Horror Zone, books, films, etc, in the horror genre

[Faolan Doyle]

THE HP LOVECRAFT COLLECTION VOLUME 1 - COOL AIR

DVD

This is the first collection of winning entries from the HP Lovecraft Film Festival, and well worth the watch. All the entries come from small independent makers or amateurs, and obviously the budget is reflected in the results, but nonetheless these films can compete with anything Hollywood is offering for entertainment. When the money is lacking for major league effects, the script gets more attention, and it shows. The main entry, Cool Air, is a surprising piece, subtle and touching. The acting is superb, especially from Jack Donner as Doctor Munoz, and I found the fact it is in black and white added substantially to the atmosphere. The shorter pieces vary a little in quality, but are all watchable, and I found the Hapless Antiquarian hilarious (perhaps I've read too much Lovecraft...). I havne't yet watched the interview with ST Joshi, the Lovecraft scholar, but I certainly intend to - I've read his work on MR James (another favourite of mine) and look forward to his observations. The quality of this for a small independent production is excellent, and the makers are to be congratulated on making more effort to give the buyer their money's worth. Heartily recommended.

[Faolan Doyle]

STEPHEN KING'S IT

DVD

I watched this series when it was first transmitted and when it was repeated a few years later, and enjoyed it immensely; Tim Curry's homicidal monster clown Pennywise is a memorable villain, and 'We all float down here, Georgie' became something of a catchphrase in my social group. The effects weren't especially good for the time, but they weren't insultingly poor either, and the story built up nicely. Watching it again, I wonder if I perhaps wasn't in the right mood, or if it just has worn out a little. It seems slow, rather cliched in the characterisations, and Pennywise has lost any power he had to creep you out. I seemed to be missing pieces from the story, too. I don't know if my memory just filled in the missing scenes from the book, like the sequence where Beverly gets the boys to help her clean up the bathroom full of blood, or if the story has been edited to fit in a neat 3 hour package, but it seems lacking something, Still, I don't regret buying it; I get to see Seth Green in an early part showing all the promise he made good on later, and we still 'all float down here, Georgie'. But don't pay full whack; do what I (always) do, wait for the special offer.

[Faolan Doyle]

KOLCHAK - THE NIGHT STALKER

DVD

I loved this series when I saw it years ago, and have treasured my copies of the two movies on video. Naturally when it came out on remastered dvd I was thrilled, and pre-ordered this five-disc set. I have enjoyed a whole new acquaintance with the series, which boasts some truly crappy effects in some episodes, and yet manages in others to provide outstanding fx moments. The two consistent things are the quality of the writing, and the character acting. These stories are blackly funny, spooky, and usually build up a nice plot. If all you have seen is the direly humourless modern remake, please watch this and see Carl Kolchak in his true form; the father of The Chronicle.

[Faolan Doyle]

POLTERGEIST - THE LEGACY (SERIES 1)

DVD

This series premiered in the eighties, and was a forerunner of the recent hits Haunted, Supernatural and Mysterious Ways. It has nothing at all to do with the Poltergeist movies, just using the name to cash in on their success. Series one is now available as a multi-disc set, so I rented it to see if it had worn well. It hasn't. The basic premise of a centuries old secret organisation dedicated to investigating and where necessary combatting supernatural forces, holds good, and has served many others since (including Anne Rice for her Mayfair Witches series). But the quality of storylines varies greatly, from high quality, well-acted pieces to diabolically poor rubbish delivered as if by Gerry Anderson puppets. One of the biggest problems is that the director clearly had a major thing about the character Catherine, who is a psychologist and single parent; story after story involves men being irresistibly attracted to this rather scrawny, ageing blonde, which costs the show a good deal of credibility. It's a pity, because the regular cast includes Robbie Chong, who was a great deal more attractive and would have made a much more convincing target for this string of supernatural lechers. Another is the direct theft of stories and even large chunks of dialogue from other works; for instance, The Signalman not only takes its title from the Charles Dickens story, it lifts large portions of the story. And the ending, which is at least original, makes no sense at all. Not worth buying, but okay for a timefiller on rental.

[Faolan Doyle]

THE HP LOVECRAFT COLLECTION VOL 2 - ROUGH MAGIC

DVD

This dvd is a collection of pieces shown at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival. The centrepiece and what gives it its title is the BBC pilot for their shelved Cthulhu series about the Night Scholars - which I believe was dropped in favour of Torchwood. Personally I'd much rather have seen this properly televised. It's terrific. The production values are a little rough, but given that it was only a pilot with a low budget, it's damn fine work. The cast are excellent, the story carries you along and the characterisation screams for a series. Paul Darrow shines as the ruthless Mr Moon, but Gerrard MacArthur matched him superbly as the tormented Reece-Warren. The story comes to a conclusion but leaves you wanting more, which is what any series needs.

The other pieces are four short films by Canadian Bob Fugger, very small scale but well done for that - two of them are promos for the Cthulhoid rock band Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, and I'm going hunting for their albums now. I shall be getting more of this collection, without a doubt. Good stuff.

[Faolan Doyle]

RETURN FROM THE DEAD

Book
Edited by David Stuart Davies, Wordsworth Editions

This is a collection of mummy-related stories by early authors including Bram Stoker's Jewel of the Seven Stars and a couple of Conan Doyle pieces. I am a fan of Conan Doyle's horror stories, which I feel should get at least as much attention as his Sherlock Holmes stories, so I already had both the works featured here in other collections. That wouldn't have bothered me if the rest of the book had been equally good. Sadly, it isn't. Stoker's story takes up some three-quarters of the book and is frankly, overblown and melodramatic. The same can be said of Dracula, but that novel at least has some direction, action, and a grand finale. The Jewel of the Seven Stars meanders along in a repetitious fashion to a deeply unsatisfying and pointless conclusion. The revised ending used for later editions is also included, but is no better. The Hammer movie version, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, is actually a great improvement on this farrago of pompous guff. Jane Webb's The Mummy is an interesting curiosity, but no more than that, and the Edgar Allen Poe contribution, Some Words with a Mummy, while surprisingly funny for a writer more noted for gothic horrors, is not really much to do with the horror genre. There is also an annoying technical failing in the printing; the spine of the book announces it as Thomas Hardy - Return from the Dead. On the whole I would not recommend this collection; if you want a good horror read, you can find the two best stories in Tales of Unease by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from the same publisher - a considerably better buy.

[Faolan Doyle]

COLLECTED GHOST STORIES

Book
by M R James, Wordsworth Editions.
While I would love to see an affordable publication of all of M R James' stories, this is a very good and reasonably priced selection. M R James' stories are atmospheric, erudite, drily witty and as creepy as they come. The BBC has filmed one or two (most recently one from this collection, 'A View From a Hill'), but rarely doing justice to them. These are horrors which need not rely on grossout special effects or buckets of blood; a more subtle kind of scare is involved. If I were to pick a favourite I would probably go for 'Martin's Close', which has some exceptionally well written evocations of a 17th century hanging judge, and a rather disturbing tale of justice; but that doesn't detract anything from the others, which are all superbly crafted supernatural chillers. And on a gaming note, I've turned more than one of James' stories into Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and the players have always found them extremely intriguing, and extremely unsettling. Essential to any horror collection, in my book.

PS: Penguin Books have released a two volume complete edition at last!

[Faolan Doyle]

NIGHT WATCH

Book
by Sergei Lukyanenko

This is not the book of the film; that was the film of the book, but it isn't. The movie takes one segment from a collection of stories, all linked, and doesn't stick 100% to that. So the book will be a surprise and delight to you. I rationed myself reading it, because it was so good I didn't want to finish and I knew what would happen when I got near the end - I'd have to blow another lump of cash on the next one, Day Watch. And no doubt on the next... This is original, thoughtprovoking, and gripping stuff. It also gives a fascinating sideview of modern Russia, but never mind the social comment, just enjoy the ride. Well worth reading (unless you're looking for vampire porno, in which case look elsewhere).

[Faolan Doyle]

THE CASEBOOK OF CARNACKI, THE GHOST FINDER

Book by
William Hope Hodgson

It was a real treat to me to see this book reissued, since I have always enjoyed Hodgson's supernatural stories, which were precursors of the Cthulhu Mythos tales of Lovecraft and others. Hodgson invests electricity with rather more signifcance than we now know it holds, but as a steampunk ghostbuster Carnacki is a fascinating character; and unusually for the period of writing, the hero often confesses to 'funk'. I especially enjoyed 'The Whistling Room' which presents a haunting of such simplicity that it enhances the utter horror of it. Well worth a read.

[Faolan Doyle]

THE POWER OF DARKNESS

Book by
Edith Nesbit

Another from the same series by Wordsworth Editions as Carnacki, this is a collection of horror tales by the lady best known for her children's fiction (the Railway Children, Five Children and It). I'd read a couple of them in other anthologies, and enjoyed her work immensely, so I was happy to have the chance at a larger collection. I can't say I was disappointed. There are a few running themes, some of which are explained neatly in the very scholarly and informative introduction by David Stuart Davies, but each story is unique and a gem. Some of these tales have a visceral, brutal impact which is nothing to do with gore (though for the period there is quite a bit of blood), others a more wistful melancholy, but every one is worth reading. Absolutely first class.

[Faolan Doyle]

THE BELL IN THE FOG

Book
by Gertrude Atherton

This is another of the series headed by Carnacki, and my first disappointment. The stories are psychological pieces in the vein of Henry James, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I find the author is often unable to provide an ending for a story. I don't mind a tale that finishes with the possibility of a sequel, but these just die suddenly, with no sense at all of completion. A lot of them are obsessed with frustrated people in unhappy relationships, with no element of suspense or the supernatural at all. There are a couple of interesting pieces, but on the whole this author could have been left in the out-of-print section. Not worth the effort.

[Faolan Doyle]

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER CHRONICLES

Book
By various authors

This is a collection of short stories all featuring the famous reporter Carl Kolchak, with some artwork. It has to be said, the quality of both the writing and the art is variable, ranging from excellent to the barely competent. I really enjoyed a lot of the stories, but some were pretty dull and not worth inclusion, and I would have liked a degree of continuity between them; if the editors had laid down a basic skeleton to follow, it would have helped. As it is, one tale has Kolchak working for a cable tv channel in LA, while others have him at the same time working as a reporter in Chicago, heading a shadowy government agency like the BPRD in New York, and so on. And the last story was a total waste of space, which is a poor note to end on; it was hackneyed, badly written, confused and the worst in the book, which really was a bad choice for the last thing you read. Still, I enjoyed enough of it not to regret the purchase price. Especially the story of Kolchak as seen from the viewpoint of a fledgling vampire...

[Faolan Doyle]

UNDEAD

DVD


This is an Australian horror comedy by the Spierig Brothers. I bought it in a special offer as a gamble, and I'll admit it was the cover that sold me at first. I didn't have any idea what to expect as I had seen nothing about the film anywhere. I was bowled over. It had me laughing almost from the first moment, and the laughs kept coming along with some good thrill moments, some excellent stunts, a bundle of pretty impressive special effects and a surprise twist that for once actually was a surprise. If you liked Shaun of the Dead you should love this film. Anyone who likes zombie movies should get a kick out of it. If I had known what I was getting, I would have paid the full price for it. I keep grinning like a maniac when I think I got all this joy for a bargain price. I can't recommend it enough. I hope there'll be more by this creative team, because they are damn good. Congratulations, guys.

[Faolan Doyle]

CURSED


DVD

This is a pleasant enough way to spend an hour and a half, but I wouldn't go any further than that. The cast are watchable, the story is pretty much a lift from The Lost Boys but substituting werewolves for vampires (I mean, since when can you get cured of lycanthropy by killing the founder of the werewolf line that infected you?), the fx are average. Wes Craven does a workmanlike job of direction, but somehow I feel he had no great enthusiasm for the film; it lacks the pace and originality of his other movies. It isn't a bad film, as such, but it could have been a lot better.

[Faolan Doyle]

THE UNNAMEABLE

CD

This is a talking book of four tales by HP Lovecraft, performed by David Cade. Reviews I read for it on Amazon persuaded me to give it a try at a bargain price; I was glad I had not paid full price, because the reviews were wrong. This is mostly so badly hammed up and melodramatic it is painful to listen to, especially the main title. Lovecraft’s work does not need to be delivered as if by someone unfamiliar with English, with bizarre phrasing and emphasis which has no relation to the meaning; it needs a quiet descent into the unfamiliar and off-kilter world the author created. This man starts off at full bore and has nowhere else to go. The music is poor at best, and doesn’t even have the advantage of drowning this OTT reading. Don’t waste your money on this.