Night of the Creeps – Blu-ray Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

If you asked me what I thought of Fred Dekker before I watched the release of the Night of the Creeps Blu-ray I wouldn’t have been able to give you much of an opinion. However, having now seen the film, and realising that he was also the writer/director of Monster Squad, a number of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes, and Robocop 3 (even he’s not proud of that one), I have to say he might be one of my favourite directors.

Night of the Creeps is Dekker’s first time as a feature film director, but watching the movie you’d be hard pressed to tell. It’s sleek, stylish, has great effects, a brilliant cast, and a sense of fun that directors who have been working in the industry for decades sometimes fail to achieve.

Beginning in space, the film shows a battle on an alien spaceship, complete with little rubber space men and laser guns. During the fight a mysterious canister is ejected from the ship and crashes to the planet below them, Earth. Landing in a quiet American town in the 1950s, the canister is found by a college couple and the boy becomes infected by a strange parasite.

This opening sequence is brilliant. The alien spaceship is so completely different from anything else in the film, yet doesn’t feel jarring or out of place, and adds an extra layer of scope and scale to what could have been a fairly small story. Once the pod lands on Earth the film switches to black and white and evokes the feel of a 1950’s B-movie, complete with parking teens, radio announcers talking about an escaped mental patient, and said mental patient wielding an axe.

Following this frankly inspired opening the film jumps forward in time to the 1980s where it follows college students Chris (Jason Lively) and J.C. (Steve Marshall) as Chris decides to try and woo the beautiful Cynthia (Jill Whitlow). When Chris decides that the best way of doing this is to join a fraternity, he and J.C. get roped into performing a prank that requires them to steal a body. Sneaking into the college labs they discover the frozen body of the boy from the 1950s and let him out, unwittingly unleashing the parasites inside him upon the town.

The set up is silly and simple, two things that are definitely needed for a film as ridiculous as this. The characters don’t take themselves too seriously, J.C. seems determined to make everything into a joke, and they are content to have fun with their misadventures. Whilst the film isn’t an out and out dark comedy, the college students bring a level of levity and humour to the film that stops it going too far into the realm of horror.

Dekker would go on to release Monster Squad a few years later, and it follows a similar mix of humour, charm, and horror, though aimed at a younger audience. As such, if you enjoyed Monster Squad but have not seen Night of the Creeps you’ll very much feel at home here.

One of the best characters has to be Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins), a gruff and grumpy police detective who is haunted by events in his past. He brings a level of seriousness to proceedings, even having the darkest and most emotion filled scene of the film, yet also has some of the best comedy lines too.

‘I’ve got good news and bad news girls. The good news is your dates are here.’

‘What’s the bad news?’

‘They’re dead.’

 The zombie effects are top notch, with everything in the film being done practically by an incredibly talented team. Whilst some practical effects can age very quickly, a lot of the work in Night of the Creeps still looks great. The head bursting effects of the zombies are over the top and at times ridiculous, but they work so well because the film as a whole feels over the top and ridiculous.

There’s not really a moment of the film that feels slow or dull, and it was thoroughly entertaining throughout, especially when you spot the little cameo appearances from people such as Dick Miller, Greg Nicotero, and Shane Black. The script is punchy and witty, and the editing and music are perfect for a cheesy 80’s flick.

The Blu-ray presents the film in the director’s cut version, which boasts an extra scene of zombie killing action in a tool shed, as well as the original ending. The release does provide the alternative, theatrical ending in the extras, but it’s good that the film is presented in the way it was originally intended.

The Blu-ray also gives two commentary tracks that are both filled with great behind the scenes stories and insight, as well as behind the scenes documentary, and an interview with Tom Atkins who briefly discusses his career.

Night of the Creeps is an absolute gem of a film, one that I’m disappointed that I’d never seen before. The new release corrects that, giving not only the best looking version of the film on home release but a slew of extras that are more than worth exploring. A must have for any fan of horror, or the 80’s.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×12 – ‘Seeds’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After two weeks delving into the overall story of the season with Centipede and the mysterious Clairvoyant, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes a step back to adventure of the week, but brings a level of charm and fun to proceedings that has been missing for a while.

When a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. cadets at the academy fall foul of a mysterious assailant who uses a device to try to freeze them to death, Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team are called in to get to the bottom of it. What’s surprising to the team, and the audience, is that it turns out that Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are something of superstars in the science division.

Giving Fitz and Simmons the spotlight without making a thing of their obvious love for each other was a welcome change, and we actually get to see the two of them having a lot of fun. They both seem incredibly comfortable being back in the academy, and fit well into the roles as mentor-like figures for the younger cadets. If the show were to suddenly spend a handful of episodes just following the two of them at the academy, helping out the future agents, it would be a great little diversion.

It turns out that one of the victims of the ice attack, Donnie Gill (Dylan Minnette), orchestrated the entire event specifically to get Fitz back at the academy in order to get him to fix the power source for his machine. Whilst this isn’t the biggest or most shocking secret plan in the history of espionage fiction, it’s kind of brilliant in its simplicity. Fitz identifies with the young Donnie, and desperately want to connect with him and help him come out of his shell, so of course he helps him with his project. But the project is actually a secret weapon that Donnie and his friend Seth (Daniel Zovatto) plan to sell to the shady Ian Quinn (David Conrad).

Outside of the Fitz and Simmons focus the episode sheds a little more light onto the mystery of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and her past, in particular her connection to a failed S.H.I.E.L.D. operation in the past that led to several deaths. Not only did these developments put an end to Skye’s search for her parents, but hinted at some deeper mystery to her past that could tie her into more important plots.

The best things about this episode though are the sense that the show has finally started to spend a little money on its episodes, and it painted S.H.I.E.L.D. as a larger organisation in a better light.

Donnie’s weather machine looks great, especially on a television budget, and the team behind the scenes managed to make things look fresh and interesting. We get to see the bus in an action sequence that wasn’t just the camera shaking on the set whilst the actors threw themselves around feigning turbulance. We got to see the plane from the outside as it fought against the deadly storm. It might not seem like much, but after so many episodes of seeing the plane just flying from place to place it makes a difference to see something a little more spectacular happening.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. academy is also portrayed as a really nice place to be, which is a stark contrast to the hectic nature and cold personalities of the Hub. You can see the hope in the eyes of the staff and the students, you get a sense that they’re eager to become part of something bigger than themselves, something that stands for what’s right. We get a small moment of this when Coulson takes Skye to see the wall of fallen agents. It’s an inspirational moment, and even the nod to Captain America can’t ruin it when she just happens to pick out the name Bucky Barnes out of all of them to read.

‘Seeds’ is a very different episode from what has come before. It doesn’t appear to play into the central plot in any big ways, but doesn’t feel like previous adventure of the week episodes. It has a sense of comfortableness that comes from a series that has finally found its feet.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×11 – ‘The Magical Place’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is kidnapped by the villainous Centipede in the mid-season finale, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. slows down slightly a little as the team are forced to search for their missing leader in ‘The Magical Place’.

The episode sees the return of Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows) leading the S.H.I.E.L.D. team as they try to track down Centipede and rescue Coulson. Hand makes for a good leader of the organisation in the absence of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). She represents the facelessness of the organisation, the rigid rules and unwillingness to break from protocol.

We see how much leeway Coulson’s team actually have in the way they are treated when he is no longer there. The team are allowed a lot of freedom and whilst their standard way of operating might end up well for them, it’s far from the norm for S.H.I.E.L.D.. This is no more obvious in Skye’s (Chloe Bennet) role in the episode.

Thrown off of The Bus, Skye is left to her own devices to try to find Coulson. Normally this might not be much of an issue for her, but she’s slowed down by her inability to use any tech thanks to her S.H.I.E.L.D bracelet. However, after 10 episodes, we get to see that Skye has finally learnt some spy skills.

The main season arc moves forward as more information about the mysterious Clairvoyant is teased. Sadly, with this still being halfway through the season, very few real answers are given here, though the story does seem to be finally advancing with a clearer narrative.

The episode ends with the surprise reveal that Mike Peterson (J August Richards) wasn’t killed in the previous episode, but is now being forced to work for Centipede with one of the eye implants first introduced in the episode ‘Eye Spy’. It’s good that Mike hasn’t been killed off as he’s one of the best characters in the show. His shift to working for the villains definitely produces some extra drama. It’s also a nice thing that the show didn’t hide this reveal for a later episode and actually gave us some information up front for once.

‘The Magical Place’ doesn’t so much as provide answers to the mystery behind Coulson’s resurrection as much as it just confirms suspicions. Hopefully now that the cat is out of the bag, the series won’t be as stingy with information as it has been up to this point. ‘The Magical Place’ continued on from ‘The Bridge‘ by giving the audience a much improved experience, embracing a larger narrative and decent character moments over adventure of the week stories.


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Dark Souls: Age of Fire #4 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Dark Souls: Age of Fire promised to give details on the past of the Dark Souls universe, to show readers insights into characters and places from the games. Despite a few issues showing promise towards this end by the time the final issue concludes it feels like a very hollow end product.

The artwork is, as ever, amazing with Anton Kokarev delivering stellar visuals. I’ve said it in previous reviews for the book, but Kokarev’s work could easily be turned into poster sized art, with any panel from the book worthy of being a framed piece of artwork.

Unfortunately, the writing in this issue feels like the weakest link. The finale should feel big and dramatic, yet this is one of the dullest of the series. Instead of the characters coming together to fight a giant foe, or even each other the majority of the book is people in suits of armour talking.

The series has given the readers great moments of story and lore exploration but book hasn’t gone into any real depth. The series touches on important events, yet doesn’t give them the time they need. Sadly, the final issue continues with this trend, focusing more on the characters than the world or the events. Whilst I’m never one to complain about getting more characterisation this isn’t really what people came to read the series for.

I don’t think that this is a choice that writer Ryan O’Sullivan has done intentionally, rather an editorial decision to try and maintain enough mystique around these big moments that they can be explored in future comics, novels, or games, depending on the company’s decision.

The final moments of the book reflect this, with no satisfying conclusion to end with. We’ve not had a huge amount of time with the characters of Dark Souls: Age of Fire but it would have still been nice to have had some kind of wrap up to their stories.

Dark Souls: Age of Fire is a story that promised to delve into some of the most iconic characters and events in the series history, but only really touches upon them. It feels like the company wants to expand their reach into comics, yet don’t want to commit to creating solid cannon, wanting instead the opportunity to tell these stories in more detail at another time. As such, the story lacks any real depth or weight.

Whilst fans of the series are sure to enjoy it the casual reader may feel dissatisfied with the conclusion.


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Vengeful – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she's finally gained the control she's always sought--and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She'll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella's rise, new enmities create opportunity--and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.'

Coming into Vengeful having not read the first book, it is easy to purely be attracted by the interesting description and a wonderful cover – I know, you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but this one is absolutely gorgeous. Normally I’ve found that jumping in half way through a story can be disastrous, especially when the writer assumes that you’ll have already read the first book, but V.E. Schwab seems to have kept this in mind and has written a book designed to draw you in straight away.

Telling the story of Victor Vale, an EO (Extra Ordinary) with the ability to manipulate both his nerves and pain receptors, and those in others, and his small group as they attempt to find a way of stopping his brief bouts of death. Victor is joined by an ex-con, a former soldier, and a young woman with the ability to revive the dead. This group, and the situation that Victor is facing, are a huge part of the carryover from the first book in the series, Vicious, but are explained in such a way that it’s easily accessible for new readers.

Schwab spends a good portion of the start of the book exploring these characters, their motivations, their histories. It makes it so that you can come into this story with no knowledge of the past events but still feel engaged and invested in what happens. I even had to go online and check which characters were actually part of the first book and which were new because everyone was given the same time and effort in their introductions and execution.

Also returning is Eli Ever, the ying to Victor’s yang. A character that would be easy to make absolutely evil, Eli is made much more sympathetic, especially when he’s being dissected whilst still alive over and over again.

The new characters added to the mix are very interesting too. There’s June, a young woman with the ability to copy people’s appearances. What makes her interesting, however, over other shape-shifting characters is that not only does she gain some of their knowledge and memories when she becomes them, but any injury that she receives when in another form happen to the original person rather than her.

Marcella is the other big addition to the universe, a woman whose mob husband beats her and leaves her to die in a burning building, but survives and develops her own EO powers. I really like her ability, able to cause things to rapidly break down, and her motivations are more than just simple vengeance.

Vengeful is a book about people with varying motivations and desires that occupy the area of grey between good and evil. The book doesn’t have any real heroes, and most of the bad guys are understandable in some way. The characters are complex and layered, rather than being two dimensional archetypes.

Schwab writes in short chapters, ranging from a handful of pages in length to a dozen at most, and they don’t follow a standard narrative structure, jumping between time and location. Instead of being off-putting or disruptive to the story it allows for deeper insights into characters, and means that Schwab is able to manipulate the way the story unfolds or how a reader will feel by messing with the standard narrative structure.


Vengeful is my first dip into the world of The Villains universe, and V.E. Schwab as a writer, and both have been much better than I was expecting. I not only enjoyed the book, but would highly recommend it to others. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to track down the first book because I’m excited to read more of this universe.


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