Moon Knight Episodes 5 & 6 - TV Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

So I've come to the end of Moon Knight, the series is done, the character might be gone forever, and that would be all we get of this unusual entry into the MCU. So, what did I think of it? I think it might be one of my favourite shows they've done yet.

But before I get into the series as a whole lets talk about those last two episodes. 

Episode five might be my favourite of the season. I loved that we pretty much took an hour out of the main story to learn more about Mar and Steven. Getting dropped into this tale where we did was great, as we didn't have to do a lot of set-up and could just hit the ground running; but it meant that we were missing a lot of important details. This episode gave us those details.

Mark's history, and the creation of Steven, was absolutely heartbreaking. When I was watching Mark's childhood I could see how he'd end up as an adult with mental health issues, because that was some awful abuse he lived through. I'm shocked at how Marvel didn't really pull any punches, how they made it clear that this grieving child was beaten and abused by hi mother. It's possibly some of the darkest, most upsetting stuff in the MCU, but also some of the most honest and real. It wasn't some big, wild story, it was a very real, very human tragedy.

This episode also gave us some of the best acting from Oscar Isaac. Not just in this show, but some of the best I've ever seen from him. The pain he portrayed, the heartbreak as he lived through those moments, and had to watch them back again, were so phenomenally done. It's amazing the work he's done on this show, on the acting ability he's displayed, that gets overshadowed by people wanting to talk about the action.

I loved that as these two episodes went on you could really see the difference between Mark and Steven in ways that you couldn't before. As soon as the camera cuts to his face you know whether he's Mark or Steven just from the way he holds himself, the types of expression on his face. He didn't even need to open his mouth for you to hear the accents to know who you were looking at in those moments; and it was amazing.

The final episode was much more of what people would expect from this kind of show. We have super powered people fighting across famous landmarks, and there are giant gods battling in the sky. It was a great way for the series to conclude, by embracing the weird and wonderful and just saying'yes, we're going to have a giant alligator woman fight a big bird skeleton man next to the pyramids, so what?'

The effects were top-notch, and didn't feel like they were holding back money or effort just because this was a TV show rather than a movie. the gods all looked great, had their own distinct personalities, and felt like interesting additions to the MCU.

I also liked Layla's costume once she becomes an avatar, and her getting to fly around, beat up henchmen, save civilians, and become the first Egyptian super hero in this universe was a great moment. As much as I'm hoping to see more from Moon Knight, I hope we get more of Layla too.

The end of the season felt like a great end to the character, a really good signing off point where we could end up never seeing Moon Knight again. However, the after credits scene felt like such a good set-up for more stuff to come, that I really do hope that this isn't the end for these characters.

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Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi – Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Perfect for fans of Stephen King’s IT, a group of friends return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they first stumbled on as teenagers in this mesmerising odyssey of terror.

'For nearly two decades, Jamie Warren has been running from darkness. He's haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt at having disappeared from his disabled brother's life. But then a series of unusual events reunites him with his estranged brother and their childhood friends, and none of them can deny the sense of fate that has seemingly drawn them back together.

'Nor can they deny the memories of that summer, so long ago – the strange magic taught to them by an even stranger man, and the terrible act that has followed them all into adulthood. In the light of new danger, they must confront their past by facing their futures, and hunting down a man who may very well be a monster.'

The blurb for Titan Books’ newest release, Black Mouth, says that it’s ‘perfect for fans of Stephen King‘s IT‘, and this might be one of the most accurate book comparisons I’ve ever seen, as Black Mouth gave me a ton of Stephen King vibes whilst reading it.

Black Mouth tells the story of four childhood friends: Mia, Clay, Jamie, and Jamie’s brother Dennis. The story begins in the modern day, with Jamie as a man in his mid thirties who’s just been through ninety days of rehab and is working through his first week of Alcoholics Anonymous. Jamie has been using drink to work through his pain and his demons, but finally feels like perhaps he can put much of that behind him and get on with his life. However, that new start is interrupted when he gets a phone call from the police back in his home town of Suttons Quay. It turns out that his mother has lost her life to suicide, and his younger brother Dennis, who is mentally disabled, was found walking down the highway in his underwear in a daze.

Jamie returns home to help his brother, but the pressure of returning to the place that haunted his dreams for many years pushes him to start drinking again. At the same time, their childhood friend Mia arrives with a photograph of a man she wants them both to look at. It seems like Mia has found a figure from their childhoods, a man called the Magician, who helped to ruin their lives, and believes that they can finally track him down. When it turns out that the man may have had a hand in a series of recent child murders, Clay joins them, and together the four of them set out to put their lifelong demons to rest, and to stop more atrocities from being committed.

Very shortly into Black Mouth it becomes clear why the book is compared to IT. The book is split into multiple narratives. The main one is Jamie in the present. Jamie is our lead character and the one through which we get to experience the book in a first person perspective. We also spend some time with Mia and Clay, as they get to split off and do their own things. But we also jump backwards in time and begin to learn what happened to these four kids in the ’90s. As the story unfolds in the present we get more flashbacks to the past, more pieces of the puzzle, and we occasionally see the two almost bleeding into each other. The structure instantly reminds me of IT, but it isn’t as weighed down as the King book, and moves with a much better pace.

Black Mouth is a chunky book, but it’s not overly long; it doesn’t feel the need to wallow in nostalgia for the past, nor does it go off on long tangents that add little to the story. It does spend time every now and then giving us more information on the characters’ lives, their histories, and how they’ve been shaped into the people we see here, and whilst this does feel like the style King uses it also feels so much more efficient. I never minded spending a few paragraphs learning more about these people because I knew it was going to be interesting and not a handful of pages that meant nothing. So yes, the book is like IT, but I also thought that it was honestly a lot better too.

The book manages to walk a very fine line, where you’re never sure whether or not there’s anything odd happening. Is the Magician, the figure from their childhood that they’re hunting now as adults, more than he appears? Can he actually perform real magic, or was it all tricks? Did Jamie see his face change into that of a monster, or was it a trick in the dark, and Jamie’s fears doing it? The book wants you to wonder about that, to question whether or not you can trust the memories of a child. Even in the present, when Jamie is haunted by the spirits of the past you begin to question if perhaps they’re part of his drunken delusions. The book kept me guessing whether or not we were going to get a big reveal that there were real monsters, or if it would all have been fake, and that ambiguity made it much more interesting than if we’d have been given answers straight away.

The book doesn’t just rely on the mystery to keep you interested though, and the main four characters make for engaging leads. Whilst we spend the most time with Jamie he’s probably the least likeable of the four, and his struggles with his addiction make up a big part of his story here. He makes some mistakes, acts questionably at times, but for the most part you can tell his heart is in the right place. Mia makes for a strong female presence, and has a no-nonsense attitude that I enjoyed.

Clay is the more complex of the four, and it was wonderful to spend time with him in his chapters. A Black man who’s grow up with vitiligo, he has a unique outlook on life, and he has a passion for helping kids that stems from his own experiences. Out of the four of them I’d most like to spend more time with Clay, and would love to see the author write more for him. And then there’s Dennis, who is just the sweetest guy. Dennis is disabled, and is very child-like. He loves the Ninja Turtles, cares deeply for his brother, and is kind and caring to everyone he meets. Dennis is the heart of the group, the one that the others all love, and are loved by, unconditionally, and I’d fight anyone who dared harm Dennis.

There are some warnings that should be given for Black Mouth, as the book deals with some heavy issues. Addiction and alcoholism are a big part of it, as is child death, murder, physical abuse, mental abuse, child abuse, and suicide. Despite this, it never feels too dark, too depressing to prevent you from reading on. But please be aware before picking it up, the book does deal with some tough topics.

Overall I had a lot of enjoyment reading Black Mouth. I think it was a great mystery story with some horror elements that kept you guessing what was real and was was fabricated, with a superb central cast of characters that you come to care a lot about. It’s a book that I’m definitely going to recommend to people, and one that I’m certainly going to be picking up again at some point. And going back to that original quote, I’d say it’s not just for fans of IT, I’d say it’s better than IT.

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Moloch – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Folklore is a rich well for horror story influence. Every culture has their own myths and legends, and even those that are shared across borders will have their own spin on things, making them unique. And there’s something ever so creepy about a small community that practices rites and beliefs that the vast majority would consider relegated to history. Moloch taps into these fears, these legends, and gives audiences an atmospheric and intriguing experience.

Moloch begins far in the past of 1991, where thirty years ago a young girl hides in a cupboard, trying to befriend a small mouse, when there are screams and bangs in the room above her. Something terrible happens upstairs, shaking the wooden roof and walls, and soon a cascade of dust and blood rains down upon the girl. Thirty years later, the young girl is now an adult woman named Betriek (Sallie Harmsen), who still lives in the house where her grandmother was murdered, along with her young daughter, and her parents.

Despite having been in the house when her grandmother was killed, Betriek has a somewhat decent life in her quiet community, though she does occasionally believe herself to be cursed. Her latest worry is her mother’s failing health, as she begins to have seizures and fainting spells. When a local archaeological dig not far from their home find something of interest they hope that it will provide a welcome distraction, and Betriek does find herself attracted to the head scientist, Jonas (Alexandre Willaume). But as the big begins to unearth more bodies of women with their throats slit, strange things start happening, and Betriek begins to think that something terrible is haunting her family.

If you’re looking for a horror film that’s full of jump scares, gore, and things chasing people this isn’t the film for you. Moloch takes a much quieter approach, and will often allow the atmosphere and the slowly unfolding plot unsettle the viewer. There’s a mystery at the heart of this film, information that’s given to you in small pieces over the course of the story that don’t quite make sense at the time. Even the big scene where one of the dig team reads out the local legend, inter-cut with school play where the children act it out, is only a small piece of the puzzle; and despite expectations, doesn’t give you everything you need to understand things.

This doesn’t mean that the film leaves things unexplained, but rather it allows you to make the deductions yourself. Once the film was done and the credits were rolling I understood the vast majority of it, and before the credits had come to an end other pieces had fallen into place as I thought back upon it. The answers are so cleverly done, and the revelations so intriguing that I honestly found myself wanting to go back to watch the movie again with this new perspective. Moloch is the kind of horror film that you can only watch one way once, and that every subsequent viewing will feel very different. And I’m definitely quite excited to go back to it again in the future to see the film with all of this information already known to me.

The film has decent atmosphere, and co-writer/director Nico van der Brink makes good use of the eerie, isolated locations in the film to build a sense of dread and foreboding. During the day you’re treated to views of forests, and still marshland that stretches out into the distance, but once the sun sets the locations take on a much more sinister feeling. It feels oppressive, with the darkness and the fog creeping in to surround the isolated family and their remote home.

The cast do a good job, and Harmsen in particular stands out in the lead role. Her character always feels like she’s on the edge of just breaking down, and there’s a huge sense of frustration and anger simmering just below the surface. A lot of this comes from her feelings of being cursed, and the events from her past still haunting her. As such, when the strange events of the film begin surrounding her family she feels a drive to investigate further, to figure out what’s happening and stop it before it brings further tragedy into her life. Betriek’s emotional journey is one of the central focuses in the film, and makes it more engaging because of it.

Moloch is a decent horror film that takes some simple ideas and takes them in some new and interesting directions. Thanks to a decent script, a good cast, and some tight directing the film never feels dull, and the mystery is engaging right up to the last minute. An impressive first feature length movie from a director that I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on.

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The Swamp Thing #14 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

The Swamp Thing is a book that I really enjoyed when it first came out. I thought the usage of horror elements was great, and that Ram V was crafting an interesting story; but the longer this series goes on the more it slips from great into just good. I don't know if perhaps this is as a result of the series being extended past its initial planned run, but this issue has some good stuff in it, yet ends up feeling a bit lost.

This issue picks up where the last left off, with Levi having lost his powers to his brother, the Parliament of Gears having consolidated its base, the avatar of radiation making her way across the world, and Levi being roped in to advise Hal Jordan when the world comes under threat from alien plant invasion. There's a lot here.

Over the course of the issue Levi melds with one of the plants, communicates with it, and crashes it to Earth where the various other factions are all meeting so as to get involved in the fight. In the final panel he emerges from the crashed plant matter, now as a Green Lantern Swamp Thing. And that's about it really. Not a huge amount happens here.

A lot of the issue is given over to big, existential questions, discussion about humanity, life, and the symbiosis of human and plant. It's okay stuff, but it really bogs the issue down, takes up a bit too much space for my liking, and really slows the pace. Again, referencing the extension of the series, I don't know if this is being done to fill pages, but it kind of feels like it sometimes.

The story of this series seems to be getting increasingly complex at this point too, and the focus on these big questions and lofty discussions ended up with me unsure what was going on elsewhere. Maybe it was just because I was a bit more tired than usual when I read it, but I'm starting to get a little less out of these issues the longer it goes on. With only two left, and Swamp Thing now being a Green Lantern (if only temporarily), hopefully it will lead to an exciting last few issues.

One area where this issue excels, however, is in the art, and Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer do a great job at making the issue pop. Drawing heroes and villains fighting is one thing, but finding ways to express someone's consciousness merging with an alien plant life form and changing the way it thinks is definitely more of a challenge, yet it's done well here.

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Robin #15 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

I've really enjoyed the current run on Robin, I've found the blend of teen drama and extreme violence to have been quite fun. But with the first story arc having come to a close, and the crossover of Shadow War having concluded, it now feels like the future of the series is a bit uncertain. And this issue reflects that in the central conflict that Damian has to deal with.

The story sees Talia al Ghul having followed through on her fathers wishes, and has given herself up to authorities. A prisoner of the DEO, Talia is approached for information about her son.

Meanwhile, Damian is fighting one of the seemingly many clown themed gangs inn Gotham. As you'd expect from Damian Wayne, he's beating the crap out of dozens of the costumed thugs. But when the odds start to shift away from his favour his family arrive to help him. After the fight, whilst relaxing with the Bat-Family, Damian and Bruce find out that Talia has escaped custody.

Tracking her down, the two adults get into a fight over Damian, and the best place for him to be. And this is where Damian steps in as the more rational voice of the two of them, and tells them that he's not going to be going with either of them; but finding his own destiny and place in the world.

As Damian returns to Lazarus Island, where his new friend and ally Connor Hawke is waiting for him, a beaten and bloodied Lord Death Man washes up on the beach, telling them that Flatline has gone bezerk.

I was pleasantly surprised when Robin went on to become one of my favourite books each month. The story is fun, it's got a great cast of characters, and the art has been really good. I found that the Shadow War stuff, whilst good, wasn't quite as fun; so now that we're back to the same characters and themes that were introduced in the first arc it feels like the book has gone back up to being excellent again.

I love how Damian begins this issue unsure of himself, trying to be independent in Gotham, yet still spending time with the family he's built there; and it's not until he sees his two parents ready to go to blows over his future that he realises that neither one of their worlds is perfect for him right now. He's growing and maturing as a character, and realising that he doesn't need to let Batman or Talia define him.

The scene with him hanging out with the Bat-Family is quite a nice one though, and has a very different energy to the scenes with him and his new friends. You can tell that there's a level of comfort his family has around him, and that they don't quite see him as a peer because he's the youngest one there. This seems to be something that doesn't happen with the other young fighter on Lazarus Island, who treat him no differently because he's younger. He's done stuff with his friends that has bonded him with them in different ways to his family; and it's giving him a different type of support network.

I love how the issue directly addresses him and Connor being in the DC Pride special too, adding a bit more to their relationship by confirming that Damian does know that Connor is ace, and that they're close enough that Connor would trust him with that. It also means that any folks who aren't happy with the special can't make any kind of claim that it's non-canonical; as it's clearly referenced here.

I'm going to be interested to see what happens next, especially as Flatline was one of my favourite characters from the first story line. I  like her relationship with Damian, and her kind of being his girlfriend despite her literally having killed him. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next with these two.

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Tenebrae – UHD Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

I first became familiar with Tenebrae when I watched a documentary about the Video Nasties, the seventy two films that were banned in the UK by the BBFC in the 1980s for being too ‘obscene’. Whilst many of the films on the list were low budget slasher films with some pretty shoddy – if bloody – effects, Tenebrae was something a little different: a psychological thriller that sees an author looking into a series of murders in Rome.

Like many of the more famous Giallo movies, Tenebrae was written and directed by Dario Argento, and is actually one of his more celebrated films. It opens with a reading from the book Tenebrae: a novel written by Peter Neal (Anthony Francoisa), that deals with serial murders and deviancy. From here we meet Peter as he boards a plane to Italy to take part in the tour for his book; meanwhile a mysterious figure plants something in his luggage and watches him leave. As Peter flies to Rome, a young woman is caught trying to shoplift a copy of his book, but is let off when she flirts with the store detective. Arriving back at her home, she’s attacked by an assailant armed with a razor, who forces pages of the book into her mouth before cutting her throat.

After arriving in Italy, Peter is approached by the police, who want to get his opinion on the case, and when he is called by someone claiming to be the killer, he ends up becoming involved in the case. As Peter and the police try to piece together who’s behind the crime, more bodies begin to mount as the killer moves from one brutalised victim to another.

Tenebrae is a little different from some of the other work that Argento has produced over the years. Those coming to the film expecting his more supernatural offerings might be left a bit disappointed. There are no witches or ghosts in this film, and Argento has swapped the dark alley and Gothic locations for a bright, modern setting. Despite being set in Rome, the film never makes use of any of the iconic locations the city is known for. There are no shots of the Colosseum, and we don’t get important walk and talks on the Spanish Steps; instead, the film is set in high-rise offices and new apartment buildings. This is the modern Italy of the 1980s, and because of this the film has a style that sets it apart from some of the other work Argento was producing at the time.

That being said, this is still unmistakably an Argento movie, complete with sweeping camerawork and impressive shots. One of the better known moments from the film sees the camera pan around a building, moving from one window, up the wall, across the roof, and down on the other side of the home to look in another window. The shot is long and lingering, and it takes its time to get to where it’s going, with only the electronic rock music from Goblin to engage with. The shot famously took multiple days to shoot, and was something Argento fought to keep in the US cut of the film.

It’s moments like this that make the film stand out as more than just a bloody murder mystery. It’s a film with style, with flair. Argento was not just a good storyteller, but a great filmmaker, someone who understood that you use the camera to tell a story too, and that if you take risks and do what others would consider strange or even bizarre it can lead to a film with an identity all its own. There’s a particular shot at the very end of the film that is so cleverly done and so shocking that I’m surprised it’s not cited as one of the stand-out moments of cinema.

It has been a few years since I’ve watched Tenebrae, and I’d honestly forgotten how the story played out, and who the killer was. It was a genuine delight to watch it through again, this time introducing it to someone new too. It’s a decent, engaging story that keeps you guessing, and has some fantastic twists in the tale. If you’ve ever looked at Argento’s work like Suspiria or Inferno and thought that perhaps they were a bit strange and unusual for you, I’d definitely point you towards Tenebrae, as I think it’s a great gateway movie in the work of this truly superb director.

Alongside this newly restored version of the film from Arrow Video there are a number of extras for fans to enjoy. There are three separate commentaries: one with authors and critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman; another with author and Argento expert Maitland McDonagh; and a third with Argento expert Thomas Rostock. There’s a feature length documentary called ‘Yellow Fever: The Rise and Fall of the Giallo’ which covers the history of Giallo and features a number of interviews with experts and figures from the genre, including Argento. And there are several featurettes and archival interviews that offer insight into the actors and the movie. There are a lot of great pieces included in this set, and this might be one of the better versions of the movie – albeit with one issue.

The big issue with this release, and the reason I cannot score it higher, is that there are examples of transphobic language used, and what appears to be transphobic behaviour within the extras. First, some context. One of the actresses in the film, Eva Robin’s (yes, that is the correct spelling), is a trans woman. Her character isn’t trans, and was originally going to be played by a cis woman. Eva transitioned before appearing in the film, and as far as I can tell she just happens to be an actress who is trans. However, she’s not simply allowed to just be a trans actress.

In the ‘Yellow Fever: The Rise and Fall of the Giallo’ documentary (which was not produced by Arrow Video), Maitland McDonagh talks about the film, and Eva, by saying “There are a lot of glittering surfaces, but nothing that’s under those surfaces is what you think it will be, starting with the girl in the red shoes, who of course is not even a girl.” The shot then cuts to footage from Tenebrae, and Eva’s deadname appears – needlessly – on the screen. Considering that Eva never acted under that name, has no credits with it, and has nothing of note under that name, I can’t see why it was included here at all. There is never any reason to use a trans person’s former name. It is something that often causes distress for the person, and is often used intentionally for this purpose (although I cannot know the intentions behind this specific occurrence).

McDonagh also makes some troubling comments about Eva in her commentary. Despite calling Eva a woman earlier in the film, and using she/her pronouns, she goes on to talk about her as an “ambiguous woman, because of course we know she’s not… she’s a trans woman”. She admits that this isn’t a part of the film’s narrative at all, but goes on to say “I think you’re supposed to take her simply as a biological woman, but I don’t really know. But I think most people looking at her have some vague suspicions that she is in fact not a biological woman, and so it adds a particular kind of oddness to the scene with the boys on the beach, which is unsettling.”

The notion that the scene is unsettling because you can tell Eva isn’t a ‘biological woman’ feels absurd and – frankly – bigoted. I’m a trans person. I’m used to seeing all sorts of trans people, and I had no idea that Eva was trans until she was outed in this documentary. McDonagh’s idea that you can tell she’s trans and it’s supposed to unsettle you feels ridiculous, because unless someone told you, you’d never know. The term ‘biological woman’ is often used as a transphobic talking point, as it sounds scientific but is actually a complete nonsense, although, again, I can’t speak to the intention behind the phrase as it is used here.

Sadly, these aren’t the only places where you’ll find transphobia in this set, as it’s also present in the commentary with Alan Jones and Kim Newman. Both of them use the word ‘transsexual’: a term that is often seen as outdated and in some cases offensive. Whilst this can be seen as an innocent mistake from people who aren’t as clued up on the correct terminology, their other behaviour is less excusable. Jones deadnames Eva once again, and Newman uses the abhorrent phrase “chick with a dick”.

I really enjoyed my time with Tenebrae, until I reached the extras. I was shocked and disgusted by the transphobic language and the deadnaming found here. To discover that one of the actresses in the film was trans this way was awful. As a horror fan I come to films like this to get away from the awfulness of the world. Entertainment is supposed to be an escape, so to find transphobic language and comments just casually included here honestly ruined this entire experience for me. This is a great presentation of the movie, but the above mentioned issues drag the whole thing down.

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Moon Knight Episodes 3 & 4 - TV Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

So, another two episodes of Moon Knight down, and I'm really enjoying this show.

Episode three was a lot of fun, it felt like a pretty standard kind of super hero adventure for the most part, even with the personality swapping and visits with God avatars. Much of Mark's journey to try to find the tomb felt like stuff I'd seen before, tracking down leads, fighting henchmen, that kind of thing. The biggest exception is the turning back of the stars, which was just gorgeous from a visual point of view.

The fourth episode is really where these two worked for me. I absolutely love the horror vibe that the show took on once Mark and Layla were inside the tomb. The mummies were genuinely creepy, and the scene where Layla was having to hide behind the altar whilst the mummy priest killed that man was really tense, horrific, and surprising for a Disney show.

I know that we've got Blade coming at some point in the future, and that it'll most likely be a very dark, violent, and horrific show; but I was surprised that Moon Knight seemed to be embracing horror elements too. If you'd have asked me, even before that episode, if I thought Moon Knight was going to veer into horror I'd have said no for sure.

I enjoyed how the fourth episode played with my expectations towards the end too. When Mark was shot and fell into the pool I expected the episode to end. So I was very surprised when things continued on, especially as it seemed the show was trying to pull the 'it was in his head the whole time' trope on us. 

But, it being this show, even this got thrown on its head when Mark discovers Steven in this mental hospital setting, and the two of them get to meet in the flesh. And then they meet a hippo woman. Now that's how you end an episode, leaving your audience confused and desperately wanting to know what the hell is going on.

Moon Knight is one of those shows where I could not tell you what I expect to happen next. This story could go in any direction and I wouldn't be surprised by it anymore. So wherever it's taking us next I'm sure it's going to be good.

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The Road to Prey - Predator Stalking Shadows by James A. Moore and Mark Morris

 

'In the aftermath of the events of Predator 2, U.S. Marine Scott Devlin is assigned to the clean-up operation in Los Angeles. He is soon thrust into a world of secretive government agents, highly-advanced technology, and an unstoppable juggernaut lone agent, Alan ‘Dutch’ Schaefer.

As Devlin rises through the ranks, working in elite counter-terrorist units, he gathers evidence, slowly piecing together the shocking truth of what he saw that night. Fighting for freedom from the jungles of South America to the Scottish Highlands, Devlin learns who the real enemy is, and how to fight for survival.

'He’s not the only one fighting back against the Hunters. Dutch has been working in the shadows ever since his first encounter in Central America, gathering knowledge, weapons, and team mates. Fighting both the Hunters and shadowy government agencies, Dutch and Devlin must team up to take the fight to the aliens – to become the predators.'

The Predator franchise has it's highs and lows, but generally has some very good films. The first three films in the series are all good for various different reasons, and whilst 2018's The Predator was generally seen as a disappointment that's still only one of the four films that's really classed as bad. Over the years the franchise has tried to expand out into different mediums, such as novels, comics, and video games. Whilst it's received acclaim in comics and games, novels tends not to be a medium where people sing its praises as much.

I've found that this can sometimes come down to the fact that it an be hard to capture a lot of the tension and horror that the films have on the written page, and that Predator books can sometimes feel a little flat. This is most certainly not the case with Predator Stalking Shadows, as I found it to not only be incredibly engaging and character driven, but at times was genuinely scary too.

Predator Stalking Shadows doesn't focus on just one event, on a singular predator incursion, and this really works to its advantage. Instead we follow Scott Devlin, a member of the US Marines, over the course of a number of decades as he slowly begins to learn the truth about the existence of these extraterrestrial hunters, and becomes drawn into the fight against them. As such, the book becomes more about him than the titular monsters; and this is such a good thing.

We get to see Scott as a relatively young man, fresh onto a special unit and going out on top secret missions. We get to see him get to know the soldiers around him, and we get to come to care for them the same way that he does. This means that when Scott and his comrades eventually end up in positions where they're going up against the Yautja you are hoping that these people make it through these encounters, and become genuinely heartbroken when some of them don't.

Not only was this so refreshing a development, I genuinely shed a couple of tears during one particularly poignant funeral scene, but I think it's probably the first time that I've ever really cared about a character death in the entire Predator franchise. Yes, it's disappointing when the cool marines die in the first film, and I genuinely hoped that Danny Trejo would have lasted longer in Predators, but this was the first time that I found myself caring about them as people, upset that they were leaving wives and children behind when they passed away.

But this is what the book is really good at. It's not a book about the spectacle of the predators, or the horror of being in their hunting ground, it's a story about the people in these situations. It's one of the most grounded, human stories in the entire franchise.

The book also features the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch, and shows what he's been doing in the years since the first Predator film. He's the character that we occasionally see fighting the predators, and whilst these moments are fairly fleeting they do help to carry the story along, giving readers brief moments of action as the rest of the book works on character and world building. For as many times as we get to see Dutch in action against the creatures we also get second hand stories about what he's been doing and how his mission has been getting on. Rather than feeling cheated by these, hoping for a 'show don't tell' approach instead, they feel a lot more real. We're supposed to be following Scott and his particular journey, so it makes sense to stick with him and instead of seeing Dutch's moments seeing them through Scott's eyes; which is learning about them after the fact.

I don't know much about the game that this is setting up, Predator Hunting Grounds, and imagine that it's more laying some very background framework for the game and explaining why Dutch is still around, as I do know he appears in the game. But I have to be honest, I wouldn't have cared half as much about the game before reading this book. The book makes it feel like there's a more cohesive world inside the Predator franchise, it makes it feel like the films and this new game are connecting in more than just name and IP. And better yet, the book manages to stand on its own and stays a brilliant piece of work without needing to connect into the game.

Predator Stalking Shadows is easily one of the best Predator novels that I've read. It captures the feel and tension of the films without relying on it to make its story. It centres on realistic people, it makes you care about the characters and the world in ways the franchise hasn't before. A masterful piece of fiction.

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DC vs Vampires: Killers #1 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

When I first heard about DC vs Vampires I wasn't completely sold on the idea. I thought it could be a fairly decent horror themed series that was just a silly bit of fun; but, only a handful of issues in it had quickly become one of my favourite series the DC are producing, with some incredibly tense moments, some horrific scenes, and a plot where I honestly don't know if the heroes are going to win.

Whilst the main series has been going on strong there have been a few one-shots coming out alongside it to expand the story. DC vs Vampires: Killers is the second one so far, and focuses on Harley Quinn as one of the last humans left alive in Gotham as the vampires have taken over.

When we meet Harley she's teamed up with Clayface, Solomon Grundy, and Catwoman, and is running a small, underground crime ring. She's managed to walk a fine line between making a comfortable, and profitable, existence for herself, and keeping off the vampire's radar. However, when she's approached by Jim Gordon, who has the vial of Lex Luthor's blood that the vampires are after, her carefully built world starts to fall down around her.

Luthor's blood is something that was an important plot point in the early issues of the main series, and amongst all of the panic of trying to figure out who is and isn't a vampire, and the trauma of seeing so many beloved characters either become vampires or be brutally killed by them, I'd kind of forgotten about it. So it's nice to be reminded of it here.

I like the little life that Harley has built for herself, and how two of her main allies are characters that I imagine can't be turned into vampires and betray her. It shows that she's trying to think smart, despite clearly not being smart enough to just get away from the city. With the way that this issue ends it's clear that she's going to be playing a bigger role in the series, and may be a pivotal piece towards actually beating the vampires.

However, there was something about the book that just didn't feel as exciting as the main title. I had a similar issue with the DC vs Vampires: Hunters one shot. The stories in these one-off's are good, but just not as good as the main title. I don't know what it is, because Matthew Rosenberg wrote the main series issues too. Maybe it's because the art, provided by Mike Bowden and Eduardo Mello, is very different from the main book.

I can't put my finger on why I don't enjoy this issue as much as the main series, but that doesn't mean it's a bad issue. It's a four out of five compared to the main title's five out of five, so it's not a huge drop in quality.

For those who are enjoying this series there's some good stuff here, and it seems to be setting up some important things for later on in this story; so if you're looking to get every part of this series I don't think you'll be let down.

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The Road To Prey: Ranking The Predator Films

 

Prey, the latest entry in the Predator franchise is almost here. In a bold move, the new film will be jumping backwards in time, to tell a story about one of the alien hunters in a historical setting. But before we embark upon this new journey, it seems like a good time to take a look back at the films that came before.

6. The Predator

The latest entry in the series, The Predator is easily the worst that the franchise has to offer. The plot sees a former marine coming up against two rival factions of the Yautja creatures The first, the most similar to what we've seen before, is revealed to have human DNA, and we learn that the aliens are hybridising themselves using other species genetics. This hunter, however, is killed by a larger Yautja who has adapted himself using other alien DNA to become a huge, nigh unstoppable killer. 

This new predator sets out to retrieve it's missing tech, which has fallen into the hands of an autistic child. The boys father and a team of soldiers and mercenaries with mental health issues make it their mission to stop the creature.

The story for The Predator is pretty awful. Part of this is down to the fact that the film went through an extensive rewrite close to release, with the entire last act of the film being changed. There is still some evidence of this original ending online, with small clips and images available that show the human team working with a pair of Yautja in human combat gear. There are also alternate versions of the final scene, in which the humans receive a ridiculous Iron-Man Predator killer suit from the Yautja, where the film seemed to try other weird set-ups for possible sequel films, including having Ripley and Newt from the Alien franchise appear.

The behind the scenes of the film seem to, frankly, be a bit of a cluster-fuck, and it's no surprise that the film we ended up with felt all over the place, without real purpose, and with a weak script. The story makes little sense, and even having seen it a few times now I'm left wondering why what happens happens most of the time. The film also has what a lot of viewers feel to be an offensive depiction of autism in the movie. There was also major controversy before release when it was revealed that writer/director Shane Black put his friend in the movie in a role where he harassed the lead female actor. It came to light that the man was in fact a sexual predator, and the stars and public demanded his scenes be cut from the movie.

I know everyone's tastes vary, and that I'm sure there are some people out there who can overlook the massive flaws in this film and may even enjoy it; but I doubt that there will be anyone who would name The Predator as their favourite entry in the franchise.

5. AVP: Requiem

I have a lot of mixed feelings about AVP: Requiem It's not a good film by any means, and it's executed pretty poorly, but there are some cool things in here too.

The film picks up where the previous Alien vs. Predator film left off, with the fallen Yautja Scar giving birth to a Xenomorph hybrid. Loose on the Yautja ship, the Predalien causes it to come crashing back down to Earth, where it crashes in the US, just outside a small town. The creature, which we learn is also a queen, begins to build its hive and spread Xenomorphs throughout the town.

Back on the Yautja home world, an expert Xeno-killer is dispatched to destroy all traces of the Xenos and Yautja on Earth. With vicious alien creatures killing or infecting all in their path, and an Yautja who will kill anyone who gets in his way without hesitation, a small group of survivors will try desperately to find a way out of the town alive.

The plot for the film isn't too bad, and it's a jarring thing to see the Xenomorphs in suburban settings. It's like a creature out of your nightmares coming into your real life, and there are times where it feels truly terrifying seeing how quick and easy it would be for the creatures to destroy life on modern day Earth. I also liked The Wolf, the Yautja sent to clean things up. He's an old, grizzled hunter, who's less about the honour of the hunt and killing for sport and is more there as an exterminator. Because of this he's less inclined to follow the 'rules', and will just kill anyone who gets in his way, making him one of the more deadly Yautja we've seen; and he sometimes feels close to what the Bad Bloods in the comics felt like. The Predalien also looks pretty good, and the scenes where it's impregnating pregnant women with dozens of 'belly burtsters' is one of the more horrific things the series has ever done.

But, all that being said, the film isn't good. The quality of the writing is pretty poor, and a lot of time is given over to the lives of the people of the small town, yet none of them ever feel like people that we should care about. The pacing and the big set pieces also fall kind of flat, and there's never really any moments of excitement. The humans never feel like anything but passengers, just along for the ride, rather than payers in the story. They don't pose a threat to either side, and are just barely surviving. There's little here to get excited by or attached to, and the end result is a film that's pretty flat and uninspired.

4. Alien vs. Predator

Having faced each other in games and comics many times before their big screen outing, there was a lot of excitement for 2004's Alien vs. Predator. I was one of these excited parties. Seeing these iconic monsters sharing the screen together was an event, and whilst the film itself wasn't terrible, there were issues to be had.

The plot sees a group of scientists and explorers being brought together by the rich businessman Charles Wayland, who has recently discovered a huge pyramid-like structure buried deep beneath the ice of Antarctica. With the promise of one of the biggest scientific discoveries ever, the team set out to explore. However, what they don't know is that the temple was created to act as a hunting ground for the Yautja, who would use it as a right of passage for their young hunters who would take on some of the deadliest prey imaginable, the Xenomorph.

Trapped beneath the surface, in a twisting maze of moving tunnels and chambers, the small group of humans find themselves stuck between the two alien factions. In order to survive, the lone survivor will have to try and make a deal with one of the alien hunters.

Whilst there's nothing hugely wrong with the story of AvP, I found that the execution is what really lets the movie down. At just over an hour and a half long, it's a pretty short movie, and it really does feel like it at times. Whilst some time is given over at the start of the movie to the set up, watching the team coming together and making their way towards their destination, once the characters reach the temple the film moves at a pretty fast pace, and the result is that the story feels rushed. This is a film that could have benefited from having an extra half hour of more added to it, so that we could get some more scenes with the characters, so that the tension could be kept up once the alien monsters arrived, and so that the film doesn't end quite so abruptly as is does.

That all being said, the film isn't bad, and there are some great moments to be found here. We get to see multiple Predators on the same hunt for the first time, and of course, seeing them going up against their big rival is always a treat. Personally, I also loved seeing how the Yautja interacted with ancient cultures and came to Earth in the past, and hopefully we might get more of these kinds of stories if Prey does well.

3. Predators

The third and second place entries in this list were easily the hardest to decide, and it's very close between the two films. That being said, I think that 201's Predators falls just behind for a few reasons.

Possibly the boldest of the stories in the Predator franchise, the film takes a big risk by moving the action away from Earth for the first time. We begin by meeting a motley band of soldiers and killers that have been airdropped into a strange jungle. With no memory of how they ended up there, the group, which comprises of mercenaries, soldiers, gangsters, a death row inmate, and a doctor, learn that they're not on Earth anymore, and have instead been dumped on an alien planet.

A trio of larger, more aggressive Yautja begin hunting them through the jungle, using traps and other alien creatures to try out different tactics and scenarios against their displaced prey. Realising that they have little hope of making it back to Earth unless they can kill the deadly aliens, the group sets out to turn the tables on their captors.

In some ways it feels like Predators takes some of the best bits of the first two movies and tries to mash them together with some new ideas. We go back to a jungle setting, albeit an alien one, with a group of people that are competent fighters, and we learn some shocking new things about the Yautja in the process. The biggest change to the formula is that there is more than one hunter, with three of the new aliens pursuing the protagonists at the same time. Each of these super predators brings something different to the table, and have their own unique designs and combat styles.

The reveal that there are different factions within the Yautja, different subspecies who don't always get along and have different morals and rules around hunting is a fun reveal, and one that adds a little flavour to the species without being too big a change. The cast of characters and actors are also really good, and we've got a few cult favourites like Danny Trejo in the mix alongside legit Oscar winning actors such as Adrian Brody and Mahershala Ali. Perhaps the only real missteps in the film as the inclusion of Lawrence Fishbourne, who whilst a great actor doesn't really fit the part he was paying, and Topher Grace, who's turn into 'I'm a killer' was painfully bad.

2. Predator 2

Predator 2 is (so far) easily the best of the sequels to the original. Taking the action away from the literal jungle to the figurative urban jungle, the movie takes the titular creature and places it in a Los Angeles during a heat wave.

The film follows police lieutenant Michael Harrigan who's a bit of a rogue element, but always manages to stop the bad guys. When a violent shootout with police and two rival drug cartels is ended when a mysterious assailant enters the building and kills all of the gang members, the police think that a new player might be in town. Though when members of both gangs are targeted it becomes unclear who they might be working for.

But when a special government unit expresses interest in the case it becomes clear that there's something more going on. And when those around Harrigan start being targeted he becomes determined to stop whoever, or whatever, is behind it.

Whilst Predator 2 didn't receive many positive reviews upon its initial release, the film did soon develop a cult following, and fans began to flock round it. Some people may have been upset that the film differed greatly from the first film, but the new movie offered a lot of new and interesting developments to the franchise, and further fleshed out the Yautja. One of the biggest things the film did was to show that the alien hunters had codes and ethics. This was hinted at in the first film, when it became clear it was only hunting armed prey, but in this film this was expanded upon by showing the Yautja refusing to harm pregnant prey, even if they were armed and a threat. 

The Yautja in this film was also given a lot of personality, and rather than simply hunting people it seemed to take a personal interest in Harrigan, following him, leaving him messages, and targeting those close to him. This was the first time that the Yautja were given any kind of motivation outside of simply hunting, and is still one of the most interesting interpretations of the creature. Personally, I found this obsession it had with Harrigan to be more frightening, and made for a scarier adversary.

1. Predator

The original is still the best. Whilst there are some great entries in the series, the first film is still an unbeatable action romp filled with great set pieces, some cheesy one-liners, and some tense moments.

Following a group of special forces soldiers, Predator takes the audience deep into the South American jungle as a rescue team sets out to save a diplomatic team who've become captured by guerrilla fighters. Along with their CIA handler, the team manage to find the hostages, but fail to save them as the guerrillas have executed them all. Discovering that the entire mission was a set-up to eliminate the fighter before they can launch an attack, the team sets out to reach their rendezvous point for extraction. However, they soon discover that there's something hiding in the jungle, stalking them, and it begins to pick them off one by one.

One of the reasons why Predator works so well is that it's a complete subversion of the expected action movie tropes. We have a group of muscly men with guns who walk into the jungle, take on an armed compound, and kill everyone inside without losing any of their men. They're the action heroes. They're the good guys. So when it turns out that there's something bigger, badder, and more frightening than them in the jungle, and that nothing they can do can stop it, it flips the formula on its head. It suddenly doesn't matter how strong you are, how good your weapons are.

And this is part of why the film is very scary too. There are parts of the movie where the soldiers know that something's hunting them and they're forced to simply wait, unable to track it or find it. The tension builds as they wait for the creature to show itself once again, hoping that they'll have a chance at striking back against it. And the film knows that it's scary, and holds back on revealing too much about what's in the jungle hunting them to further keep that tension there. We simply see things through the predators eyes, or catch glimpses of its camouflaged form as it moves through the trees.

Predator takes many of the tropes and cliches of the 80's action movie genre and takes it in a new direction by adding horror into the mix. It's one of the few movies where you're not sure if the hero is going to be able to make it out alive. The final act, where Arnie is left alone to try and fight the creature is one of the best parts of the film. It's quiet and tense, and he doesn't speak through most of it, but it's up there as some of the best stuff the actor has ever done because you're so sucked in and so invested that you're on the edge of your seat.

From what I've heard from people who've been lucky enough to see Prey already it's a great movie, but it may still struggle to top the original film for the sheer creativity of it, and for being a bold, and daring film that's incredibly well made.

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