Movie Review: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974) *** and a 1\2 out of *****

The final entry in the Hammer Studio "Frankenstein Series" starring Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein, is, perhaps, the most underrated film in the entire franchise.

The first entry in the series, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) is lauded for its groundbreaking visuals and make-up effects; Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), a favorite of director Martin Scorsese's, is usually singled out for its metaphysical meditations and dream-like quality; and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) is notorious for its goriness and nastiness of tone. But Frankenstein and The Monster From Hell (1974), in its own modest way, is arguably better than all of the aforementioned films, mainly because of its script, which is thematically coherent and flows wonderfully, allowing Cushing, one of the most underrated British actors in cinematic history, to deliver an elegant and subdued performance, adding even more layers to the nefarious title character.

Director Terence Fisher, in his last feature film, helms the picture with a steady hand, giving the film a muscular visual style and a terrific pace, delivering a disturbing and elegiac climax to the entire series.

Who could have thought that after six films and seventeen years, Fisher, Cushing, and co. could deliver such a full-blooded and thoughtful Gothic-horror film? Highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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

Book Review: CONVERSATIONS WITH MARK FROST. By David Bushman **** out of *****

Mention Twin Peaks (1990-1991, 2017) to anybody who's even remotely interested in film or TV, and you'll instantly hear the words "David Lynch". Rarely, if ever, will someone mention Lynch's collaborator and Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost. There are reasons for that, of course. Lynch is a world-renowned filmmaker and visual artist, his stamp is all over Twin Peaks, and he is, arguably, the main reason the show is still popular and influential to this day. Lynch's command of cinematic atmospherics, especially his use of music, sound, and editing to create mood, transformed Twin Peaks from just another TV show, to a unique, artistic, and groundbreaking achievement.

But Lynch, who deserves a lot credit for Twin Peaks' success, is not deserving of all the credit. And this is where David Bushman's terrific book, Conversation with Mark Frost, comes into play.

Although, over the years, Frost has received his share of acclaim for his contributions to Twin Peaks, mainly for writing some of the show's best episodes and balancing out Lynch's tendency to go over the top, this book, through candid conversations filled with smart, probing questions by TV historian Bushman, sets the record straight, once and for all, about what Frost brought to the table in his collaborations with Lynch. It also showcases his numerous other achievements before and after Twin Peaks.

Throughout the conversations included in this book, Frost comes across as intelligent and likable. Obviously, this is someone who is passionate about his craft, and who is a lot more than just the co-creator of one of the most important TV shows of all time. He has worked on numerous other shows, including the groundbreaking Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), and has written a number of screenplays and books. But the most interesting parts of the book, and the most revelatory, are the ones that deal with his complex relationship with Lynch.

Twin Peaks fans will relish the two chapters about the show. Although Frost never comes out and bad-mouths Lynch, per se, he has some interesting, and some might say negative, things to say about the auteur. And despite the positive façade Frost put on during the promotion leading up to and during the airing of the third season of Twin Peaks, he has some fascinating things to say about what went on behind the scenes, and what went wrong with what might be the final season of Twin Peaks. Frost's comments about the show are smart and candid, things fans don't usually get from Lynch. 

Highly recommended to movie and TV buffs, and fans of Frost and Lynch.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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

Book Review: JACKALS By Charles L. Grant. *** and a 1/2 out of *****

Master of "Quiet Horror" Charles L. Grant delivers one of his darkest and most fast-paced novels with Jackals.

On the surface, Jackals is a horror tale about Jim, a middle-aged man who dedicates his life to hunting down "jackals", a vicious breed of flesh-eating killers who may or may not be human. Then a young woman, battered and bleeding, comes to his door, and his life takes a dark turn. But Grant has more on his mind than simply telling a story about monsters; there's more going on here. Grant touches on what it means to be human, what makes someone a killer, and the nature of good and evil, making Jackals more of a literary horror novel. That doesn't mean that Grant skimps on what makes a horror novel work, far from it. In terms of atmosphere, imagery, and honey-smooth prose, Grant delivers.

Jackals is, hands down, one of Grant's darkest and most downbeat books, revealing a side of him that readers rarely see, which makes this book less of an outright entertainment than say, The Orchard or the Black Oak series. But it is this solemnity, this willingness to travel down the dark roads of the night, that make Jackals so memorable.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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

The Dark Fantastic Interview with Director Michael Pressman (Exclusive)

Director/Writer/Producer Michael Pressman has been working in Hollywood for over forty years. He's done it all: from TV movies, to weekly dramas, to mini-series, to features. His work is always visually stylish and energetic, no matter the genre he is working in (and he's worked in almost every conceivable genre).

I had a chance to ask Michael a number of questions about his work, especially the TV movie Final Jeopardy (1985) starring Richard Thomas and Mary Crosby, one of the most suspenseful and underrated American TV movies ever made, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (1991), and what he's working on at the moment.

Final Jeopardy is, in my humble opinion, one of the best American TV movies ever made. It looks and plays like a feature. How did you manage to achieve that with what I assume was a small budget and mostly location shooting in Chicago and Los Angeles?

Thank you for the compliments. I so enjoyed making that film because it was like shooting a movie. I was completely left alone to make it visual and exciting. We were also quite short in the first cut, and I personally wrote two additional scenes that were my favorite - one was finding the dead body in the empty theater and the other was the drugged out girls in the abandoned church who thought it was a hospital.  

We only shot for one week in Chicago, and we used the sewers and the subways and the ending with Denis Farina, and that was pretty much it. The rest was shot in Los Angeles at night, of course.

I am a huge fan of the vastly underrated Richard Thomas. What was it like working with him?

Richard Thomas was totally dedicated and fully invested and a lot of fun. He had a tremendous sense of humor, and I remember many times if we were shooting past midnight he would go into a foreign accent and rehearse with a French or an Italian accent and crack everyone up. I also adored Mary Crosby who was a dream to work with. The most exciting actor was the famous late Jeff Corey whom I became very close to in his last years, and he was brilliant in a very underwritten role of the man who lived in the underground. He had a whole backstory and point of view and if you watch closely, he played the role like a rat who lived under ground and would scrounge. He added all his lines about “you got any food ?", lines like that. 

How did you get involved with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (1991), and what was it like working on such an effects heavy film?

That was a complete left field surprise that I just said "Yes". They were looking for a director for the sequel and someone who knew how to work under pressure and handle TV-like schedules, and because of Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), I had also directed a successful children’s movie that was also a sequel, so I was the perfect person for the job. I learned so much on that film about puppetry and effects, and little did the producers know my theater background came in very handy with the movement and staging of mimes playing the Turtles, and puppeteers off screen doing the facial expressions. I loved that experience, but it was stressful and demanding. I was offered to do the third one and turned it down, because I felt there wasn’t a learning curve.  

You’re an extremely versatile director. Doing everything, from thrillers, to one-hour TV dramas, to big-budgeted features like Ninja Turtles II. How do you choose your projects, and what do you enjoy more, working on features or TV? 

Michael Pressman

It's hard to answer that. Movies are my first love, and take a very long time, and sometimes you spend most of your time raising money or interesting a star that helps you get the money. And if it doesn’t make money, the director is always blamed. Television is a good friend. I am in demand if the work is good, and its fast and is always a challenge and keeps me going. And it pays well. 

What are you working on at the moment?

I am producing/directing Chicago Med [the Dick Wolf medical drama which airs on NBC] and enjoying it very much, though at the moment we are in a holding pattern due to the coronavirus, as is the rest of the industry and the country in fact.

* Special thanks to Craig Safan, for making this interview possible.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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

Book Review: ENEMIES AND ALLIES By Kevin J. Anderson *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Enemies and Allies, Kevin J. Anderson's second novel for DC, after the superbly entertaining The Last Days of Krypton, is a clever, serious story about Batman and Superman's first encounter in 1956.

Taking his cue from the works of Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, both of whom are thanked in the preface, Anderson creates a tale infused with a paranoid, Cold War feel, with the threat of nuclear annihilation looming over the characters. Anderson's depictions of characters, from Superman, to Batman, to Lois Lane, to Jimmy Olsen, are well-crafted and endearing, and the dialogue always rings true. But the main villain, Lex Luthor, comes off as one-dimensional and somewhat cartoonish, which might have to do with his over-the-top plan for world domination. Which brings me to the main fault of the book. Although Anderson brings a depth and a weight to the historical and technical aspects of the story, they don't gel with the Sci-Fi elements, which feel cliched and underdeveloped. This makes the book uneven in tone, as the broad, "Golden Age" comic book aspects seem in constant battle with the solemn tone that Anderson chooses to tell his tale, making Enemies and Allies less fun than it should be.

But fans of Batman and Superman will find a lot to enjoy here, as both heroes are treated with love and care, and Anderson's short chapters make this a fast page-turner, and a good if not very memorable addition to the DC cannon.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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

Book Review: DECEIT By James Siegel. **** out *****

Author James Siegel's fourth novel, Deceit, is a whopper of a mystery. Toying with the unreliable narrator trope and mixing it with a healthy dose of paranoia, Siegel creates a book that is original and unputdownable.

The story revolves around Tom Valle, a disgraced journalist, who is more or less banished to a small town in California to work for the local paper. Then a car accident takes place nearby and one of the drivers involved burns to death. What follows is a chain of events that will challenge Tom's sanity and endanger his life.

To say the novel is filled with twists is an understatement, as the plot is serpentine and complex. But Siegel knows what he's doing, never losing control of the plot or pace, or losing sight of the moral dilemma at the center of the story, which is the price of redemption for a pathological liar. Even if Siegel's prose gets a little cluttered every now and then, he's a master storyteller and dialogue writer

Overall, Deceit is an atmospheric, addictive, and haunting read, and is highly recommended for fans of psychological mysteries and paranoid thrillers.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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

Book Review: THE DINNER By Herman Koch. *** out of *****

A highly praised novel of psychological suspense, The Dinner is an intriguing and readable book about a troubling subject matter.

Told in the first-person by Paul Lohman, a seemingly loving husband and father, as he sits down with his older brother and his brother's wife for a quiet dinner at an expensive restaurant, as he slowly reveals, through flashbacks that grow more disturbing as they go along, that there is more than meets the eye to this family gathering.

Revealing any more would be unfair. Suffice it to say that this is a dark novel, and one which gets darker and more disturbing chapter by chapter.

Koch's prose is on the chilly side, and all his characters are more or less unlikable. But there's a pitch-black mystery at the core of this novel that keeps one reading, no matter how unsavory things get, and Koch has some interesting things to say about mental illness, evil, and nature vs. nurture. But this is a challenging read; an unpleasant story about unpleasant people. And the ending, though shocking, is heavy-handed and implausible.

As far as psychological suspense novels go, this is a good if pedantic one, and only recommended to readers who like their mysteries dark and nihilistic.

* Adapted into a feature film starring Richard Gere, in 2017.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.