Another 5 Queer DC Characters To Keep An Eye On

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Because DC Comics are doing such a good job at expanding their roster of queer characters, and giving them things to do in their books, we thought – why stop at just five characters? As such, we thought that we’d give you all another five queer DC characters to keep an eye on for Pride Month.

Tim Drake, aka Red Robin

Tim Drake is the third person to don the mantle of Robin, Batman‘s famous partner. Following the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, Batman began to slip into a dark state, something that was noticed by Tm Drake, a young super fan of Batman. Using his own detective skills Tim was able to not only figure out that Bruce Wayne was Batman, but approached him and asked to become his new Robin. Whilst Batman at first refused, Tim would go on to prove himself, and became one of Bruce’s most trusted and beloved sons. Over the years Tim has evolved, and even left the title of Robin behind, becoming Red Robin after Bruce’s biological son, Damian, became Robin.

Despite having given up the name Robin, Tim is still part of the Bat-Family, and is the first Robin that a lot of comic readers will have experienced. Whilst not headlining his own series, he does frequently appear in many of the Batman books. It was in a recent issue of Batman: Urban Legends he came out as bisexual and began dating a young man named Bernard. Tim might not have his own solo series at the moment, but he is getting his own special, DC Pride: Tim Drake, which collects together his coming out stories from Batman: Urban Legends, as well as a new story.

Alysia Yeoh

Sticking with the Bat-Family, another character that’s getting more and more time to shine is Alysia Yeoh. First appearing in Gail Simone’s Batgirl run in 2011, Alysia quickly became best friends with Barbara Gordon, Batgirl. As the series progressed it was revealed that Alysia was a trans woman, and quickly became one of the most prominent trans character in DC at the time. She was featured in the first trans marriage story-line at the company, where Alysia married her girlfriend, and Barbara served as her maid of honour. Alysia has made several appearances since.

It was recently announced that Alysia would be appearing in the live action Batgirl film set for release on HBO Max, and will be played by trans actress Ivory Aquino. Not only that, but Alysia will also be featuring in one of the stories in DC Pride. Previews of the book show Alysia donning a Batgirl costume and defending herself with a baseball bat with the trans flag on it. It’s not clear if this is a one-off thing, or if she will become a Batgirl on a longer term basis, but she’s still going to be a trans Batgirl with a trans bat, and that sounds pretty damn cool.

Xiomara Rojas, aka Crush

Crush is probably a character you’ve not heard of, but her dad might be. Crush is the daughter of the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo, a long-time anti-hero antagonist that has gone up against Superman and other members of the Justice League of the years. Found in the desert at the Burning Man festival by a young couple, Crush was adopted by human parents. Despite her upbringing, Crush seems to have a lot of her father in her, and is quick to anger, choosing to solve problems with her fists a lot of the time. After the death of her adoptive parents she survived by taking part in underground fighting rings, where she got her nickname Crush, and was approached to join the Teen Titans by Robin.

Since joining the team Crush has learnt to deal with her anger better, and has even made friends. She also started a relationship with Katie, revealing that she’s a lesbian. As part of DC’s Infinite Frontier Crush left the Teen Titans, and broke up with her girlfriend, to travel into space to confront her dad in Crush & Lobo. Crush is currently in space, having vowed to become a space bounty hunter, capturing escaped criminals. Thanks to her wit, humour, and fun-loving attitude, coupled with her explosive anger, Crush is a fun character to read, with some folks calling her DC’s answer to Deadpool.

John Constantine

The occult detective from Liverpool, John Constantine has gone from longer in the shadows to one of the more important figures in the DC universe, and a frequent sight on various Justice League line-ups. Originally appearing in an issue of The Saga of the Swamp Thing, Constantine soon took the lead in his own series, Hellblazer, as part of DC’s Vertigo imprint, which allowed for more mature content. Constantine chain-smokes, drinks, swears, and sleeps with anyone who’ll have him, all whilst fighting monsters from hell as he attempts to right some of the wrongs he’s done over the years.

Despite some of the Vertigo books being a part of the DC universe they were always kept slightly apart from the main titles, but in 2011 John Constantine was brought into the mainstream DC universe with Brightest Day. Since then he’s featured prominently as part of Justice League Dark, a team of magical characters who fight mystical threats to Earth. With both Zatana and Wonder Woman, both leaders of the Justice League Dark, having been apparently killed as the start of DC’s Dark Crisis it looks like Constantine will have to step up once again to help save the world.

Alan Scott, aka Green Lantern

Alan Scott is the oldest character on this list, and is one of the oldest DC characters to exist. First appearing in All-American Comics #16 in 1940, he’s the first hero to go by the name Green Lantern. However, Alan is not a Green Lantern in the same way that other heroes with that title are, and has a magical-based power. He’s not a space cop, and is instead part of the first generation of heroes, and a founding member of the Justice Society of America. Thanks to multiple universes, timelines merging, and other cosmic shenanigans, his origin and place in the DC universe was questionable for a while, but thanks to Infinite Frontier he, along with the rest of the JSA, is part of regular continuity once again.

Infinite Frontier did more than just bring Alan and the JSA back, however. In a story written by James Tynion IV, Alan meets with his two children, also super-heroes, in the JSA headquarters. Talking to his children, Alan reveals to them that he’s gay, and has been keeping it secret all his life. His children, who include the gay super-hero Obsidian, embrace their father and support him fully. Originally created in a time where being openly gay wasn’t accepted, Alan’s journey of hiding his identity and only coming out later in life once societal views have changed mirrors the journeys of many older queer people. Not only that, but it makes one of the first super-heroes to ever into a queer hero.

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Gatlopp: Hell of a Game – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Why have there been so few movies about cursed or haunted board games? I’m sure that we can all think of the one big one, the one that a lot of folks with compare this film to, but are there any other films that tackle this topic other than Jumanji? With the popularity of board games, whether it’s a family sitting around for a casual game of Monopoly that never gets finished because folks get bored or end up in arguments, or more in-depth games that can go on for multiple sessions, it’s a medium that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. So why doesn’t it come up fiction more?

Well, perhaps it’s because it seems to be pretty hard to make a board game dynamic and exciting to those simply observing. I think this is one of the reasons that Gatlopp: Hell of a Game, the latest entry in this minuscule sub-genre of films, focuses less on the game, and more on the people playing it. Whilst this is nominally a film about four friends getting stuck playing a magical game that looks set to kill them, it’s actually about a group of friends reconnecting, figuring out their relationships, and moving on from past traumas.

Gatlopp: Hell of a Game begins with four friends, Paul (Jim Mahoney), Sam (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Cliff (Jon Bass), and Troy (Sarunas J. Jackson) going about their lives around LA. We get little snapshots of who they are in these moments, learning that Sam is a workaholic who can’t let go, Troy loves his status as a low level celebrity and cashes in on it wherever he can, Cliff is a bit of a man-child who’s just getting by, and Paul has just gone through a divorce from his wife and has had to sell his home.

It’s Paul’s divorce that spurs on the events of the film, as he moves in with Cliff for a few weeks whilst his house sale is finalised. Whilst Paul was hoping for a quiet time, Cliff has other ideas, and invites Troy and Sam round for drinks and a fun time. A key component of the night Cliff has planned is a strange board game called Gatlopp, which he found in one of the drawers of a new piece of furniture he bought. Eventually the others agree to play, and the four of them settle down for a night of fun. However, when it appears that the game is able to warp reality, the four of them discover that they need to beat the game by sunrise, or become trapped playing it forever.

Whilst Gatlopp is marketed as a horror film it’s definitely more on the lighthearted side of the genre, and I think most viewers will find themselves laughing aloud more than they’ll be cringing or hiding behind the pillow. There are definitely some horror themes going on here, such as the punishment of being cursed to a hell of playing this game forever, but if you’re looking for gore, scares, and high tension this might not be the film for you. However, if you’re looking for some good fun Gatlopp: Hell of a Game just might scratch your itch.

A big part of the charm is the man four cast members, who really do feel like a good group of friends at times. We’ve all seen films where a friend group just never feels right, where the chemistry is off and feels forced. Gatlopp: Hell of a Game manages to sidestep this issue for the most part. Towards the start of the film the friends haven’t really been decent friends for a while, and are reconnecting and finding their feet around each other; and this helps with any awkwardness there might be.

But as the film goes on the actors seem to settle into their roles more, and you can really see the bonds between these people. They argue and snap at each other, but do genuinely seem to care. The cast do a great job throughout, and are put through a gamut of emotions to have to play, and do so wonderfully. There are moments where you’ll dislike these characters, and times where you feel genuinely bad for them. One scene in particular was actually heartbreaking, and Emmy Raver-Lampman has possibly the best scene in the film.

The film does a good job with what seems like a relatively small budget too, keeping the vast majority of it in one closed off location, with a handful of scenes taking place outside of a single room. It feels like a bottle-episode from a TV show, but in the best possible way. The story of these people and their issues becomes so much of the focus that you don’t really notice or care that they’ve not left this one room. I can’t think of many films that have managed to keep me entertained in one location in the same way that Gatlopp has done, and was honestly pleasantly surprised that it did so.

Gatlopp: Hell of a Game is a weird and wonderful movie, one that isn’t really taking itself too seriously and is focusing on having fun. However, it manages to sneak in a rather sweet and engaging story of these four people, their lives, and the healing they go through whilst being tortured by this haunted board game. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the film as much as I did, and think it’s one that quite a few people are going to like.

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Hetty and the Battle of the Books by Anna James - Book Review

 

'A passionate campaign brings four best friends back together in a fight to save their school library in this heartfelt tale from the bestselling author of Pages & Co.

'The library is Hetty's very favourite place in school, and since falling out with her best friends Ali, Mei and Rocket she's been spending even more time there. So she's absolutely horrified when she learns that her head teacher is planning to close it down, claiming there aren't enough funds to keep the library going. There's no way Hetty's going to sit back and let this happen. But can she repair her broken friendships and build support for her library campaign? Let the Battle of the Books commence!'

The latest Barrington Stoke release tells a tale about the magic of books, and how important libraries are for people of all ages, but especially children. 

Hetty loves books, and loves the library. Whether it's the public library, or the one in her school, it's her favourite place to be. And now that she and her three best friends, Ali, Mei, and Rocket, have moved into senior school the new library is even better. Not only does it have a lovely librarian, Ms Juster, but its where all of the clubs and activities meet up to spend time together. Whether it's book club, the school newspaper, film club, or folks playing Dungeons and Dragons, it's the social heart of the school. So when the news comes out that the library is closing down it comes as a blow to everyone.

Hetty is distraught at the news, and is even more upset when she finds out that the closure will mean that Ms Juster will be losing her job too. She can't handle the idea of losing the library, so comes up with a plan to try and stop it; but when she discovers that the headmaster might not be being completely honest about the closure things get even more serious.

The book is written from Hetty's point of view, and is very conversational in its tone, and includes some moments where Hetty has small asides and makes some silly comments that makes it feel like a book a lot of young readers will get on well with. It read like they'd be chatting to a peer, rather than being spoken down to by an adult. She has a lot of spunk to her, a lot of passion and vigour that I think that children will enjoy. There are times where she can come across as a bit unlikable, and she's not perfect by any means; but I think this makes her more realistic for sure.

It's not just books and the importance of libraries that are covered in the book though, but also takes a look at the importance of friendship, communication, and how forgiveness and understanding can make a big difference. It's a short book, so it's great that Anna James managed to squeeze in some personal drama for Hetty and her friends to deal with too, to give the story a little something extra to do.

The book has some lovely illustrations included, provided by Jez Tuya, that takes some for the key moments from the story and brings them to life. The artwork is on display on the front cover, and looks lovely. The illustrations help to break up the story, and even provides some helpful information, such as giving us diagrams of the layout of the library.

Hetty and the Battle of the Books is a delightful little story about the importance of books, and social spaces for children. It teaches kids about how standing up against injustice is both important, and needed at times too; which in todays world is a very important lesson to teach the next generation.

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The Initiation of Sarah (1978) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Originally produced to air on network television, The Initiation of Sarah is a somewhat cheap, quickly produced horror film that was never intended to receive any kind of home release, but has somehow gathered a small cult following over the decades. And now it’s received a new Blu-ray release from Arrow Video, allowing a whole new audience to discover this strange movie.

The Initiation of Sarah begins with Sarah (Kay Lenz) and her adoptive sister Patty (Morgan Brittany) at the beach, enjoying some of their last moments together at home before heading off to college to start their next big step in life. However, when Patty is approached by a man who makes unwanted advances on her, and tries to force himself on her, he’s thrown into the sea by some unseen force, hinting that Sarah has some kind of powers. It’s at this point it becomes clear that this film is very much going to be cashing in on the popularity of Carrie, which came out just two years before.

After this we watch as the two girls head off to start college, and we see that the two of them are very different. Patty is outgoing and determined, much like her mother, and has plans to join the Alpha Nu Sigma sorority like her mother did before her. Sarah, on the other hand, is a much more shy and withdrawn person. She dresses down, doesn’t feel comfortable around others, and tries to blend into the background rather than stand out. Despite these differences, Patty adores her sister, and tries to get them both into Alpha Nu Sigma. Unfortunately, the president of Alpha Nu Sigma, Jennifer Lawrence (Morgan Fairchild) only wants Patty, and rejects Sarah.

Luckily for Sarah, she finds a home in the Phi Epsilon Delta sorority house, which seems to be filled with other misfits and wallflowers. What Sarah doesn’t realise, however, is that Phi Epsilon Delta has a historic rivalry with Alpha Nu Sigma, and that Jennifer Lawrence has decided to use Sarah as her target. Jennifer wants to use Sarah as a tool to score points against the other sorority, as well as to break Patty and force her to toe the line. But when Sarah becomes the target of this bullying it begins to awaken her psychic powers.

There’s no real way to talk about The Initiation of Sarah without comparing it to Carrie, and it is very much a ‘Carrie but in college’ story. It’s not hard to see why, as the 1976 movie was a huge hit at the time, and as with any hit there will be imitators close behind hoping to cash in on that success. However, where the Brian De Palma movie had some decent production values behind it, a solid script, and a big set piece to end on, The Initiation of Sarah seems to lack all of those things.

This is in large part down to the fact that this was not a major motion picture. It was not produced to appear on the big screen, nor was it a project that was given much time or money. The Initiation of Sarah was one of the many ‘movies of the week’ productions made by the ABC network, designed to fit into a free time-slot in order to fill gaps n schedules and perhaps draw in some viewers as the only time the film could be seen.

And the film really does feel like a cheap TV movie because of this. The script is slow and meanders at times, there’s nothing different or interesting to look at as the film plays it safe visually, and it is filled with nobodies and TV personalities (with the biggest stars in the film featuring here before they actually became big names). It wasn’t until I was watching through the special features on the new release and they said that it was a made for TV movie that the poor quality of the film suddenly made much more sense to me.

Despite the less than stellar quality, there is some fun to be had with The Initiation of Sarah. The acting is decent enough, and you can tell that some of the folks here went on to do well in soap operas, thanks in part to how cheesy some of the scenes were. Morgan Fairchild, who plays villain Jennifer Lawrence, spends much of the film being arch and over-the-top, almost chewing the scenery when she’s being openly cruel, and it’s easy to see how she’d go on to flourish and become a star working on shows like Dallas. And whilst the script isn’t perfect there are some good moments, particularly one where Sarah calls out Jennifer’s actions. But, these are small moments of entertainment in an otherwise fairly lacklustre film.

There are some special features on the disc, alongside the film, that make this an interesting watch. There’s a full length audio commentary from TV Movie historian and expert Amanda Reyes, who gives further insight into the film, as well as other TV movies and theatrical releases from the time and how The Initiation of Sarah was influenced by them. There are also a few special features that look at the movie from a queer and feminist perspective, a visual essay about the movie, and an interview with film critic Samantha McLaren, who looks at witchcraft, empowerment, and films influenced by Carrie. There’s also an interview with the film’s writer Tom Holland.

The Initiation of Sarah is a movie that will interest those who enjoy horror and don’t mind a bit of cheese to sit through. It will appeal to those who are interested in film history, and want to learn a little more about television movies and what place they had in cinema. However, casual viewers looking for a decent horror film to watch might be left wanting a little more.

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The Shaolin Plot (1977) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Film villains can have some wild motivations for why they’ve decided to do awful things: sometimes it’s wanting power, sometimes it’s amassing wealth, and it can occasionally be something that seems genuinely good, but pursued through evil methods. The villain in The Shaolin Plot might have one of the strangest reasons for being evil however: wanting to complete his book collection.

The Shaolin Plot tells the story of Prince Daglen (Chang Sing), a dictator who wants to own all of the martial arts manuals from each of the four martial arts schools. He has labelled shelves made ready for them, and won’t stop until his set is complete. The film begins with Daglen attaining the Wu-Tang volume and setting his sights on the Shaolin text. However, it soon becomes apparent that the Shaolin temple will prove harder to break into than first thought, and a plan to infiltrate the compound is formed.

Meanwhile, Little Tiger (James Tien), the son of one of the Wu-Tang masters killed by Daglen’s people, swears to get revenge. Little Tiger ends up training with a blind monk, who teaches him advanced fighting techniques in the hopes that he will be able to stop Daglen’s schemes, and avenge his father.

The Shaolin Plot is not a very well known martial arts movie, something that is mentioned on both of the commentary tracks on this release. This feels a little strange when you see some of the names involved in the film, both in front of and behind the camera. Director Huang Feng was well known both as an actor and a director. Producer Raymond Chow is considered to be the man responsible for bringing martial arts films to the rest of the world, and for making many stars’ careers. Sammo Hung appears as a stand out character, and is the stunt coordinator for the film, and is something of a headline figure in the genre. So with so much star power behind the movie why is it so unknown? I’m sad to say, it’s probably because it’s kind of boring.

The plot for the film sounds absolutely fine, and on paper it’s the kind of ridiculous plot you come to expect from the genre; someone killing scores of people for something as inconsequential as a book isn’t the wildest thing to happen in martial arts cinema by a long margin. And whilst there are some spectacular, and at times silly, fight scenes, the stuff in between them really drags the film down. Feng Huang spends a lot of time letting the camera linger, giving audiences long shots taking in the beautiful locations and the expensive sets. There are many moments where the actors don’t speak, and the camera stays on them, allowing for long pauses and silent spaces where you’re able to just observe.

Whilst there’s nothing wrong with this kind of film making, and some of the locations are genuinely beautiful, this isn’t the kind of thing one expects from a martial arts film. These movies usually have a much quicker pace, with short scenes that have bare-bones dialogue as you spend as little as possible moving from one action sequence to the next. But this film does the opposite, and when watching it it does feel like there are long gaps where not a huge amount happens, and you’re left wondering when the next fight is coming.

To be fair, however, the fights are very good, and I particularly enjoyed Sammo Hung’s evil monk character who throws razor sharp cymbals at people. The ridiculousness of how the weapons hover around and zip across the scene as if by remote control, taking people’s heads off, is frankly delightful. And if the film had more of this I’d have enjoyed it a lot more. It really did feel like it needed more action, and more tongue-in-cheek moments to really be a great film.

The new release also feels kind of bare-bones. It comes with a pair of audio-commentaries that are enjoyable, and at times more entertaining than the film itself. One is conducted by Asian film experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, whilst the other features action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. Those folks who have been picking up Eureka Entertainment‘s other martial arts releases will be familiar with these names, and will know the kind of commentary they provide. Outside of that there’s only a trailer to fill in space. Sadly the film doesn’t come with any kind of archive material, behind the scenes looks, or interviews. If you’re lucky enough to pick up one of the editions that comes with the limited edition collectors booklet (limited to only 2000 copies) you’ll at least get some interesting history about the movie to read.

The Shaolin Plot is a decent enough martial arts film that plays it safe, and because of that it fails to stand out. Avid collectors of the genre will be happy to finally get the movie on Blu-ray, but casual viewers might find it a bit of a slog at times.

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The Last Storm by Tim Lebbon - Blog Tour

 

'Struck by famine and drought, large swathes of North America are now known as the Desert. Set against this mythic and vast backdrop, The Last Storm is a timely story of a family of Rainmakers whose rare and arcane gift has become a curse.

'Jesse stopped rainmaking the moment his abilities became deadly, bringing down not just rain but scorpions, strange snakes and spiders. He thought he could help a land suffering from climate catastrophe, but he was wrong. When his daughter Ash inherited the tainted gift carried down the family bloodline, Jesse did his best to stop her. His attempt went tragically wrong, and ever since then he has believed himself responsible for his daughter's death.

'But now his wife Karina––who never gave up looking for their daughter—brings news that Ash is still alive. And she's rainmaking again. Terrified of what she might bring down upon the desperate communities of the Desert, the estranged couple set out across the desolate landscape to find her. But Jesse and Karina are not the only ones looking for Ash. As the storms she conjures become more violent and deadly, some follow her seeking hope. And one is hungry for revenge.'

One of the things that I've come to enjoy about Tim Lebbon's work is that his books will feature strange horrors, dark mysteries, and warring alien creatures, but at the heart of everything it comes down to love, family, and connections. This is never more apparent than in The Last Storm, which sees a family broken by tragedy and betrayal, fighting to come back together to avert death and disaster on an epic scale.

The Last Storm transports readers to a near future, where global warming and environmental changes have ravaged parts of the world. A huge sprawl of dry and arid land, simply known as The Desert, takes up most of North America, with once rich, green land reduced to harsh environment where humans struggle to survive. Despite this, most people are still doing what they do today, pretending it's not that bad and carrying on with their life, going to the office, grabbing coffee, and scrolling social media on their phones.

There is one family who see things a little differently, however. Rainmakers. A family who has been able to summon huge rainstorms for several generations. Building a strange device, being called to each individual component, a Rainmaker will attach themselves to their apparatus, calling forth the rain from some strange realm only they can access. For generations this allowed them to do some good for the world, but when Jesse experiences a strange incident where blood begins to rain from the sky, and venomous snakes and insects fall to earth, he swears to never use his abilities again. Years later, when his daughter, Ash, experiences the same, it ends in tragedy; with Ash believed dead.

Living alone, isolated from the rest of the world, Jesse is approached by his estranged wife, Karina. Karina has been searching The Desert for sign of her daughter for years, believing her to still be alive, and she's heard stories about a young woman making it rain. Believing that it could be her only chance to see her daughter again, Karina reaches out to Jesse to help. Knowing that if it is Ash, and she is using her abilities, that it could lead to tragedy, Jesse sets out with Karina to try and save his daughter from a terrible fate.

This isn't the first time that Lebbon has given readers an eco-horror tale, he did it wonderfully with Eden in 2020, and in a lot of ways this book feels like the other side to that coin. Where Eden was filled with lush forests and wonderful vistas, The Last Storm is a barren wasteland of the dead and dying. The horror of Eden seems to be nature fighting back against humanity, and The Last Storm seems to have humanity unleashing further horrors onto the world. There's nothing to say that they're not happening in the same world, however, as I can see them taking place in the same ecologically wrecked Earth. I enjoyed how the two books had a number of similarities, yet The Last Storm approached eco-horror in such a different way, and felt more cosmic horror a lot of the time too.

The main focus of The Last Storm are the family of Rainmakers, Jesse, Karina, and Ash. Several other characters are involved in this narrative, and even end up playing major parts, but  the focus is this one family. By the time we meet the three of them all of their lives have effectively been ruined. Ash has been surviving alone in The Desert for years, having believed that her father tried to kill her, and that her gift was some kind of dark curse. Karina lost her daughter, possibly for good, left her husband for what she saw as the worst betrayal, and has had to go through some awful things alone in The Desert searching for Ash. And Jesse saw his beloved gift change into an awful power, saw it kill people, and has believed that he caused the death of his daughter. To say that they're all dealing with trauma is something of an understatement.

Despite this, there are some moments of genuine joy to be found in The Last Storm, especially with Ash. She has begun to experience parts of her gifts again, with pieces of a new apparatus calling out to her. The feeling gives her hope, it allows her to hope that perhaps what happened before was down to her father, and that she might be able to do some good in a world that desperately needs it. The relationship she forms with Cee, another young woman travelling The Desert, is lovely too. A genuine friendship begins to form between them, and as their bond grows it evolves into what could be the seeds of a romantic relationship too. In a world where people have so little, where most struggle just to get by, it's lovely to see small glimmers of hope and kindness throughout the story.

I absolutely loved the horror elements in the book too, and we get small hints across the narrative of the dark powers lurking just beyond our understanding. At the climax of the book we get to see and experience some truly frightening things, and it does leave you with a few questions as to what power Ash and her father were tapping into, and what things were lurking in that other place. Because we never get given solid answers (a big part of the horror for me), and because of the nature of it I'd say that The Last Storm felt a lot more like cosmic horror for me, just one set in an awful ecological disaster of a future.

The Last Storm is a solid story, one that moves at a fast pace, shifting between several characters as the universe draws them all together for an explosive finale that will leave you shocked and reeling. There are some truly frightening moments to be found in this book, but I also think that a lot of people will find most horror in the frighteningly realistic future that Lebbon has created here.

Jesse breathed deeply a few times and turned his face to the sky. It was clear and pale blue, scorched almost cloudless by the unrelenting sun. He remembered his mother doing the same, and he had a rich, living memory of the first time he’d asked what she was doing. He’d been maybe five years old then, and she had been five years away from the flames that would consume her.

I’m wishing upon a cloud, she’d said, laughing as Jesse assumed the same position. See that one, son? It looks like an elephant.

He saw no elephants now. There were a few scattered cirrus clouds so high up that they were barely smudges against deep blue infinity. Other than that, the sky offered no signs of rain.

Jesse shrugged the box from his shoulder and opened the metal fastenings. Placing it carefully on the dusty ground, he knelt before it and opened the lid. The lid’s underside was still vibrant with the inlaid tree design, as if only the outside had been weathered and worn away by time. He sometimes wondered whether he was also like that. He was approaching forty, but sometimes it felt as though he’d already lived two lifetimes.

Continuing his deep breathing, he took out the apparatus. It was light and small, the length of his forearm, comprised of a series of tubes and bulbs, electrical components and brass casings, and other pieces gathered and gleaned from many sources. He’d built it as a teenager, hearing his mother’s whispered encouragement in his mind with each element he added, the turn of every screw. At one end was the focus, and he turned the dial that extruded the small, pointed horn that would aim at the sky.

Closing the lid of the box, he placed the locator pins in their corresponding holes, and then he was almost ready.

Almost.

He took two long wires and unspooled them, ensuring that both ends were connected correctly to the apparatus. Then he extracted two sterile needles from their lined container on one edge of the device and fitted them to the ends of the wires.

He glanced up to see Wolf watching from twenty metres away.

“I need to be on my own,” Jesse said.”

“Right. On your own.” Wolf scuffed the dried soil with one of his boots, kicked at a plant stem. It crumbled beneath his foot, showering crumpled stem and leaves to the ground. “Just fix my place,” he said, and he turned away.

It was a strange turn of phrase. It almost left Jesse feeling sorry for him.

He pumped his fist, pushed one needle into his right forearm and stuck it there with surgical tape, then did the same with the other. A tingle of anticipation made him shiver, even in the heat. Twin droplets of blood ran around his arms and dripped to the dusty ground, and were sucked down into the parched land. He wondered how much blood had been spilled into this arid soil, then he closed his eyes and shut away the idea. That was not his business. He dealt not in drugs, but in rain, and his rush was not balanced with pain.

Feeling the sun stretching the skin on his face, sweat running down his neck and torso, and the dusty, gritty reality of this dying land, Jesse closed his eyes and brought himself inward.

Soon, he heard the inner tides of his own personal storms as the thrilling flow began to build. He drifted with those tides. He let them carry him, knowing that he would always remain afloat, comfortable. Sometimes, he believed it was the only safe place. Even when he was with Karina he felt exposed and in danger. Everywhere he looked he saw the world stealing back control from humanity, punishment for so many years of abuse.

Jesse opened his inner eye to view the vague, dark pebbly beach he could not feel beneath his feet, the sea he would never smell, and the distant shadow of tall cliffs to his right. He felt himself balanced perfectly between them all. This was his place. He called it The Shore.

At some distance he heard the soft whirl of his apparatus starting to spin, turn and cycle, and smelled the faintly familiar tang of ozone on the air.

Eyes still closed, he waited for the first drops of rain to fall.

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Edge of Sanity (1989) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Anthony Perkins is a name known to fans of the horror genre thanks to his lead role in the seminal slasher movie Psycho in 1960. Desperate not to be type-cast as a killer, Perkins would go on to star in films that took a step away from horror. However, in his later years Perkins embraced his horror heritage, and began starring in more and more genre movies. And whilst the Psycho sequels are definitely his most remembered, Edge of Sanity is one that had him once again playing a dual personality killer as he took on the stories of both Jack the Ripper, and The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Edge of Sanity sees Perkins playing the role of Doctor Henry Jekyll, a well respected medical practitioner and researcher living in 1880s London. Jekyll has a decent home life with his wife, Elisabeth (Glynis Barber), and is turning heads in the hospital thanks to his research into new drug practices. Hoping to present his findings at a medical conference in Vienna in a few weeks time, Jekyll is working hard to perfect his new drug mixture. However, when the monkey he’s experimenting with knocks over several vials it causes a leak of chemicals that cause a strange change to come over the doctor.

Under the influence of the drugs, Jekyll seems to have become a freer person. He acts on instinct, doing what he wants, taking what he wants. He moves through the streets of London, confident in his skin. He even takes on a new name, calling himself Jack Hyde. However, his new compulsions lead to him murdering a sex worker as past trauma pushes him over the edge. Maintaining his life as Jekyll by day, Hyde keeps taking control at night, killing more women, and engaging in depraved activities. As news of the killings spread, the murderer is named Jack the Ripper by the press. Knowing that his personality seems to have split, and that the police are on his tail, Jekyll must figure out which life he wants to live.

The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novella that has been adapted many, many times over the years, with literally hundreds of versions of the stories having been told. With so many different versions of the story existing, Edge of Sanity needed something different to set it apart from the other films on the market. When it was decided to combine the story with the real crimes of Jack the Ripper Edge of Sanity began to take form. The original story was released only a year before the murders of the Ripper took place, and the actions of Hyde do mirror the real crimes in a number of ways. The marriage of the two seemed to be a perfect combination, but it’s the casting of Perkins in the role, and the vision of director Gérard Kikoïne that really set this film apart.

When the film starts, things are fairly normal. Jekyll is a normal man, living in pretty accurate representation of Victorian London. The film feels safe and normal, and I found myself comparing a lot of the look to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which was set in a similar time and made just a few years before. However, where Hyde is concerned things get a bit weirder. Jekyll’s lab is big, bright, and white. Filled with sharp angles and decorated with tall pillars with stark white busts atop them, it looks like something from a 1980’s music video. Once Hyde takes to the streets of London the fashion changes, the women wear bright neon pink skirts, there are chunky chrome belt buckles and big boots, and Hyde looks like he wouldn’t be out of place in a night-club. Despite being right there in your face, these changes are strangely subtle, and you don’t even realise that things don’t look the way they’re supposed to.

When the film came out a lot of folks didn’t even realise it was happening, and some critics even complained that the film was filled with mistakes, that it was including things like a new pound coin in them by accident because the production team were inept. But these were deliberate choices by Kikoïne, and it makes the film feel so odd and so different from other interpretations of both stories because of this. It enters this strange space where it kind of exists outside of any real time or setting without the audience realising its happening, affecting the viewer whenever Jekyll is affected by his drugs.

Speaking of Jekyll, I can’t talk about this film without talking about Anthony Perkins’ performance. The most obvious comparison here is his role in Psycho, where he played a dual character, but I think that’s perhaps the most surface-level reading of this film. Perkins isn’t transformed with make-up to become Hyde, he’s not a monster in that persona. He’s pale and sweaty yes, and his hairstyle is different, but he’s still just a man.

The story, and his performance, seems more a metaphor for drug addiction as much as it is about living a double life. It’s not clear if Jekyll is becoming another person, or if the drugs are just freeing him to act in ways society tells him he can’t. And because of that, it also feels as if it draws upon Perkins’ life as a gay man in a time where he could not live openly for much of his life. Hyde engages in ‘strange’ sexual practices, going to a fetish club and forming a bisexual throuple; things that are still looked down upon to this day. It’s not a big stretch to see this as a performance where Perkins pours some of his own life experiences and feelings of breaking away from the fake persona you wear to be who you really are.

The new Blu-ray release from Arrow Video includes a new 2K restoration of the film that looks really nice, and is a lot better than the previous grainy VHS versions of the film that were on offer. There’s also an interview with director Gérard Kikoïne where he talks about his career, as well as some video essays about the film, Jack the Ripper in cinema, and Jekyll and Hyde. There’s also a really interesting audio commentary from writer David Flint and filmmaker and author Sean Hogan.

I’d never seen Edge of Sanity before this new release, and had no idea that Perkins had played these three iconic individuals in the same film. For someone who enjoyed the entire Psycho series, and loves a bit of Victorian era entertainment, this is a wonderful movie, packed full of interesting and intriguing extras. A film I’m definitely going to be recommending people check out.

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Star Wars The High Republic: The Edge of Balance Vol 2 by Shima Shinya & Daniel José Older - Book Review

 

'It is the era of the High Republic and interstellar expansion is at its height. As trusted guardians of peace, the renowned Jedi protect the Republic and shine their light on those exploring the darkest reaches of the galaxy.

'Jedi Knight Lily Tora-Asi learns the Drengir attack on Banchii was not an isolated event but part of a coordinated attack orchestrated by the Nihil. Master Arkoff is on orders from the Jedi Council to help Master Stellan Gios’s investigation, leaving Lily in charge of rebuilding Banchii and restoring hope to the community. Lily vows the temple will not be put in danger again, not under her watch! When a disruptive unannounced visitor appears, Lily must maintain her focus as she seeks the best way to protect Banchii, Keerin, and the Younglings from the growing Nihil threat.'

After several months of waiting the second volume of Star Wars The High Republic: Edge of Balance has arrived, and picks up with Lilu Tora-Asi, and the other inhabitants of Banchii, following their encounter with the monstrous Drengir.

With Jedi Master Arkoff having left Banchii to help Master Stellan Gios, Lily has been left as the most senior Jedi on the planet. Unfortunately, several members of the young colony seem disinterested in listening to Lily's advice and leadership in the absence of Master Arkoff. Whilst the farmers want to rebuild their homes and their farms following the attack, Lily believes it best to build bunkers so that the colonists have a place to hide if the Nihil launch an attack. As tensions begin to mount between Lily and the farmers she begins to take her frustrations out on the temple younglings.

Its at this time the strange and mysterious Jedi Sav Malagán arrives on Banchii, having just come from the Nihil attack on Takodana. Sav tries to help Lily, and even provides some weapons for the inhabitants to use for protection in the event of a Nihil attack. When the Jedi discover that their communications are down it's decided that Lily and the younglings will travel to the Starlight Beacon to tell Master Arkoff about some discovered sabotage. But whilst they're away, the Nihil put their plans for Banchii into motion.

One of the things that I disliked about the first volume of The Edge of Balance was how isolated it felt. The Drengir and the Nihil were part of the story, but it still felt like the events of the book were taking place in their own little corner, completely on their own. In comparison, this volume has so many appearances of other characters, plot points from other parts of the project, and name drops, that it feels like it's become a connected part of the whole finally.

As someone who's not completely up to date with the novels, but has read all of the comics, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I was able to keep up with all of the developments and characters that appeared here. And I think a big part of that is down to the involvement of Daniel José Older, who wrote the Star Wars The High Republic Adventures comics; which I absolutely adored. Fans of those comics will find a lot to like here. There's the inclusion of Sav Malagán, one of the coolest Jedi around. We get to see the Great Jedi Rumble Race. Buckets of Blood, Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala, Krix Kamerat, Marchion Ro, and Farzala Tarabal all make appearances, ranging from single panels to small scenes. And I'm sure there are other characters that fans will recognise too.

A small portion of the book is given over to Lily and the kids travelling to Starlight Beacon, which is where much of the crossovers and character appearances happen, and as such we don't get as much time on Banchii in this book as the previous one. However, the time we do spend there is used well, and we have some big developments for the characters. The Nihil attack the planet, and it becomes clear by the end of this book that whatever comes next in this series is going to be very different; because things are not going to be the same again. Especially as not everyone gets out of this volume alive.

I'm not going to say which character dies, or how, but it was a well done moment, and the fallout from it was believable, and quite sad too. It took me by surprise how invested in this I was by how genuinely sad it made me when we lost this character. I'll certainly be interested in seeing how this loss will effect the survivors going forward.

Mizuki Sakakibara provides the art for the book, as they did with the first volume, and the book looks great. All of the characters look nice, the environments are pretty and detailed, and the action scenes have a lot of flair and dynamic moments in them. Possibly my only complaint with the art, which I've seen others make, is that most of the adults look quite young, and around the same age, and it's not always easy to know how old some characters are supposed to be. But other than that, the art is wonderful. It's great to see familiar faces appear, drawn in this new style, and certain characters really do work best in this type of art. There's also a character design gallery in the back of the book, which has some great drawings of a few of the characters, ships, and lightsabers.

I had a good time with this volume of Star Wars The High Republic: Edge of Balance. It felt like the story was finally a part of the bigger whole, and that this was taking place amongst the other story threads in the High Republic. There were some fun moments, some depressing moments, and the end sets up for a much more interesting volume three. Hopefully we won't be waiting long for it.

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Ghostbusters Afterlife - Film Review

 

I'm going to begin by saying something that has sadly become controversial online, I enjoyed the 2016 Ghostbusters. It wasn't a perfect movie, I'll grant you that, but it's not bad; and I think it falls into that area of movies that are just okay but enjoyable that even the original two Ghostbusters movies occupy. I grew up with those films, and love them, but they're not amazing movies; they're simply good, silly fun. I'm sure those opening comments have had people ever leave or make a snarky comment, as you're not allowed to like the 2016 movie, but I thought it best to start off with that information in mind.

Ghostbusters Afterlife continues on the story of the original two films, some forty years later, as a shadowed figure that is clearly Egon Spengler rushes out of a mountain, flees to a remote farmhouse, battles some unseen force, and is killed. With Egon dead, his home and its contents are left to his estranged daughter, Callie, who packs up her belongings and moves to the old farm in Summerville with her teenage son Trevor, and daughter Phoebe. Whilst Callie and Trevor are less than happy to be living in this small town, in a run-down old farm, Phoebe finds a lot to interest her scientific mind as she discovers strange devices her grandfather was working on.

One of Phoebe's teachers, Mr Grooberson, recognises the devices as belonging to the Ghostbusters, and tells Phoebe and her friend about the ghost attacks in New York in the 1980's, and the four heroes who stopped them. Looking further into what her grandfather, who she now knows was a Ghostbuster, was doing in Summerville, Phoebe discovers that Egon moved there in order to protect the world from a supernatural apocalypse. With Egon gone, it's down to Phoebe to step up and save the world.

I liked the first half of Ghostbusters Afterlife. I liked Callie, Phoebe, and Trevor, and enjoyed seeing them settle into their new small-town life. I liked some of the friends they all made along the way. I even enjoyed watching Phoebe slowly discover what Egon was doing in Summerville, and the big mystery that was hidden away in the nearby mountain. Sadly, it was once we learned what that mystery was, and the film entered its climax, that the film began to disappoint. 

It looked like Ghostbusters Afterlife was going to be setting up the new generation of Ghostbusters, that it would come down to Phoebe, Podcast, Lucky, and Trevor, to save the world and become the heroes that the new generation needed. Each of the four teens had decent personalities that would help to make a good team, and Phoebe was delightful as the scientist and leader. The early scenes where they have to chase a ghost through town trying to capture it using Ecto 1 was a really great scene, and won me over these kids being the next Ghostbusters. But, no, they don't get to save the day.

By the end of the movie the kids have lost, their plan has failed, and it looks like there's no hope to stop the big bad (more on them in a moment). However, help arrives in the form of the three surviving Ghostbusters. These three old men walk in, give some one-liners and banter, and proceed to save the day. But wait, what about the moment when they begin to lose and Phoebe steps into help? Well, it's completely overshadowed by Egon's ghost coming in to help, bringing the four Ghostbusters back together and having them save the day once again. This decision felt wrong to me. The entire film we're following these kids, watching them figuring stuff out, getting better at busting ghosts, and coming up with a way to save the world, and in the end it's the old guys who were probably only on set for a single day who save the day. It was such a let-down to me.

The villain and the plot of the movie did this as well, as the big bad for the move is once again Gozer. Just like the first film, the architect Ivo Shandor created something hidden away that would allow Gozer to rise. Just like the first film there are demon dogs running around. Just like the first film the Gatekeeper and Keymaster are characters we know, who act weird, wear a fancy dress, and have sex. Just like the first film there's a marshmallow man (though many this time, and tiny!). And just like the first film its the four original Ghostbusters who stop Gozer.

I'm all one for fan service (I'm a fan of many things and appreciate when they service me), but there's a difference between nods to the series history and just repeating that history all over again. Why did it need to be Gozer? This story would have worked just as well with a completely different villain, with only a few tweaks and changes needed to make it work that wouldn't effect the plot in a great deal. Instead, it felt like the film was simply constantly trying to go 'hey, remember this? Isn't the original movie great?' instead of being its own thing. 

I've seen a lot of criticism of Star Wars: The Force Awakens for being a 'repeat' of the original film because it shares some story elements. But I've not seen that with Ghostbusters Afterlife despite this seeming to do it to such a higher degree. At least The Force Awakens let its new cast of younger characters get to do something rather than pushing them aside in the big finale to showcase the cast from forty years ago. The fact that Winston takes Ecto 1 back at the end of the film makes it seem pretty clear that the original Ghostbusters have no plans to allow this new generation to carry on, and are taking their toys and going home.

There is stuff I liked in this film, the cast were really good, and the humour was nice. I had a lot of fun with the new characters and thought that they were played well and much of the film was really charming. But I can't get over how fumbled it felt towards the end. Ghostbusters Afterlife could have stood on its own as a love-letter to the original movies, a first part in a new series going forward into the future, showing that the Ghostbusters can live on past those first four members. Instead, it felt like a film that just wanted to wallow in it's own love of the past. And now for the bit that I'm sure will get me hate, and ties back to my first point; the 2016 film was a better sequel, a better nod to the series, and a better start of something that could carry on to be a great new series. 

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Eternals - Film Review

 

When a film series reaches more than twenty films things can get a bit stale. Despite focusing on different characters, and telling some different kinds of stories, the films in the MCU tend to feel like they follow a similar structure, and do sometimes become a bit interchangeable. Two of the more recent entries in the series have felt like they've done something very different, however, and have tried to make films that break a lot of those conventions. One was Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings which other than a handful of references throughout the movie, was just an amazing martial arts fantasy film. The other is Eternals, though I find it harder to narrow down exactly what kind of film it is.

Eternals tells the story of a group of alien beings, the Eternals, who were sent to Earth thousands of years ago by the Celestial Arishem in order to protect it from deadly creatures called Deviants. These beings, each with their own amazing abilities, spent centuries protecting mankind, helping them to survive against the Deviants, and even guided their early progression. Despite this, they were ordered never to interfere in human wars, and to allow the people to develop on their own.

In the modern day, five hundred years after the last Deviant was killed, one of the Eternals, Sersi, is attacked by a new, powerful kind of Deviant in London. She's saved by Ikaris, one of the most powerful Eternals, and they set out to reunite with the rest of their people in order to stop the deviants. Along the way they begin to learn more about the Deviants, their own origin, and a threat to Earth that will see the planet destroyed.

The plot of Eternals isn't too complex in its most basic form, monsters have started to appear, the heroes have to band back together and stop the end of the world. It's the smaller details, however, that make this a much more complex and engaging narrative.

The film spends a lot of time exploring the history of the Eternals, which it needs to do as audiences will have never seen these characters before, and their history is a major part of the story. This film has to be an origin story for several characters all at once, as well as telling the story set in the present day, and it's not an easy thing to manage. The characters share an origin, yes, but you still need to take the time to set up each of the characters, their personalities, their motivations, and the things that matter to them. For the most part the film does this well, and the times when we jump backwards in time to see the Eternals going through major events slot in nicely into the main narrative, and even help to inform the events in the present day.

Because of all of the time spent taking a look at the characters and their history the film goes for long periods without much action, and the film quickly becomes more of a character driven story over the expected super-hero action-fest. I honestly liked this approach, and kind of forgot that this was supposed to be a comic book film half of the time. I was happy to spend time with the characters, and simple things like watching them catch up after centuries apart, crowded around a table eating diner together were some of the more delightful moments in the film.

That being said, I really liked the action when it did happen. Eternals tries to do something different when it comes to the look of the action, and the powers of the Eternals are quite beautiful to look at. I loved the way Thena would form her weapons and shields from golden energy, and how the same effect would wind its way around Gilgamesh's arms when he fought. Sersi's power to transform one thing into another often looked very beautiful, and the double-decker bus she explodes into a shower of rose petals was a stunning moment. Even Ikaris, who is very similar to Superman in the way he fought and flies, felt like he was done well enough to stand apart from the DC icon. I also appreciated how Makkari, the Eternals speedster, was always shown as being fast. The film didn't do that thing that often happens with speedsters, where the world around them slows down so that we can see things from their perspective. 

The visual flair wasn't just in the action of the effects of the Eternals powers though, as Eternals might have some of the best looking moments in the MCU to date. Director Chloe Zhao has an eye for beautiful moments, and there are so many scenes here that look phenomenal. I think that's another part of the reason why I enjoyed the film so much, it looked so different from other MCU movies. It has a style all its own, and whilst it feels like part of that world it's still doing its own thing and standing by itself.

I think Eternals got something of a rough deal from folks when it came out, as I saw so much criticism about the movie. People were saying things like 'the characters have silly names', 'the plot is too slow', 'it's filled with woke casting' or simply just complaints that it wasn't what people had come to expect from a Marvel movie. The MCU is so large, so vast that of course there's room for different films within it. Not every one of them needs to be the same plot, the same humour, the same characters, the same designs over and over and over. Eternals seemed to try and break away from that. It was different, and bold compared to most of the other entries. And that got it criticism and hate that was completely undeserved.

I really enjoyed Eternals. It felt like the kind of super hero movie that we'd never have gotten even ten years ago. It was bold in its design choices, diverse in its casting, and interesting in its approach to this kind of story. Out of most of the MCU films this is one of the few that was more than just entertaining, and was a film that I could see myself watching more than once to learn more, to delve deeper into it, and to enjoy even more the next time round.

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