Book Review: BLADE RUNNER 2: THE EDGE OF HUMAN. By K. W. Jeter. *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Long before the official movie sequel to Blade Runner (1982) was released in theaters as Blade Runner 2049 (2017), another official sequel, this time in the form of a novel, was released in 1995 as Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human, written by K. W. Jeter.

It's a curious creation, partly because Jeter wrote the book as a sequel not just to the 1982 movie directed by Ridley Scott, but also to Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on which the film was based. This makes for an interesting if slightly challenging read, as their are several differences between the original novel and the 1982 film, in characters, plot, and even intent. But Jeter mostly succeeds in marrying the two universes of the book and film together, by working out the myriad dangling plotlines of both stories, and explaining away several plot holes from the film, one of which - that Deckard was supposed to hunt down six replicants, not five - the whole plot of Jeter's book hinges on.

As a sequel to Blade Runner (1982), the book works fairly well, picking up shortly after the events of the film and adding a number of entertaining twists and surprise appearances by characters that supposedly died in the film. As a sequel to Philip K. Dick's book, it is slightly less effective, as the tone of Dick's original novel clashes considerably with the tone and story of Ridley Scott's film. The book also slows down near to a halt near the middle, with a couple of jarring out of character instances for Deckard, but it picks up again near the end, delivering a grand, fiery finale, with a terrific and haunting final twist that is sure to please fans of the film.

For fans of both Dick's book and Scott's 1982 movie adaptation, this comes highly recommended, as it features a plethora of fascinating details and twists, and pushes the story in a complex and compelling direction. But newcomers and non-fans should stay away.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon.

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Book Review: GHOUL. By Michael Slade **** out of *****

Ghoul, the second in the loosely connected "Special X" series by Canadian author Michael Slade, is a hard book to categorize. It's part horror, part psychological thriller, and part police procedural. But it's also much more than that. With Ghoul, Slade (which is actually an alias for writer Jay Clarke and a number of co-writers) has come up with a formula so unique, so strange, and so potent, it's basically a new genre unto itself.

The plot, which centers on the hunt for two spree killers - one obsessed with blood, the other with horror fiction, especially Lovecraft, is a dizzying spiral down  a series of graphic set-pieces, red herrings, and nightmarish imagery; and the protagonists, CID Hillary Rand from New Scotland Yard, and RCMP officer Zinc Chandler, are fleshed out and likable. But Ghoul is not really about characters. It's almost all story, and what a story it is. On the surface, this is an addictive, compelling, and wholly entertaining psychological thriller with horror overtones. But on another level, this is also a clever and well-thought out meditation on the nature of horror fiction, and the never-ending debate on its effect on society. It sounds ambitious, and it is, but Slade pulls it off for the most part, delivering a fascinating, multi-layered thriller that is unlike any other, and which is brimming with ideas and wit. He only falters a little near the end, with a climax so complex it almost buckles under its own weight, and an overlong section full of psychobabble, which tries to tie up the plot's loose ends and explain away the killer's disturbing motives.

With his debut, Headhunter (1984), Slade proved to be a force to reckon with. With his second book, Ghoul, he proves to be one of the most original thriller writers of the past fifty years. Highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon.

Movie Review: RICHARD JEWELL *** and 1\2 out of *****

Master filmmaker Clint Eastwood continues his series of films about underdogs and the wrongfully accused, with Richard Jewell (2019), a compelling, well-crafted drama about the eponymous character, a security guard during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, who was wrongfully accused of planting the bomb that injured dozens and killed two during the event.

Paul Walter Hauser portrays the character as a conscientious if eccentric man obsessed with American law enforcement, a man whose ultimate dream is to become a police officer. But due to his weight and laconic, childlike manner, people take him for granted, that is, till he finds himself suspect number one in a terrorist attack. Hauser, in his first starring role, is a wonder to behold, stealing the movie with his understated, touching portrayal of a well-meaning ne'er-do-well with passion to spare. And as the events surrounding his character grow more and more troubling, Hauser imbues Jewell with layer upon layer, subtly communicating a wealth of emotions with a look or a phrase. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates (in one of the best performances of her career as Jewell's mother) deliver ample support, but this is Hauser's show.

For Eastwood, this is yet another understated triumph, another story of injustice well-told, although this time the true story's implications are more troubling than usual, with the damning portrayal of the media and the FBI and their reaction to the Atlanta bombing the stuff of nightmares. No wonder the movie received little if no love from the mass media. It is a "politically incorrect" film with a troubling message about how the American media builds up heroes to sell papers, and then viciously tears them down to sell more papers, destroying people's lives in the process, and how governments are glaringly fallible when it comes to dealing with acts of terrorism, focusing on knee-jerk, headline-grabbing actions in place of seeking the truth. In this day and age, this makes Richard Jewell a brave film about a brave man who dared do his job well and never lose faith in what he believed in.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon.

Book Review: SPLIT SECOND By Alex Kava. *** and 1\2 out of *****

Reading a series out of order has its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you go into the book with almost no expectations and no preconceived notions, and flashbacks to a previous entry in the series are news to you. On the minus side, while reading it you sometimes get the feeling that you are a little late to the party, that characters are talking about things that sound important but only make a little sense to you. Reading Alex Kava's Split Second, the second in her series about FBI Profiler Maggie O'Dell, includes all of the above.

It's a competent thriller, with engaging characters and a steady pace. The prose, although occasionally a bit too straightforward for its own good, is effective, and Kava keeps things rolling, with short chapter after short chapter. But throughout the book, one gets the feeling that one's missing something, mainly because Maggie and many of the characters in the book keep mentioning that the villain, a serial killer dubbed The Collector, is so evil and devious, yet the impression the writing actually gives the reader is that of a villain so over the top he is almost cartoonish, and, to be honest, not very original.

Still, this is an enjoyable thriller, with a couple of good twists, plenty of violence, and a likable central character. But it feels like part of a series, with dangling plot lines and a lot of foreshadowing, which doesn't make it an easy recommendation as a stand-alone novel.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Book Review: THE SHADOW: THE THIRD SHADOW. By Walter B. Gibson ** out of *****

Lackluster The Shadow adventure, with a ludicrous central premise (two crooks consecutively impersonate The Shadow to take out their competition), and a lame twist. Sure to disappoint even the most devoted fans.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Book Review: FEAR STREET (SUPER CHILLER): CHEERLEADERS: THE NEW EVIL. By R.L. Stine *** and 1\2 out of *****

R. L. Stine returns to one of his most popular sagas, Cheerleaders, with this entry in the Super Chiller series. The New Evil continues the story of Corky, Deborah, and Kimmy, the last survivors of The Evil, a malevolent spirit that possesses people and forces them to commit mischievous acts, and even murder. This time around, Corky and her friends suspect that The Evil has escaped from its icy grave once again, and is causing a series of horrible accidents among the school's cheerleader squad. So Corky and the girls come up with a plan to trap the evil spirit once and for all, with shocking results.

Although the Cheerleaders saga is one of the sillier sagas in the Fear Street series, Stine amps up the chills and thrills in The New Evil, delivering a superbly enjoyable and twist-filled story, which even has a couple of truly scary moments, a rarity in the Fear Street series. Like the other entries in the Super Chiller series, this is a notch above the usual, and one helluva fun horror tale. Recommended for fans of Fear Street, the Cheerleaders saga, or for readers looking for a short, fun, horror read.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Movie Review: SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (1991) *** out of *****

One of a number of Stephen King adaptations produced by movie mogul Dino De Laurentis, Sometimes They Come Back (1991) premiered on US television in 1991 to little fanfare. But, years later, it as become a minor cult favorite, and has spawned two direct-to-video sequels. It’s easy to see why.

Sometimes They Come Back is a very affecting film, with a notable and touching performance by Tim Matheson, as a school teacher running away from the ghosts of a childhood trauma involving a bunch of older bullies and the death of his older brother. Returning thirty years later to his hometown as a husband and father, he tries to settle in and focus on starting a new life. But soon, ghosts from his past invade his life, in the form of a bunch of bullies with a striking resemblance to the ones who killed his brother thirty years ago, and who start terrorizing him and his students.

What makes the film work are a number of things: Matheson’s invested and heartfelt performance, an engaging script that astutely captures Stephen King’s voice and serves as a greatest hits collection of his main motifs, and tight direction by genre veteran Tom McLoughlin (aided by stylish cinematography by Bryan England).

But what marrs the film to a degree are the horror elements, which are poorly handled, and come off as hokey and intrusive. Schlocky make-up effects also don’t help matters. As a psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, the film works pretty well. But when the film focuses on the gang of bullies and their otherwordly abilities, it falters, with the shift in tone jarring, to say the least.

Still, there’s much to like about Sometimes They Come Back, as this is a compelling, occasionally heartfelt, and pretty atmospheric supernatural thriller, and, despite its faults, is sure to please Stephen King fans.

Trivia: The film was shot both for a theatrical release overseas and a TV premiere in the US on CBS. This explains the film’s top notch cinematography and the film’s careful compositions, which were framed for a 2.35: 1 theatrical aspect ratio.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Book Review: FEAR STREET (SUPER CHILLER): THE NEW YEAR'S PARTY. By R. L. Stine *** and 1\2 out of *****

Fans of Fear Street, YA, or just plain fun horror books, shouldn't miss this entry in the Fear Street - Super Chiller series.

Part supernatural thriller, part murder mystery, this tale about a group of teens thwarted by a mysterious killer after a supposedly harmless prank goes horribly wrong, is, hands down, one of the best Fear Street books R. L. Stine has ever written, with twists and turns aplenty, and a thrilling double twist.

Recommended, as is the entire Super Chiller series, which are edgier and longer than the usual Fear Street books.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Movie Review: DOCTOR SLEEP (2019) *** out of *****

Making a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) was always a dicey proposition. How do you make a sequel to a film considered by many to be one of the best horror films of all-time, and directed by one of the most analyzed and revered filmmakers ever? It’s a daunting task, and one that is conceptually problematic as well. But in 2013, Stephen King, the author of the original novel on which The Shining was based, and the writer/producer of his own mini-series adaptation of the novel, released the long-awaited Doctor Sleep, a sequel focusing on the troubled life of Danny Torrance, the son of Jack, played by Jack Nicholson in the movie version.

But Doctor Sleep turned out to be one of King’s most underwhelming books and a huge disappointment to fans of the original novel, who expected something with more originality, atmosphere, and scares than what King ultimately delivered. In comes writer/director Mike Flangan, a talented but underachieving genre filmmaker whose credits include the bland Occulus (2013) and the terrific Gerald’s Game (2017), a muscular, haunting adaptation of one of King’s worst novels.

Many hoped that lightning would strike twice. Maybe Flanagan could do with Doctor Sleep what he managed to do so well with Gerlad’s Game? Alas, that didn't turn out to be the case. Doctor Sleep (2019), starring Ewan McGregor as the adult Danny Torrance, is a bloated, tremendously disappointing movie, more so because it contains some great visual ideas and some truly inspired deviations from the source material. But what brings the whole thing down are Flanagan’s approach and choices.

Over his career, Flanagan has shown a flair for atmosphere and visual storytelling. But he has also shown a lamentable penchant for a certain dour tone, an off-putting mix of sentimentality and aloofness, that rears its ugly head in almost everything he makes (Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House is a glaring case in point). In Doctor Sleep, this po-faced, elegiac tone makes the film a struggle to watch in one sitting, whether it is the theatrical version, or the 3 hour director’s cut released on home video. Dialogue scenes, never Flanagan’s strong point, go on forever and have a monotonous, repetitive quality, while the film’s pace is bumpy and distracting. Add to that that the villains, the weakest part of the novel, fare even worse here, with a terribly miscast Rebecca Ferguson delivering an annoying performance as Rose The Hat, a kind of succubus with a taste for children with psychic abilities. And then there’s the strange choice of focusing on the battle of wits between a child character called Abra and the villains, instead of on Danny Torrance’s struggle with his past and his inherited alcoholism, the strongest part of King’s book, which, in turn, gives Ewan McGregor very little of interest to play. Instead, he delivers a decent if forgettable performance that is so understated, it’s borderline mumblecore. Then there’s the climax, which tries to honor Kubrick’s original, King’s book, and Flanagan’s own vision of the story, with jarring results.

Still, Doctor Sleep has its merits, including a wonderful turn by the underrated Carl Lumbly as Dick Hallorann, filling in for the late Scatman Crothers. And although the movie is a misfire, it’s an interesting one, and is worth a watch for fans of King’s and Kubrick’s work.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.