DVD Review: The Frighteners (1996)

Before King Kong and Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson was busy at entertaining us with such movies as The Frighteners.

Starring Michael J Fox and Jeffrey Coombs, Jackson brings us a psychic investigator who can see numbers carved on people’s heads. Believed to be a fraud, Frank Bannister is magnetised to a serial killer called Johnny Bartlett (Jake Busey) who, even after death, is trying to climb up the death toll ladder by killing seemingly random people by squeezing their hearts to death?

By far the most compelling character is Coombs’s. As Milton Dammers, he gives us a very different insight into FBI investigation by combining psychic detection, cults, and a nefarious exploit into solving an old case: the death of Bannister’s wife.

What both characters do not realise is that all these events are inextricably knitted together with one Johnny Bartlett at its centre. Can Bannister stop the murders, aided by three ghosts be has befriended, or is Bartlett out to get more than revenge for his own death?

By far, this movie is under-rated. I am no fan of Michael J Fox (with the exception of the Back to the Future series), and the rest of the cast cannot be faulted. Milton is hilarious and follows Coomb’s artful interpretation of the horror genre after Re-animator.

The Frighteners is a fresh take on an old ghost story with interesting characters which keep the plot moving and the viewer thinking. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see it, then what the hell are you doing reading this!

A piece of me

A year or two ago, while miserable suffering from a very debilitating case of chronic fatigue syndrome, I had to leave a group of writers. It was not because of my illness, but a scrape with a fellow writer who threatened legal action against me for not liking their work. Woe to them.

Regardless, I had to walk away from what I wanted and it was a very difficult thing to do. Recently, I tried to pick up some of the pieces and to persons particular, I am grateful for your acceptance. It took a long time for me to do it.

Rejection is a difficult thing, whether it is a personal matter, something created, something you must walk away from, or simply a shake of the head. It affects us all in different ways. Stories are no different than chairs. If the chair isn't constructed properly, nobody will buy it. After years of trying to understand why some writers choose to stab rather than learn is still beyond me, but I did learn one very important lesson.

It is nice to know, but is always better, to understand a person's perspective.

Furthermore, it is humbling to know there are people out there with perspective; individuals who continue on their path and try to create the best future for themselves. It is these people I wish to associate with. Visionaries. Are you a visionary? Do you know what you want, or do you understand why you want it?

If you can't see the difference, then you already know the answer.

The Apprentice and his Vomit

I don’t know who said, “You have to write three million words before you become a good writer”, but somebody did.

The day I started to write fiction, I became an apprentice. I never logged the amount of words I wrote, what I deleted and edited, never tabled word counts on a per-hour basis. I think it will be more than three million.

There is a purpose to this article. Each craft has an apprenticeship period when the trainee learns, develops, and applies their learning experiences. Novel writing is no different. There is a long period of learning, whether one is aware of it or not. The hammer and nails of writing are words and toil, the wood and glue are paper and ink (or a computer).

Something unique to the trainee happens during the writer’s apprentice period. They develop an inner voice called a muse. Writing becomes easier, words flow quicker, characters develop faster and one does not force them into situations, rather, the characters put themselves there. Re-writes become easier, the 18 novels in the cupboard tend to disintegrate because you know it will take less time to write a new novel than correct one written as an apprentice. The muse becomes a maestro.

For most writers, the apprenticeship is an important part of development. I may not agree with the three million words, but it does teach perseverance, patience, self-awareness, craft, and style. There are thousands of books on writing, but very few are any good. Many contradict each other. Most don’t answer the basics for the early apprentice, such as punctuation, style, and active and passive voices. There are few that stand out, but this is a diet for another article!

There are millions of sources on the internet for an aspiring writer. Some are free, others you pay for. To use a cliché, it is all food for thought: there is no other more precise way to put it. At least let me elaborate:

The unconscious mind eats up all information presented and implied, and thinks about it. It is churned a while, warms up, then is regurgitated, half-digested on paper, sicked up in some explosive manner from the gut. This raw splattering of ideas is the muse at work, with all the chunks of ideas and wrong turns. It has thin bile one can immediately wipe away, and that sticky stuff that somehow glues everything together. It’s all there, in some form. However, it takes a craftsman to turn a muse’s vomit into a working piece of literary art, don’t you agree?

I believe I am nearing the end of my apprenticeship. It has been difficult but I have enjoyed the journey, and looking forward to the next stage of my own personal evolution with all its crafting and disappointments, rejections and regurgitations, successes and near misses. What other profession could affect me so personally?

Feedburner feeds and widgets

Well, after furiously reading up about different gadgets, widgets, gizmos and tools one can use for the blogger universe (and, let's face it, after 116 posts it's about time), I finally got a feedburner feed and a tiny little thing for each blog entry to promote that through the blogging universe.

Not that I understand a word, but it appears to work. Must be a good thing ...?

Regardless, if you are out there in blogger universe and know more than what I do, I will appreciate any comments you may have, on anything, and if stuff works, because ultimately that's all I want it to do: work. Thanks in advance for any tips, suggestions, etc.

It's almost beertime. 24 hours to go.

Batman: the New James Bond?

After my post yesterday about Heath Ledger, it reminded me that years ago, I remember thinking, “Who will be the next James Bond?” Today, I find myself thinking, “Who will be the next Batman?”

The first Batman movie, directed by Tim Burton, was released in 1989. Batman is my favourite superhero because he has no super-powers and relies solely on nerve and skills any human has the potential to pick up. Batman and James Bond have a lot in common.

As each Batman movie is released, I have noticed that the characters are becoming darker, the storylines tighter, and of course, one has to wonder who will be the next “Batman Girl”. Despite the movie “Batman and Robin”, the movies are generally interesting and attract the times hot talent, such as Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, amongst others. For the record, my favourite Batman is Val Kilmer (Batman Forever).

Heath Ledger has had resounding acclaim for his character “The Joker”. As a horror writer, I find Batman fascinating, not only how the movies evolved, but how the lines between action/adventure and action/horror have grown as well as the entertaining psychology of how he came to be.

It is annoying that elements within Batman change, ie, how his father died. For example, in Batman Forever, Harvey Dent was scarred by burning acid in the courtroom. In Batman the Dark Knight, Dent acquired his disfigurement from fire. James Bond is just as annoying. Despite the darkening themes and wider array of violence and graphical imagery, It is surprising to learn that “Batman The Dark Knight” was only rated PG-13, the same as the last few Harry Potter movies (and James Bond’s Casino Royale).

Gadgets with surprising twists, cars and other vehicles seen nowhere else in the world, alter-egos, specialised training, the next hot girl. Now, who do you think I am talking about: Bond or Batman?

Health Ledger, a Knight's Tale in Hollywood

Congratulations to Heath Ledger for winning on Oscar as Best Supporting Actor as The Joker in “Batman the Dark Knight" at the 2009 Academy Award ceremony.

It is with pride that Heath received this award, and like many Australians, it is difficult to understand the passing of one so young and talented. The Joker would have been one character in a string of memorable future performances.

I will not remember Heath for his role as The Joker, but as William Thatcher and his alter ego Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland from A Knights Tale, a memorable movie about a poor peasant boy taken under the wings of a knight who changes his stars, always remembering to follow his feet. It is a touching movie with strong, memorable characters, featuring Mark Addy, Paul Bettany, and Rufus Sewell. A Knights Tale is one of my favourite non-horror movies with a very definite feel good factor throughout.

It is A Knights Tale that first brought Heath Ledger to my attention. It is one of the most watched movies in my DVD collection. If you have not had the opportunity to view it, I recommend you do. You may also wish to pick up a copy of The Sin Eater, also starring Heath, and a number of actors appearing in A Knights Tale.

So, to the late Heath Ledger, a sober congratulations from a proud Australian.

DVD Review: Red Dragon (2002)

Anthony Hopkins is one of the few geniuses of the movie world. In the Hannibal Lecter trilogy, he has completely owned the character and made Hannibal very memorable.

In Red Dragon, the movie takes us back to Hannibal’s arrest and incarceration during which time Will Graham (Edward Norton) is asked to track a new serial killer called The Tooth Fairy. The FBI feels that Graham’s insights into the mind of killers such as Lecter will give them the advantage to catch the serial murderer.

In order to solve the case, Graham asks Lecter for advice, much in the same vein as the original Silence of the Lambs. In fact, this movie appears to be a re-write of the original with some clever plots and sub-plots thrown in to amplify the storylines.

The biggest downside to this movie is Edward Norton. I don’t rate him very high as an actor. However, Hopkins has a perfect performance and removes focus from Norton’s character which the movie tries to portray as being strong and in control with an underlying psychology of fear. The chemistry between Hopkins and Jodie Foster was better orchestrated and more intense than that found in Red Dragon.

When you throw in actors such as Hopkins and Harvey Keitel, one cannot feel less than compelled to watch this movie. The script was very good, but I felt Will Graham should have made the connection between the murders much sooner. It was a disappointment that too many clues were given at such an early stage in the movie. As such, one has to rely solely on the characters journey and not the destination.

Lecter is such a polished character, the likes of whom are rarely seen in fiction. I wonder whether any other actor could have portrayed him any better. From the moment the film started, the audience is touched by the man. Lecter’s intellectuality and creative genius coupled with the barbaric may not be a new combination for a psychopath or even a sociopath, but he can effect with words what most poets cannot.

The film runs full circle to where Lecter meets Clarice the moment before The Silence of the Lambs. It is this one crucial scene, this one small moment, which makes the ending satisfying. Despite Lecter’s brutal inclination, I cannot imagine any viewer wanting him dead. He is too spectacular a character to die. He must live.

Rising Antivirus 2009 FREE!

Many people have heard about Norton Antivirus, Kaspersky, NOD32, Avira, Avast, AVG, and hundreds more antivirus packages, but few have heard, yet alone have used, Rising Antivirus.

Rising is in my opinion a leading competitor for the best of the freeware antivirus packages, utilising patented 'unknown virus scan and clean' technology. Rising is used by over 80 MILLION people worldwide and holds certification from VB100, Checkmark, and Brothersoft.

Rising Antivirus 2009 offers a wealth of features on an easy to use interface for the novice user, yet more in-depth options for the intermediate to advanced user. It offers application control, USB and DVD monitoring, file monitors, antivirus and antispyware, malicious behavioural control, web trojan defence, self-protection, and zero day protection. There is also an option to join the 'Rising Cloud Security' network to offer feedback to Rising about other viruses in the wild.

Once you have installed Rising Antivirus 2009, forget about it. It updates automatically, from the smaller definition updates to the larger product changes (I didn't even know it upgraded from 2008 until I had a little time on my hands to open it up). It doesn't interfere with your work and runs quietly in the background. Fortunately in this edition, Rising have put more options on the right-click on the system tray icon which makes access to more common tasks easier. It automatically scans downloaded files from Firefox, and can be scheduled to scan computers regularly.

This product is amazing because it is free, and at least in my opinion, beats all other freeware products hands down (and beats a lot of commercial packages, too). Light, free, easy. Why pay for anything else?

Ancient Maestro

I am currently finishing an article on being a writing apprentice, and my fingers found themselves rambling about muses and their role in the writing process.

Writers develop an inner voice or understanding and commonly refer to the term ‘muse’. A muse is a mental pet named after the Greek muses who symbolise nine types of art. Many muses have names, for example, I call mine Ancient. Charles Dickens called his Bos. Ancient is a vile, rancid gardener who lurks in my mind, feeding ideas to me like I am the one who is inorganically caged.

The muse conducts my fingers to write novels. I never plan what I am going to write. It doesn’t work that way, but as I write more the muse develops, just as my own habits do. The apprentice finds himself able to conduct his writing more efficiently, despite the raw material spewing out of the mental underground. I have found in my new novel that the writing is sharper and much more cohesive in first draft.

The role of my muse has changed, but in a good way. My muse is becoming a conductor of art. The muse is turning into a maestro.

Anything that feeds, grows.

DVD Review: TheFog (2005)

You can’t go wrong with a John Carpenter movie (well, there are exceptions).
This is a surprisingly terrible movie directed by Rupert Wainwright who also directed Stigmata, so one would think he had the experience to bring this remake into the modern day and make a classic much more terrifying than the drivel I watched.

The Fog is about a small seaside island that discovers the true identity of its past: a group of cut-throats who break a contract to sell the island to a colony of seagoing lepers and burns them to death, leaving the others to drown. Obscurely, on the island’s anniversary, an evil is awakened that wants to reclaim its lost heritage: the island, by killing random people and maintaining a psychic link to an ex-resident. A fog braces the town, bringing with it an impending and vengeful death on the island’s residents to claim what is rightfully theirs.

One of the more surprising aspects of the movie was its poor casting, consisting of Tom Welling (Smallville), Maggie Grace (Lost), and Selma Blair (Hellboy). The other actors I wouldn’t recognise without looking them up, and wonder whether they are in the right business. Selma Blair was the only character I had the slightest interest in, but she isn’t the sharpest actress on the block. God himself is the only person who knows how she got the part in Hellboy.

There are so many problems with this movie. I just don’t know where to begin and I am afraid that if I started, I would never stop. The last movie I watched which was as bad as this was Stephen King’s Desperation. It is the bottom of the barrel, should’ve been a B-grade movie at best, given free to the public or the suicidal. The ending makes less sense to me than explaining string theory to a cage of monkeys trained to smoke marijuana by the ton.

If you like waiting for something to happen and don’t care much for plot, characters, suspense, horror, action, adventure, and if you really don’t care about being riveted to your chair hoping the kid survives or what so-and-so is doing, or if you live with five cats and mutter to yourself as you incessantly scratch the inside of your ear, then you will love The Fog.

But, if you’re like me, you may want to consider a movie that rates more than 1 out of 100 on the Kane-o-meter.

DVD Review: 12 Monkeys (1995)

The incarcerated James Cole (Bruce Willis) plays a strong-minded sociopath in a world where a mysterious virus wiped out 99% of the world’s population, forcing the remains of humankind underground. Electing to travel back to 1996 to identify the source of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, Cole must report back to the scientists to obtain a pardon for his release.

Mistakenly sent to 1990, Cole is again incarcerated in a mental institution under the care of Dr Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe). Befriended by Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), Cole explains that a virus is being created which will destroy humanity. Goines, amused with Cole’s rendition of the future, helps him escape. When Cole is captured, he is placed in solitary and disappears back to the future.

When Cole returns to the correct year, 1996, he kidnaps Dr Railly and explains that the world is going to end. Gradually, Cole convinces the sceptical doctor of the truth who in turn, tries to convince her colleagues who believe she is suffering a delusion called the Cassandra Syndrome: a psychological anomaly where people disbelieve the perceptions of an individual, regardless of their personal suffering.

When Dr Railly is convinced of Cole’s determination to find the Army of the 12 Monkeys, she also draws close to Cole emotionally. Those feelings appear reciprocated, but Cole tries to remain emotionally distant from the frightened doctor.

After find the Army, Cole and Dr Railly try and stop them from releasing the virus, realising too late, that facts based on assumptions are dangerous facts indeed.

I don’t want to give away too much information, but this is a brilliant film. It has a deep and rich storyline, coupled with fantastic acting by Willis, Stowe, and Pitt. They take such an unbelievable circumstance and turn it into possibilities, drawing a world that is difficult to flaw, much like Will Smith’s performance in I Am Legend.

Pitt’s performance in the movie Seven was good, but Jeffrey Gonies is by far his best character. He is a tortured but hilarious soul who believes that his father is a virologist (and, as it turns out, was telling the truth). There are numerous subtleties to his personality that flavour the movie – one never knows what he is going to do next, and whether he is telling the truth or not. Personally, I think he stole the show.

The movie had components of many other movies, but not intentionally. I have already published articles based on end of the world scenarios with respect to viruses creating ‘zompires’, but this movie is different. There are no unworldly creatures that morphed from human form. There are only animals. As such, the animals once again roam the lands and samples are taken for the scientists.

One peculiarity that struck me in this film, was the role of these ‘scientists’, their involvement in the governance of the underground, and how they were combating the virus. It is infinitely unclear as to why an institution could not be built above ground for people to live in, and why nothing proactive was being done. On the flip side of this coin, the story follows a convict, and the movie is therefore told from a convict’s perspective. It is fated to lack particular details regarding the new society imposed upon the survivors.

Overall, this is one of my favourite movies. There are interwoven plot lines that are genius to see come together, characters to believe in, conclusions to hope for, and questions on the brink of the story that remain unanswered, leaving a resonance that makes one want to watch it all over again!

Book Review: Shrine, by James Herbert (1984)

Alice Pagett, a young, mute girl residing in the small town of Banfield, is transformed into a living miracle worker after an apparent visit by the Immaculate Conception. She heals the sick, cures facial tuberculosis. The faithful come to Banfield in droves, driving up the economy, allowing people to cash in on good fortune. But is it all good fortune?

Alice frequently says she sees the Immaculate Conception near a decrepit tree in an adjacent plot of land. What does the tree have to do with curing people? Why won’t the church admit that Alice is a messenger from God, sent to do his work?

When the local priest tries to explain to his Bishop that his own church is barren of spirituality, Gerry Fenn, a local reporter, tries to put the pieces of the jigsaw together and uncovers much more than he ever wished for.

I was very young when I first read this novel, perhaps before my teenage years. James Herbert was a large influence on my love of the macabre and all things sour and dark, and Shrine at least at that time, fit perfectly in my repository for storing all things damned. Recently, after reading it again, I see its flaws and how it could be improved, but can’t all novels?

Shrine is not one of Herbert’s most graphic. There are some good descriptive scenes of occurrences, some completely over-written, and there were some scenes that served no purpose to the story. Regardless, Herbert is addictive to read, and it isn’t easy to put down his literature.

One cannot help thinking through the first half of the novel why an apparent miracle worker is the focus of a horror novel, and the storyline itself is intent on ensuring that the reader does not know whether young Alice is a good or bad person. If she is good, then Shrine fits perfectly with her intentions. If she is evil, then why is she curing people?

The plot and subplots mesh well in this story, and flow together nicely. Our main character, Gerry Fenn, is easy to identify with despite his flaws, and it was understandable why he kept going that extra mile for extra information. It is what I perceive reporters do. Gerry’s inexperience shows, but additional characters are there to give him the additional information he needs to make informed decisions. It is clear that he is also honest and, perhaps, a noble person who not only understands ethics (contrary to him being a reporter), but he also defines himself through his actions.

It is peculiar to note that I cannot locate the cover for the copy I own on the internet. The one used in this article is for illustration purposes only. When I find it, or when I can scan the cover, I may update this article!

Above all else, Shrine is a distant memory of me, a young boy who loved horror and, more than twenty years later, has read that same book again and wants to be a horror writer, just like James Herbert, hopefully better.