My Bloody Valentine 3D

WOW! Fucking WOW! 

This movie (a remake of a decent slasher film) starts off hard and fast and it doesn't let up. You know most movies start off hard and fast and then slows down as the characters are developed so you feel for them and want to root for them. 

My Bloody Valentine is not like that at all. The characters are developed as the movie progresses. However in saying that, 'Tom's' character needed a bit more development, apart from that everything else flowed smoothly. 

It was a basic script, basic story line, nothing too complex here but there are enough twists and enough gore spread out in perfect placement (time) that gel together to create an enjoyable movie....in 3D. 

The 3D in this film was so well done. It looked really good through out the movie. I think the lack of CGI helped make the 3D more real. Twice I dodged a flying pickaxe. I recall seeing Journey to the centre of the Earth 3D. The effects were good and clean but there was so much CGI that it still looked neat, but ultimately fake. 

Seeing this movie in standard format, just won't have the same impact. 

Please enjoy it in 3D, it's given horror the kick in the pants it needs.

90%

Berserk by Tim Lebbon

This is the first Tim Lebbon book I have read and I liked it. The storytelling flow is smooth and easy to follow. I found I had read 50+ pages in one sitting and the story was still building up. 

 The book is about a 50ish year old guy whose son died 10 years ago in an army accident. He's never really believed it, thinking there was some kid of cover-up. He was right. 

 One night at the local pub he overhears to men talking about Porton Down. That's where Steven was stationed. "They kept monsters." one of the men says in hushed tones. And before he knows it, Tom is on a journey of discovery and change; and digging up a mass grave, digging deeper and deeper looking for the body of his son. A mummified corpse of a little girl touches his leg... 

An ex army office who knows what happened in Porton Down is on Tom's trail and he has one idea in mind -- kill Tom and keep the girl buried. I felt the ending was dragged out and quite long winded. I mean, the lead up to the ending. In saying that, it wasn't boring reading and the extent of Cole's sickness is well detailed and his reasons would seem logical to man such as him. Cole is the ex-army guy who buried Natasha alive, just so she could suffer. Also Tom's reason for picking up a mummified girl seems a little too easy. 

 his book scores a 3 out of 5 for me. 

Frankly I was expecting more and this books idea had so much scope for more.

Triage by Laymon, Lee and Ketchum

Triage by Richard Laymon, Edward Lee and Jack Ketchum 

Publisher: Leisure Books 

January 2008 

ISBN-10: 1587670429 ISBN-13: 978-1587670428 

Copyright © 2001 by Matt Johnson 

Triage © 2001 by Richard Laymon 

In the Year of Our Lord 2202 © 2001 by Edward Lee 

Sheep Meadow Story © 2001 by Dallas Mayr (AKA Jack Ketchum, AKA Jerzy Livingston)

Review © 2008 by Lee Pletzers 

 This book is 3 novellas based on one idea. 

The idea: a mystery person comes into a place, hell bent on killing someone who has no idea why they’re being targeted or who the killer is. Richard Laymon’s story: Triage starts us off and it is a rip-roar of a story. It starts off with a bang and never lets go. It is a super fast read and has some surprises in it. This is Laymon going hell for leather and ripping your eyeballs out. It is 90+ pages and I finished it in one sitting. 

 Laymon’s story keeps the premise of the killer chasing Sharon, an office worker. She gets a phone call. The caller says: “I’m going to get you.” “I’m going to get you now, Sharon.” He hangs up the phone. 

Next second a man walks in carrying a pump action shotgun, he asks for Sharon. 

The receptionist points her out. He says, “Thank you.” And he blows her brains out. All this on page 3. 

I would love to tell you about this fantastic story but letting even a little bit out will dull the read. I can say that you will be smiling at the end of it. 

This story is a kicker as well worth the price of the book alone. The twist is a kicker as well, although a little blunt. Other reviewers claim this is Laymon’s weakest story to date. They are wrong. 

 I wish I could say the same for Edward Lee’s story: In the year of our Lord 2202. It starts off the same, a girl getting a call from someone wanting to kill her and that person enters the area a moment later. 

Apart from that, the rest of the novella is an SF story in the vein of a mystery. This Sharon is a nun, or somehow in the nunnery and she is a virgin. A big point is made about this. Lee also goes on and on and on filling pages with unneeded padding. 

I still have no idea why the guy in the beginning tried to kill Sharon. The rest of the story is quite neat if you like mysteries. The story is about a spaceship on a secret mission. Apparently no one knows about this mission thinking it is just a standard run. (The future Lee painted is awesome. Damn awesome. Buy the book just for this vision of the future.) 

The guy who tried to kill Sharon is killed and soon revealed to be from a secret sect called ‘Red Sect’; a group that tortures and kills without reason. Sharon becomes fascinated with learning more about this group and their god, and she tries to learn all she can, but the information is blocked or deleted. The only source of info she has is in the soldier who killed the guy. But why would a ‘Red Sect’ member be on board? Because it is not the usual run-of-the-mill trip. This is revealed when the ship stops and all but a few keys personnel are ordered off. 

What’s the secret mission? Why, Man has finally found the location of Heaven. And it’s time they paid a visit. 

 Saying more would almost destroy the wonderful ending. The third novella in this is book is: Sheep meadow story by Jack Ketchum (writing as Jerzy Livingston). It starts off the same, only the main character’s name is Carla, not Sharon. And I may be wrong, but I think Jack just added this scene to conform to the book’s main theme, ‘cause the story goes way out of whack with the rest of the book. 

Jack though, is a pretty good writer and I polished off his story in a couple of hours. It is only 43 pages long. This story is about a guy who works for an agency as a reader and he gets 10% of the price writers pay to have their work evaluated. He is not happy. Lost his wife, lives off booze and cigarettes, has no direction in life, early fifties and dreams of being a writer. (Loved the Maxwell Perkins mention. Nice one.) 

 Stroup is going through the motions of life. He has a favourite bar, a couple of girlfriends (one who dumps him for another guy), a friend he doesn’t like who tells constant jokes and a bar tender he’d like to shag but that ain’t ever going to happen. Then his ex calls and demands he pay her the money he owes. He tells her to fuck off and she sends him a summons to appear in court. On top of that he loses his job. He’s not fired – he’s ‘Downsized’. Still, it’s not all bad. He does have a .38 revolver with a full chamber…and he knows where his ex-wife is enjoying the sunny day… 

 All in all, this tiny anthology of 310 pages is a fast read. I feel only Laymon stayed true to the theme and in doing so, he created one of his best stories I’ve read since Island. I wish Edward Lee’s story was horror more than mystery as he is pretty good with the blood and guts genre. And Jack Ketchum…I’ve said all I can say. I like his writing in this story, and it’s the first bit of his writing that I’ve read. 

Three different novellas, all based on one premise. Sounds like a themed book to me, but it isn’t and that is mentioned on the back cover and in the introduction by Matt Johnson. For some reason I thought they were all themed, but apart from a killer and a girl, they have little to no resemblance to each other. Still, this is a good book to pass four afternoons enjoying.

85%