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%

Underworld -- 2 reviews: Book and DVD

Underworld Movie tie-in book. Novelization by Greg Cox 

Based on the screenplay by Danny McBride. 

 “A gripping tale of passion, betrayal and revenge starring ate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman.” ~ Blurb from the back cover of the book. 

Note: This review may contain spoilers, so if you would like to see the movie and be surprised, it might be best to skip this review. Also a DVD review follows the book review ~ Richard Lee. 

I have always loved werewolves and vampires. I have a book about werewolves and a chapbook series with werewolves and vampires fight each other also. This book, is hard out action from beginning to end. The writing style is great, smooth and each sentence produces a perfect picture of the action taking place, and the best thing is that Greg Cox does not treat the reader like a fool and feel the need to fully explain in intricate detail every little thing. He suspects (and rightly so) that we know what a subway station looks like. The Gothic mansion where the vampires live is only outlined, giving an overall vision that does not hamper with the pace of the story. 

A story spanning 900 years. The vampires are at war with the werewolves. 

The book starts off well, with Selene, an excellent Death Dealer (the band of warrior vampires that hunt and kill the werewolves), is standing on top of a five-story high building overlooking the city, Budapest. She spies two thugs and recognizes them as werewolves. And from page four, the action starts. Greg masterly implants Michael a young doctor, fleeing America from a past he can’t bare to handle any longer, into the mix straight away, placing him walking along the street headed to the subway station. Exactly where the werewolves are headed. Selene notices him, his appearance very pleasing to her. Quickly she tries to put him out of her mind, she has spotted the Lycanthropes and must deal with them. During a firefight, she sees the American in the middle of crossfire helping to save a young girls life. She admires him for his bravery, and while watching him, she notices something very strange. One of the werewolves lurches for the young doctor - not about to kill but to capture. 

She quickly shoots the werewolf, injuring but not killing it. The werewolf runs into the subway tunnels. In shock and not knowing what else to do, he heads to work, and returns home in the early morning hours. He doesn’t know that Selene has found his house and is waiting inside. Once he discovers her, there is a slight altercation where the Death Dealer throws him against the wall, wanting answers to her questions. Suddenly there is heavy thumping on the roof. 

 The werewolves have arrived, confirming Selene’s suspicions that they are after Michael for some reason and she needs to keep him alive to find out why. In a ferocious action packed chapter, Michael is bitten by the leader of the werewolves, Lucian, who spits some of the blood into a small test tube. 

Why does Lucian want to keep some of Michael's blood? Well to make a long story short: Michael is a direct descendant of the very first immortal, he does not have the power to change into either werewolf or vampire. The werewolves want to mix his blood with that of a vampire and werewolf to create a new breed of immortal. A hybrid. The vampires do not want this. The hybrid will be the most powerful immortal to ever exist. 

 Kravan, the lead vampire running the house of the elder Viktor, tries to stop Selene's efforts to help Michael every step of the way. He is jealous. He wants Selene for himself, but she just plain hates him. In a desperate bid to find help, she awakens the elder Viktor, only to learn that he believes Kravan over her any day for the pure and simple reason, that she is love with a Lycan. 

*Note: There are three elders, two sleep like mummies for a hundred or two hundred years while only one reigns. The next to be awakened should have been Marcus not Viktor. Selene broke the number one rule that has saved their lives for centuries. This infuriates Viktor so much he decides that Selene must be judged before the high council – and that means death. ~end of note. Selene escapes the mansion and rushes to Michael's aide (she has earlier handcuffed him to the chair in a special room at an interrogation house). The Lycans follow her, knowing she will lead them to Michael. In a vicious battle, the Lycans grab Michael and take him to Lucian. 

The book focuses on the vampires most of the way through, making the werewolves out to be the bad guys. I wasn't happen about this until I reached the part of Michael meeting Lucian in the Lycans lair. Here the truth comes out and all is reveled. I haven’t seen the DVD yet, but have ordered it based on how well this book is written. 

 1. It was un-put-down-able. 

 2. The story flowed wonderfully. 

3. Not over explained details. 

4. Fast paced. 

5. Is more than a movie tie-in, it is a full sized novel at 372 pages. 

Over all rating out of 5: 5 Content, action, description: 5 Writing - style and prose: 4.5 

This book is a MUST for any horror library. 

DVD version review of Underworld Screen Gems productions. Widescreen edition. • 

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman • 

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.) • 

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby • 

Rated: Not for sale to persons under age 18. • 

Studio: Columbia Tristar Home • 

DVD Release Date: January 6, 2004 • 

DVD Features: • Commentary by director Len Wiseman, writer Danny McBride, and writer-actor Kevin Grevioux • Commentary by creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos, visual effects supervisor and executive producer James McQuaide, and sound designer Claude Letessier • 

Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s) • 

"The Making of Underworld" featurette • 

Creature effects featurette • 

Stunts featurette • 

Sights and sound featurette • 

Storyboard comparison • 

Finch music video: "Worms of the Earth" • 

Widescreen anamorphic format

I really enjoyed this movie, it rocked. Plain and simple. 

BUT, I think that was only because I had read the book, the day before. So much was cut! Nothing blended perfectly with the movie, also making no sense. This is not a case of the book being better than the movie, ‘cause the book is a movie tie-in – it was written from the script. Still I am glad to have the DVD stand on the bookshelf next to the book. 

If you have the chance, get the book and read it. It is horror. There are only a few differences: 1. Michael is holding his hands above his head trying to fend off the rain. 2. The girl in the subway is shot in the leg, not the shoulder. 

Apart from the edited scenes that ruined the movie, I can’t recall much of what else was missing. If you liked the movie or thought it was so-so, get the book and read it, the movie will then make sense. Why do editors feel the need to cut good shit from the movies? 

Thanks to DVD we can now see the cut scenes.

Razor Blade Smile -- reviewer Lee Pletzers

Razor Blade Smile 

Written and Directed by: Jake West 

Starring: Eileen Daily 

 Christopher Adamson 

 Jonathon Coote 

Released by: Manga Live 

 An EYE DEAL IMAGE production in association with Beatnik Films. 

This review is based in the video release. 

 This is a vampire movie, told in first person. Razor Blade Smile is a British movie, set in the present day, about a hit-man called, The Angel of Death. Her latest assignments have all been about one sect, the members all wear a ring that resembles the Evil Eye. There’s also connections with the Illuminati and the Free Masons. 

 Sounds good doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t. Sorry. The storyline is good (the idea of it anyway), problem is the acting is so lame, zombies would do a better job with the script. And here lies the second problem. The script sucks. The dialogue is forced and immature, unnatural in every aspect. The killing scenes are impossible to devour, the Van Helsing part was wooden and unbelievable. He is part of the Illuminati and associates with vampires in the ‘group’ but doesn’t believe in them. 

 It’s like this movie starred puppets. 

I endured 95 minutes of this … and why? Because the dialogue was so bad it was almost funny. 

 The movie starts off in first person POV and constantly switched back and forth, between first and third point of view. A confusing watch. I mentioned POV here, due to the fact it is a telling-type movie (first or second person POV - here it was first person), yet it is also played out in third person. 

 There were two good actors in this movie but they only had small roles (hey, don’t wanna ruin the Z-Grade effect) and played them very well. 

The scene with the widow screaming about the hit-man being a monster, a vampire, was very well done. I was enthralled for those brief 2 minutes. And the second was the lover-boy/hit contract-maker, when he was kidnapped and video taped. 

 Anyway, a bit about the movie: 

A vampire hit-man (female), accepts contracts for the thrill of doing something. She claims it’s boring being alive for hundreds of years with nothing to do. So she visits a Goth bar, makes friends with this chick who is right into vamps (movie versions). She becomes dinner part way through the movie. The man who arranges the contracts for ‘The Angle of Death’ is also her part-time lover. 

In her last hit, she failed to collect the ring and it falls into the hands of the police. This will not do, so the ‘bad guys’ want their money back and to get it they kidnap lover-boy. She races to his rescue and during a terrible filmed battle scene involving guns, he is killed. She faces off with her adversary who turned her into a vampire. 

 An unpredictable twist arises here (yes there is one), but it pulled off so suddenly and terribly that instead of saying, “What the……”, one finds oneself laughing. On reflection, I’m thinking was this movie meant to be comedy, black comedy perhaps? On further reflection, I must discount this theory, as the movie tried to be a real horror. It had the blood and a story idea that could have worked well, but sadly didn’t. 

Not one of the story plots were investigated, a third grader speaks better than these actors, and the action scenes (maybe trying to be artistic) were instead hard on the eyes. The camera work was jittery and the editing could have been a lot better. 

 At least we didn’t see the mike and the actors not once looked at the camera. That’s a bonus. 

 Only hardcore vamp lovers could endure this movie, and only just barely. 

 Overall rating: 1 

Acting: 1 (except for the two above mentioned). 

Script / dialogue / action scenes: 2 

Worth owning / viewing: No. 

 Yes, it’s true I’m being hard on this movie. Watch it and you’ll find out why.

Dying Days -- reviewer Lee Pletzers

Dying Days By Eric S. Brown 

Cover art by Russ Dickerson $11.95 

Horror Collection 

 128 pages 

 39,400 words 

http://www.silverlakepublishing.com/catalog/ddays.html 

 Eric S. Brown, 29 years old, is an author with an active imagination. In his collection: Dying Days, you’ll find 19 tales of horror and cross-genres. All the stories are quite short, a few were perhaps too short to really get into the characters and the settings. 

Most of the stories were ‘telling’ more than showing, which robbed me of any feelings towards the huge cast of characters. In the Introduction, Jason Brannon tells us the end is coming and introduces us the mage called Eric S. Brown and this collection. Jason’s introduction was awesome, and pumped me up to read the collection as quickly as I could.

 Eric seems to like to cross genres. “To Reach the Gates of Alavon”, one of my favorites in this collection, contains cross-dimensional travel, aliens, mythic warriors and a group on a quest that was fun to read. It is one of the longer stories in this collection at 10 pages. 

Another great story is “The Return”, a great story but it needs work to make us feel for Jack. There was no emotion to follow his realization. A good thing was the vision of reckoning day. This story had little show, and apart from Jack the rest of the cast were 2D at best. 

 Quite a few of the stories contain futuristic elements making the collection part SF / part horror. Some of the ‘talk’ needs to be improved, but he’s a new guy (to this reviewer at least), so mistakes aside (yes there are a couple, not big but noticeable), this first collection is a great start for the young writer. 

Most readers will find 5 or 6 stories they love in this book and these stories make the $11.95 asking price well worth it.

A red dark night -- reviewer Lee Pletzers

A red dark night By A.P. Fuchs 

214 pages

Coscom entertainment 

 ISBN: 0-9734848-0-2 

© 2004 Adam Fuchs 

$12.95 USD. 

Adam P. Fuchs set out to write a B-Grade horror flick in book form. He failed. Instead, A.P. Fuchs produced a book that is an A-Grade page turner. 

It starts off in 1982 at Camp Silverway, where we are introduced to the Bloodans and Tarek, a man from a future darker than we could imagine. There is a battle between The Bloodans and Humans. They are from the future and somehow have found a way to cause a rip in time, so they can seep into the past. They have two weaknesses only, one just recently discovered. 

Camp Silverway seems to be a focal point for the Bloodans, they all enter the past at the same location. Bloodans don’t just kill, they sink into a body and drain it of blood. They need blood to survive, and shortly after, the dead becomes one of them. 

 A.P. Fuchs shows us a future controlled by the Bloodans. A place where the sky is red with patches of charcoal black and thick gray smoke hangs in the air. All in all, this book is a great read. The start is a bit slow as everything is laid into place. After that, it takes off at a quick pace and never lets up, building momentum with every turn of page. 

 Unfortunately, A.P. Fuchs doesn’t spent enough time building characters the reader would care for. The warriors were well built and believable (apart from some of the dialogue), but the female leads, Mary and Sarah, come across as just names on a page. 

 There are a few scenes when the “Un-believability Factor” is broken – that fine line crossed – that momentarily destroys the world we have entered. The most important being in chapter two where Mary is racing to the camp after her lover is killed, while being chased by a Bloodan -- and no one seems concerned. Also there is the lack of emotion from every character (except Tarek and Salch) in the book. Some of the characters that were portrayed well, died quickly. Was this the B-Grade effect A.P. Fuchs was looking for, which is mentioned in the introduction? 

 Get past the above (I’m a picky reader/reviewer) and this book will seem like an action packed movie. 

The story flows from page to page. All you need is popcorn and a coke. This book would make an excellent movie.  

Over all rating out of 5: 3.5 (due to the above mentioned lack of characterization) 

 Content, action, description: 4.5 (reads like a movie - great visual scenes) 

Writing - style and prose: 4 

I’ll leave you with A.P. Fuchs’s description, told via Tarek, of what the Bloodans are: “Bloodans,” he began, “are made of blood. They come from a place where more blood has been shed than on any other ground on earth. The evil which caused the bloodshed’s very real. It is the embodiment of darkness, the essence of death and murder, and that…evil…gives them life. Death fuels them. Unfortunately, as long as there is death, there will be Bloodans.”