Movie review - "Knightriders" (1981) **

 I love how George Romero blew his success of Dawn of the Dead on this. Bikers as knights. No one dies. So many subplots. No drama. Nothing at stake. No one dies. I kept expecting the Guinnevere triangle, or the Nazi bikers to come back or a big bunch of cops to attack... something. But no.

The actors give their all. 

Book review - "Hell Hath No Fury Like Her - Story of Christine" by Lee Gambin

 Solid book, slightly odd structure, excellent interviews (John Carpenter, Bill Phillips, Keith Gordon, Alex Paul though weirdly no John Stockwell or Steven King). No big behind the scenes dramas, just professionals doing a good job.

Book review - "True Indie" By Don Coscarelli

 I don't know that much about Coscarelli despite him making some cult faves - Phantasm, Beastmaster, Bubba-Ho Tep. He had an amazing career, his first DIY feature picked up by a major studio as was his second. And Phantasm was a huge success. I wonder why he didn't do more. He was going to do Silver Bullet but it didn't work out he turned down Conan the Destroyer and Nightmare on Elm Street 2.

Interesting book. Perhaps overlong (could've done with less on screenings and the later films.)

Movie review - "Children of the Corn" (1984) **

 Apparently Stephen King's original draft focused its opening scenes on the arguing couple as per his brilliant short story - I think he was aiming at a slow build tale along the lines of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Totally legitimate. But it went to New World who made a pulpier, shockier version (more "bumps" earlier) - also legitimate. It breaks POV to incoporate the young kids, which TBH is less scary. The couple who come across the town are happier, younger.

The film has a terrific story which cries out for atmospheric treatment and true horror. The cast are pretty good - the main kids are appropriately scary. But too much of it is silly like Peter Horton scolding them about religion. There's not a high enough death toll. No sense of dread. It's too much a vehicle for Peter Horton being heroic - with Linda Hamilton being rescued.

So basically you have to let go of this being a good movie and just enjoy its clunky straight to video ness.

Movie review - "It: Chapter Two" (2019) **1/2

 A drop in quality. The adults aren't as good actors as the kids - Bill Hader is outstanding and James Ransome quite good but everyone else seems disinterested (Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy) or just not up to it. There's no chemistry, sense of the group, or personal drama.

Why get at least some good actors and not have them interact with drama? From memory there were subplots with the novel - Chastain had this abusive husband who came after her, and McAvoy was going to leave his wife who crashed the mission, and there was a love triangle between McAvoy and Jay Ryan.

That's cut out. Instead there's a bunch of ordinary set pieces and a bloated finale. The running time is so long. They would've been better off cutting the running time, increasing spookiness and having more character interaction, like a love triangle. Why have that dumb thing where a character's suicide is heroic instead of being terrifying? That's dumb.

I did enjoy the cameos from Steven King and Peter Bogdanovich and there's some nice shocks and Hader is amazing.

Movie review - "It" (2017) ****

 They nailed. The kids are genuiely young so the stakes are huge. Great set pieces. Stranger Things took a lot of from. Very spooky. Powerful.

Movie review - "Carrie" (1976) ****

 Steven King's debut novel is a cracker, in part because it deals with universal themes and dreams - who hasn't felt neglected, bullied at high school, who doesn't know the cruelty of school and kids, and religious nutter parents, and who hasn't wanted telekenesis to help out. When Carrie knocks over that bratty kid on a bike it's hard not to feel joy - we've all wanted to do that to little turds. Everyone gets too Nancy Allen's desire for revenge, Amy Irving's desire to be kind. Betty Buckley's desire to be kind, Spacek'sfeelings of being isolated, longing for acceptance, delight... and desire for revenge. 

The pig's blood is so primal. So its Carrie wiping out her class.

Brian de Palma was fortunate to have Sissy Spacek to play the lead - so achingly vulnerable, so believably plain but also capable of blossoming. The idiotic remake put a hot girl in this part.

PJ Soles and Nancy Allen are great bitches, ditto the tubby girl. John Travolta and William Katt impress too.  I love Soles wearing a cap at the prom. Piper Laurie is fine too in the broadest role. There's no warmth from her towards Carrie, she's just mean... but it works at the end when Carrie comes to her for a hug because Spacek is so good (no knock on Laurie, she doesn't have a chance to do anything).

Brian de Palma is so ideal for this material I wonder why he's never done another King adaptation. Like a lot of De Palma it's very pervy (the opening shower seequence with full frontal nudity), plays tricks (the nudity goes to blood), wacky comedy (girls getting tired at gym, Katt and his mates buying tuxes). slow mo, split screen, movie references (Psycho like scene), slow motion, suspense sequences.

The scene where Betty Buckley slaps Nancy Allen is quite shocking. And John Travolta slaps Allen too. There's a lot of Allen slapping.

This has heart unlike a lot of De Palma filmes due to King, and the actors. The ending where Spacek is betrayed by his mother after reaching out is unbearably sad.

Movie review - "Christine" (1983) *** (warning: rewatching)

Carpenter took this as a job for hire but he's Carpenter at his peak and he does a good job. Mostly. I remember watching it as a young 'un and realising he didn't get the nuances of the novel. The film lacks emotional heart.

It doesn't get Keith Gordon falling in love with the car and convey about the car. Alexandra Paul is wooden. John Stockwell gives heart to his relationshp with Gordon. But the emotional pull of the piece is not as clear as the book. It's like it's going through the motions.

Stylish motions, though. Loved the bullies - the main one, his tubby sidekick who deserves death, ditto his gawky sidekick. Christine Belford is strong as mum. Robert Prosky feels a little under utlilised.

A solid King adaptation. Not top tier. I sense Carpenter missed the influence of Debra Hill on this one.

Movie review - "Cat's Eye" (1985) **1/2

I have a fondness for this film because I saw it at the cinema when a kid. I thought then what I do now - it's a patchy half-success with good moments. The device used to cobble the stories together - a cat coming to the rescue - is kind of weird but has a charm, in part because there are so few cat heroes in films.

The stories are all strong - but the first two are very different in tone to the last. "Quitters Inc" is very good - it was great on the page - helped with a cast that includes James Woods and Alan King. I was thrown to see Drew Barrymore as Woods' daughter, who is meant to be disabled (she seems fine); it was fun to see James Rebhorn in the cast and Mary D'Arcy was sweet as Woods' wife.

"The Ledge" benefits from a strong cast, including Robert Hays (why didn't he become a bigger star?) and especially Kenneth McMillan who is terrifying as a mafia style boss. I felt maybe this one was too jokey - the terror of going around a ledge wasn't really nailed; Lewis Teague always had a lot of pace and action in his films but this one perhaps could've used more suspense. And what happened to Mike Starr's hoodlum character? Wasn't he meant to be hanging around McMillan?

"General" is a fun fantasy adventure with some excellent troll work. But it's very different from the others in tone because its fantasy - whereas the others were more realistic. The concept of "General" actually could have made a feature on it's own - it probably raises too many questions as a short (why are the trolls there, why are they doing it, etc). It sightly throws out the film. But it has a strong cast - Barrymore, Candy Clark, James Naughton (their house is elaborate - everyone in this film has a lot of money) and the cat.

Movie review - "Creepshow" (1982) **1/2

This film was a big deal among kids in the early 80s. I saw it recently at the Egyptian Theatre on the big screen, which is always good. It's a film of its time. The very specific comic book treatment is entertaining. George A Romero wasn't always the most subtle director in the world, but he benefits from a strong cast and Stephen King's good writing.

I did feel there were too many stories - there were five. This sort of movie works better with only three, I feel.

The book end plot is entertaining. "Father's Day" is okay - very over the top and camp (dead man, greedy relatives) but alright. It's fun to see Ed Harris with hair and his disco mad fiancee. Romeo had a few balding blonde heroes in his films.

"The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" has a really strong performance from King - he should do more acting - and some good effects but is only one act. Farmer finds meteor, grass grows everywhere... the end. It needed something else to happen.

"Something to Tide you Over"is pretty good. I always remembered Ted Danson buried up to his neck with the water coming in and Leslie Nielsen is excellent as a crazy rich dude. It doesn't really make sense why Danson would go with Nielsen or dig himself into a hole - easier for Nielsen to have knocked him out. Danson's hair is interesting to watch.

I had forgotten "The Crate" was in this film. It's all over the shop - a story about a mysterious animal in a crate that's opened, mixed in with the story of a trampy wife (Adrienne Barbeau having the time of her life) and her henpecked husband (a miscast Hal Holbrook - he's too strong and sure, it needed to be someone more obviously meek). This is dull and took forever and was full of bits that didn't pay off (eg introducing that new couple at the beginning).

"They're Creeping Up on You" is superb, the best segment. EG Marshall is great as Howard Hughes, basically, who is attacked by bugs. This was the smartest and best.

TV review - "Stranger Things" (2017) ****

Very enjoyable pastiche of 80s cinema - the work of people like Steven King, John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg. I also think of the movie DARYL. Several heroes - the boys who go looking for their friend, the washed up sheriff, the mysterious girl, mum of the boy, a teenage girl and the brother of the missing boy. Some excellent baddies - Matthew Modine with a shock of white hair and his underlings.

Genuine spooky moments and a lot of intelligence. Great to see Winona Ryder back in a hit.

Movie review - "Return to Salem's Lot" (1987) **

Larry Cohen made this back to back with It's Alive 3 for the straight-to-video market and I feel it was a mistake. This feels too lazy, too sloppily made. I actually got angry at it - Cohen pretty much disregards Steven King's excellent source material entirely and comes up with his own story. That would be okay if his own story was interesting but it's not really. There are, as always in Cohen films, some bright ideas - Michael Moriarty is an anthropologist who the vampires want to write their story, Sam Fuller as a Nazi hunters - but they aren't really developed. I kept getting confused why Moriarty was acting the way he did and the kid who plays his son was annoying.

Scenes seem rushed and done in a grab-bag fashion.There's no atmosphere or sense of horror, mystery or dread. It is fun to see a cast including Evelyn Keyes, June Havoc and Fuller, as well as a young Tara Reid, an Katja Crosby is very pretty, but I would have preferred some suspense or decent comedy/satire. Michael Moriarty really got on my nerves.

I'm really bagging this one, aren't I? I can't help it. I just think Cohen had a fantastic vampire film in him somewhere but this isn't it.

Movie review - "Stand by Me" (1986) ***1/2 (warning: spoilers)

A movie much beloved by people. I was never that into it myself - please don't throw rocks at me, I recognise it's quality, it just never had quite the resonance. Beautifully made with love and affection, and wonderfully acted: Wil Wheaton, River Pheonix and Corey Feldman are all excellent, though so too is Jerry O'Connell (whose performance is often overlooked because he's fat comic relief and not given a tormented backstory - but he's perfect as a very familiar type, and also given more screen time than I remembered, they are always cutting away to him).

It's steeped in darkness and death - the passing of Wheaton's brother, the corruption of the teacher who caused River to be falsely accused, the PTSD of Feldman's father, the injury to Feldman which will ultimately mean he can't live out his dream and go into the army, the disdain Wheaton's father has for his son, the vileness of Kiefer Sutherland who looks completely prepared to kill River, River grows up to be a success and then is stabbed in the throat. But there's also warmth and camaraderie as well as pitch perfect evocation of the sort of friendships and conversations you have when you're 12.

Several things struck me re watching it after years - Richard Dreyfuss seems to be a very successful author (his house is huge), I feel they should have addressed Ace's revenge (detailed in the book), the "friend structure" of the group reminded me of Entourage (fat comic friend, wild arse, smart bookish guy who is besties with the charismatic leader).

Book review - "William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller" by Sean Egan (2014)

A frustrating book, especially since Goldman is one of my favourite writers, and there hasn't been an in-depth critical analysis of his work since Richard Andersen's in 1978. Egan puts in all this time and effort into analysing Goldman's novels, short stories and non fiction... but when it comes to the screenplays he goes off the finished film, which is unfair, and criticises the acting and direction, which shouldn't be the scope of this book.

It feels very under-researched - he refers constantly to Goldman's papers at Columbia Uni but doesn't seem to have accessed them, or read early drafts of screenplays, or his unfilmed screenplays and unproduced plays. He's only done a couple of interviews, too, and barely seems to have glanced at any newspaper archives.

It's annoying because what he did find out was fascinating (eg how A Family Affair got produced, John Brady's involvement in Adventures of the Screen Trade) - I just wish he'd put in more effort. And while I appreciate the effort Egan puts into looking at the novels, and some of his criticisms were first rate (eg Goldman's over use of sports metaphors, appreciation for his skill as a journalist), other bits of it seem narky and mean. Of course, this judgement is no doubt influenced by the fact that I disagreed with his criticisms, but too many of them had a touch of the "nyah nyah nyah"s.

I enjoyed it, I'm glad it exists, I just wish the author had put in more effort.

Script review – “Dreamcatcher” by William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan

Part of Steven King's success lies in the fact he is willing to confront our deepest fears - and also his work is so emotional and the characters reach such catharsis. In this film best friends die trying to save each other, people are on the verge of killing themselves, the stakes are large. This film version was written by two of the best in the world, and I admit I haven't seen the film yet, but on paper it just doesn't work - it's solidly structured, easy to follow and all that, but too much of it is silly: the shit weasel, the memory warehouse comes across as weird, and the telepathic conversation is strange. These would work in novels but not a book.

Script review - “Misery” by William Goldman

Brilliant work from Goldman – true, King’s novel gave him his best source material in a long while, but the fellow novelist clearly understood the head of Paul Sheldon. Also, since Annie Wilkes is a lunatic, Goldman’s normally trouble of writing good female roles doesn’t really matter. Beautifully structured, it spanks along without any dull spots – the character of Buster the investigating cop is very well done.

Movie review – “Cujo” (1983) ***

Steven King has since admitted he wrote the novel of Cujo while completed wacked on cocaine, and as a result can’t remember anything about it – even though he likes the result. It’s a very simple, basic story – a dog becomes rabid and terrorises and mother and her child in her car. 

They do it as a slow burn, using lots of character stuff in the first half – mum (Dee Wallace, fresh off ET) is having an affair (with Chris Stone, Wallace’s real-life husband), so hubby, who’s having job troubles, gets jacked off. Well acted, particularly by Wallace as a flawed super-mom and Danny Pintauro as her kid, who is very good at acting terrified. The dog stuff is full on action at the end – mostly Stone and Pintauro stuck in a car. No awesomely great twists or anything – it’s not Duel – but it’s got strong atmosphere and believability. Probably director Lewis Teague’s best film.

The DVD has an interesting commentary by Teague, where he talks about getting the film (King wanted him after seeing Alligator although another director came in before Teague got it); the fact it rained a lot despite wanting to be set during a heatwave; most of the money came from a company in Salt Lake City and a lot of Mormons worked on it; the studio who released the film requested that it be trimmed to get to the dog attack stuff quicker but test screenings resulted in proving this was less effective. Teague sounds like a likeable, down-to-earth chap – he kind of vanished as a features director after the 90s.

Movie review – “Christine” (1983) ***1/2

Not as highly regarded as other King books or Carpenter films but I loved both growing up and it’s had a long life. I think part of this is due to its central idea – who hasn’t wished or wondered if their car came to life? And wished that car could take out some bullies and repair itself? Plus there’s the whole nerd-becoming-cool-through-car-obsession thing.

The film also has very distinguished alumni – John Stockwell and Keith Gordon both became directors, Alexander Paul went on to Baywatch. Paul is fairly terrible (although she became good later in her career) but Stockwell had a very engaging presence and it's displayed excellently here – a SNAG jock. Gordon was good at nerds and he really got the chance to cut loose here. I also remember vividly Christine Belford’s performance as Gordon’s castrating mother – and Kelly Preston appears too as a dopey cheerleader (who’d realise she’d be playing those roles for basically her whole career?). My favourite performance though is from the fat soft spoken tag along part of the gang kid.

This has a slow burn – Carpenter’s take is maybe a bit too sparse and stylised when grittier handling might have worked (I would actually like to see a remake of this, just done in a different style – perhaps someone who was really, really into cars.)

Movie review – “Misery” (1990) ***

One of the best Steven King adaptations isn’t as impressive as when I first watched it but is still a very good movie with a stunning performance by Kathy Bates in the lead. James Caan is OK but once I read that the role was originally offered to William Hurt I kept wishing Hurt played the role – Caan doesn’t really look like a romantic book writer, and Hurt would have added the extra layer of having intellectual disdain for Bates. Richard Farnsworth offers bright support.