Introducing The Overview, a round-up of short reviews of movies, books, and everything in between.
The Notch by Tom Holland *** out of *****: Tom Holland, the Master of Horror behind Fright Night (1985), Child's Play (1988), Thinner (1996), among others, makes his fiction debut with The Notch, an entertaining if unremarkable novel of speculative fiction, about a ten year-old boy who appears out of nowhere, has the ability to heal and bring the dead back to life, and seems to have brought an apocalyptic plague with him. The high-concept plot starts promisingly enough, but soon falls into a kind of rhythm that is less than compelling. The large cast of characters is adequately drawn, but none are memorable, and the story doesn't really go any place special. But Holland is a born storyteller, and his short chapters keep one reading till the satisfying conclusion. But fans should know that, what The Notch isn't is a horror novel.
Trapped by J.A. Konrath ** out of *****: Prior to this book, I considered myself a casual J.A. Konrath fan. I loved his novels Origin, and Draculas, his collaboration with Black Crouch, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson, and I enjoy his "Jack Daniels" novels. But Konrath can also be pretty vulgar, and Trapped is one of his worst in that regard. The premise: a group of people are stranded on an island with cannibals, and mayhem ensues. Konrath takes this hoary concept and writes a novel that can only be called unlikable. Its blend of sadism, violence, social commentary(!), and dark humor, is off-putting, to say the least. Like his "Phineas Troutt" series, Konrath seems intent on being "transgressive", pushing things to numbing extremes, and this is coming from someone who likes Richard Laymon, the grandfather of extreme horror fiction. Borderline trash.
The City of The Dead (1960) *** out of *****: Atmospheric Gothic horror featuring Christopher Lee. It benefits greatly from director John Llewellyn Moxey's (The Night Stalker [1972]) mastery of Gothic visuals, and a midway twist that is surprisingly effective. But the film suffers from a bland young cast, flat dialogue scenes, and a repetitive nature due to the low budget and limited sets. But the energetic climax packs a wallop. Recommended.
© Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.
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Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was 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
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