Book Review: STOKER'S WILDE by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi *** and a 1\2 out of *****

One of the most fun horror/dark fantasy novels in years, Stoker's Wilde is one wild ride, and a pleasure for fans of Gothic Horror and Victorian fiction.

The story takes Bram Stoker, freshly appointed as manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, joins him with the foppish, contrarian, and pre-infamy Oscar Wilde, and pits them against an evil, supernatural enemy that is out for world domination. There are monsters, gore, plenty of action, and more than a modicum of humor, with appearances by a number of historical figures from the era, and nods to numerous horror classics, including the works of Stoker, Wilde, and even the Joss Whedon TV show Angel (1999-2004)!

The only caveat is that the novel's epistolary style, which channels the style of Stoker's Dracula, a purely Victorian, blood and thunder type of novel, doesn't always gel with the authors' agnostic/progressive tone.

But with a title like Stoker's Wilde, one knows the authors don't take themselves too seriously, and, ultimately, this is a novel written by horror fans for horror fans, who are bound to have a great time, thanks to straightforward prose, loads of imagination, and genuine affinity for the characters. 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. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK

Book Review: THE SCARLET GOSPELS by Clive Barker *** out of *****

The book Clive Barker fans waited for for decades, The Scarlet Gospels is, for better or worse, Barker's summation of his entire cannon. It features his talent for world-building and stunning imagery, his obsession with sex and violence, and his two most famous creations, detective Harry D'Amour and The Hell Priest a.k.a Pinhead.

But fans expecting this to be a no-holds-barred horror-action fest are in for a surprise. Yes, the book features a couple of lengthy action set-pieces, but Barker seems more interested in telling an epic tale of loss, hubris, and the eventual cost of dancing with the dark. This will undoubtedly be somewhat disappointing for many readers expecting the Pinhead of yore, as The Scarlet Gospels is more Everville (1994) than The Hellbound Heart (1986), and with a darker, more vicious version of Pinhead on display.

It's best not to reveal too much about the incoherent plot; suffice it to say, Barker sends D'Amour and his band of heroes (called The Harrowers, for some reason) on a direct path with Pinhead, who has been collecting arcane magical powers for a purpose darker and more devastating than anyone could have imagined, a purpose which will lead D'Amour straight into hell.

From the opening chapters, everything that is good and not so good about the  book becomes clear. Barker's writing shifts from wondrous descriptions of darkly images and creatures, to self-indulgent and overlong scenes of mayhem, to stretches of subpar, profanity-laden dialogue, making for a read that is uneven, to say the least. As this is Barker at his most brutal and excessive, with his penchant for epicness producing instances of overwhelming excess, and also stunning sequences of biblical mayhem. The overall effect is a novel that is overly dark, under-plotted, and, despite the violence and gore, surprisingly elegiac in tone.

Ultimately, The Scarlet Gospels is pure Clive Barker, and fans of his work and the Hellraiser universe will want to give it a go. But casual readers will probably find it ponderous and confusing. Recommended, with reservations.

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. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Review: Fright Night: The Complete "Now" Comic Books (1988-1990)

The NOW Comics adaptation and continuation of the fan favorite Fright Night (1985) movie (written and directed by Tom Holland), which ran from 1988 till 1990, starts off with a bang, with a two-issue adaptation of the original movie, written by Joe Gentile, that manages to capture the spirit and humor of the film and offer enough fresh touches to make it enjoyable for even the most hardcore fans.

The comics then move on to what would become a staple of the series: a number of stand-alone stories of varying mileage, starting with issue#3, The Dead Remember, a fun and atmospheric tale, pitting Charley Brewster and Peter Vincent against a horde of blood/brain-sucking bats from another dimension.

After two underwhelming issues that bear little resemblance to the tone of the original movie, the series gets back on track with issue#6, The Legion of Endless Night, introducing the formidable vampire legion of the title, and which will become the main villain throughout the series. This issue and its sequel, issue#7, are a joy to read, taking our heroes through a fast-paced adventure packed with plenty of vampire action.

Next, the series re-introduces fan favorite Evil Ed in issues#8 and #9, The Revenge of Evil Ed, who is revealed to be alive (undead?!) and well, and out for revenge against Charley and Peter. These two issues are fun, if not very inventive, and by now the problems with the series start to show, chief among them the overly humorous tone and occasionally silly plotting, as the intended audience seems to be within the PG-13 range, with the writing lacking the wit, warmth, and menace of the original movies. The writers involved, including Tony Caputo,  Katherine Llewellyn, and James Van Hise, don't seem to be too interested in capturing the essence of the characters and the delicately balanced tone of the original movie. Instead, we are introduced to a number of forgettable side characters, including a truly forgettable new love interest for Charley.

The cracks really start to show with the next four issues, a series of lame and truly jarring stories that try to stretch the range of the series in all the wrong ways (monsters out of Greek mythology in issue#12 and a child serial killer in issue#13???). The series then recovers a little bit with the amusing two-parter The Resurrection of Dracula (issues# 14 and 15).

Then comes the final stretch of books, with the final seven issues focusing on the resurrection of Jerry Dandridge, starting with issue#16, Potion Motion. But, sadly, the plot is mishandled by the writers, with the resurrected Dandridge barely resembling the much beloved villain as portrayed by Chris Sarandon in the original movie, and the series ends with a clumsy and forgettable finale in issue#22, Reign of Terror.

The NOW Comics adaptation of Fright Night has its fans, but it also has its detractors, and reading the entire run of the series, it's easy to see why. The characters from the original movie aren't handled with care for the most part; the humor is occasionally off-key; and the quality of the stories varies dramatically from issue to issue. But the art is always good, and some of the charm of the original movie and its characters rubs off on the series, providing a number of issues that are worth the fans' time. But Fright Night, one of the greatest horror movies to come out of the 1980s, deserved better than this.

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. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer.

Flashback Review: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) **** and a 1\2 out of *****

A testament to the ageless power of great filmmaking, All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) is proof positive that early talking pictures could be anything but static. Director Lewis Milestone and cinematographer Arthur Edeson achieve something that was a rarity in early 1930's movies: a film that is told primarily using fluid camerawork, powerful sound design, and layered, textured framing. The result is a film that has lost little of its power to move, haunt, and thrill, in equal measure.

Telling the story of a group of German soldiers during WWI, Milestone and co. deliver a sobering portrayal of the reality of war, and what it does to those who actually fight it on the front lines. Spellbound by patriotism and dreams of glory, young men volunteer straight out of school classrooms, with hopes of embarking on an exciting adventure. But reality is far more brutal, and as the film progresses, Milestone meticulously shows the trials of the life of a soldier, and the horrors of the battlefield.

It is astounding that a film made with such primitive equipment could be so kinetic. Milestone and co. capture such beautiful imagery and create such an immersive experience, that, at times, one forgets that this is a film that's almost a hundred years old. Although some aspects haven't aged as well as others (the editing can get a little choppy, and baby-faced Lew Ayers is woefully miscast as the lead), what the film achieves overall is just short of miraculous, culminating in a haunting, masterfully understated ending.

One of the greatest anti-war films of all-time, and a true groundbreaker, All Quiet On The Western Front is a film for the ages.

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. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer.

Flashback Review: I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932) **** and 1\2 out of *****

The granddaddy of all prison dramas, I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932) is a timeless masterpiece of filmmaking. Shot on the quick during the height of the studio system, director Mervyn LeRoy, cinematographer Sol Polito, and star Paul Muni, created a tense, grim, and riveting look at post WWI America in all its dark glory, with a realistic adaptation of Robert E. Burns' true story of his false imprisonment and his hellish years in the chain gang system of hard labor.

LeRoy, known at the time as one of the fastest shooters on the Warners lot, directs the film with an economic, efficient, but never artless, style that doesn't get in the way of the story, creating an immersive, gritty movie experience that has stood the test of time. The film's pace - with the exception of the second act, where Muni's character falls for a femme fatale - rarely lags, right up to the hard-hitting and unforgettable final scene.

Almost a hundred years on, I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang still holds up, and its influence can be seen on almost every single American prison film made since.

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. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook here.

Movie Review: BENJI (2018) *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Surprisingly old-fashioned remake of the family classic has a lot to offer. The dog hero is lovable, the human characters are memorable, and the story is well-written. Visually, it never really rises above TV-movie level, but this is a movie with a lot of heart, and is a delightful family film. 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.

Film Review: GHOST STORY (1974) *** and 1\2 out of *****

Underrated British ghost story, surprisingly well-written, and dense with a macabre atmosphere. Performances are very good all around, and the story is effectively eerie. Technically, it's a little rough around the edges, presumably due to the modest budget and the location shooting in India (in place of the UK). But the steady direction and intriguing story keep things moving right up to the haunting ending. Highly recommended. Co-written and directed by Stephen Weeks.

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: THE STRANGE DEATH OF EUROPE: IMMIGRATION, IDENTITY, ISLAM by Douglas Murray. *** out of *****

The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam by Douglas Murray has been called many things, including racist, xenophobic, and fascist. What it is, is a book-length study of the European migration crisis that started in 2015 in Germany and continues to this day. It is a book obviously written by someone who is passionate, intelligent, and who genuinely cares about Europe’s future, and, to some extent, about the plight of refugees seeking asylum from war-torn and violence-ravaged nations.

Murray, in meticulous detail, lays out the problems associated with millions of immigrants, most of them Muslim, migrating to Europe after the so-called “Arab Spring”, a series of violent revolutions that has destabilized the majority of the already volatile Middle Eastern and North African nations. Within a few months of these immigrants’ arrival in Germany, Italy, Greece, Norway, and other European countries, incidents of rape of minors, terrorist attacks, and sexual harassment ensued, perpetrated mostly by young male immigrants coming from Muslim nations. So, Murray, like thousands of other Europeans, reached the conclusion that maybe letting in flocks of Muslims into Europe at such a rate had unforeseen consequences, a view in opposition to the majority of European politicians, opinion leaders, and media personalities.

The truth is, Murray is on to something. It is clear that there is something severely wrong with current Islamic culture, which has become, to varying degrees, rigid and defensive. It is also obvious that Muslim communities within Western countries are among the least integrated of all immigrant communities. Murray states these facts clearly and lucidly. But he also dismisses the entire Islamic/Arabic culture, repeatedly claiming that Islam has little to offer, drawing parallels between Islam and Nazism, and calling it “the slowest child in the classroom” when it comes to social liberal ideas. They are troubling thoughts, and the only instances when Murray comes off as a reactionary ethnonationalist.

It is true that Muslim communities have become complacent, and that their citizens and intellectual and religious leaders have done a subpar job of discussing and addressing the myriad concerns about seemingly contradictory ideas within Islam, and the history of the development of the religion. This, in turn, has resulted in a Muslim/Arabic community and culture that have been in intellectual stagnation for more than fifty years, and in which terrorism has blossomed like a poisonous flower. But simply dismissing Islam, a religion followed by almost 2 billion people around the world, as a religion of violence, schism, and ideas antithetical to the enlightenment, is a narrow-minded, problematic, and divisive view. Arabs and Muslims have contributed a lot across history in the fields of science, philosophy, and women’s rights.

Yes, the current Islamic/Arabic culture is terribly flawed. Yes, Muslims around the world need to do a better job of standing up to corruption and violence within their own communities. And yes, Islam is at a dangerous crossroads at the moment. And I agree with Murray that none of those things should be main concerns for Europe, which is going through its own identity crisis at the moment, as Murray details in the book. But adding fuel to the fire by labeling a people and a religion as irredeemable, is simply an untenable intellectual and ethical position, and one which has nothing constructive to offer, to anyone.

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.