Lilja's Library (59 page)

This episode is full of special effects, some not the best, but most are quite good. The zombies makeup is nicely done except for the infants, who could be a bit better. They look a bit too much like melted dolls. The actors are all unknown (to me), but are still delivering what’s expected of them. 

It feels like this episode is heavily influenced by Romero’s zombie movies. I’m not sure it’s as good as Romero’s, but it’s definitely worth checking out, and as an episode in
Masters of Horror
it’s right at home.  

Lilja’s final words about
Masters of Horror
11-13
 

As usual with the
Masters of Horror
episodes, we get loads of extra material. Here we get interviews, behind-the-scenes, “the making of a scene” and more. So, whatever you do, don’t miss these last episodes (or the earlier ones for that matter) of season one. Oh, and season two premieres next month in the U.S. 

**** 

Heart-Shaped Box
 

Posted: February 25, 2007  

Heart-Shaped Box
is one of the better debut novels I have had the pleasure of reading. It’s written by Joe Hill. Hill, as probably everyone knows by now, is the son of Stephen King, but that is the only time I’m going to mention his father in this review. Why? Well, for the simple reason that Hill is good enough to be judged on his own merits rather than on who his father happens to be. 

In
Heart-Shaped Box
we get to meet Judas Coyne, a former rock’n’roll star who now has reached his mid-50s, and even though he isn’t in a band anymore he is still living the rock’n’roll lifestyle. He keeps himself young with girlfriends that he has the habit of naming after the state they are from, instead of their real names. How about that? 

He’s also a collector of the macabre, and has everything from a snuff movie to a cookbook for cannibals. So, when he sees an ad for a ghost on the Internet he can’t resist buying it. And that is a mistake he will live to regret. As it turns out the ghost is very much real, and what’s even worse is that the ghost wants Jude dead. The ghost is the stepfather of one of Jude’s “states” and after she committed suicide he is now here to seek revenge for her. 

Hill has managed to put together a really good story. It’s one of those books you have a hard time putting down even though you have to if you don’t want to spend the entire night reading. It gets ahold of you almost from the first page and doesn’t let go…until you turn the last page.  

I had the fortune to both read it and listen to it. Besides being released in hardcover,
Heart-Shaped Box
is also out on audio. The audio is narrated by Stephen Lang and is about eleven hours long. Lang is very talented, and even though I haven’t heard anything he has narrated before, I really like the way he narrates
Heart-Shaped Box
. It doesn’t leave much else to ask for. It’s very good, in other words, as good as the book itself!  

Lilja’s final words about
Heart-Shaped Box
 

So, as I said, Hill’s
Heart-Shaped Box
is a very strong debut novel and already I’m curious to see what he’ll do next. And, if you have only read the book, I can highly recommend that you check out the audio. Personally, I can’t wait for his next book! 

**** 

Development Hell 

Posted: April 10, 2007  

Mick Garris’s book
Development Hell
is a book like no other. It goes from strange to even stranger, but in a rather interesting way. 

It tells the story of a young filmmaker who is somewhat of a failure in the movie business and constantly struggles to get the success he feels he deserves. At first he gets a taste of it, but then he loses it even faster when he involves a deformed “child” in his next movie.  

He then gets an idea for a TV show that can’t be anything other than a success in Hollywood. It’s a kind of reality show where people will get filmed while they commit suicide…and he himself will be the first participant. 

This happens fairly early in the book, and if this was what it seemed the story would end there. That is not the case though. Our young filmmaker soon discovers that there is an afterlife and that he is now living it.  

The problem is that it’s not what he had hoped for…he hadn’t hoped for an afterlife in the first place. It’s boring, and he begins to miss the touch of other humans. Soon though, he discovers that he can actually see other ghosts if he wants to, and once he learns how to do that the afterlife gets a bit more interesting…but still very complicated. 

The other ghosts, with Alfred Hitchcock leading the way, teach him how to “piggyback” on a living person. That means he enters that person’s body without the person living in it noticing his presence. He can also take over the body and control it fully. This he does twice and both times it ends with disaster…to say the least. 

The main character in
Development Hell
gets involved in so many different events that when you’re at the end of the book the things happening in the beginning almost feel like they’re from a different book. It covers everything from a deformed “baby” to a woman’s body with a male soul in it being impregnated by him/herself, everything in between and a lot of sex. 

Development Hell
is a mix of horror, sex, satire and criticism of the American lifestyle, especially the Hollywood lifestyle…all very nicely put together in a nice mix and then spread over the pages of the book.  

Lilja’s final words about
Development Hell
 

Development Hell
is definitely a book you should check out. I know I said it contains a bit of criticism of the American lifestyle, but please don’t take that as a sign that it’s a hard book to read. It’s written in a very easy style and takes you on a ride through Hollywood you won’t soon forget.
 

Part 5 - Review: Movies
 

Section 1—The TV  

Rose Red
 

Posted: December 27, 2001  

Rose Red
(Episode 1) 

(Around 1 hour 25 minutes without commercials) 

This first episode gives us an introduction to all of the characters and their backgrounds. We learn that Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis) has set out to do an expedition to the haunted house Rose Red. To get the house to open up to her she brings with her six unique people who all have some kind on power. It can be telepathy, telekinesis, touch-know psychic ability, the ability to see into the future, the ability to see what has happened in the past and so on. 

The six she brings with her are Nick (Julian Sands), Victor (Kevin Tighe), Emery (Matt Ross), Pam (Julia Campbell), Cathy (Judith Ivey) and the most important one, Annie (Kimberly Brown). Along for the ride, besides these six and Joyce, are also Ellen and John Rimbauer’s grandchild, Steven Rimbauer (Matt Keeslar), and Annie’s sister, Rachel “Sister” (Melanie Lynskey).  

We also get the background of Rose Red itself. We get to hear the story of Ellen and John Rimbauer, their children, Adam and April, and Ellen’s servant, Sukeena. The story takes place both in the present (2001) and the past (the early 1900s).  

There are (of course) also some people who don’t agree with what Joyce is doing. The one that is most negative is Professor Miller at the university where Joyce teaches. He does everything in his power to sabotage her. He has the school newspaper reporter, Bollinger, help him by following the expedition into Rose Red and documenting all of the craziness.  

King throws in a connection to his real life in the form of one of Joyce’s students, whose name is Spruce, the same last name that Tabitha King had before she married King.  

Rose Red
(Episode 2) 

(Around 1 hour 25 minutes without commercials) 

In episode two things heat up a bit; things start to happen inside Rose Red. The search for ghosts and spirits goes on, and now we start getting to see some of them more closely. We also learn more about Rose Red and the Rimbauers’ family history. 

The characters are beginning to develop. If the first episode’s purpose was to let us get to know the characters better, the second’s is to let the characters grow on us and we can decide whom we like and don’t like. For example, at first I really thought the character of Emery was a bit over the top. The character wasn’t one that I thought fit in the story. In the second episode, I’m starting to enjoy him though. I agree that he is an obnoxious person, but he is obnoxious in an interesting way. He is
Rose Red’s
version of Mr. Toomy from
The Langoliers
. 

In the second episode the story also starts to develop. By now we know the background of the main characters quite well, so the focus can be on the story itself, instead of the characters, like in episode one.  

As there were in the first episode, there are connections to King or his other works here as well (even if the first one is a bit far-fetched though). One character is heard singing the tea-song that Andre Linoge sings in
Storm of the Century
(unfortunately, I don’t know the exact title). But that isn’t all. In this episode King makes his cameo appearance as well. In
Rose Red
he portrays a pizza delivery boy and he also has a few lines this time. It’s quite fun!  

Rose Red
(Episode 3) 

(Around 1 hour 20 minutes without commercials) 

Here we get to know even more about what has happened in Rose Red before Ellen Rimbauer disappeared, and we learn that all may not be what it seems…These flashbacks are shot in a really nice way, they are not in black-and-white, but they are not as colorful as the scenes from today either. They give us more information about the Rimbauer family, but I want more… 

In episode three we also get to see exactly how possessed Joyce is with the house, and at the end she starts to show her real feelings for the others and her real intentions for the expedition.  

OK, so now it’s time for the grand finale. Unfortunately, I feel King gets away a bit too easy here. I was hoping for a bit more information about the Rimbauer family (even though there is quite a lot in episode three) and why Rose Red really is haunted. There are still some questions that I feel are left unanswered. I won’t go into what they are or who they are about here; I will let you find out for yourself when you see the series. 

Even though the ending provides some surprises I feel that it could have used a bit more…  

Lilja’s final words about
Rose Red
 

So, to sum up my feelings about
Rose Red
, I can say that I think it’s a rather great miniseries. Maybe there could be a bit more info about the Rimbauer family in it (to give the viewer a better sense of why Rose Red really is haunted), but hey, you can’t always get everything you want, right?  

I do feel that what we get here is good stuff. It shows that it was made for TV and not for the movie screen, but that’s alright, I think, because the plot is good and most of the actors and actresses do a really great job in portraying their characters.  

So, whatever you do, don’t miss
Rose Red
on ABC on January 27th, 28th and 31st next year! If you do, you will regret it, take my word for it! 

**** 

Carrie (remake)
 

Posted: December 17, 2002  

I have just finished watching the remake of
Carrie
and I must say that I was surprised. When I first heard about it I felt that it was rather unnecessary to do a remake of one of the better King movies.  

Also, I had heard a lot of bad things about it before I actually saw it. It was supposed to be too long, the special effects weren’t any good and so on. So, it’s safe to say that I really didn’t have very high expectations about it when I saw it.  

So, when I saw it I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Angela Bettis is really good as Carrie. She really looks tormented when the other kids tease her and she is believable as a girl whom no one likes. Patricia Clarkson is also a good choice for Carrie’s crazy mother. Her portrayal of Carrie’s mother isn’t crazy in the same physical way as in Brian DePalma’s version. Here, Margaret is calmer, but still very intimidating.