The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics
Peter J. Boettke and Christopher Coyne
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The Austrian School of Economics is an intellectual tradition in economics and political economy...
Environmental Posthumanism in Literature and Science: Stages of Transmutation
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Literature is often regarded as a window on the human soul. However, in an era of turbulent...
Speaking Memory: How Translation Shapes City Life
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Speaking Memory evokes the complex "language-scapes" that form at the crossroads of culture and...
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye: Continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series
David Lagercrantz and George Goulding
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The girl with the dragon tattoo is not given to forgiveness. Lisbeth Salander has been forged by a...
Star Wars
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The release of Star Wars in 1977 marked the start of what would become a colossal global franchise....
An Inspector Calls: and Other Plays
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Previously published as Time and the Conways and Other Plays, J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls...
Chaos in Theater: Improvisation and Complexity - Translated by Anna Grazia Cafaro and Melina Masterson
Anna Grazia Cafaro and Melina Masterson
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Have you ever prepared a discourse by heart and then found out that, when the moment arrives,...
Butcher's Moon
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The sixteenth Parker novel, "Butcher's Moon" is more than twice as long as most of the master...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Secrets of a Serial Killer in Books
Jul 5, 2020
Told from multiple points of view, this is a pretty fast moving book, once the usual introductions to the various characters has been completed, and what a great cast of characters the author has created here. The author is also clearly adept at describing the eerie setting and at creating atmosphere ... I was transported to the old hospital, the derelict caravan and the woods surrounding them. The tension and fear in each of the characters is really well told and builds and builds throughout until the gripping and nail-biting conclusion.
Although I enjoyed this book, I do have a few issues that prevent this from being a 5 star read - there was next to nothing regarding the Police input or investigation and they came across as being inept and pretty useless, particularly at the end but I won't go into it here as it would be a spoiler but you will see what I mean when you read it. Also, the blog posts inserted at various points didn't really do anything for me or add to the story that much and I wonder if they were put there as a red-herring?
Despite the niggling issues, this is a creditable and decent debut and even though there are a few unanswered questions, in addition to the cliff-hanger, they are either left to the imagination of the reader or are going to be resolved in another instalment? If so, I would definitely read it.
My thanks go to HarperCollinsUK and One More Chapter via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The People Under the Stairs (1991) in Movies
Jan 2, 2021
First and foremost, it has a great cast. Brandon Quintin Adams heads up the cast. He's a cute kid who is easy to root for. The supporting cast is strong too, including Ving Rhames, A.J. Langer, and Sean Whalen. But the stars of the show are it's horrendous villains. Twin Peaks alumni Wendy Robie and Everett McGill play the antagonists (simply credited as "woman" and "man") and they just relish in how absolutely vile they are, and are the main source of entertainment throughout the runtime. The Hall of Fame of horror villainy isn't easy to get into, being crammed with popular icons and all, but these two deserve a spot for sure.
Other than these positives, it's also boasts some decent practical gore, a few creepy visuals, some moments of well earned tension, and is socially relevant to this day, touching upon subjects such as class difference, unaffordable healthcare, and racism. It's screenplay is an intelligent one in this respect, as well as having a fun side to it.
My only real issue with The People Under the Stairs is it's pacing. It does take a little too long to get going. When everything starts to get chaotic, it really becomes a good time, but it does get a bit repetitive, no matter how entertaining it is to see Everett McGill running around in a gimp suit.
These are minor gripes though, it's definitely worth a watch. It's another solid piece of work from Wes Craven, and deserves it's cult status wholeheartedly.
