Search
Search results
Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Silent Companions in Books
Oct 16, 2019
A gripping gothic horror
I decided to give this a go purely because I enjoyed Laura Purcell's second novel The Corset, and I'm so glad I did because I could not put this down. I stayed up far too late last might purely to get this finished as I couldn't bear the thought of waiting until tonight to read the ending. It's that good.
This is the first horror book I've ever read that has truly scared me and given me the creeps. The plot and idea behind the companions is a wonderfully creepy idea and the gothic setting works so well. The story is told in a great way too, flitting between the different times and viewpoints, to really build up the tension and intrigue to where you can't stop reading as you need to find out what happens next. The only real criticism I have is that Elsie is not the most amenable and endearing of protagonists, so even after the ending you don't necessarily feel sorry for her, but I personally was so gripped by the rest of the plot that whether I loved Elsie or not was irrelevant. The kind of book I'd love to see made into a film (done properly of course!).
This is the first horror book I've ever read that has truly scared me and given me the creeps. The plot and idea behind the companions is a wonderfully creepy idea and the gothic setting works so well. The story is told in a great way too, flitting between the different times and viewpoints, to really build up the tension and intrigue to where you can't stop reading as you need to find out what happens next. The only real criticism I have is that Elsie is not the most amenable and endearing of protagonists, so even after the ending you don't necessarily feel sorry for her, but I personally was so gripped by the rest of the plot that whether I loved Elsie or not was irrelevant. The kind of book I'd love to see made into a film (done properly of course!).
Lenard (726 KP) rated X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) in Movies
Jul 4, 2019
The producers behind the X-Men series once again rush to tell one of their best storylines from the comic series. Unfortunately, The Dark Phoenix Saga does not lend itself to a one-off movie. Once again, the people with the money are too afraid to gamble on breaking the story into two or three movies. Imagine It, The Lord of the Rings, or Infinity Gauntlet as just film. You can't because all of them were split up into two or three films and they all made huge profits. Dark Phoenix needed the same care and guidance. Jean Grey was not introduced in this timeline until Apocalypse. We the audience did not have time to get to know her and her backstory so we have no sympathy for her when she is taken over by an alien force or any understanding why she is able to battle within herself. There is no real tension in the relationship between Scott and Jean since they have only been together in our minds for 1 movie even if the movie was set ten years ago. We have not experienced those ten years along side them. Every detail is cobbled together in an effort to jam this story which lasted ten issues in the graphic serial.
Andrew Kennedy (199 KP) rated Halloween (1978) in Movies
Jul 8, 2019
The night HE came home
John Carpenter and Debra Hill created in just 30 days what some horror directors couldn't achieve in 30 months, a perfectly paced, well acted and truly tense slasher movie.
From the opening tracking shot to the final montage everything about this film is on point.
Donald Pleasance as Dr Sam Loomis delivers each of his warnings about Michael Myers with such gusto that you truly believe that Myers is the embodiment of evil.
Jamie Lee Curtis is brilliantly believable as the girl next door Laurie Strode, who Myers hunts down this Halloween night.
Nick Castle as Myers has such suttle movements and the now much copied head tilt.
The story of the young Michael Myers who viciously murders his sister Judith at age 6. Now 21 Myers escapes from Smith's Grove sanitarium and heads for his home town of Haddenfield.
Once there in one night Micheal will raise unholy hell and with Dr Loomis in pursuit trying to stop his escaped patient.
The music is iconic not just Carpenter's memorable theme but the music throughout helps to raise the tension. The camera work is amazing, one very famous scene in particular always delivers a chill.
This is truly a horror masterpiece.
From the opening tracking shot to the final montage everything about this film is on point.
Donald Pleasance as Dr Sam Loomis delivers each of his warnings about Michael Myers with such gusto that you truly believe that Myers is the embodiment of evil.
Jamie Lee Curtis is brilliantly believable as the girl next door Laurie Strode, who Myers hunts down this Halloween night.
Nick Castle as Myers has such suttle movements and the now much copied head tilt.
The story of the young Michael Myers who viciously murders his sister Judith at age 6. Now 21 Myers escapes from Smith's Grove sanitarium and heads for his home town of Haddenfield.
Once there in one night Micheal will raise unholy hell and with Dr Loomis in pursuit trying to stop his escaped patient.
The music is iconic not just Carpenter's memorable theme but the music throughout helps to raise the tension. The camera work is amazing, one very famous scene in particular always delivers a chill.
This is truly a horror masterpiece.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Freaks (1932) in Movies
Feb 29, 2020 (Updated Feb 29, 2020)
Tod Browning's notorious horror movie remains problematic and uncomfortable to watch nearly a century on from its release. The plot is much more the stuff of a melodrama than a traditional horror movie: a vain and greedy trapeze artist and her lover plot to murder a gullible man enamoured of her for his fortune. What makes the film so queasily memorable is the fact that many of the characters are sideshow 'freaks' of different kinds.
Severely hampered by the fact that many of the cast aren't professional actors, and it shows; also by the fact that several of them don't have English as a first language (some of the dialogue is so heavily accented to be unintelligible). The existing version of the film is fairly thin on plot, too. There is strange tension between the script, which takes pains to make clear that the deformed characters are people, not monsters, and the way that the camera voyeuristically dwells on their physical abnormalities - it's there again in the climax, where the trapeze artist clearly deserves some kind of retribution, but the sequence of the 'freaks' closing in on her is deeply disturbing. A uniquely unsettling movie, and perhaps that's for the best.
Severely hampered by the fact that many of the cast aren't professional actors, and it shows; also by the fact that several of them don't have English as a first language (some of the dialogue is so heavily accented to be unintelligible). The existing version of the film is fairly thin on plot, too. There is strange tension between the script, which takes pains to make clear that the deformed characters are people, not monsters, and the way that the camera voyeuristically dwells on their physical abnormalities - it's there again in the climax, where the trapeze artist clearly deserves some kind of retribution, but the sequence of the 'freaks' closing in on her is deeply disturbing. A uniquely unsettling movie, and perhaps that's for the best.
JT (287 KP) rated Brightburn (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
What if superheroes didn’t arrive on earth with the soul purpose of saving humanity? What if their main intention was to cause pain and suffering? This is the unique premise used in Brightburn to great effect and turns the superhero genre on its head.
Kansas couple Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) have been desperately trying to have a child, without success. When a mysterious object lands on their property they discover that all of their prayers have been answered – sound familiar? What begins as the perfect family life starts to unravel in sheer terror as their little bundle of joy turns out to be something far sinister, despite their denial that he might just might be a little misunderstood.
“It’s a boy”
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it unfolded. There was a solid amount of tension packed with good levels of gore. The jump scare is a staple part of the horror genre but it can become tiresome if not delivered in the right way. Thankfully in this instance it works and works well.
Post credits deliver more to the story which has the potential to spawn a sequel, although I prefer the idea that this is a one off.
Kansas couple Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) have been desperately trying to have a child, without success. When a mysterious object lands on their property they discover that all of their prayers have been answered – sound familiar? What begins as the perfect family life starts to unravel in sheer terror as their little bundle of joy turns out to be something far sinister, despite their denial that he might just might be a little misunderstood.
“It’s a boy”
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it unfolded. There was a solid amount of tension packed with good levels of gore. The jump scare is a staple part of the horror genre but it can become tiresome if not delivered in the right way. Thankfully in this instance it works and works well.
Post credits deliver more to the story which has the potential to spawn a sequel, although I prefer the idea that this is a one off.
JT (287 KP) rated Knowing (2009) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Nicholas Cage is one of those hit and miss actors. One minute he’s acting out of his skin and the other he’s bumbling his way through another disappointment with a quietly spoken drawl.
Knowing is a film of two halves. The first half is a well thought out disaster thriller, the second is quite simply a shambles and totally ruined it. Why you ask? SPOILER ALERT: Aliens, the ending was all linked back to beings from another planet. Why they felt the need to go down this route is beyond me? But I lost any respect for director Alex Proyas .
It’s a real shame as there were some spectacular disaster sequences that ramped up the tension. Cage was accomplished in his role and was edgy enough to win the audience over. However, that all fell away in the later stages as his acting became desperate, as he tried to clutch at emotional straws.
The film’s ending has a very ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ feel about it. I felt like snapping the DVD in half and mailing in personally to screen writers Ryne Douglas Pearson and Juliet Snowden. I would only recommend this for the special effects and not at all for the weak script or storyline.
Knowing is a film of two halves. The first half is a well thought out disaster thriller, the second is quite simply a shambles and totally ruined it. Why you ask? SPOILER ALERT: Aliens, the ending was all linked back to beings from another planet. Why they felt the need to go down this route is beyond me? But I lost any respect for director Alex Proyas .
It’s a real shame as there were some spectacular disaster sequences that ramped up the tension. Cage was accomplished in his role and was edgy enough to win the audience over. However, that all fell away in the later stages as his acting became desperate, as he tried to clutch at emotional straws.
The film’s ending has a very ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ feel about it. I felt like snapping the DVD in half and mailing in personally to screen writers Ryne Douglas Pearson and Juliet Snowden. I would only recommend this for the special effects and not at all for the weak script or storyline.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Keep Him Close in Books
Mar 15, 2020
A slow-burner
From the author of a who-dunnit story with a difference, If I Die Before I Wake, comes a dark, family drama about the search for the truth behind the death of a young teenager.
Lou is dead ... did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed? His mother, Alice, wants to know why. The police think he was pushed and have arrested Kane. Kane's mother, Indigo, is convinced her son is innocent and so it begins.
This is a slow burner that delves into the psyche of a mother's love for her child. There is tension and heart-rending emotion as you would expect with the subject matter being as it is. The writing is easy to read, the language used is natural and the characters well developed and flawed making them believable.
As I said, this is a slow burner and I do admit to becoming a little impatient at times but I was pretty satisfied with how everything came together at the end.
Another successful book from this author and one which I look forward to reading more from and I want to thank, once again, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
Lou is dead ... did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed? His mother, Alice, wants to know why. The police think he was pushed and have arrested Kane. Kane's mother, Indigo, is convinced her son is innocent and so it begins.
This is a slow burner that delves into the psyche of a mother's love for her child. There is tension and heart-rending emotion as you would expect with the subject matter being as it is. The writing is easy to read, the language used is natural and the characters well developed and flawed making them believable.
As I said, this is a slow burner and I do admit to becoming a little impatient at times but I was pretty satisfied with how everything came together at the end.
Another successful book from this author and one which I look forward to reading more from and I want to thank, once again, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
The Works of Henry George: Our Land and Land Policy and Other Works: Volume I
Francis K. Peddle, William S. Peirce and Kenneth C. Wenzer
Book
Volume 1 of The Annotated Works of Henry George includes an introduction to the six-volume series...
What the Grown-ups Were Doing: An Odyssey Through 1950s Suburbia
Book
Michele Hanson grew up an 'oddball tomboy disappointment' in a Jewish family in Ruislip in the 1950s...
ES
Every Second Counts: The Extraordinary Race to Transplant the First Human Heart
Book
The dramatic race to transplant the first human heart spanned two years, three continents and five...