Visiting Sleath

Once again I didn't have much time to read, but since I only had less than twenty pages to go tonight, I pushed through them. When I got home from college, I started going through books, and discovered something. I have more books by James Herbert than I remembered having. One such book, that I actually found on a different book shelf, was The Ghosts Of Sleath (published in 1994). Since Jay told me that David Ash was in this book, I made sure I set it out where I would see it. Since I was still reading Koko at the time, I wasn't ready for this book just yet. Unlike some people I know, I can only read one book at a time. I don't see how some people can read two or more books at once. It would confuse me too much.

The Ghosts Of Sleath picks up three years after the events in Haunted. We discover that David has had a nervous breakdown after the events at Edbrook. This is no real surprise to be honest. David has started to do investigations again, with Kate keeping a close eye on him. While she knows some of the things that happened to David at Edbrook, he has not told her everything. Kate asks David to go to a small town called Sleath, where the daughter of Reverend Lockwood has asked the Institute for help. The reverend is against this, but goes along with it reluctantly. Grace, the reverend's daughter, has returned to Sleath because of the passing of her mother, and the slow decline in her father's health. Grace is worried about a woman, Ellen Preddle, who is reporting seeing her dead son. If that wasn't odd enough, Ellen also claims that her son is being haunted by his abusive father, who is also dead. David senses something is wrong, just not in Ellen's home, but also in Sleath itself. He soon discovers that Grace and he share some sort of link, like they know each other somehow. David quickly realizes that it isn't just Ellen that is being haunted. Others are as well, but not everyone is talking about it. As things in Sleath slowly grow worse, secrets about Sleath, and the Lockwood family, are discovered.

As Jay pointed out in his comment about Haunted, you do need to read Haunted first before reading this book. I supposed you don't have to do that, but it will make some remarks made by different characters easier to understand. The two books aren't linked together, outside of David and Kate, but the characters do talk a little about the events in the other book. Jay said he felt he was missing something as he was reading this book, since he had not read Haunted yet, and I can understand how he would feel that way. The pacing of the two books is slightly different. The Ghosts Of Sleath feels more urgent as things go from bad to worse, as the story goes on. While this is great, as it made me not to want to put the book down, I was disappointed that David wasn't playing as big a role as he should have been. He is still the main character, but his involvement with Grace distracts from why he is really there. Herbert eventually brings in a new character, and it is this person that eventually discovers most of the secrets of this town. Herbert gives us an answer to what is going on, or he mostly does. But he never answers why is it happening now. Sleath seems to have a long history of bad things happening, so why are things starting to happen now?

Other reviews range from loving this story, to hating it. I was a little surprised by this, since Haunted got very few bad reviews. The Ghosts Of Sleath is in the same vein, but in a larger scope. Most of the complaints were about the several side stories that Herbert gives us. Herbert picks a few of the people in Sleath to give us side stories of. I hate to call them sub plots, since there is no real plot to them. Instead we are given stories about how each person is being haunted. There is a mother being haunted by son and husband, a girl being haunted by a man that once molested her, and so on. These stories rarely mix with the main plot of David and Grace. They are mostly used to make the main plot longer really. A major point is about to be dropped in the main plot, and Herbert will start telling one of the side stories again. This is done to add suspense in a way, but it did get very annoying at times. Grace holds a secret about herself, and just as it is about to be discovered, Herbert sends us into a long chapter updating each of the side stories. Even when he returns to Grace, he still drags out the secret. The secret itself didn't surprise me, as it is hinted at often. But I just wasn't sure of the exact details, which are never given.

Personally, I liked most of the side stories. I didn't care for some of them, but those I didn't like were shorter, so it worked out. I didn't actually notice this until it was pointed out in another review, Herbert does tend to linger on the details of a death a little too much at times. It didn't bother me while reading, but I do see that basic issue now. Maybe Herbert should have kept the details down a little more so it had more kick, so to speak. Even though I found more problems with this book, I still ended up really enjoying it. There were times I was wishing I didn't have to stop reading when I did. The story doesn't end on a happy note, but for once I find myself wishing it had. If you liked Haunted, I highly suggest giving The Ghosts Of Sleath a read as well. It was close for me, between the two books. But I think I ended up liking this one just slightly more.
4 out of 5 Understanding some of the feelings Ruth had

Creatures In The Underworld Part Three

I had actually planned on this post being a book review, but I have yet to finish the stupid book. I just didn't have the time to read much today. I suppose I could have finished it off instead of watching a movie. Oh well, too late now. Thanks to Netflix, I knew that the newest Underworld film was now out on DVD. I had planned to go see Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009) on the big screen, but it got pulled from the theater before I could get there. I guess it didn't do so well the first week there. I could have gone to a different theater, but didn't want to make the long trip. I had also planned on doing this review for Top Horror Movies Club, but since there is just a couple more days left in the month, I wanted to up my post count here a little more.

In Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans, we are told the story of how the lycans started their war against their vampire masters. Lucian (Michael Sheen) is the first lycan born of a werewolf. This confused me, but I will explain it later. Viktor (Bill Nighy), ruler of the vampires, sees a way of creating a slave race to the vampires. Lucian is Viktor's favorite though, so is trained in combat and other things, that the others lycans aren't. But Lucian has a secret. He is in love with Viktor's daughter. Sonja (Rhona Mitra) has been sneaking around, and sleeping with Lucian. As the treatment of the lycans grows worse, Lucian decides it is time to do something about it. But Sonja has a secret of her own, that will change the relationship of both races.

I was a little confused when it was said that Lucian was the first lycan. Since we learned some of the history of this war in the previous movies, I didn't think this was true. I was even more confused when we see more of them in the wild. What I discovered is that they separate werewolves and lycans in this film/series. A werewolf was once human, but has lost his/her humanity to the wolf. They look different than wolves, thus the reason they are called werewolves. A lycan is a werewolf, but what separates it from a werewolf is that a lycan can revert back to its human form. This is something a werewolf cannot do. I don't know why they wanted this separation, since it just makes it a little confusing at first. I guess they thought it would be neat to show the wolf evolving to a werewolf and then a lycan.

If you have already watched the other two films, you won't find much that is new here. The story has already been told in the other films. Not as completely as you will see in this film, but we already know how it will end. If I had watched this film first, I think I would have liked it more than I did. When you already know who will live and die, it takes away from the film some. That said, I still liked this film. The setting, somewhere in the 1400's, was terrific. The action, once it does get started, is also a lot of fun. Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans isn't a total loss by any means. We do learn some new things by having this story told completely, but they are minor things really. It was nice to see these characters back, and in some cases, their history expanded on some.

I was a little disappointed that this prequel leans on CGI so much. It isn't always real noticeable, but there are times it will stick out like a sore thumb. There are plenty of nice effects to counter that though. Heads and limbs get cut off, and the blood sometimes goes flying. The werewolf effects, excuse me...the lycan effects, are well done. I liked seeing Lucian change forms in these films. The acting was very well done. If you liked the characters of Lucian and Viktor in the first film, you will enjoy them here as well. Rhona Mitra does a fine job in the lead female role, but I didn't like her nearly as much as Beckinsale. I know some people were really disappointed that Beckinsale was not in this film, but it actually makes sense. The story takes place before her character was turned into a vampire, and possibly before she is the age we see her in the other films. Steven Mackintosh reprises his role that we first see in the second Underworld film. Kevin Grevioux also returns. An odd thing about this series is that no character has appeared in all three films.

If you have yet to see any of these films, but want to do so, I would highly suggest starting here. Once you watch Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans, you can then go to the first Underworld film. I still don't get why they decided to pick this story to tell. There are other stories that are only hinted at in the other films that could have been fleshed out more. I guess it would have had the same problem though, since we would already know who lives as far as the main characters go. If you have already watched the other two films, you might as well make it three for three. You might get a little bored with the story, since you will already know it, but it is still worth a watch.
3 out of 5 Bring back Kate!

Teenaged Werewolf

Even though I should have reached this post a long time ago, it is time again for a favorite movie of mine. Things have slowed down a lot for me the last couple of month, so I hope that I turn that around for the push to the end of the year. For this post, my 550th post, I wanted to pick a favorite film that was going to help me out on my 999 Challenge. When I was looking over which films I had already selected, one stood out as an easy pick, Ginger Snaps (2000). Before I start talking about why this is a favorite film of mine though, a quick update on how my challenge is going so far: 9 of 9 Mad Doctors/Scientists, 2 of 9 Hammer Films, 5 of 9 Haunted Houses, 3 of 9 Killing Children Films, 1 of 9 Masters Of Horror, 5 of 9 Remakes, 6 of 9 Universal Classics, 3 of 9 Werewolves, 0 of 9 Linnea Quigley Films (coming soon, I promise). That makes a total of 31 films so far. I'm a little behind, since I'm past the halfway mark for the year, but not in films. I think I can still pull this off though. With 50 films to go yet, I'm sure I can work them over the coming months.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about Ginger Snaps. This is a film that I first watched when I was around the two lead actresses' ages. In the film, Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) are around the ages of 14 and 16. Actually Ginger is about to be 16, but close enough. Even though they are into things I wasn't, they are loners pretty much that are very into death. It was still easy for me to identify with them. I thought that them being into death so much was a bit weird, which was the point of it. But it was cool at the same time. Going to all the trouble of doing gore makeup to make themselves look dead was a nice touch. I guess before I go any further, I should explain the plot to those that haven't watched this film yet. Something has been killing dogs in the neighborhood that Ginger and Brigitte, or B for short, live in. They are sisters that stick by each other no matter what. Neither seems interested in boys yet, just death. Ginger, being the older of the two, is going through some changes though. After a scuffle at school with another girl, the sisters decide to play a prank on her. On their way there, they come across another dead dog. Since it is the same type of dog that this girl they hate has, they decide to use the body to fool her. This is when Ginger gets her first period. Just seconds later, they hear a noise, and then something attacks Ginger. We soon learn that it is a werewolf that is attacking Ginger. She manages to get away, and we all know what that means.

One of the things that bothered me a little, was how late they were getting their first periods. I'm not going to say when I first got mine, but I was younger than 14. I know some girls have them later, but it still surprised me. For Ginger, becoming a werewolf gave her added sex appeal. It wasn't that it changed her body to become sexier, but it gave her more confidence in herself, and her body. Things I identified with in both girls actually, were their being a little different than other girls (things they were into were not the same for me I should say), being a bit of a loner, being noticed by boys, and finding some of the other girls a little jealous of them (but not really understanding why). Any film that you can place yourself into one of the characters makes it a much better film, than others of its kind. I have to give a lot of credit to Emily and Katharine for their acting in Ginger Snaps, and their sequels. While some saw it as over acting, I thought they found the right balance for each character. Mimi Rogers was a nice surprise as the not so clueless mother.

The only thing I didn't care for about Ginger Snaps was some of the werewolf special effects. Director John Fawcett didn't want to use CGI effects, which I thank him for. On the other hand, this was a low budget film, so the effects didn't always look great. Personally, I didn't care for how the werewolf ended up looking. But since it isn't shown a lot, it doesn't bother me that much. We mostly see it in the last 15 minutes of the film, and not all the time. They also changed the rules a little bit. Instead of looking normal right up until the full moon, Ginger slowly changes over the course of the month. The full transformation takes place on the full moon, but you can notice changes over the month. Finger nails grow longer and pointed, her teeth change as well as her face, and something else that could have been very noticeable. Not all of the effects look bad, but the werewolf is the most important one.

Ginger Snaps isn't a film I have watched over and over again, but I have always enjoyed watching it. Tonight was no different. I caught a couple of things I didn't remember seeing before. I'm not sure if I would call this my all time favorite werewolf film, but I'm sure it comes close to it. Along with liking the main characters so much, I also like the way this films ends. Even though it ends on a sad note, I wouldn't have had it any other way. There is also some dark comedy thrown in that really adds a lot to the film. I know not everyone likes this film as much as I do, but that is fine with me. It became a favorite of mine on first viewing, and remains so today.

Dead Sleep Is Right

Even though I wrote up one review today, I decided I wanted to get a review up here as well. If you haven't noticed yet, and it looks like a couple of you have at least, I posted a review for Vampyr over at Top Horror Movies Club earlier today. For my second movie of the day, I decided to go with Dead Sleep (1990). This completes my 9 Mad Doctors/Scientists category for my 999 Challenge! One category down, only eight more to go. My next post will put me at 550 posts, so I will mark it with another one of my favorite movies. You will just have to wait to see what it is, but it will fit into one of the categories of the challenge. I will also update where each category stands in the next post as well, not that any of you probably care.

In Dead Sleep, we meet Maggie Healey (Linda Blair), who is looking for work. Maggie is an American living in Australia, where the film was made actually. She hasn't been working a normal job because she has been taking care of her sick father. Now that her father has passed away, it is time to get back to paying rent, and all of that good stuff. Maggie applies for a job as a nurse at a mental hospital, where Dr. Heckett (Tony Bonner) is the top doctor. Heckett specializes in short term cases. His special cases are kept in what he calls a dead sleep. They are kept asleep for two weeks, but some die from kidney failure, or things like that. Maggie starts to question not only how he treats people, but also why they become part of his program in the first place. Maggie has to question his beside manner, when he spends two hours in one woman's room. When no one will listen to her, she turns to Thena Fuery (Vassy Cotsopoulos), who has been trying to get to the truth of things at the hospital.

While watching Dead Sleep, I kept waiting for something to happen. Nothing big ever really did, and I started to realize this wasn't a horror movie. To be honest, I didn't check to see if it was when I put it in my queue. It was on a list of movies that had a mad doctor in it, so I just assumed it was a horror movie. My bad. Dead Sleep is instead more of a thriller. It is a very weak one, but a thriller all the same. If it wasn't for the nudity, Dead Sleep would have been a great made for TV film. If you are looking for Linda Blair to bare it all, that doesn't happen in this film. The nudity is left to the smaller roles. I guess my biggest complaint about this movie is that nothing really ever happens. The story of a nurse trying to prove a doctor is just interested in making money would make an interesting news article, but makes for a pretty boring film. Maggie goes to different people to see what they will do about what she believes, but she has no real proof that it is actually happening. This is all fine, but it takes up a good chunk of film. That is something of a pet peeve for me. Something that can be explained fairly quickly, gets beat over our heads for a good while. The pace of the movie was very slow, pretty much through the whole film. It makes for a boring movie when you keep waiting for something to happen, but nothing really does.

No effects to talk about here. Is Linda Blair really that big of a name? Her name is placed before the title of the movie after all. I know she became something of a household name with her most famous film, but I don't recall her ever really hitting it big after that. I have never considered her a bad actor, even in this film. Tony Bonner does a good job as the doctor. It would have been nice if he had been in more scenes really. But Dead Sleep is a Linda Blair movie after all. There were a couple of small parts I didn't care for the acting in, but it really wasn't the acting that I had issues with.

I almost didn't bother with a review for this film. Since it isn't really a horror movie, I had to think on it. Having to deal with what the movie is about in real life would be a horror story. I guess the doctor is a bit crazy on his own. I mean, he doesn't seem to care if the people he is caring for are dying, so that makes him a tad on the crazy side to me. The sad thing is, he honestly believes he is helping these people. There is some action by the end of the film, but not enough to wait so long for. If this had been a shorter film, thus cutting back on things they were hitting us over the head with, I think it would have been a more interesting film. One of the things I felt was too big of a stretch was that Maggie was putting in complaints about Heckett wherever she thought it would do some good. I understand doctors aren't told who it is complaining, but since it was a nurse working for him, I figured word would have gotten back to him. It never seems too. She quits, without any warning, and is able to get hired back on without much trouble. Maybe because this wasn't the type of film I was expecting it to be that made it so boring, but I have a feeling it would have been boring even if I loved these types of films. This is one to skip over unless you just have to watch anything with Linda Blair.
2 out of 5 Going to sleep a long time myself now

Awful Doctors

See, I told you all I was back. Hopefully I just won't disappear anymore. Just don't expect a post a day out of me! I did manage to get a new review up at Top Horror Movies Club. I decided to pick out a film that would help advance my 999 Challenge. I have been trying to review newer films over there, so I picked out the recent remake of April Fool's Day. If you would like to read my thoughts about it, just click the link! For today's movie for here, I picked the next Netflix film I have in my stack. This happened to be the 1962 film, The Awful Dr. Orloff. I'm slowly working my way through the 81 films needed for my challenge. Hopefully I can work them all in by year's end. Sad thing is, I haven't picked out all 81 films yet.

In The Awful Dr. Orloff, we meet Dr. Orloff (Howard Vernon). Orloff is looking for beautiful women. We often find him at the local pub/theater (I was never really sure which it was), watching women dance and sing. The reason he is looking for these women is because he is trying to help his daughter. Orloff's daughter (Diana Lorys) was burned in a fire, so half her face has been badly scared as a result. Orlaff is killing women, with the help of his blind friend, Morpho (Ricardo Valle), who Orlaff helped escape certain death. Orlaff is using the women for skin grafts for his daughter. When it isn't working correctly, he feels he knows the reason why - the women need to be alive. Around this time, Wanda (also played by Diana Lorys) catches Orlaff's eye. Wanda is a dancer, and is also about to marry Inspector Tanner (Conrado San Martin), who just happens to have been assigned to the case of the missing women. Will the police figure out what is going on before Wanda becomes the next victim?

The Awful Dr. Orloff isn't a movie I can say I have heard of, before coming across it for my challenge. While the credits were rolling, I was surprised to discover that it was a foreign film. On top of that, I knew the director, Jesus Franco. I can't really say that was a good thing though. I know that Franco has his fan base, but I can't count myself among them. I usually think of one word when I think of Franco, nudity. Seems like every film I have watched of his has had plenty of nudity in it. Not that I'm complaining, but that isn't really why I watch horror films. To my surprise, this film was no exception. I was just surprised since the film was released in 1962. After thinking about this though, I had to remind myself that nudity isn't such a big deal in Europe, as it is here in the States. There isn't a lot of nudity, but enough to surprise me, all the same. The plot for the movie was okay at best. Many people feel that The Awful Dr. Orloff is a rip off film of Eyes Without A Face. Since I have never watched that film, I can't say that it is, or that it is a better film. Franco is quoted as saying that he had never heard of the other film, at the time he made his own though. Because there isn't a lot going on in this film, we end up with a lot of talk. As I understand it, there are different versions of the film floating around. The version of the film you can get through Netflix, has a couple of scenes that are normally left out of American versions.

I was a little surprised at the effects for The Awful Dr. Orloff. There is nothing that will jump out at anyone, but what is there is nicely done. Morpho is given bug eyes, but the reason is never actually explained. It isn't anything really special, but it does set the character apart. I guess I should say they aren't real bug eyes, just eyes that seem to push out more than normal. One of the scenes that didn't make it on the American version, is a partly nude woman being cut right down the middle. There is some blood to be found, just not a whole lot of it. Which is understandable, given the year it came out. The acting seemed to be okay. It is a little hard to judge since this DVD offered some badly done dubbing. Diana Lorys surprised me, since she slips under the radar. Her character doesn't seem all that important, until she figures out who the killer is on her own, and sets out with a plan to help out her Inspector boyfriend. She also has a nude scene, or maybe it was just a body double. We don't see her face during the scene, which more times than not, means it was a body double.

I wasn't all that impressed by this film. The slow pace causes it to drag a little too much at times. I found my attention wondering off at times, which is never a good thing when watching a film. One of the things I didn't get was that Orlaff had some woman living with him. It is never explained who she is, or why she is even there. All we really find out about her is that Morpho deeply cares about her, and that she doesn't like that Orlaff is killing women. Speaking of the kills, talk about very boring! Morpho manages to bite them on the neck, and a few seconds later the women are dead. Maybe he is part vampire, but I don't think that is the angle they were looking for. Even though this film is slightly above average on IMDb, I didn't care that much for it. Hopefully the next film will be better.
2 out of 5 At least the body double had a nice body

Going Invisible Again

After my three film run the other day, I wanted to take the day off. I did whatever I wanted for most of the day. Mostly I practiced playing the drums on Guitar Hero World Tour. Sadly, I still suck at it, but I am getting a little better. I didn't expect to be gone this long, but I have had a lot on my mind lately, including some personal problems. My problems haven't completely disappeared, but I do think they are improving at least. Around dinner time tonight, I started to get pretty bored, so I put in The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944). I figured I would finish off this series at long last. I don't recall when I last watched a film from this set, but I know it has been a few months at least. Since I am closing in on the 550th post, I moved things around in my Netflix queue, so I could watch a film that is a favorite, that also fits in with my 999 Challenge. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?

With The Invisible Man's Revenge, we meet Robert Griffin (Jon Hall). If this Griffin is an relation to the Griffins in the other films, it is never pointed out. Robert, as it turns out, is a wanted man, since he broke out of a mental hospital. He is after Sir Jasper Herrick (Lester Matthews), and his wife Irene (Gale Sondergaard). Robert believes that his two friends tried to kill him once a diamond mine was discovered. Robert wants what is rightfully his, since they had worked out a deal before they actually found the mine. Jasper claims that all the money they got from the mine is now gone. Since they are still living a nice life though, Robert swears he will ruin the Herricks, and take everything they own. When he spies a painting of their daughter, Julie (Evelyn Ankers), Robert also decides he will marry her as well. Jasper and Irene have some tricks of their own though, when they drug the drink that they give him. They take the note that was their agreement, and get rid of it. They also kick him out of their house, and then call the police on him. Now on the run, yet again, he stubbles across the home of Doctor Drury (John Carradine), who offers Robert a chance to become invisible. Drury just wants the chance to prove that it can work on a human, as he feels that it will help make a name for him if he does. Robert isn't worried about fame though, he has his own plans to carry out.

Even though almost everyone calls The Invisible Man's Revenge the weakest in the set, I didn't think that badly of it. I didn't like it as well as some of the other films in this set, but I wouldn't call it the weakest. I guess I give it more slack, because it went back to being a horror film. At the same time, I can understand why some people think this is a bad film. The plot is full of holes. How Robert can get from South Africa back to jolly old England, while apparently in a sealed box, is a good starting point. I don't know about you, but I would pretty damn impressed if someone were able to turn their pet bird and dog invisible. So why the good doctor has to turn a human invisible in order to be famous, I don't know. I also had to wonder why there has to be a Griffin in every film in this series, except one if memory serves. It reminds me a lot of the Alien series of films where Riply was in every film. Why? It would still be an Invisible Man film, so long as there was someone getting invisible in it. It is nice that they tried to connect each film to the first in some way, even though in truth it wasn't needed. Since they didn't even try to make that small of an effort this time around though, why bother even giving the same last name? More on the plus side, for me anyway, is I liked that Robert was a bit crazy in the head. That is something else that had been lost in the last couple of films. Robert wasn't "take over the world" crazy, but he was willing to do whatever it took to get his revenge, even if it meant murder. Another nice touch, and something that was new to the series, was that Robert could become visible for short periods of time.

I felt like the effects took a back seat in this film. At times the invisible man "looked" very good. But there were also times you could still see a faint outline of him. Worse yet were times they tried moving things with wires. It didn't look bad at all with small objects, but when you got to bigger things, like a human, it stood out badly. That is one area computers have helped out a lot with effects. The acting seemed to be good, but not great. I was surprised that Jon Hall came back as the main character, but a different one, than in the last film. I wouldn't think they would be that hard up for actors at the time. Although he looked different, from what I remembered of him anyway, I would have liked to have seen someone new in the lead role. I liked John Carradine as well, but he came across as too nice a lot of the time. Leon Errol does a fine job in the comedy role. His character may have been my favorite from this movie. It wasn't really the comedy, even though it was funny. I just really liked his acting.

Even though The Invisible Man's Revenge could have been a whole lot better, I had to give it credit for getting back to its roots. It wasn't a straight up comedy, or an action/war movie, but it went back to being a horror film. I also need to give it some credit by trying something new, by allowing Robert to become visible. I understand the need to try new things in this series, since five films of the same concept can get boring after a while. That being said, maybe Universal should have stopped before ever getting to this film. I have two more films to review before reaching my 550th post, which should have been reached a month ago. It will take a little longer to get there though, since I owe some reviews to Top Horror Movies Club. I have been slacking over there as well. To make up for that, I thought I would tag team reviews, at least for a week or two, in order to make up for that. For better or worse, I'm back!
3 out of 5 Trying to stop being invisible myself