Powerful, affecting story, about a young woman who has her quiet life turned upside down after her fiance is murdered, and she stumbles upon a plot by an evil billionaire to take by force a piece of forested land near her home.
The Forest of Lost Souls is one of Koontz's best and most thought-provoking books, despite a slow start, and Koontz’s penchant for preaching and cute characters.
Koontz uses a simple premise as a launching pad to delve into the worlds of mythology, righteous violence, totalitarian states, and most importantly, faith.
It features many of Koontz’s usual obsessions (the dark side of technology, the cost of necessary violence, the dilemma of the conscientious in a fallen world), but still feels fresh and full of life, with vivid writing, an accelerating pace, and interesting characters.
And although the ending is somewhat abrupt, his writing here is some of his most transcendent and ebullient; a somewhat remarkable achievement for a writer at this late stage in his career.
The Forest of Lost Souls is a must for Koontz fans, and a great introduction to the author’s work for newcomers.
Remaking classics is an unenviable task. Be too reverent to the original, and you are accused of being lazy. Deviate too much, and you can be criticized for being disrespectful.
Remaking Hitchcock, on the other hand, is a near impossible task. As Hitchcock is almost universally hailed as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, filmmaker of all time.
Most sane filmmakers avoid that choice, and those who take the plunge, mostly fail miserably. Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Psycho being a case in point.
1998's A Perfect Murder, is a surprising exception.
Based on the same Frederick Knott play that Hitchcock's 1954 Dial M For Murder was based on, A Perfect Murder achieves the almost impossible. It is a remake of a Hitchcock film that is superior to the original in every way.
At first glance, that assessment may seem hyperbolic, but a closer and honest look at Hitchcock's original film reveals more.
Dial M For Murder is, arguably, one of the master filmmaker's blandest and sloppiest films. Hitchcock, who always liked a challenge, tried to turn the original play the film was based on into what he termed, “pure cinema”. But, alas, Hitchcock failed on almost every front. Dial M For Murder comes off as stagy, stiff, and surprisingly boring, a rare misfire from the master of suspense. The only real high point in the whole film is Ray Milland's wonderful performance, a nasty but never hammy exercise in sheer, dark charisma.
A Perfect Murder, adapted by Patrick Smith Kelly, and directed by veteran action director Andrew Davis, is one of those rare modern Hollywood movies in which the ingredients gel, and everyone involved perform way above their pay grade.
Davis, mainly known for his action pictures in the 1980s, and the 1993 blockbuster The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford, had nothing in his oeuvre to indicate that he was capable of making a film like A Perfect Murder, an elegant, lean, and tremendously assured thriller.
The concept is the same as in the Hitchcock original. An aging man about to lose his fortune hires his wife's lover to kill her so he can inherit her considerable estate. He meticulously plans her murder, thinking nothing would go wrong. But things do go wrong, and a cat and mouse game ensues.
While Dial M For Murder was talky and stagy, A Perfect Murder is visually-driven and kinetic. Dial M For Murder comes off as bland and slow. A Perfect Murder, on the other hand, is stylish and compelling. And while Michael Douglas doesn't come close to Ray Milland's mesmerizing portrayal, he delivers an assured and understated performance, arguably one of the best of his career.
Gwyneth Paltrow as the wife doesn't fare much better than Grace Kelly did in the original, as, in both movies, the character is underwritten and uninteresting, mostly a mcguffin to get things rolling.
Viggo Mortensen as the lover fares better, delivering an enjoyable performance that does much with very little.
But the real star here is director Andrew Davis, who delivers a near classic late in his career, the kind of stylish, lean thriller no one could have expected from the journeyman director. Here, Davis is in complete control of the material, crafting a film that hums along so well, it deceptively hides the scope of his achievement, which is making the kind of film that is mostly a lost art. The elegant, twisty, and far-fetched thriller that could only come out of Hollywood at its best.
And while the script by Patrick Smith Kelly works well enough, it isn't perfect, with a somewhat problematic third act, and the bizarre inclusion of a middle-eastern detective, played with jarring portentousness by David Suchet.
But these are minor quibbles. A Perfect Murder is pure, high-caliber entertainment, and one which should not be missed by fans of classic thrillers.
A serial killer on death row. The day of his scheduled execution. A state-appointed psychiatrist comes to evaluate the killer's mental competency. If the inmate is found insane, a stay of execution will be issued. Problem is, the killer claims to be possessed by a demon named Nefarious, a manipulative evil entity that is out to spread a “dark gospel” to all of humanity. What follows is a psychological/philosophical game of cat and mouse between the psychiatrist, a man of science and an atheist, and an ingenious killer who may or may not be a servant of hell.
Nefarious (2023) has, excuse the pun, one hell of a set-up. Too bad it doesn't deliver.
From the opening scene, which features a not so subtle hint that there are otherworldly forces at play, it’s obvious that the filmmakers aren't really in total control of the film's tone. The main crux of the film is the discourse between the psychiatrist and the inmate. Such a set-up depends mainly on the quality of the dialogue and performances. In Nefarious' case, both are sadly lacking.
Sean Patrick Flannery, a capable and versatile actor, delivers a twitchy, grating performance as the killer slash demon, and his dialogue is so on the nose about the film's message of a new dark age brought about by corrupt institutions and radical leftist ideology, that by the midway point, the film has little to offer. Jordan Belfi, on the other hand, is miscast as the slick, complacent psychiatrist, whose materialist worldview is seemingly no match for the spiritual maneuvering of the killer. While the script does little to add depth to either character, or provide any plot twists that haven't already been done to death.
The direction, by writing/directing team Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, is competent but uninspired, giving the film an amateurish, bland feel, mainly due to a lack of atmosphere and an engaging sound design, both of which are musts for a film of this genre.
I went into Nefarious really wanting to like it, as I'm always on the side of a good independent film that has the courage to go against the mainstream. But Nefarious is a hard film to defend, as it commits the cardinal sin of most faith-based, and rigidly ideological films: it preaches to the choir, while not doing enough to win over viewers with different politics or worldviews.
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
The less you know about Sympathy For The Devil (2023), the better.
That’s not to say that the plot is full of surprises, or that it’s somehow original. But the enjoyment of this kind of movie, centered on two characters, and structured around unraveling their pasts at a leisurely pace, depends on the viewer going in cold.
The plot: a meek middle-aged man (Joel Kinneman) on his way to the hospital for the birth of his second child, gets taken hostage at gunpoint by an unstable stranger dressed in red (Nicolas Cage). Under the stranger’s direction, they go on the road to destinations unknown. By the end of the journey, one of them will be dead.
It’s an intriguing, reliable concept, and director Yuval Adler handles it well enough, while Kinneman delivers a good performance as an everyday man in over his head, facing an almost demonic villain, played with enjoyable ferocity by Cage.
Problem is, everything about the film comes off as uneven. While Adler manages to create a compelling watching experience that has a certain mood, he doesn’t really have total command of the film’s tone. The film begins as a serious psychological thriller with existential undertones, then veers into standard revenge thriller territory, with Cage both enlivening and confusing matters with a bonkers performance that seems to promise revelations that never come.
The ending is not exactly surprising for this type of story, and seems to hint at some kind of religious/spiritual subtext that must have got lost in the way.
In the end, Sympathy For The Devil is a flawed but compelling night journey into the pasts of haunted men.
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
Next (2006), the last novel to be published by Michael Crichton during his lifetime, is kind of a greatest hits collection. Yet, in a way, it’s also unlike anything he’d written before. It combines many of his favorite themes and obsessions, to produce a book that is bitingly satirical, surprisingly cynical, and, paradoxically, one of his most humane.
Crichton goes for broke here, creating a multi-layered and sprawling novel with a multitude of characters and plotlines, some of which, by the end of the book, will converge. It’s useless to go into details about the story itself. The plot is just too complex to summarize. Suffice it to say that Crichton tackles the issue of gene patenting, and how playing God leads to complicated and, sometimes, disastrous consequences.
He’s dealt with these issues before in many of his books, but never in such an assured and humorous manner.
Next is the work of a writer at the peak of his powers, using every technique at his disposal, every lesson learned from a lifetime of writing. With Next, Crichton creates the sort of novel 2003's State of Fear should have been. With State of Fear, Crichton courageously took on the global warming/climate change hysteria, and tried to expose those he called “catastrophists”, scientists, politicians, and media personalities who use genuine environmental concerns, and blow them all out of proportion to induce fear and gain control of public opinion for their own benefit. But the novel came across as half-cooked and meandering, and didn't really make its point that clear.
Next, on the other hand, fires on almost all cylinders, with Crichton in complete control of his narrative. He takes on politicians, tech moguls, corrupt scientists, ego-maniacal businessmen, evangelists, and many more, with gleeful, dark humor.
Sometimes he lays it on a bit too thick, and his vitriol isn't always evenly meted out, but he succeeds in producing a piece of work that is literally unputdownable, and a joy to read; one of the few Crichton books I felt I could re-read almost instantly.
While not as propulsive and action-packed as some of his best techno-thrillers, Next is a terrific, intelligent novel, filled to the brim with ideas, many of which are thought-provoking and more timely than ever.
A must for fans. For newcomers to Crichton's work, I'd recommend The Andromeda Strain or Airframe.
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
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
Ed Gorman is a master. During the 1980’s and 90’s, his books were constant “mid-listers”, which means somewhere in the middle of the bestseller lists. He never had a huge hit (like some of his contemporaries Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Dean Koontz), but his short, infinitely readable novels were – and still are – a treasure trove for the discerning reader. Cage Of Night is no exception.
Written in Gorman’s minimalist, smooth prose, and comprised of short, punchy chapters, this is a mesmerizing, haunting, and endlessly compelling tale about a young man returning from his sojourn in the military, to his small home town, only to get entangled with a seductive young woman, who may or may not be insane. And what is that entity dwelling in that old well that calls for him? To say any more about the plot would be unfair to the book and the reader, but suffice it to say, this is a brilliantly crafted tale of suspense, with a dash of Jamesian psychological horror to spice things up.
If you’ve missed Ed Gorman, you’ve missed something very special, and Cage of Night is a fine example of what this talented author has to offer. Highly recommended for fans of Dean Koontz, Ira Levin, Charles L. Grant, and Cornel Woolrich.
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
A literary experiment comprised of 12 interconnected novellas, about an amnesiac vigilante who hunts down killers who have escaped the grip of the law. This is Koontz at his darkest and angriest, a side of him that readers rarely get to see, especially in the past 30 years or so. The main character is interesting if too enigmatic for his own good, and the 12 stories vary in quality and style. The first season is more episodic in nature, which makes for a somewhat uneven bunch of tales, but with each installment the main story, of the secrets behind Nameless's mission, gets darker and more exciting, all leading up to an ending that, though not very surprising, is powerful and moving, if a bit troubling in its implication that violence maybe inescapable and comes at a high cost. A must for Koontz fans, and a perfect introduction to readers new to his work.
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
First published in 1980 under the pseudonym Brian Coffey, and later released under his own name in 1991, The Voice of The Night is one of Dean Koontz’s best, yet least known, novels. It is one of his most understated books, and his only coming-of-age tale.
The story, about Colin, a 14 year-old outcast who befriends Roy, the coolest kid in town, only to find out that his new friend might be a psychopath, isn’t original, but Koontz has a lot more on his mind than delivering a mere suspense novel, although The Voice of The Night works quite well as one.
Koontz, who has been very open about his childhood traumas involving parental abuse, writes here with a candor, with an urgency, that is rare in his work. On the surface, this is a compelling page-turner about a child’s loss of innocence, and the realization that the world is a much darker place than previously imagined. Colin, a “geeky” teen, who spends his time reading horror and sci-fi to escape his loneliness, is a wonderfully drawn character. He is likeable, vulnerable, and real. Which makes his rude awakening all the more heartbreaking. Slowly, as Roy reveals one layer of his psyche after another, Colin starts to see what his friend, and the world, are really like. Ghouls, monsters, and aliens are good for a brief glimpse into a darkness imagined, but true human evil is an abyss.
This is heartfelt stuff, as Koontz vividly and realistically paints an honest picture of a lonely, alienated boy, starved for attention and companionship. His father is an aggressive, gruff man, who bullies his son for being sensitive; and his mother is a self-involved, absentee parent who doesn’t really make the effort to understand the complex nature of her son and his worries.
Koontz’s writing here is solid, unfussy, and, for the most part, confident. The dialogue flows smoothly, capturing the combination of innocence and vulgarity that is unique to teenage conversations. And his command of atmosphere is impressive, conjuring an evocative feel for the small California town, its beauty, its dark secrets, with a few clear sentences, unlike the verbose, and occasionally trying, style he would later adopt in many of his novels from the mid 1990s onward. The plotting is a bit bumpy, and Roy is never fully realized as a believable villain. While the ending, though hard-hitting, is a bit rushed. But the closing lines are both moving and disturbing.
The Voice of The Night is one of the few novels where Koontz faces the dark full on, with only a glimmer of hope. It is one of his rawest, darkest books, and one of the best American horror coming-of-age novels to come out of the 1980s, preceding, and, in many ways, surpassing, the Stephen King novels dealing with similar themes that would make King one of the most popular writers of all time. Highly recommended.
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
Reportedly admired by Hitchcock, who later adapted it twice for his TV show, Hitchcock Presents, So Long At The Fair (1950) is a highly effective period thriller.
The plot is a familiar one by now, variations of it appearing in many movies and TV shows, most famously in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). A young woman, Vicky, and her brother Johnny, travel to late 19th century Paris to attend the Exposition Universelle. Shortly after arrival, Johnny feels ill and retires to his hotel room early. The next day, Vicky wakes up to discover that her brother is nowhere to be found, his room gone, and that no one in the hotel seems to remember him ever being there. Has she gone mad, or is there something more sinister at play?
Fans of Hitchcock, and classic mystery fiction for that matter, will probably guess the solution to the puzzle long before the credits roll. But directors Terence Fisher and Anthony Darnborough keep things moving at such a brisk pace and with such technical elegance, that even if the viewer knows the outcome, the film remains absorbing and suspenseful. Most of the weight lies on Jean Simmons' shoulder as Vicky, and she handles it with aplomb, even if aspects of her performance are a bit of their time. And Cathleen Nesbitt as Madame Hervé, the conniving hotel owner, is a terrific villain. A young Dirk Bogarde is unimpressive, not having yet blossomed into the British art-house icon he would become in the 1960s and 70s.
Co-director Anthony Darnborough mainly worked as a producer throughout his career, but Terence Fisher would later become the wizard behind some of the best British Horror films of all-time, with his groundbreaking work with the iconic Hammer Studios, and elements of his controlled, visually fluent style are present here.
Even if the ending doesn't have the impact it should after more than an hour of superbly crafted build-up, So Long At the Fair remains a terrific thriller, and with a running time of just over 80 minutes, is a fast-paced watch. Highly recommended.
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
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.
Published in 1976, when the radical movements and optimisms of the 1960s and 1970s were in their death throes, Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg is a powerful if grim novel about losing one's way.
The main characters are Bone, a jobless hunk in his thirties who just doesn't know where to turn after deciding to quit his job and leave his wife and kids behind, and Cutter, a one-armed, one-legged Vietnam vet who seems to have left his soul and the better part of his sanity back in Saigon. Together, along with Cutter's common law wife, Mo, an attractive ex-hippie who spends her days walking around stoned to the gills, Cutter and Bone go through life aimlessly, not always remembering where they've been, and not really caring where they're going, with Bone living off wealthy older women, and Cutter getting by on his welfare checks. That is, until Bone happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, becoming a witness to the dumping of a young hooker who's just been murdered by a middle-aged man. From there, things slowly spiral out of control, as Bone becomes embroiled in a cat and mouse game with Cutter, who seems to be slowly losing himself to an obsession only he can understand.
But it is almost fruitless to write a plot synopsis for Cutter and Bone, as the plot really isn't the thing. It's the characters, their psychology, and Thornburg's mastery of mood and pacing. Thornburg writes with a clarity and a passion that is hard to resist, pulling you into a story that gets darker and darker as it goes along, and one that is peopled with characters who aren't exactly likable but are fascinating nonetheless.
Much has been said about the book's seemingly fiery politics, with Cutter's rants about the corruption of America bordering on hyperbole. Some critics and readers claim that Cutter and Bone is a leftist, anti-capitalist novel, others argue that it has a conservative bent, with its obvious disdain for hippies and radicals. But Thornburg, who was a fiscal republican, doesn't seem interested in partisan politics as much as in life choices and their price. His characters are all lost, broken outcasts who just can't seem to belong or find their way. Bone, in particular, is written as a man who has lost almost everything in exchange for his independence. And the one time he makes any kind of attachment, with Cutter and Mo, it leads to disaster. And Cutter is a man so angry at his country, the world, and himself, that ultimately he loses himself in a complex mystery that just might be of his own invention. Or is it?
Cutter and Bone is considered to be Thornburg's masterpiece, and it is easy to see why. It is far from a perfect novel – the dialogue is often clunky, and the politics too overheated – but it is original, unforgettable, and passionately written. It has the one quality that most writers strive to achieve even once in their career: After the last page is turned, the book lingers in the mind, its words echoing, its images refusing to fade.
* The novel was adapted into a feature film, Cutter's Way, released in 1981.
Watch or listen to the video version of this review, 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. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
A hidden gem from the 1980's, Cutter's Way (1981), based on Newton Thornburg's novel Cutter and Bone, is too good to be forgotten.
Starring Jeff Bridges and John Heard, and directed by Ivan Passer, the film is part psychological thriller, part character study, and part buddy movie, and is an atmospheric and intelligent thriller with a twisty plot and a moody, enigmatic quality all its own.
The plot: Richard Bone (Bridges), an unemployed, womanizing scoundrel, is wrongfully suspected of murdering a teenage girl. Not knowing what to do, he seeks help from his best friend, Alex Cutter (Heard), a disabled Vietnam veteran with a terrible temper and occasional paranoid delusions. Together they try to uncover the identity of the real murderer before it's too late for both of them.
The plot, though original enough, is not the main thing here. What sets this movie apart and makes it a unique thriller, are the performances (especially Heard's as Cutter) and the stylish, nuanced direction by Ivan Passer. The enigmatic and shocking ending is also great.
Although it downplays the novel's complex themes and politics in favor of a more streamlined approach, many of the book's characters are wonderfully brought to life by a great cast and stylish direction. A dazzling paranoid thriller that deserves to be rediscovered.
Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which 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
Written by Theodore Tinsley (in place of the character's creator Walter B. Gibson), Foxhound is an entertaining and fast-paced thriller. Unlike Gibson, who always shows restraint when it comes to violence, Tinsley's writing is edgier and more lurid, and his portrayal of The Shadow as more fallible and vulnerable is interesting, since Gibson rarely allows The Shadow to falter.
While Tinsley's prose is lean and his pacing is gripping, his writing lacks style, and Gibson's penchant for puzzle-like plots and noirish/Gothic atmospherics is missed.
All in all, a solid entry in The Shadow cannon, and Tinsley's contributions bring a freshness to The Shadow's story. Recommended.
Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the independent 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
Based on the novel of the same name by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of the groundbreaking TV series True Detective, Galveston (2018)is a somewhat uneasy mixture of noir, American Gothic, and tragedy. But even if the elements don't always gel as effectively as they should, especially in the second act where there's a noticeable dramatic lull, the film, as a whole, works on many levels.
The story is simple: The time is 1988. The place New Orleans. A dying middle-aged fixer/hitman working for a local mobster, walks into a set-up, is nearly killed, and in the process of escaping rescues a teenage prostitute. They embark on a road trip to Texas, where they both have scores to settle. From there, the film takes some dramatic turns; some expected (the burgeoning, emotionally complex relationship between the hitman and the girl; the need for redemption), some not, especially in the quietly masterful and heartbreaking third act.
A film of this kind - subdued, easy on plot - mostly hinges on the direction and the performances, and both are quite good. Director Melanie Laurent handles the material with assurance, opting for a steady, visually effective, if not flashy, style that doesn't get in the way of the story. And while Elle Fanning's performance is flawed yet touching, Ben Foster delivers one of his best performances as a violent man struggling with his nature, as he embarks on the road to a salvation that might just be impossible to reach.
Powerful, poignant, compelling, and ultimately moving, Galveston is a minor noir classic that deserves to be seen.
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
Clocking in at just over 80 minutes and slipping under the release radar, Hammer (2020) is an effective, quietly moving, and compelling psychological/crime thriller.
The plot: a ne'er-do-well son returns to his family home after a botched drug deal that resulted in the death of the dealer's girlfriend. Hunted by the dealer, the son, now accompanied by his father, embark on a race against time as they try to outrun the dealer and find a way to make things right.
But that whole plot is basically a "McGuffin", a device to get things going while co-writer/director Christian Sparkes gets to what's really on his mind: the complex dynamics of a family torn apart by guilt, flawed parents, seemingly unredeemable sons, and the vicious cycle of psychological scars being passed from one generation to the next like a bad gene. This is a thriller, no doubt about it, but it is a thriller with heart. Will Patton, as the conflicted father of a troubled son, gives an affecting, restrained performance, and one of the best of his career. Helped tremendously by Sparkes' dialogue, Patton portrays a character that is relatable, tragic, and somewhat off-putting at the same time. A father haunted by his own shortcomings, and the fear that he's unwittingly passed them on to his sensitive son, thus ruining his life.
But it is Mark O'Brien, as Chris, the troubled son trying hard to do better, who is the true heart of the film, delivering a performance that is naturalistic, truthful, and devastating. It is one of the year's best.
Hammer works as a psychological drama, as a thriller with realistic twists, and as a piece of minimalist cinema. It is a well-crafted, poignant, suspenseful film with a lot to offer, and it deserves much more notice and acclaim than it's got. Highly recommended.
N.B. The film is named after the director's father, to whom the film is dedicated.
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
Actor Dave Franco's writing/directing debut, The Rental (2020), is a modest little thriller that takes its time to get going. A bunch of millennial characters are introduced, all of them believable if not exactly likable, and then they are all thrust into a seemingly generic plot (a weekend retreat in a posh rented house way out in the woods turns into a nightmare). It all sounds like nothing special.
But as the film moves along, admittedly a tad too slowly for its own good, the relationships between the characters become more complicated, and, before you know it, the movie turns into a competent, compact thriller, which arguably has something to say about the self-involvement, paranoia, and moral ambiguity of the millennial generation.
Though Franco isn't yet an assured enough craftsman to make the suspense and shocks work as well as they should, he is skilled enough to make the climax effective and the ending quite creepy.
The Rental isn't a classic. But it is a good debut thriller that offers plenty of entertainment, a memorable performance by Alison Brie, and even a little food for thought. Recommended.
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
An effective, fast-paced thriller, No Exit by Taylor Adams is a highly readable suspense novel with a likeable heroine and twists aplenty.
The plot: A young woman taking refuge from a snow storm in a rest stop, discovers that one of the four strangers with her is a psychopath who has a seven year old girl trapped in a cage in his car. Author Taylor Adams takes this high concept and runs with it, creating one intense situation after another, building the tension to a fever pitch.
But the noveldoes have its flaws. Aside from the heroine and the little girl, all the characters are barely memorable, especially the villains, who get less and less believable as the story progresses. But the novel's biggest misstep is the climax, which reads like the finale of a blockbuster Hollywood thriller: contrived and over-the-top, and with a clichéd epilogue.
Faults aside, No Exit is an immensely enjoyable, tense, and energetic thriller, with just enough style to make it memorable.
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
