Stephen King Month: The Shining (1980)

5 Stars - Terrific

At long last Stephen King Month is come to a close, do I regret it? A little... Will I ever attempt another theme month? Probably... though not Stephen King again, as there aren't enough films and miniseries left. So to finish let's look at The Shining again, this time the film, that has been brought out at the cinema for a limited period of time, restored to it's original cut that has not previously been available in the UK at all.

I've already described the plot of the book in my review of the miniseries, so I needn't do it again. But basically, family trapped in haunted hotel by snow, father goes crazy.

This film is wonderful, it has haunting imagery, wonderful cinematography that really captures the isolated, empty feel of the hotel. Most of all, though, this film is loud, everything echoes and the music never really let's you rest always unnerving you and making you not sure of what might happen next. Strangely though, I prefer the cut I had previously seen without the extra 24 minutes of footage, it felt somewhat tighter and more menacing, that's not to say this version isn't also great, probably just when you're used to something it can be weird to see it another way, I'm sure the more times I saw this cut the more I would like it.

As an adaptation it hits and it misses. Many elements of the book have been left out or changed, but a few scenes are word for word the same dialogue out of the book. Ultimately though this is more of an example of the book being a diving board for the director to take his own meanings from it and put them on the screen. You ask most people about the Shining and this is what they'll talk about, and that's fine, it's a very good film.

Never Overlook The Past

In short, a great book and a great film. Well worth a watch and read.

Argo - A Review

5 Stars - Awesome

A story so crazy it can only be true. Argo tells the story of a C.I.A. agent who comes up with an idea of pretending to be on a film location shoot to rescue six Americans trapped in Iran following a terrorist attack on their embassy.

The film is terrific, really drawing on the tensions and emotions created by this situation. It has a great attention to detail as displayed by a section at the end where you see several real life images compared to the film to see how well the recreated it.

The performances are top notch from all the cast, probably the most entertaining performances come from John Goodman and Alan Arkin as the two hollywood types with the incredible catchphrase of Argo fuck yourself.

I'm in a good movie this year?

In short, an absolutely great film, go see it.

Stephen King Month: The Stand

1.5 Stars - Awful

Now we're going way back to one of King's earliest books, a sprawling epic that was so long the original version had to cut out a large amount of material, it wasn't until several years later that it was published in its original uncut version. This is The Stand.

The Stand tells the story of a world wiped out by a plague, with only a small percentage of the population surviving. They start to have dreams, dreams of a sweet old woman by the name of Mother Abigail and dreams of a dark man wandering the world in worn down cowboy boots, named Randall Flagg. The people begin to split into two groups, those who side with Mother Abigail and those who side with Flagg. The forces of good and evil are set up on opposite ends of the country, ready to do battle with one another for the future of the world.

The book is an absolute masterpiece, taking its time to play out all the stories that develop and giving birth to King's most iconic villain, Randall Flagg, who would later play an important part in The Dark Tower series.

The miniseries however is atrocious, the characters are poorly acted, the script is nothing to shout about, the effects are lousy and it is really long and boring at six hours of sheer dross.

As an adaptation it is pretty bad, because even at six hours this is too big a story to do justice to in other media. Flagg is turned into a literal devil, which looks stupid. Characters are left out entirely or not as fleshed out as they should be. Despite this however I do kind of respect them for trying.

First Came The Days Of The Plague...

In short, an incredible book, an awful miniseries, skip this one unless you're some stupid guy who decides to watch a Stephen King film every day in October or something...

Stephen King Month: Salem's Lot (2004)

2 Stars - A Bit Crap

Once more we delve back into Stephen King's first small town story 'Salem's Lot, this time in the form of the 2004 miniseries, where they modernised the setting and changed some things... but I'll get into that.

I've already explained the story of this one in my other 'Salem's Lot review, but basically small Maine Town with Vampires.

This miniseries isn't all that good, the story drags and the supporting characters, the very thing that makes the book so good, aren't interesting to watch and so whenever they're on you just think where's the story? The acting is actually fairly decent with notable actors like James Cromwell, Andre Braugher and Rutger Hauer it would be hard not to be, but the best actors don't get that many scenes, in fact I think Hauer has all of about three...

As an adaptation it isn't very good, the modernisation feels forced as they all miraculously seem to forget that they're in a time where mobile phones could help out in a lot of situations and it doesn't contribute anything to the way they tell the story. The biggest change they made is the one most guaranteed to annoy fans of the book and once again it's what they do to father Callahan, who just can't seem to catch a break in these things. They had kept a faithful and true to the character interpretation of him right up until the end where he suddenly gets turned into a badguy, which is such a change from the book that it is inexcusable. There are also little changes made here and there, like when a guy falls where he thought there would be stairs in this he lands on a table saw, as opposed to the much more gruesome wooden spikes on the ground in the book.

Words Are His Power

In short, an annoying miniseries, give it a miss

Stephen King Month: The Mist

4.5 Stars - Good

Let's talk about Frank Darabont, a terrific director who has a great track record with directing Stephen King works, so far he has directed The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and today's offering, The Mist, based on the novella collected in Skeleton Crew. He also owns the film rights to The Long Walk, another of the Bachman books, I really hope he makes it soon.

The mist tells the story of a group of people who get trapped in a supermarket by a mysterious mist filled with otherworldly creatures. As time goes by people's fears start to get the better of them and they give into paranoia and start to turn on one another. The question begins to be raised of which is more monstrous, the creatures in The Mist, or the people trapped in the building?

The film is very good, really capturing the terror of what it would be to get trapped by something you can't fight against and can't really see. The performances are all strong enough to carry across this film and the only gripe I really have with it is that the CGI creatures can look a bit goofy.

As an adaptation it is another rare example where it surpasses the book in some ways. For one it removes the scene where the main character sleeps with a woman in the store, which feels a bit out of place given how close he clearly is to his wife and son and of course it changes the ending to something far more depressing than the book, and it is so much better that way.

Welcome Aboard. Enjoy The Ride.

In short, a really good film, well worth a watch.

Skyfall - A Review

5 Stars - Awesometacular

James Bond is back, celebrating his 50th anniversary with an epic new film. This is Bond as it is meant to be, sleek, stylish and fun as all hell.

Everything you want in a Bond film is here, great action, gorgeous girls, an exciting plot, a vicious villain and an Aston Martin DB5. In fact not just an Aston Martin DB5, the Goldfinger car, with the machine guns and ejector seat and everything.

Performance wise this was a strong film with a wonderful farewell performance from Judi Dench as M and one of the best Bond villains ever in the shape of Javier Bardem, who chews the scenery to a glorious degree and can be as intimidating as hell.

A fair chunk of this film evaluates the need of operatives like 007 in the new age of technological espionage, and it feels like a bit of a metaphor for the spy film genre in general, in that despite it looking like more modern films like The Bourne series might be smarter, or more real, Bond still comes out on top.

Nobody Does It Better

In short, a quality Bond film, well worth a watch.

Stephen King Month: Secret Window

4 Stars - Entertaining

Stephen King writes about authors a lot, many of his books have author main characters, that are often in some way an analogy of King himself, like today's story stars a writer who creates a character so real that he seems alive. Today is Secret Window, based on the novella Secret Window, Secret Garden from the collection Four Past Midnight.

Secret Window, Secret Garden tells the story of Mort Rainey, an author with writer's block, no doubt caused by his depression following his separation from his wife. One day he receives a mysterious visitor named John Shooter, who claims that he wrote a story that Rainey wrote several years before him, Rainey of course denies this claim and tells Shooter to leave him alone. Shooter has no intention of doing any such thing, he starts to use dark methods such as murdering Rainey's cat and burning down his wife's house to intimidate Rainey into telling the truth. All these events and the contact from his wife and her new boyfriend drive Rainey's sanity to it's very limits until he learns the horrible truth.

This is a very entertaining film with great central performances from Johnny Depp and John Turturro, who really play off each other very well and make for a likeable main character and an intimidating villain. No doubt the screenplay and the direction give this film some of it's entertainment value as at just over an hour and a half it absolutely flies by and you enjoy it all the time, is it scary? Not really, is it fun? You bet.

As an adaptation it is very solid up until the end where a fairly substantial change is made, however this is one of those rare times where I prefer the end of the film to the end of the book as it is far more deliciously dark.

Right Time. Wrong Place.

In short, a good film, I'd say well worth a watch.

Stephen King Month: Hearts In Atlantis

2.5 Stars - Dull

Stephen King was a child of the 1950s and 60s, and his growing up in that period undoubtedly influenced his writing as can be seen in stories like The Body and the collection Hearts In Atlantis. Which is a collection of novellas and short stories about the 1960s and their effect on people. The film is based on the longest story in the collection, Low Men In Yellow Coats.

It tells the story of Bobby Garfield, a young boy whose mother is constantly telling him that they don't have much money. One day a new lodger arrives for the apartment above their house, his name Ted Brautigan. Ted employs Bobby to read the newspaper to him as his eyes are getting tired in his old age, he also asks him to keep a look out for signs of the suspicious low men. Ted is wanted by them so they can use his psychic gifts to assist them in their destruction of the beams supporting The Dark Tower... but that's a different, better story. Bobby and Ted develop a connection together which is put to the test when the Low Men start to show up.

The film is a bit boring, not an awful lot happens in it and the performances, apart from Anthony Hopkins who is marvellous as always, are just a bit uninteresting to watch.

As an adaptation it does okay, but misses a few important things, like there isn't a single mention of Lord of the Flies, they changed the end so that Bobby never became angry and bitter against the world. The most obvious removal was the Dark Tower stuff, which is a problem, there is no way they could have done that stuff without having made a series of Dark Tower films first, but without it the Low Men have no established reason to get Ted so the whole plot feels unsubstantial.

"Astonishingly Good"

In short, an okay but dull film. Maybe if you really like the book give it a watch as you'll only be a little dissapointed at the adaptation.

Stephen King Month: Apt Pupil

5 Stars - Unnerving

Once more it is time to delve into the book Different Seasons, which is such a good collection of stories that only one out of the four novellas hasn't been made into a film. Today I look at Apt Pupil.

Apt Pupil is the story of Todd Bowden, a high school boy, who one day turns up on the front porch of an old German Man, Arthur Denker, stating that he knows who Denker really is, a Nazi called Kurt Dussander who was famed for his cruelty and evil. Threatened with blackmail Dussander gives into Todd's demands, to tell him everything about the holocaust he can remember, every sickening, vicious detail. The time Todd spends with Dussander starts to reveal dark parts of his own psyche, he becomes violent and distant, he starts to lose focus at school and he is falling apart. Dussander starts to get sucked back into his old ways, his murderous past becoming his present as he loses more of the fantasy he has hidden behind for so long.

The film is tremendous, both lead actors do a terrific job with what is a difficult subject matter and character relationship to play. Particular praise should be given to Ian McKellan for his vicious, icy cold and yet somehow understandable and almost sympathetic Dussander, who will unnerve you and make your skin crawl, until you smile along with his laughter.

As an adaptation it changes the ending of the book drastically, leaving out the section where Todd completely snaps and goes on a killing spree, however what it offers is instead a Todd who, whilst not a murderer, is as much as a manipulator and just as cruel as Dussander, which given the length of the film feels like a more realistic ending with the possibility for worse things to come down the line.

The Summer Of Corruption

In short, a very creepy and very enjoyable film

Stephen King Month: 1408

3.5 Stars - Decent

My original plan for today was to watch Children Of The Corn, but then I realised I don't remember anything about the short story at all. So instead I decided to look at a story from the Everything's Eventual short story collection, 1408.

1408 tells the story of Mike Enslin, an author who writes books reviewing supposedly haunted hotels. One day he goes to review the room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel, famed for its unusual deaths. Mike, who has spent his career debunking the supernatural as nonsense must now face the real thing.

The film is an enjoyable little romp, with an engaging performance from John Cusack, however I would have preferred it if they had perhaps had less jump scares and creepy looking people attacking or chasing him and much more of the psychological horror, making you question what is real and what isn't through the way the room plays with Mike's mind, as this was something I felt it did quite well.

As an adaptation... they had to add a lot, it is a very short and not particularly in depth story. The main driving emotional crux of the film is Mike's guilt and anger over his deceased daughter, this was added for the film. The majority of events that the room does to him were added for the film so as to increase the menace and break the reality somewhat more. However I feel these additions are needed, as otherwise it wouldn't be a very interesting film either visually or emotionally.

14 Dark Tales

In short, an entertaining film, I'd say worth a watch.

Stephen King Month: The Shawshank Redemption

5 Stars - Iconic

So this is perhaps the most well known and loved film based on a Stephen King book. Though it is so not Stephen King's usual style that I imagine not a lot of people know it is King.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is a novella collected in the book Different Seasons. It tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a man accused of the murder of his wife and her lover, sentenced to prison for two life sentences. The story tells his time in the prison for many years and his rise in the system to a respected position. Then his eventual miraculous escape.

I hardly need to talk about how good the film is, just about everyone has seen it, many times. It is one of the most iconic films ever made. I will say it should finish on the words I hope and cut the final scene, but that's a minor gripe.

As an adaptation it surpasses the book, showing more details that we only hear about in the book and adding the Brooks section, which is just about the best section in the film.

Hope Will Set You Free

In short, I hardly need to say a must watch, because let's face it you've already seen it...

Stephen King Month: Dreamcatcher

3 Stars - Wonderfully Awful

In the late 90s Stephen King was hit by a van and severely injured, he wrote this book whilst stoned on painkillers... the result is as weird as you'd expect. It's Dreamcatcher.

The book tells the story of four friends who whilst hunting in the woods, split up into groups of two, come across two people both farting insanely. They find it weird, and then find it weirder still when the people shit out weird snake like creatures. The whole area is put under quarantine and the surviving two of the original four must try to save the world from the aliens that spawned the 'shit weasels' with the help of their psychic friend with downs syndrome. Also one of them is possessed by an alien.

It is a very weird book, and one that would seem fairly unfilmable, but they tried it anyway. The result is one of the best worst films I've ever seen. A real guilty pleasure that is nothing but silly from start to finish.

As an adaptation it is perfectly fine, getting across all the major stuff from the book, though really the book shouldn't have been turned into a film I'm kind of glad I got something this fun all the same.

'Classic King'

In short, an awful film, but one heck of a fun film all the same.

Stephen King Month: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

So, I was looking online to find a video of Bag of Bones so that I could review that, but I couldn't find any links that worked and instead decided to talk about Nightmares and Dreamscapes, an anthology TV show, based on eight of Stephen King's short stories, from 2006

The stories that are shown in the show are Battleground, where a hit man must battle toy soldiers after killing the head of a toy company; Crouch End, where a couple honeymooning in London stumlbe upon a weak point between dimensions; Umney's Last Case, where an author replaces the main character of his own book series; The End Of The Whole Mess, where a successful film maker recounts his brother's attempt to solve world violence and the horrible cost it has; The Road Virus Heads North, where a horror writer is stalked by a painting he buys; The Fifth Quarter, where a recently released convict goes on the hunt for his friend's share of treasure; Autopsy Room Four, where a man has been bitten by a poisonous snake and is alive, but unable to move as they are about to start his autopsy; and You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band, where a couple find themselves in a town populated by dead rock and roll stars.

The series was a lot of fun, though a couple of the episodes are a bit meh. It's the kind of show I would have liked to have seen go on for longer, and be like Stephen King's own version of The Twilight Zone. My personal favourite episodes are Battleground, Umney's Last Case and Autopsy Room Four.

As adaptations, I must say I've not read all these stories, but based on the adaptations of Battleground, Autopsy Room Four and The Road Virus Heads North they were done well and kept all that they needed to, though a couple of things were added here and there to make them a bit more TVish

A Bumper Collection

In short, I'd recommend this series and wish it had got at least a second series

Stephen King Month: Cat's Eye

3 Stars - So Bad It's Good

Once again I jump ahead with the schedule I'd set up for myself, why? Because I really don't like the Bag Of Bones miniseries... So it's onto a film based on two of King's short stories which had previously been collected in the book Night Shift, Quitter's Inc. and The Ledge, and a silly bit at the end made up for the film with a goblin...

Quitter's Inc. tells the story of Richard Morrison, a man who wants to quit smoking, and has a friend recommend him the company Quitter's Inc. who boast a 98% success rate, due to their cruel and vicious methods of making you not smoke, and even the unregenerate 2% never smoke again, they guarantee it...

The Ledge tells the story of John Norris, who is forced into a crazy bet by a vicious mobster, he has to traverse the side of a tall tower block on just a small ledge going around the edge of the building.

The film is very silly, tied together by a cat travelling between the stories on its way to rescue Drew Barrymore from a breath stealing Goblin... it makes very little sense, but it is enjoyably bad. It seems to miss the serious tone of Quitter's Inc. and lacks the tension of The Ledge, plus it's full of references to other Stephen King films, which is just weird.

As an adaptation of the stories I guess they get the main story points right, but as I said Quitter's Inc. (which is my favourite Stephen King short story) isn't taken seriously enough, which is a real shame, because it should be very unnerving and somewhat scary. The ledge they get okay, other than not being very tense.

Excursions Into Horror

In short, this films is terrible, but in a fun way...

Frankenweenie - A Review

1.5 Stars - urgh

This film is bad, it isn't funny, it isn't scary, it has no real emotional depth and to be honest I just found it to be unpleasant. Maybe it's the dark and dirty visuals, maybe it's the sunken dead eyes, expressionless faces and disturbingly long arms that are on all the characters, maybe it's that the plot is really weak and padded as hell despite the film only being 97 minutes long, or maybe, just maybe it's the racist stereotype Japanese kid. To be honest though, there is one major thing that makes this film so annoying, Tim Burton.

Tim Burton hasn't made a good film since Sweeney Todd in 2007, that's 5 years he's been making this level of garbage. When he started his gothic designs were new and interesting, now they're tired and old, he needs to try something new, something less Tim Burton, prove he still has some creativity left in him. At least this one didn't have Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter I guess...

Look into her eyes, see the wasted 97 minutes of your life...

In short, don't watch this, don't let Tim Burton make all this money....

Stephen King Month: Stand By Me

5 Stars - Great

So today I was going to be reviewing Bag of Bones, but it's over three hours long and I didn't have the time today, so instead I decided to skip way ahead and watch Stand By Me instead.

Stand By Me is based on the novella The Body. The story is about four young boys from Castle Rock who, upon hearing about the body of a young boy in the woods several miles from where they live, set out to find it before anyone else and become famous. The main focus of the book is their hike and the adventures they have along the way and the emotional problems the kids have lurking just underneath the surface.

It's a good story, simple, but there was enough thought and characterisation put into it to make it a very entertaining read. The film is wonderful, one of those films you ought to watch before you die. Also it's the only film to feature King's recurring character Ace Merrill.

As an adaptation it is very good, with really the only nitpick being they switched the roles of the kids that stand up to Ace at the end with one another, which is weird... also they changed the name. But I guess the Body would give people the wrong impression about what the film is.

A Novella In Different Seasons

In short, this is a great film, definitely one to watch if you get a chance.

Stephen King Month: Desperation

2 Stars - Mediocre

So I go from not getting to watch a really good Stephen King film to watching a really dull one. Today's piece of meh is Desperation.

Desperation tells the story of a rag tag group of survivors who get taken captive by a crazed Police Officer in the small town of Desperation. The officer is possessed by an ancient evil that is ripping him apart at the seams, and he requires another body to play host to Tak, an evil found in the town's nearby mine. Our heroes, led by a young boy who has a strong connection to God, must head to the mine and defeat Tak once and for all.

This made for T.V. movie is pretty dull, the characters are fairly forgettable and only really Ron Perlman as the crazed officer and voice of Tak provides any real entertainment factor, except maybe for Steven Weber wrestling a cougar...

As an adaptation it's fine, it keeps most of the plot, though a few changes here and there are noticeable, like vision of the dead sister which weren't in the book, or the exclusion of a character who gave important exposition. But overall the film is so bland I just sort of don't care.

A Mass Volume Of Terror

In short, a book I'd say is worth a read by King fans, although the religious tone can be a bit much, but give the film a skip.

Stephen King Month: The Green Mile

5 Stars - Tremendous

Before I start, I must admit my failure, I got no chance to watch this film today. However I have seen it before and I will review it from memory. My punishment? I don't get to watch the Green Mile...

The book, which was originally released as a six short book series, tells the story of Paul Edgecombe, a prison warden on death row. One day a huge man enters the cell block, he is John Coffey, and he is the most sweet and gentle man anyone could meet. The wardens bond with Coffey and learn he has the supernatural ability to heal people and animals. The rest of the book follows their reactions to this discovery and their discovery of the truth behind Coffey's death sentence.

The film is fantastic with every scene played perfectly and all the characters, especially Coffey, played by the late great Michael Clarke Duncan.

As an adaptation it is spot on, literally every scene is how I pictured it as I read the book. It is probably the best adaptation of any book I have ever seen.

The Complete Serial Novel

In short, one of the best films ever, a must watch.

Hotel Transylvania - A Review

0 Stars - A Travesty

I've always thought that my lowest rating I would give something is 1 star, but then films like this that just piss me off so much come along, and I have to go lower.

This film isn't funny. The characters aren't compelling. The animation isn't interesting to watch. Nothing about this is remotely enjoyable.

The real shame is there were two premises for good, possibly great, films here. Dracula as a father, and a hotel for all the classic movie monsters. But instead we get this uninspired, stupid shit fest with no redeeming features.

I might be being a bit harsh here, but this film really pissed me off to no end.

One final thought, there are many rules about Dracula as established in traditional vampire lore. However the one thing I never thought I would have to yell upon leaving a film starring The Count is DRACULA. DOESN'T. FUCKING. RAP.

I'm So Sorry Nosferatu, Please Don't Hold This Against Me

In Short, this is the worst film I have seen all year. Maybe not on a technical level. But on a personal, emotional level.

Stephen King Month: Dolores Claiborne

4 Stars - good

Dolores Claiborne was part of an interesting thing Stephen King did, where in the same year he put out both Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game, both of which had a moment based around a solar eclipse where the main character of both had a psychic vision of the other. There's no film of Gerald's Game, but I feel it's worth mentioning.

Dolores Claiborne is in a police station answering questions regarding the suspicious death of her elderly employer. She proceeds to tell a long story about how although she didn't kill her boss, she did kill her husband many years ago after discovering he had molested their daughter.

The book is a fairly simple plot, but also a fairly gruelling read, as it is written as one long continuous monologue, with not chapters or breaks in the narrative whatsoever. The film is different, it tells most of the story through flashback with several joining points in between set in the present. Kathy Bates gives a magnificent performance as Dolores and is matched by a great supporting cast, including Christopher Plummer and a baby faced John C. Reilly.

As an adaptation I'd say it's good, capturing all the important elements of the story, but presenting them in a way that is more interesting to watch and plays out more naturally than it would be to see the entire film being Kathy Bates sat at a table telling the story.

Sometimes Being A Bitch Is All A Woman Has To Hold Onto

In short, a good, if difficult, book and a pretty good film too.

Stephen King Month: Needful Things

4.5 Stars - Entertaining

So at roughly half way through Stephen King Month and I finally get to look at my favourite book. Not just my favourite Stephen King book, but basically my favourite book, full stop. Needful Things.

Needful Things is the final Castle Rock Story, though other books would later have events happen in the town, this was the final story about the town and its inhabitants. One day in Castle Rock a mysterious store opens called Needful Things, the store is owned by a certain Leland Gaunt, an unusual man who has an uncanny ability to charm anyone around to his deals. The store sells several items, ranging from rare baseball cards to expensive pieces of art, and there is something that draws everyone who visits to it inexplicably, and it is always for a price they can afford. The cash price that is. For with every purchase made in private Mr. Gaunt gives another price, just a small prank, a little trick on someone in the town, seemingly harmless. However these harmless pranks play upon the pre-existing grudges and hatreds in the town, until things escalate to all out chaos and madness ensues.

The book is tremendous, every character in the town is perfectly crafted, so you really find it hard to see them tearing themselves apart at the seams, but at the same time you get a real twisted pleasure out of it. Also it is full of little inter-textual references to other castle rock stories such as Cujo and the Dead Zone, which is nice.

The film is a lot of fun, I'm probably rating it a bit high, but I genuinely enjoy it a lot. Max Von Sydow is awesome as Gaunt, clearly enjoying the hell out of playing such a malicious character and milking every drop of venom he can from the performance. Also Ed Harris is in it, and he's always fun.

As an adaptation it isn't perfect, there are plenty of changes made, some big, such as characters left out or the ultimate nature of Gaunt being a bit less ambiguous from the book. However its weirdly the little changes that niggle at me more, like why did they have to change Brian's baseball card he buys from Sandy Koufax to Mickey Mantle? Things of that nature, just little things that they could have kept. Still it keeps the sense of the story alive and it is an entertaining watch. I hear there's an extended cut with an hour's extra footage, but I've never been able to find it. I'd love to see it and see how different it is.

Buy Now. Pay Later.

In short, a magnificent book and a pretty fun film that I'd say is well worth a watch, for Max Von Sydow's devilish charm if nothing else.

Stephen King Month: The Dark Half

4 Stars - Good

So once again we plumb the depths of Stephen King writing about himself, this time writing about the 'death' of Richard Bachman, who, according to the dust jacket of Blaze, died of pseudonym cancer, a relatively painless way to go. Today is The Dark Half.

The Dark Half is the story of Thad Beaumont, you guessed it and author, who has just 'killed' his pseudonym, George Stark. Under the guise of Stark he wrote a number of crime novels starring the vicious character Alexis Machine. For a publicity stunt with a magazine Thad has had a picture taken over a mock grave for George. However a few days later, George Stark rises from the mock grave, and begins a journey to kill all those connected to Thad and goes on a major killing spree. Thad is suspected by the police of these crimes and the tensions mounts as he realises that his dark half has come to life and wants to replace him.

The film was really entertaining, which came as a surprise because I thought it could have easily been done wrong, but under the more than capable hands of George A. Romero, of Dawn of the Dead fame, this is a tense, well acted film with more than a few good gross out moments, most notably being an eye within a brain, that makes total sense in context.

As an adaptation it is great, leaving nothing important out, including Thad's childhood troubles with what would later become George and we get to see the build up of why Thad killed him, which works for the film, whereas in the book it starts some time after George's 'death'.

George Stark. Not A Very Nice Guy.

In short, this is the best kind of good, surprisingly good.

Stephen King Month: The Tommyknockers

2.5 Stars - Dull

Following the Success of Misery, Stephen King was given a lot more free reign to write without editorial input, the result was a less tight, albeit more ambitious book. The Tommyknockers.

The Tommyknockers is the story of Bobbi Anderson, who whilst in the woods behind her house trips over a strange metal object, she stars digging it up to find it to be much larger than she first anticipated. At the same time her friend Gard comes to see her after humiliating himself in a drunken rage after a successful poetry reading. The metalic object, which would seem to be a spaceship, gives out a strange sort of radiation that begins to affect everyone in the town, they get smarter and start building unusual contraptions. They also start to change physically, losing teeth, getting thinner and their skin becomes translucent. Only Gard isn't affected, due to a metal plate in his head, he has to play a long game, continuing to help the townspeople as they try to excavate the ship all the while trying to find a way to put a stop to them.

The book is a decent story, and another of King's stories wherein he tells the story of a whole town of people, each person with well developed characters and lives. It is far from being his best work, but it is a pretty good story all the same.

The miniseries is pretty bland, the usual King miniseries fare. Good concept let down by a poorly written script, mediocre performances and nineties special effects. Yet another three hour long waste of time really.

As an adaptation it gets a lot wrong, leaving out several characters, not fully exploring the elements of addiction and not capturing the time scale of the book properly. Also they changed the way the aliens work, in the book the townspeople were being transformed into beings similar to the aliens, in this the aliens are stealing the townspeople's life force so they can return from the dead.

If You Go Down To The Woods Today...

In short, a pretty good book, but a miniseries that pobably only die hard King fans would want to check out.

Stephen King Month: Misery

5 Stars - Exceptional

In 1987, Stephen King wrote a fantasy novel called Eyes of the Dragon, it was a pretty bad book and a huge critical failure. However its main critics were the fans of King's previous works, who only wanted horror and didn't accept him writing anything else. As something of a response to this he wrote one of his best books ever, Misery, which deals with a writer trying to escape always writing the same books, but being held back by a fan, although Misery took it to a disturbingly dark level.

Misery is the story of Paul Sheldon, successful author of the Misery series, a number of romantic fiction novels about the heroine Misery Chastain. Paul has, in his most recent book, Misery's Child, killed Misery; finally freeing himself to start some serious work, namely his new novel, Fast Cars. Upon finishing Fast Cars, Paul has a car accident whilst driving in a snow storm, leading to his car flying off the road and his legs being shattered. He is rescued by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse, who takes Paul to her home to recuperate, she is also his number one fan. Some time passes and Paul realises that there's something a little off about Annie, this is brought to a terrifying head when she reads that Misery is dead. She snaps and forces Paul to burn his only manuscript of Fast Cars and to start writing a new novel, where Misery comes back from the dead. Or else.

The film is wonderful, getting across great, realistic characters who you at times sympathise with and at others despise. It also manages to maintain the balance between horror and comedy, something that is important to the story to give the viewers a break from Annie's insanity every once in a while.

As an adaptation it is pretty good, Paul and Annie feel spot on and the tension and uncomfortable nature of the book are brought across well. This is a strange example of where I believe what they added, in the shape of the police chief Buster searching fro Paul, actually made the film better than it would have been without him, as otherwise seeing just Paul and Annie in the house would have got stagnant and boring. A couple of changes were made, most notably the difference of the hobbling scene, being changed from amputation to ankle breaking; but I feel this is actually an appropriate change as the film isn't as unpleasant as the book, Annie seems a bit more together, and an amputation scene might have felt out of place.

Paul Sheldon Used To Write For A Living. Now He's Writing To Stay Alive.

In short, a fantastic film and a terrifying book. Also the only one of King's books that I'm aware of that has been adapted to a stage play.

Stephen King Month: It

2.5 Stars - Dull

The next part of Stephen King Month sees us moving onto one of Kings most iconic novels, which is large, complex and wonderful. It.

It tells the story of a group of children in 1958, the loser's club, made up of Bill Denbrough, Eddie Kapsbrack, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon and Stan Uris. Over the course of a year or so a number of children are killed by a mysterious shape shifting entity, which most often takes on the form of a clown. They are also often pursued by a seriously mentally unstable bully, Henry Bowers. Through Ben's love of the library and reading they discover an ancient right called the ritual of Chud that they believe will allow them to defeat It. Bill takes on the creature in the ritual of Chud and defeats it. The seven friends go their separate ways, vowing to return if It ever does. Years later, in 1985, they receive calls from Mike, who has stayed in Derry telling them It has returned and they all start to remember the events. Stan kills himself instantly upon the memories; the rest return to Derry to try and take on It one more time; also coming were Beverly's abusive husband Tom, Bill's wife Audra and a recently escaped from the mental asylum Henry Bowers. Tom, under It's influence captures Audra and takes her to It, where she instantly goes catatonic and Tom drops dead from shock. Henry is killed in a struggle with Mike, but it leaves Mike wounded and unable to journey to the tunnels where It dwells. They voyage down and take on It at the ritual of Chud once more, this time making sure It dies. In the process Eddie is killed, they all go their separate ways once more, forgetting forever. Bill takes a last ditch attempt to save his wife by truly recapturing his childhood with his bike, Silver.

To book is a very long and complex novel with many plot threads that are difficult to explain, so naturally as a result of this the mini-series really fails to capture the essence of the book. But does that mean it is bad? No, it's bad because of the bad acting, poorly paced story and terrible effects. Sure it gets some Tim Curry points, but Tim Curry points can only take you so far.

As an adaptation it fails, losing many important details and never really explaining what It is, also since much less time is spent with the characters they lack the emotional development of the book. 

But what really gets me is the number of people I've heard are actually scared of this, there is nothing scary here, it is actually quite awful, except for any point Tim Curry is on screen which are always entertaining.

You Want A Balloon?

In short, this is actually awful, I don't get why people are scared of it