Written by Oscar nominated filmmaker Jim Sheridan, and directed by Mike Newell, the director of Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, and Four Weddings and a Funeral, Into The West (1992) , released in 1992, is a charming little family film that comes across as something Anthony Trollope might have written, with a dash of magical realism thrown in for good measure.
The story follows two young boys, Tito and Ossie, and their adventures when a beautiful white pony suddenly emerges out of nowhere and into their lives.
This was Director Mike Newell’s first foray into fantasy, years before finding massive success with Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (2005).
The film’s first half is almost flawless, depicting the poor with humor, humanity, and a dignity rarely seen in mainstream movies and the score by Patrick Doyle is gorgeous. But the second half stumbles quite a bit, with the villains coming off as mere caricatures, and the plot getting more and more far fetched and lazy.
But this is a sentimental, warm-hearted film for all the family, and one which has many moments of true magic.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
In this special episode, Ahmed Khalifa pays tribute to Peter Straub, the acclaimed dark fantasy author of such novels as Ghost Story and Floating Dragon.
Khalifa also discusses the work and legacy of Stuart Woods, most famous for his Stone Barrington thrillers, who also passed away this year.
Although John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) wasn’t a critical or box-office success, when it first came out in 1982, over the decades, it has become a cult favorite, and has received reappraisal by mainstream critics.
With its foreboding tone, startling and stylish visuals, deliberate pacing, and terrifying special effects, The Thing, is now considered John Carpenter’s greatest film.
With its belated success on cable and home video, there has been talk of producing a sequel to The Thing, since the 1990s, including Return of the Thing, a four-hour miniseries, and a direct sequel to the Carpenter movie, for the Sci Fi network. It was to be produced by Frank Darabont, the acclaimed director of The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist, and written by David Leslie Johnson McGoldrick, of The Conjuring franchise.
But the project was shelved, partly due to budget concerns, and Universal Pictures decided to go for a big screen feature, unimaginatively called The Thing, a 2011 prequel set at the Norwegian camp featured in John Carpenter’s original.
But before that, a sequel was made, taking place mere hours after the events of Carpenter’s film.
The Thing From Another World, written by Chuck Pfarrer, was released by Dark Horse Comics, and is, arguably, the only true sequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing.
The graphic novel begins after the destruction of the U.S. Outpost 31, where the events of the film took place, by the shape-shifting extraterrestrial creature.
The only survivors are MacReady and Childs. MacReady is found and picked up by the crew of a Japanese whaling ship, and is held captive after a hysterical outburst. But soon after, he escapes, and tries to find out whether he is human, or just another version of the thing.
Pfarrer, a self-avowed student of Carpenter’s original film, writes a tense story in a hard-boiled, straightforward style, that propels the reader headlong into a series of set-pieces that never let up. He also ingeniously gets around the problem of dealing with the ending of Carpenter’s original, which basically painted the story into a corner.
In the novel, Pfarrer slowly reveals what happened to MacReady and Childs, and introduces a new complication that could have apocalyptic consequences.
The Thing From Another World is a dream come true for fans of Carpenter’s original. It picks up right after the events of the film, the characters remain true to their portrayals in the original, and Pfarrer's tone and style capture, to a large extent, the mood of the original.
The only caveat is that the headlong pace and grim tone, leave little room for character development, as this is pure story, with no real revelations about the main players. But this too, it could be argued, follows Carpenter’s original approach, which stuck to basic survival psychology, rather than delve deep into the minds of its characters.
With great artwork by John B. Higgins, The Thing From Another World is a treat for fans of the original, and it serves as a worthy sequel to Carpenter’s film.
Carpenter himself has endorsed the graphic novel on many occasions, to the extent that, according to him, if he ever got a chance to make a sequel to The Thing, he would closely follow Pfarrer's story.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
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Released in 2003 by DC Comics as Detective Comics number 784 to 786, Made of Wood is one of the most underrated Batman storylines of recent years.
Building upon the revelation in Post-Crisis DC Comics continuity, that Alan Scott’s Green Lantern was Gotham City’s protector in the 1940’s, veteran comic book writer Ed Brubaker creates a layered, deeply nostalgic, yet hard-hitting storyline about a vicious enemy from Green Lantern’s past, who seems to be brutally killing a select number of people for a reason known only to him. On the victim’s chests he carves the words, “Made of Wood”.
Batman, with the help of retired police commissioner Gordon, tries to solve the case, but it is soon obvious that without the help of Green Lantern\Alan Scott, the killing will continue.
So Batman and Green Lantern have to team up to hunt down the elusive killer, and, in the process, unearthing a forgotten dark episode from Alan Scott’s past.
Brubaker writes in his usual hard-boiled style, but with an added retro twist that gives the tale a winning 1940’s bent.
Brubaker’s stellar writing aside, Patrick Zircher’s gorgeous artwork also deserves a lot of the praise, as his style here is a loving tribute to artists from the 1940’s, with rich designs, shadowy backgrounds, and art-deco architecture, making Batman: Made of Wood a visual feast.
Near forgotten, and undeservedly so, Batman: Made of Wood is captivating, fun, and ultimately moving, and a worthy read for fans of Batman, Green Lantern, Noir, or just good, old storytelling.
Note: the storyline is collected in the Batman: The Man Who Laughs paperback.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Released to much critical acclaim and box-office success, Looking For Mr. Goodbar (1977) encapsulates everything that was wrong with the excesses of 1970's cinema. Adapted from the controversial novel of the same name, Looking For Mr. Goodbar tells the story of Theresa, a young schoolteacher in 1970's San Francisco, who rebels against her strict Catholic upbringing by slowly descending into a life of casual sex, drugs, and bohemianism.
Richard Brooks, who adapted the novel for the screen, directs with a grimy, uncontrolled style, delivering a film that is morally and psychologically shallow, shrill, and borderline repugnant. Exploitive to the core, every minority under the sun is portrayed as either a victim or unstable, and Brooks' attempt at being "hip", by drowning the film in disco tunes and jump cuts, made the film look dated as soon as it was released.
Much has been said about Diane Keaton's performance as Theresa, the sexually adventurous/aggressive protagonist, and it is true that Keaton delivers a mesmerizing performance, but it is also a smug one, and a portrayal that doesn't wholly gel with the writing, producing a character that is equal parts unlikable and tragic. A young Richard Gere as a hyperactive gigolo, and Tom Berenger as a troubled and sexually confused ex-con, are the true scene-stealers in the film.
The epitome of 1970's "socially-conscious" dramas, this is a dated and unredeeming descent into nihilism and ugliness that is not deserving of its praise. Maybe that's the reason why the film has been so hard to find for many decades.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Whether you are into Poe or not, this novel is nothing short of astounding. After burning through it as quickly as I could (which I ultimately regretted doing, since I was so sad when it was over) because it was so compelling and entertaining, I had to sit back and admire how much Pearl has achieved with this book.
Not only has he attempted to solve the mystery of Edgar Allan Poe's death (a mystery which has proven insolvable for over a century) by using clues and evidence that he has gathered through painstaking research, but he has also written one of the best historical novels of all time.
This is a compelling, brilliantly written, meticulously plotted novel that people will continue to talk and argue about for years to come. And as a bonus, it's also one hell of an entertaining ride. Unmissable.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
While Rob Zombie's remake of John Carpenter's original was a fierce and stylish film, Zombie's second time out is, well, something else entirely. With Halloween (2007), Zombie proved he could deliver one helluva an entertaining and scary film, and he managed to add enough new touches to the story to make it feel fresh and updated. But the fact remained that Halloween was, more or less, indebted to Carpenter's vision, and followed the same story, yet with what you might call revisions. What Zombie achieves with Halloween II is to make a film that's entirely his own, taking the Michael Myers mythos in a completely new direction, which is, for better or for worse, startlingly original.
The Plot: After barely surviving her battle with her brother, mass murderer Michael Myers, Laurie Strode tries to go on with her life. But her mind has been deeply scarred by her experiences, and after seeing visions of a still living Myers roaming about, continuing his killing spree, she begins to doubt her sanity. Meanwhile, Michael Myers, whose body was never found, turns out to be alive, and as he is haunted by visions of his dead mother and his younger self urging him to finish his work and "go home", he embarks on a journey back to Haddonfield and his sister, Laurie, whom he intends to kill in order for them all to be united in death as a family.
As the synopsis shows, Zombie takes the story in a bizarre direction, turning Laurie and Michael's tale into a twisted psychological drama, with hallucinatory visions and revelations that add an arguably supernatural bent to the story. But, in truth, one is never completely sure what Zombie is trying to do or say with this film, as the plot is confused, confusing and occasionally repetitive, and the tone of the film is unrelentingly grim.
But despite all that, Zombie succeeds in creating a stylish, visually lush, and narratively adventurous film that is unlike anything that has come before it in the long-running series. And the downbeat and disturbing ending packs a wallop and brings the story to a somewhat satisfying close.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Rob Zombie's remake of John Carpenter's classic slasher film, is a strange beast. It tries to distance itself from the original's aesthetics, yet generously borrows from that film's plot devices, especially in the third act. Add to that a mediocre first act, a trashy second, and liberal doses of gratuitous violence and nudity, and you get a mostly uneven film.
That is, until the climax.
Zombie takes the ending of the original, combines it with a plot element from the sequel to Carpenter's original (also penned by Carpenter), and delivers a whopper of an ending.
Also, Zombie's take on Sam Loomis' character (the Van Helsing-type character that was Michael Myers' psychiatrist and, later, the one who hunts him down) is interesting and inventive, and is bolstered by Michael McDowell's charismatic portrayal of the character.
So, is it better or worse than the original? The answer is: it is a stylish, effective, shocking addition to the Michael Myers mythos, and it's way better than most of the sequels to the original.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
I remember back in October of 2018, when I was sitting in a movie theater, waiting with bated breath for the lights to go down and the credits to roll. It had been a long wait, a wait of decades, to get the so-called definitive sequel to 1978’s Halloween, endorsed by John Carpenter, and starring the original scream queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis.
Then the lights dimmed, the movie started, and, well, reality set in. About fifteen minutes into 2018’s Halloween, co-written and directed by David Gordon Green, I started to get this feeling that something was off. The film looked bland, had no discernible style, had no mood, only a kind of ugliness and a nasty attitude that rubbed me the wrong way. And as the end credits rolled, I felt so disappointed it almost hurt.
As a lifelong fan of the Halloween franchise, and of Carpenter’s oeuvre, I found Green’s Halloween to be the antithesis of the original Halloween. Where the original was atmospheric, elegant, stylish, and nuanced, this “reboot” was style-less, crude, vulgar, and smug. And, for the record, I really liked Rob Zombie’s take on Halloween, which was basically a white-trash/American Gothic version of Carpenter’s original, so it wasn’t like I wasn’t open to a little edge, a little grime, to spice things up.
Then came Halloween Kills, a trite, crass follow-up that amps up the violence to sickening levels, throwing everything but the kitchen sink in a cynical attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator. While Green's Halloween script's left something to be desired, the writing in Halloween Kills is, for the most part, abysmal, with characters speaking stiff dialogue and acting in ways that defy all logic. I’m not even going to get into that timely “message” about mob violence.
Then came the finale, Halloween Ends, a smug, terribly written film which drags the Laurie Strode character through the mud, features one of the most self-indulgent and poorly conceived plotlines in the history of the franchise, and which is executed with the subtlety of a sledge-hammer. Even if Halloween Kills is technically more accomplished and stylistically less crude than its predecessors, it’s still a crushing disappointment, and a terrible ending to an abomination of a trilogy.
I’m being too harsh, you say? Surely, David Gordon Green’s trilogy is better than the bizarre Halloween 5 (1989) or the ludicrously plotted Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers? Not really. Those films were basically low budget, quickly shot sequels without backing from a major studio, and didn’t have any input from Carpenter or Curtis. And they certainly weren’t produced by an Oscar-winning production company.
Gordon’s Halloween trilogy boasts higher budgets, a number of high-caliber screenwriters, backing by Universal and Blumhouse, and “input” from Carpenter himself. Gordon and company had every resource at their disposal to make good movies. They didn’t. What they delivered were three cynical, downbeat films, each worse than the one that came before it. Gordon and his team seem to be more interested in being edgy and abrasive, than in delivering legacy sequels that respect the franchise and the audience.
A big part of the blame has to fall on Carpenter’s shoulders, who has been constantly promoting this trilogy for four years, calling Green a great filmmaker, and praising the films to high heaven, which made fans, like myself, have sky-high expectations. One has to wonder if Carpenter’s self-confessed delight at receiving checks for doing nothing has something to do with it.
For me, after four years of waiting, watching, and enduring these films, I’m going to dim the lights, grab a bowl of popcorn, and watch a film that Carpenter has called an abomination. But, for my money, Halloween II (1981) beats the hell out of Gordon’s trilogy, a real abomination, any day of the week.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Compelling, atmospheric Gothic mystery, dripping with mood and menace, about a young, struggling actress getting embroiled with a couple of disturbed elderly men in an isolated old house during a winter storm. Roddy McDowell is terrific as a servile but unhinged assistant to Jan Rubes' charming - and over-the-top - psychopath. Arthur Penn directs with a steady hand, with lots of sly nods to Hitchcock, and Mary Steenburgen gives one of her better performances. The climax goes all-out Gothic shocker, and devolves into silliness, but, overall, this is a timeless suspense piece that is good for a chilly winter's night.
* A loose remake of Joseph H. Lewis's My Name Is Julia Ross (1945).
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Dean Koontz returns to some of his favorite themes in The Big Dark Sky, letting his obsessions, fears, and hopes all come through loud and clear. And in doing so creates one of his most effective and memorable novels in years. Although Koontz came close with his wonderful novel Devoted, published in 2020, The Big Dark Sky is a better, more nuanced book in many ways. It is also much darker.
The plot: A group of people from different backgrounds has converged at a remote ranch in Montana. Each person has a reason to go there, from facing painful childhood memories, to investigating a series of strange phenomena, to escaping from a seemingly omnipotent killer. Each one of them is haunted, seeking answers to questions they can no longer ignore. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the ranch, a disturbed visionary works on completing his manifesto of terror and mass murder, unaware that his fate is also connected to the ranch and the people headed there.
With echoes from some of his earlier books, especially Phantoms, Strangers, and Demon Seed, Koontz delivers a tale that is compelling, wondrous, and disturbing. It has a questioning, marveling quality and a nasty, darkly witty edge that have been missing from his books for years.
It isn't a perfect book, though, with a number of slow-going chapters near the beginning of the book, and a short slump around the middle section. But for the most part, the writing is crisp, the main concept fascinating, and the characters likable. And the villain is one of the most terrifying creations of Koontz's career. Highly recommended for fans and newcomers alike.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Adapted for the screen by Andrew Klavan (from a novel by Simon Brett), and directed by TV and stage veteran Jan Egleson, A Shock to The System (1990) is a strange creature: a Hollywood movie made at the tail-end of the Regan years, yet one that approaches its subject matter - greed - with a subtlety and wit rarely found in the reactionary filmmaking of that era.
The premise is simple: Graham Marshall (Michael Caine), a middle-aged, modestly ambitious man, leads a moderately successful life, both professionally and personally. But when he is passed over for promotion by a brash and much younger colleague, he is shocked. And, slowly, Graham finds himself being drawn to a darker way of doing things, as he slowly but surely reaps the rewards of his misdeeds and climbs the corporate ladder.
The story, of the older, meek man slowly going dark, is a hoary, tired concept that, by the 1990s, had been done to death. But in the hands of screenwriter Klavan and director Egleson, this exhausted concept becomes fresh, compelling, and wryly funny. Egleson's direction, in particular, is so steady, so visually elegant, that it lends both the darker and darkly funny aspects of the script a surprisingly refined tone, making A Shock to The System one of the best films about corporate greed to ever come out of Hollywood.
But writing and direction aside, this is Michael Caine's show, as he takes a difficult role, and one which could have easily become a grating caricature in the hands of a less capable actor, and turns it into a believable, charming, and disturbing character that is always threatening to spiral out of control into the realm of the absurd, but never does. With dry humor and tremendous restraint, Caine portrays Graham as a man who gets a taste of evil by accident, and, as a result, transforms his life into a marvel of devious design; a man who sees himself as some sort of dark sorcerer who has found the keys to the world.
Yes, some of the twists and turns are a bit far-fetched, and Egleson lays it on a bit thick when it comes to depicting what greed has done to the New York city of the 1980s and 90s. But, for the most part, A Shock to The System tells a riveting tale about the decay of corporate culture, and how a new generation of morally bankrupt over-achievers created a system that breeds greed and immorality. And like its corrupt protagonist, A Shock to The System manages to fulfill its ambitions so well, it's almost a magic act.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Scott Derrickson co-wrote and directed Sinister (2012) one of the scariest movies ever made. But he also co-wrote Sinister 2 (2015), a deeply disappointing sequel, and co-wrote and directed Doctor Strange (2016), a bland and forgettable Marvel extravaganza. The Black Phone (2022), Derrickson's seventh feature film, is one of his better efforts. It's compelling, hits plenty of emotional notes, and features a disturbing villain.
Loosely based on a short story by Joe Hill, the movie revolves around Finney Shaw, a shy 13-year-old boy living with an abusive, alcoholic father. When he's abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement, he feels helpless and close to death. Then, suddenly, a disconnected phone on the wall rings, and Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. It's a helluva hook, and Derrickson milks it for all its worth, delivering a number of tense and disturbing sequences, as Finney tries to find a way out before his abductor strikes.
But a strong hook aside, The Black Phone has its share of problems. With the exception of Finney, wonderfully played by Mason Thames, and Robin, memorably portrayed by Miguel Cazarez Mora, the rest of the characters are little more than the sum of their parts, with each character seeming to be there to catalyze a plot point or fulfill an emotional beat, while the villain, The Grabber, played by a game Ethan Hawke, comes off as two-dimensional and unoriginal. The plotting is also creaky, with storylines coming and going, as if there are three different movies taking place at the same time, resulting in a story that never really gels. And for a film about survival and overcoming, the tone is relentlessly dour. And even when a light finally shines at the end of the tunnel, it isn't as uplifting or moving as it should be, with the ending leaving somewhat of a sour aftertaste.
But, for the most part, The Black Phone hits more than it misses, and is an affecting and heartfelt movie in many ways. And its depiction of the role of faith at times of crisis is a breath of fresh air, especially coming from an industry that seems to export misery and nihilism by the truckload. One just wishes the movie was twenty minutes shorter and packed more of a punch.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Following on his hugely successful and tremendously entertaining novel Frankenstein Unbound, which combined time-travel with a post-modernist revision of Mary Shelley's life and her most famous novel, Brian Aldiss dips into the same well with Dracula Unbound, his attempt to do something similar with Bram Stoker's Gothic masterpiece.
Alas, the second time is not the charm. Where Frankenstein Unbound was fast-paced, coherent, and thought-provoking, Dracula Unbound is slow, meandering, and intellectually lukewarm.
The plot (from the publisher's blurb): In the barren dust of the far future, the sun leaks energy in a darkening sky and the only remaining humans are imprisoned by spectral, bloodthirsty beings. Back in the brilliant Utah sunlight of 1999, two ancient graves yield evidence that a species of human coexisted with the dinosaurs . . . Linking these scenarios is impetuous inventor Joe Bodenland (the protagonist of Frankenstein Unbound), who has just created a machine that manipulates time to dispose of hazardous waste . . .
Where's Dracula, you ask? Well, without revealing too much, let's just say that Bodenland manages to go back in time, meet Bram Stoker, and together they hunt down the vampiric creature that will later inspire Stoker to revise his masterpiece.
As is obvious from the synopsis, the plot is confusing and confused, and Aldiss, never a writer to dwell on characters' motivations and psychology, is at his worst here, with characters that are mere sketches, and dialogue that is woefully artificial.
And unlike in Frankenstein Unbound, where he treated the source material and its author with reverence, here, Aldiss foregoes the tone and mood of the original novel, and seems intent on ridiculing Stoker, portraying him as a staunchly conservative, syphilitic hypocrite, who is always eager to do battle for "God and Country" at the drop of a pin. Aldiss, who has a penchant for psycho-sexualizing his stories at the expense of quality, misses the mark here, and his portrayal of Stoker is nothing less than offensive, especially since in his afterword he mentions relying for his research on two highly-contested biographies: A Biography of Dracula: The Life Story of Bram Stoker by Harry Ludlum, and The Man Who Wrote Dracula: A Biography of Bram Stoker by Daniel Farson *.
But all could have been forgiven if the story had been compelling. But it isn't, and fans of Stoker and his novel will be disappointed by what Aldiss does with and to them.
Still, the novel is high on imagination, even if it is low on craft, and it is an interesting misfire by a singular author.
* For a more balanced analysis of the novel Dracula, and the life of Bram Stoker, check out Elizabeth Miller's brilliant essay, Coitus Interruptus: Sex, Bram Stoker, and Dracula, available here.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
With Halloween (2018), co-writer/director David Gordon Green made his intentions clear. He basically took the template and prestige of John Carpenter's original masterpiece and used them to create something of an abomination: a soulless and mostly artless horror movie that basically inverts everything Carpenter did in his original. Carpenter's movie was elegant, restrained, and full of atmosphere. Green's was crass, sloppy, and virtually devoid of any flavor. Carpenter's ending was haunting and subdued. Green's ending was preachy and over-the-top.
And now we come to Green's sequel, Halloween Kills (2022). There isn't much to add, really. It's a tad less crass, but it's even more meat-headed than Halloween (2018), and Green amps up the violence to sickening levels, throwing everything but the kitchen sink in a cynical attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator. While Green's Halloween script's left something to be desired, the writing in Halloween Kills is, for the most part, abysmal, with characters speaking stiff dialogue and acting in ways that defy all logic. Add to that Green and company's including a "message" about the madness of crowds in a film that is already politically-corrected to within an inch of its life, and you get something that is simultaneously bland, offensive, and forgettable.
Although Halloween Kills has its moments, they are few and far between, and one can only guess why Carpenter would add his name and blessing to such a mess of a sequel to his beloved classic.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
Back in the 1990s, HBO was the cable channel. It exuded class and daring, with its ability to attract top-notch Hollywood talent, in front and behind the camera, by offering filmmakers creative freedom and good budgets. These “HBO Originals”, mostly features and mini-series, offered the average viewer some of the most original and eclectic programming on TV. It was Netflix before Netflix. It was "Prestige TV" before the term was even coined.
Mistrial (1996) written and directed by filmmaker, novelist, and all around renaissance man Heywood Gould, and starring Bill Pullman in one of his best roles, is, to some extent, a case in point.
The plot (from Gould's official site): An angry cop literally kidnaps a court proceeding in a desperate bid for justice. Eddie Rios stands accused of the murder of two police officers, but he’s found not guilty due to a lack of proper evidence. Steve Donohue, the detective who brought Rios in, is outraged by this decision, and in a burst of anger he pulls his gun and holds the defendant, the judge, and the jury hostage, demanding they immediately retry Rios, with Donohue presenting evidence he was forbidden to show the jury due to legal technicalities.
It's a melodramatic high-concept, and Gould provides all involved, especially John Seda as Rios, and Robert Loggia as the police captain, ample opportunity to shine. But it's Bill Pullman as Donahue, a cop at the end of his rope, who pulls the whole thing together, with a performance that is nothing short of a career highlight. Although Gould tries to keep things gritty and even-handed, his direction is too staid, too flavorless for its own good. Still, Pullman overcomes the faults in the writing and directing, playing off an invested Seda, who takes a thankless role and imbues it with enough gravitas and pathos to make it palatable.
While the final twist isn't much of a revelation, and many of Gould's technical choices leave something to be desired, Mistrial mostly works because of Pullman, and a script that dares to ask uncomfortable questions about what it takes to maintain law and order, and the problem of criminals hiding behind political correctness and public sentiment. And, most of all, Mistrial doesn't pander, to anyone. Something HBO and other major Hollywood players seem to be doing a lot of these days.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast
First published in 2002, From A Buick 8, is midrange Stephen King, which means his irresistible voice and mastery of style are there, drawing the reader and moving the story along. But it also means that, like other King midrange novels, think Firestarter, The Dark Half, and Gerald’s Game, the plot is thin, the characters not very memorable, and the ending problematic.
The story. members of Troop Dee, a Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Western Pennsylvania, come across an abandoned Buick that resembles a vintage blue 1953 Buick Roadmaster. Slowly, they start to realise that it isn’t a car at all, but something other.
The story is told as a series of recollections by different troopers, and their experiences range from the nerve-wracking to the horrific. The book is at its best during these episodes, which are like tightly-written vignettes of imaginative weird fiction. But when King focuses on the characters and their inner thoughts, the book stumbles, as none of the characters are very interesting, and the plot is nothing less than a concept stretched to its breaking point. This is most apparent during the book’s climax, an unimaginative and predictable sequence that is short on thrills and catharsis.
Light on plot but highly readable, From A Buick 8 is King-lite, and one of the first books where King started to show signs of leaning too heavily on sentimentality instead of on structure and genuine emotions. But King is King, and one usually knows what they are getting when they pick up one of his books, an entertaining page-turner, which From A Buick 8 surely is.
- Your host, A. K., talks with collector and independent researcher Simon Dunant, about Hugh Walpole, a
near-forgotten author from the early 20th century, whose body of work (which includes everything from Gothic Horror to Historical Fiction) is ripe for rediscovery. We delve into Walpole's fascinating life, his best novels, and Dunant's fantastic website, The Walpole Chronicles.
The Dark Forest is considered by many one of Hugh Walpole’s best novels. On the surface, it’s easy to see why. It deals with the always relevant subject matter of the effects of war on life, society, and the human soul. Walpole, ever the sentimentalist, would seem to be the ideal choice to write a tear-jerker about life in the trenches of battle, in war-torn Russia during the First World War. But Walpole as a person and as an author, was hard to pin down, and his take on the anti-war novel is somewhat different than one would expect.
The book tells the story of John Durward and John Trenchard, two Englishmen who join a company of Russian doctors working on the Russian side of the Eastern Front during World War I. Durward, the narrator, is practical and open-minded, and is arguably a stand-in for Walpole himself, while Trenchard is a dreamy, clumsy, and naïve man, who Durward at first dislikes, then slowly starts to grow fond of, foibles and all.
Although Walpole proves himself more than capable of depicting the grim reality of war, it’s not his main focus here, as he seems more interested in the psychology of his characters - especially Trenchard - and why they do the things they do. He delves into concepts of valor, motivation, and the effect of love, both romantic and platonic, on the unimaginative man. And as the story builds and the horror mounts, the book slowly transforms into a sort of existential dark dream that ends on a devastating note.
It’s not a perfect book, and, in my humble opinion, not even one of Walpole’s best, with the main character, Durward, coming off as cold and forgettable, and, as usual with Walpole, the psychology can get a little too simplistic and clumsy. But as is also usual with Walpole, there are passages, images, and truths that transcend time and place, and the writing is occasionally so heartfelt, so honest, that one has no option but to surrender to its beauty.
The Dark Forest is a flawed and fascinating book, and one which signaled Walpole’s growing fascination with Russia, about which he would write several books, all fueled by his harrowing experiences as a volunteer for the Russian Red Cross in the First World War.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
Diverting The Shadow story, with twists aplenty, about a lavish money counterfeiting scheme, political maneuvering, and the dead coming back to life! It's mid-range Gibson, which means that it's never boring but pretty forgettable, with The Shadow playing a somewhat minor role.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
The history of the Batman on the big screen is a tale of ups and downs. And depending on who’s watching, the perception of the character itself is as diverse as the many versions portrayed in comic books and on screen. From the terrible campiness of Batman and Robin, released in 1997, to the haunting final scenes of The Dark Night Returns, released in 2008, Batman has gone through it all.
Then there is 2022’s The Batman, a triumph to some, an epic failure to others.
Following on the heels of Christopher Nolan’s superb The Dark Knight trilogy, any filmmaker would have struggled to find an angle, an attitude with which to deal with the character of Batman that would feel stylish and fresh. Co-writer/director Matt Reeves, a master of visual style and big canvass cinematic storytelling, tries to do just that, choosing to start his version in year two of the Batman’s adventures. It’s a risky but potentially rewarding move, giving the film an urgency and a freshness that could pat off.
But the problem with The Batman is apparent from the get-go. It is the film’s tone. From the first few minutes, the ominous music and Robert Pattinson’s heavy-handed voice over, there’s something off about this approach. And it becomes clear as the story progresses and the minutes, and then the hours, pile up, the filmmakers behind this tale take more wrong steps than right ones.
With a convoluted and tired plot involving everything from a serial killer, to crime bosses The Penguin and Carmine Falcone, to a vengeful Catwoman, to Bruce Wayne’s struggles with his own past, nothing here feels new or compelling. Under layers of special make-up, Colin Farrell as The Penguin is little more than a rehash of Robert DeNiro’s Al Capone from 1987’s The Untouchables, and Paul Dano’s portrayal of The Riddler is a terrible miscalculation on every level, coming off as annoying, laughable, and deeply embarrassing to watch. Zoe Kravitz is serviceable as Selina Kyle a.k.a Catwoman, but the fault lies mostly with the writing, taking one of DC Comics’ most fascinating anti-heroines and turning her into a resentful, psychologically bland character who is basically little more than a victim.
Then there’s Robert Pattinson as The Batman. Pattinson, a charismatic and photogenic actor, isn’t really the right choice for Bruce Wayne/The Batman. He has the good looks, but lacks the physicality and the nuance needed for such a psychologically complex character. His performance is good but ultimately unremarkable, and again the confused script doesn’t help. Of the main cast, only Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone acquit themselves.
Which brings us to the main problem with The Batman. Matt Reeves. As co-writer and director, Reeves is wholly to blame for why the movie doesn’t work. It is obvious that Reeves tries to present Batman in a new light, one that is timely, politically correct, and, at the same time, admirable. It is a near-impossible task, and Reeves’s approach, an off-putting combination of po-faced seriousness and emotional manipulation, works against a story that needs all the help it can get.
Arguably, Reeves and company seem to be making some sort of statement against mob rule, violence, and sentiment overruling reason, but, at the same time, the approach is emotionally manipulative, and the script’s attempts at rationalizing victimhood, terrorism, and thievery as the last resort of the so-called oppressed, is problematic to say the least. Reeves also seems intent on deflating and demythologizing Batman, depicting him as a rash, occasionally violent vigilante who is in many ways responsible for inspiring violent, resentful, and mentally unbalanced individuals, an inversion of everything the character of Batman has ever stood for. This narrative choice might have come off much better if Bruce Wayne’s motives and psychology were delved into with any semblance of depth, which is not the case here. This seems to stem from Reeves himself not having much love for the character of Batman. In a Time magazine interview, he calls The Batman, “completely sheltered and has this moral superiority… He encounters Catwoman in the underworld and assumes she’s morally corrupt. And he’s entirely wrong about her because he didn’t have to struggle.”
The movie does end on a thought-provoking note, with a humbled and contemplative Batman rethinking his approach, and trying harder to set a better example. But it is a downbeat ending to a downbeat film, which commits the cardinal sin of being the least entertaining Batman film ever made, and one which fails where it really counts: presenting Batman as a hero who is flawed, but, in the end, an inspiration.
Overall, The Batman is a morose and bloated film. At its best, it is visually stylish. At its worst, it comes off as a mediocre crime drama which happens to feature Batman.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
Carol O’Connell has to be one of the most underrated crime fiction writers of all-time. Her books are atmospheric, eccentric, and feature tremendously original plots. Crime School is no exception.
The plot: Police Detective Kathleen "Kathy" Mallory, a cold, hyper-intelligent young woman, recognizes a recent victim of a brutal attack as Sparrow, a prostitute she knew from her past who protected her on the streets of New York when Kathleen was a homeless child on the run. Slowly, clues reveal that this attack might be the work of a copy-cat killer who is repeating crimes from more than twenty years ago. But Kathy is worried, and so is her older partner Riker, as it seems that Mallory's past has finally caught up with her.
The above synopsis does the book a disservice, as O’Connell’s books are never about plots, which are usually serpentine and overly-complex. Instead, her books are about the journey, the characters, the unique voice that is both modernist and classical; accessible yet strange. O’Connell has a tendency towards self-indulgence, often losing herself in bizarre asides and overly quirky situations, elements which are more pronounced in her less effective novels, like Stone Angel, and Shell Game, also featuring Mallory. But here, although these distractions are present, O’Connell’s writing, for the most part, is at its finest, weaving myriad strands and fascinating psychological details into a compelling, haunting story about memory, trust, the magic of storytelling, and the beauty of an unsolvable mystery. The novel also pulls off the neat trick of working both as a stand-alone story, and as an introduction to the adventures of Mallory, of which this is the sixth volume, while ending on a pitch perfect note that could have served just as well as the series’ finale.
Crime School is crime fiction at its best, entertaining, moody, original, and with a touch of the surreal. If you’re new to the Mallory novels, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. If you’re already a fan, you’re in for a treat.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
Quicksilver is a problematic book to review, to say the least. It's Koontz mostly on autopilot, rehashing themes, ideas, and plotlines that he's always been obsessed with. It's a "tell" book, not a "show" book, meaning that Koontz tells the story mostly through dialogue.
The plot is slight: a young journalist who suddenly finds his life turned upside down when two mysterious men in black try to kidnap him. From there, he is hurled into a strange adventure that involves guns, monsters, and horrific visions. Koontz basically uses this threadbare and tired concept to wax poetic on the horrors of nihilism, totalitarianism, and the weight of personal courage in times of mass evil. The tone shifts from funny, to preachy, to, ultimately, troubling violence, leading to a tepid ending.
Surprisingly, it builds to a somewhat dark last third that is relatively affecting, with a shift of tone that some might find jarring.
Overall, it's an uneven, overlong, forgettable novel, but one which has something of value to say, even if it takes its sweet time and oodles of self-indulgence on Koontz's part to get there.
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
Part of the DC Universe line of novels that came out a few years ago, Helltown focuses on the origin story of one of DC Comics' lesser known but most intriguing characters, The Question. But that's not all this book is about. No. This is a damn fine novel that combines action, pop philosophy, atmosphere and strong, smooth writing to produce something truly enjoyable.
The story: Vic Sage returns to his hometown, Hub City, in search of his parents' identity (he was brought up in an orphanage), to discover that it has become a cesspool of violence and hatred run by criminals and corrupt politicians. Soon after his arrival he attracts the attention of the mayor and his thugs, which leads to him being beaten almost to death and rescued by a mysterious warrior who calls herself Shiva. He is then taken to an enigmatic mentor named Richard Dragon, who, at the request of Shiva, begins to transform Sage into a warrior. But Sage feels that something is missing in his life, questions that need to be answered. So he decides to return to Hub City, and, as a vigilante named The Question, find those answers, no matter what the cost.
The Question, as envisioned by veteran comic book writer Dennis O'Neil, is a complex, enigmatic character, that is both unique and reminiscent of the greatest characters to ever grace the pages of comic books. He is a conflicted character on a dark quest, an intriguing, norish hero. But what truly sets him apart are his flaws, his humanity, and his background. Here is a character that's neither rich nor formally educated, has no sidekicks or friends, no gadgets other than his costume and mask (that change color at will). He is human, has no superpowers, and isn't really a great detective. But that's what makes him interesting. O'Neil, who also penned the ground-breaking comic book series about The Question back in the Eighties, has a masterful command of the complex nature of the character and his inner struggles. He also anchors the story in reality, giving the book a gritty, somewhat bleak feel, which suit the character and his quest. And despite the appearance of Batman, who plays a major role in the story, he doesn't overshadow Vic Sage/The Question, which is a testament to O'Neil's strong writing.
Although the main villains of the book are borderline caricatures and the main mystery is so slight it's almost a McGuffin, this is a multi-layered, well-written, compelling book that is a must for fans of DC Comics, comic books, and mysteries. An overlooked gem
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. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
- Your host, A. K., talks about rediscovering the black and white Hitchcock films of the 1920s and 30s, like Number 17 (1932) and Blackmail (1930).
- A tribute to the late, great David Williams, rhythm guitarist extraordinaire, who collaborated with every one from Michael Jackson, to Madonna, to Bryan Ferry.
