself face to face with a one night stand, Raif; her boss's thorn in his side, Cyrus; the werewolf who saved her in book 1, Teagan and then, her boss, Damon, who are all in a clan, if estranged somewhat. And then they find out she has a stalker, so all bets are off, they they double down to keep her safe.
Well played with the stalker! I have 3 pinned for that, and then it's someone totally else and I loved being played with that!
It is, again, very much Cami and HER monsters but I epected that so it didn't come so much as a surprise. And again, single person point of view. However, this time, there wasn't just ONE I wanted to hear from, I wanted them all! I'm just flipping greedy, I know but it's how I felt!
There was some history as to how these guys came to be a clan, and that is different from book 1, so I enjoyed that.
It's steamy, and I think steamier than book 1, but not entirely sure why my book brain thinks that! I did like that Cami was intimate with all 4 guys seperately, BEFORE they were all together, and when they were mating, Cyrus was just himself, none of his shades took part.
Loved that all four guys were different monsters, and not from birth. Cyrus was cursed, and is like Anubis. Teagan is a werewolf, Raif and incubus and Damon is a devil. They all have their quirks and they use them to please Cami as best they can.
Lyssa is the third friend. Some things happen here that lead into her book, which is next. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on that book, cos I think it might be the one that tips over to 5 stars. I gave book 1 4 stars, and we creeped up a bit here to . . .
4.5 stars (rounded down for the blog)
*same worded review will appear elsewhere