Reviews

If you don’t have the stamina for a book review right now, scroll down to the question at the bottom for an interesting ethical debate!

The last time I read a Dean Koontz novel, he was specifically a writer of horror stories. That was a fair few years ago to say the least, and in the meantime Koontz seems to have transcended the pure horror genre. These days, he seems to be writing in the more modern, more lucrative thriller style.

My cynicism (for Koontz’s motives) aside, the man has not lost his touch. Velocity is a fast-paced crime thriller, but manages to raise some interesting moral and ethical questions at the same time.

What’s It All About?

The plot centres around Billy Wiles, an average Joe bartender in a nameless tavern. Wiles lives a simple, innocuous lifestyle: working at the tavern by day and returning to the house where he lives alone at night. Occasionally he visits his comatose girlfriend in hospital.

Things quickly turn sour when Billy discovers a note on the windshield of his car. The note threatens that if he goes to the police, an attractive young schoolteacher will die. If he does not, an elderly woman will be killed. By his actions, Billy will determine the fate of these women.

At first assuming the note to be a cruel joke, Billy takes the note to a friend, Lanny Olsen who is a police officer and asks his advice. Lanny tells him to ignore the note, only later discovering that a schoolteacher has been killed. This begins a series of decisions Billy is forced to make by the anonymous killer and a tortuous game of cat and mouse commences, with Billy trying to discover the killer’s identity while realising that the end game may have terrible consequences for him.

Not only is the killer planting evidence that will incriminate Billy in the murders, he has his eyes set on Billy’s girlfriend and ultimately Billy himself.

Verdict

Koontz is to be applauded for writing such a compelling and intense page-turner. He keeps his chapters short, ending each with a minor cliffhanger so you read voraciously (sure I’ll just read the next chapter…). The cast of characters is well conceived and each is brought to life vividly by Koontz for the roles they play.

Despite Billy’s attempts to unmask the killer, his identity is only revealed in the last few chapters of the book for a dramatic showdown. Koontz will manage to keep you guessing this one until the end (and I don’t intend to spoil it for you!).

Needless to say, I found Velocity to be an excellent piece of storytelling. I mentioned earlier that the thriller genre was much more lucrative than horror these days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this appear as a movie some day - it ticks all the right boxes.

Questions

Perhaps the central theme of Velocity is the moral dilemma of being forced to choose the fate of another person, through action or inaction.

If you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours.

The proposition is a difficult one - your actions will doom an individual, one way or another. I thought the decision to include the word “attractive” when describing the schoolteacher was quite cunning. Would you save an attractive person over a vitruous person? On the spur of the moment, how do you determine one person’s right to life over another’s?

A copy of this review is posted at PopOpinions.com.

Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 // Book Reviews

Pure terror. I don’t normally frighten at horror movies, but this remake of 1979’s Amityville Horror movie scared the pants off me. Honest.

This version of the Amityville Horror focuses on the Lutzes, the family who moved into the house a year or so after the DeFeo murders.

About The Movie

In a nutshell, ordinary family move into their dream home (after the Estate Agent ‘forgets’ to mention the horrific slaying committed there the previous year. Like you do.) In no time at all, George Lutz is hearing sinister whispered voices and the daughter has gained an imaginary friend with a ventilated forehead. As the paranoia takes over, subtle details about the house are revealed, interspersed with sudden frights.

As you would expect from the genre, the cinematography is grim and dark, creating an oppressive and tense environment. The story doesn’t linger long on the ‘happy families’ prelude, and the frights begin almost as soon as the family moves into the house.

There are some stunning set pieces, such as the scene where the daughter - prompted by her imaginary friend - climbs onto the roof of the house and inches toward the edge. The ensuing scramble to stop her from jumping is edge-of-your-seat stuff. By the time the movie reached it’s climax, I was aware that my heart was actually pounding!

Verdict

Opinion seems to be split on the movie. You either love it or hate it apparently.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover Melissa George in a lead role as Kathy Lutz (old school Home & Away fan!), but although visually appealing, I’m not sure she’s convincing as a mother of three. Ryan Reynolds, on the other hand slips easily into the tortured psycho role, and George Lutz’s role as a second husband gives rise to antipathy and abusiveness towards Kathy’s children as his paranoia increases.

Mrs L and the kids stayed out overnight, leaving me in the house alone. For the first time in years, I raced up the stairs to my bed, after making sure all the hallway lights were switched on. It was that scary!

Friday, April 28th, 2006 // Movie Reviews

War Of The Worlds. The big budget, Hollywood version featuring two heavyweight players: Steven Speilberg in the director’s chair and Tom Cruise in the lead role. A translation of a literary classic.

What the hell went wrong?

The movie starts out excellently, quickly establishing the main characters. Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a regular fella who’s looking after his estranged children for the weekend. And no sooner has the ex-wife gone out the door, but the wee lad steals Ray’s car and things start to go downhill for humanity from there….

The special effects are outstanding as the alien antagonists start to emerge and ruthlessly annihilate humans left, right and center. By the time Cruise had got himself to safety, I found myself letting out a sign of relief!

And the movie continues in that vein as Cruise and his estranged children attempt to outrun the extraterrestrial attackers while developing poignantbonds along the way. Until the boy decides to confront the big alien death machines. Causes conflict in Cruise as he has to choose between children, eventually abandoning the boy, who goes missing-presumed-squished.

No complaints so far, until Cruise and wee daughter end up in a basement with a deranged dude. Suddenly, the whole movie turns boring. The tension is still there, but this part lasts way too long. Eventually Cruise slips off with their freaky host and stoves the man’s head in with a shovel. Well, you would too if aliens were vaporizing your neightbours and you were stuck in a basement with a lunatic…..

No sooner has the Tomster put the loony in a shallow grave, but the aliens start coughing and spluttering. Guess what? They can’t survive in our environment! Ha ha, forgot to do your research before the big invasion, did you E.T.?

How likely is that? Damned aliens have been observing the planet for thousands of years and when they decide to invade they conveniently ‘forget’ to pack their allergy tablets? Plonkers.

What it looks like (not just to me - I’ve asked around) is that the basement scene drove most of the test audience to suicide and Speilberg decided to wrap things up pretty quickly afterwards. Whatever, the movie ends abruptly after the basement. Aliens drop dead in the streets, Cruise and daughter find the mother (and new husband, and new in-laws) alive and well in the middle of a city. Didn’t the aliens start the annihilation in the cities? Not the safest place to be hiding out then?

Oh, and even better - the teenage son has mysteriously survived and managed to beat Cruise back to the family home. And Cruise immediately welcomes him back with open arms. No “How the f**k did you survive the bad aliens and then race across country ahead of us?”. No signs of remorse for killing the dude in the basement. And what about the ex-wife - are the doors open for a reunion? Do you care?

At the end of the day, War Of The Worlds is a great action/sci-fi movie. I was genuinely disturbed by the alien invasion scenes, up until the basement hell. The ending is abrupt, poorly executed and leaves a ton of questions unanswered. I can only assume the Director’s Cut will have a ton of extra material to fill in the blanks…

Phew! Got this far without a single comparison to Independence Day…

Tuesday, April 4th, 2006 // Movie Reviews

A couple of months ago, I was sitting in the car listening to an Ulster Scots radio show. Among the highlights was an interview with a Scottish singer/songwriter, Emily Smith.

Throughout the interview, they played some excerpts from Emily?s album and I was instantly captivated by her singing. A few weeks later, I managed to get my hands on a copy of Emily?s latest album, A Different Life.

Now, regular readers know that I?m more likely to be rocking out to late 80?s hair metal than Scottish traditional tunes, but I?m actually pretty diverse in my musical tastes!

A Different Life is filled with beautifully crafted stories, the playing is straightforward and the acoustic guitars and violins sound rich and earthy. And above it all, Emily?s clear, sing-song voice narrates tales of love and loss and simple rustic life and life in bygone days.

A Different Life: Favourite Moments

My favourite track on the album is Edward Of Morton, a song about a young servant who refuses to get involved with the lady of the house he works for. She tells her husband that Edward was making advances toward her and he is cast in a dungeon and eventually tortured to death by her husband. Morbid stuff, but compelling. Oh, and Emily tells it better than I did, so you’d be better listening to her version of events!

Always A Smile is also worthy of note. It’s a charming story of a young farm girl who leaves home facing a life of adversity, and who eventually overcomes her tribulations to raise a family in Scotland. It always makes me think about my grandmother, late in life surrounded by sons, daughters and grandchildren and that nostalgia looking back over her life. A simple and lovely song.

Strong Winds For Autumn - I’ll admit I couldn’t quite follow the lyrics of this one, but the music is fantastic. The acoustic guitar is deep and rich and Emily’s voice is clear and sorrowful.

The remainder of the tracks are excellent. Like I say, Scottish folk isn’t usually my forte, but I have been listening to this album solid since about October. I put it on with the intention of reviewing it quickly, but it has grown on my to the point where I actually had to remind myself to take it out of the car!

Final Thoughts

A Different Life is lacking one thing in my opinion ? a good live track. Emily tours the world with her band and has entertained many people along the way. It?d be nice to hear one of the songs in a live setting just to get a feel for the atmosphere.

Go to Emily’s website for more information, and to listen to a few sample tracks. Many thanks to Jamie for hooking me up with a copy of the album! If Emily’s playing Northern Ireland anytime soon, I’ll let you know.

Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 // General

Oh, lucky us - we got to see a preview showing of the new Harry Potter movie, Goblet of Fire this evening!

We’ve all big fans of the Harry Potter movies, so were looking forward to the latest (movie) episode in the saga.

Basically, the movie starts off at the Quidditch World Cup where Voldemort’s followers - the Death Eaters - put in an appearance and show that ol’ Snake Face is still alive but not quite kicking….yet. On the return to Hogwarts, Dumbledore announces the Tri-Wizard Tournament to be held in the school. Inexplicably, after the third (and final) name is called, the Goblet of Fire shoots out a fourth piece of paper - with Harry’s name on it.

And so begins Harry’s participation in the Tri-Wizard Tournament: battling dragons, evading mermaids and finally seeking out the trophy from inside a massive deadly maze, culminating in a terrifying encounter with Voldemort and his minions in a cemetery.

Now, I just came out of the movie about an hour ago, so most of this is fresh. The movie is possibly the strongest in the series so far. There is better transition between the huge set pieces and a lot more detail in the telling. With the earlier movies, you sometimes felt that you were waiting for the next big stunt or special effect. Not GOF. The story flows effortlessly and both I and Mrs Levee were absorbed from start to finish.

Thoughts About The Cast

The romantic sub-plot between Ron and Hermione is really starting to develop. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson play the lovestruck teenagers to perfection - they make a few great snipey comments to each other in between bouts of jealousy and frustration.

The Weasley brothers, Fred and George, are top notch in the movie. Along with the likes of Neville Longbottom, Ron and the randy ghost Moaning Myrtle (what do you expect from a girl who hangs around the boys toilets?), they provide some priceless comic moments to break up some of the more serious scenes. The interplay between the twins is hilarious in places, particularly as they try to artificially age themselves to enter the Tournament.

The new Dumbledore still doesn’t sit well with me, I’m afraid. I always imagined Dumbledore to be a sort of sleepy but really switched on kind of dude. Michael Gambon plays Dumbledore too alert for my liking, speech slightly too clear and that accent! He certainly looks the part, but after the first two movies, Richard Harris had kind of cemented my view of what Dumbledore should be. I think I’m just going to have to get used to it.

Daniel Radcliffe does a great job playing the boy wizard. Coming out of the cinema, Mrs L suggested he was a bit gormless, like a wizard Frodo. But isn’t that how he’s supposed to be? Thrown in at the deep end, discovering a magical heritage and a faceless villain who wants to end him? We’re reminded of Harry’s vulnerability a few times throughout the movie, especially in his overtures toward Cho Chang. There’s a scene in the Hogwarts great hall where Harry makes an ass of himself in front of Cho - watch out for that bit!

Conclusion

The Potter franchise is really starting to heat up. As someone else commented, you leave the movie wanting more. When I finished reading Half-Blood Prince in the summer, I was dying for the next installment. This is the mark of greatness - I felt the same thing each time a Lord Of The Rings movie was released - damn, I have to wait another year to find out what happens. J.K. Rowling is keeping us all on a knife-edge waiting to find out how this series ends.

The frustrating thing is, she claims she already knows, the idea came to her “fully formed”!

So to summarize, the Goblet Of Fire is an amazing movie, beautifully told and executed. The special effects are much less obvious this time around, much slicker than earlier movies. Ralph Feinnes makes a terrifying Voldemort, and on that note I’ll leave it - Goblet Of Fire is not one for really young kids. Best movie I’ve seen in ages.

Friday, November 18th, 2005 // Movie Reviews

After the death of his wife, Jonathan Rivers is approached by Raymond, a man who claims she has been trying to contact him. Raymond specialises in EVP or Electronic Voice Phenomenon and has recorded Anna Rivers’ on his equipment.

Jonathan becomes obsessed with EVP, and the pursuit of his dead wife that he begins to neglect his son, his job and spends most of his time with recording equipment. After a while - despite dire warnings from a psychic and the mysterious death of Raymond Price - Rivers decides that the spirits are channelling messages through him!

While in principle, White Noise looks promising, it is actually quite a confusing movie. Why does Jonathan’s wife try to contact him from beyond? Who are the mysterious dark figures? Why choose to communicate using EVP? Why did Jonathan find out about things before they happened?

In my opinion, none of these things are properly explained in White Noise.

The movie itself is made up of some genuinely suspenseful set pieces, and you’re left wondering what the hell is going on most of the time. However, you’ll walk away confused and wondering about all the loose ends that didn’t get tied up at the end.

Does anybody know who or what the ‘mysterious figures’ were supposed to be? Aliens? Ghosts? Answers on a postcard please…..

Thursday, October 13th, 2005 // Movie Reviews