Books & Me

I keep my head lowered, I'm starting to feel the panic. The others that are before me are doing ok but my turn is coming to soon. I pray for the end of the lesson, but this doesn’t happen. I start reading and its going ok until I miss read one word which causes some of the others to laugh. My turn is over and I sink into the chair as the girl next to me carries on. This happened a long time ago but the memory never fades. I have always had problems with reading and writing. Through school this was very apparent, not to the point that I was put into special lessons, I just hid myself away, one of the kids that never stands out. I once wrote a short story about a man at the end of the world for a English class project. The story won a prize for creative writing, my mom was so proud. The award was going to be given out at a special evening where other schools and pupils would attend. I was told a couple of days before that I would have to read my short story out in front of everyone. The thought of this made me panic so much that I told them that I didn't want to go. My mom was very disappointed but she didn't show it, I knew I had let her down and even now I regret it. You see dyslexia was never really talked about in those days like it is now so I just tried my best. It was after school that I started to read in my own time. I had always wanted to, I knew that there was some very special things behind those covers but when ever I started I would find it too hard and give up. This was the case for many years until one book. I was at the time listening to Metallica and one of their songs is based on a book called 'Johnny Got His Gun' by Dalton Trumbo. I was intrigued by this and asked for the book as a Christmas present. I started reading it on Christmas day and didn't stop. Slowly I made my way through it and my love for books was born. I absolutely love to read now, even though I'm not that fast. I have spend many an evening in the pub ranting about a book I have read to friends to the point were I thought that they might drink up and walk out. I now work in a book shop in the hope to get more people like me reading, I want everyone to find that book that opens up the world of the written word like I did and pass that passion onto the next generation because the book is the unlimited reflection of the imagination. 

follow my passion for books at Kings of Geekdom

Long hair, water & children who need sun beds. J-horror

I press the PLAY button and sit back. I know what's coming, I've seen it many times. But it's only recently that I have read the novel this particular movie is based on, which is slightly shameful as I've had the book for almost three years now. In my defence I have a lot of books, I don't mean I have all the Harry Potter's, I have a lot of book and the fact that I get free books from work reinforces my statement. I digress, the movie is Ring or Ringu as it is known in Japan. So why does this movie hold a place in my heart, well I'll paint the picture. Back many years ago I took a trip to my local video store. I'd seen a review in a obscure magazine regarding a new Japanese horror that sounded completely different from the stuff that was being released from America and the UK. This was the time when western cinema was dominated by self-aware teen slasher movies. Now I'm in no way slatting these movies, the first Scream is very important in the history of the horror genre. It broke the rules by being self-aware, which means that it acknowledges other horror movies that came before it. But after the success of Scream it was inevitable that other film makes would ride the new wave, so for the next few years that's all we got.

 

The review wasn't big, it wasn't proclaiming to have found a new voice in horror, in fact I think it was very short. The one thing that the review did have was a small picture of the video/DVD cover. If you have seen the cover art then you know it is very striking, I think that may have been the thing that caught my attention. Anyway, so I'm in the video store looking through all the new releases, trying to find something different when I remember the review. I rush up to the guy behind the desk. 'Have you got a movie called Ring?'. He looked a little confused, and then he seemed to be struck by sudden memory or had a small stroke, I can't be sure he was a little strange looking to start with. 'Yeah, its over there, bottom row, behind the door with 3 awful sci-fi movies in front of it. I didn't know what to expect, at this point I hadn't seen that many subtitled movies. After 96 minutes of solid plot that builds to a very memorable climax I was very impressed. Being the geek that I am I did a little research and found out that they had filmed a sequel Ringu 2, so off to the video store I went. 'Hi, do you have Ring 2?' This time he wasn't confused, I think he remembered me. 'No dude, but I could get it from another store for you'.

After a couple of days waiting I got the second movie. Now as I would come to realise the Japanese have a tendency to really run with an idea until it becomes totally bizarre. Ring 2 is a good movie and carries on the story well but had a few strange ideas. To my delight they made a third movie Ring 0. My new friend at the video store was a little less helpful this time. 'Sorry dude, we won't be getting it, and no one has it, you are the only person to rent these movies'. Damn I would have to buy it, so I did. Now did I mention that the Japanese have a way of really making something totally bizarre in a special way, well that's Ring 0.

As I mentioned at the start these movies are very roughly based on the 3 Ring novels written by koji Suzuki (Ring, Spiral & Loop). When I say roughly I do mean it, the first book is about two guys, the first movie is about a woman and son. The books do go off into the world of virus's.

So by now I'm looking for the next J-horror and another title pops ups Ju-on The Grudge. This is a very clever take on the haunted house story. Which featured a creepy cat, a ghost woman with long black hair which seems to be a running theme and a little boy who is really, really pale skinned. As with the Ring, The Grudge was very successful and spawned an American remake, probably for those who can't read subtitles. Now most who know me in person will know this already, but I'm not afraid to say it here, the remake scared the crap out of me. And this is why I love these movies. Now you have to show this blog to someone or in one week you will die by an evil spirit woman with no local hair dressers stuffing a soaking wet cat in your mouth as a little pale boy rebuilds a well in your back garden.

Dredd

 

I sit waiting, a little bit nervous. I shouldn't be nervous this has nothing to do with me apart from the fact that I am a fan and that I've dragged a good friend along and I don't want to inflict an awful movie on someone else. I'd like to say that the lights go down and the movie starts but we are 'treated' to a load of adverts and trailers for upcoming attractions. One of which is for the new Resident Evil. I don't recall what number we are on now in the series, and I don't care, it seems that the only redeeming aspect for the movie is the 3D element because from what I saw it looks a mess. Finally after what seems like a long time the main feature starts. From the first moment you notice the difference from the other one. Maybe at this point we should pause and talk about the other one.

In 1995 Sylvester Stallone got off a bike and shouted the words 'I am the law!'. This was the start of the long awaited live action version of the British comic book Judge Dredd. The comic had been running since 1977 and had gained a very loyal fan base. The movie looked ok, but as it went on the foundations started to crumble and eventually fell apart completely when Stallone did the unthinkable, he removed the helmet. The movie on a whole left fans angry and let down and it was placed on a shelve to gather dust.

Its now 2012 and here I am again watching another Judge Dredd movie. Not a sequel but a reboot, the fact is that even the film makers want to forget the other movie so this one is just called DREDD hoping that people will not be put off by the horrible memoirs.

To the actual movie, the plot is simple it relies on one of the oldest plot lines in movie history the 'storming the castle' story. But this is not a bad thing it helps build the characters quickly and more importantly it brings the action into a close personal environment. The action is what this movie is all about and when people say its violent they are not wrong, but this is perfect for the Dredd/2000ad universe. Karl Urban is the judge this time and he doesn’t remove his helmet, main box ticked. I don't want to spoil the movie so I won't go into detail. Fact is the 3D works due to the crafty use of a story element called 'slo-mo', a drug taken by the scum of Mega city 1. The acting is good and Urban nails Dredd with the right amount of dry one liners and menace.

So does the movie work? Yes it does, I've read a lot of Judge Dredd stories and this is a fair representation of the 2000ad universe. The fact is that this movie needs to make $50 mil' in the US to get a sequel, now before you start this would be part of a story arch much like the Batman movies, and I feel that we need to see more, the rumour has it that if that happens there might be a chance of Judge Death turning up.....fingers crossed.

  

The machine rages on with Million Empire

'Its a sweat box down there' I'm told, but at the moment as I'm nursing a poorly self advised coke with ice that doesn't seem all that bad. The sweat box is infact as the  rip off Vegas style sign reads the fabulous Sunflower lounge. Now the fabulous statement might be questionable, the lounge is small, not tiny, you could swing a cat, if you're under 5 foot and the cat is a kitten. I look down at the floating ice as a cool breeze sweeps up the road, someone mentions going down stairs and the cups on the floor and I'm moving before they finish the sentence.
For a live music venue its small, but has a nice punk feeling to it. I'm here to watch a band called Million Empire who are second on in a three band bill. The first band take to the stage and there's a moment that I prey they are not to bad as the thought of returning to the cold outside sends a chill through me. The singer reminds me of someone I used to work with, and the musics not exactly to my taste but I'd stood through a lot worse only a few week earlier. By now the place is full and it feels nice to be squashed into a small basement as overly loud music assaults my ears. That might sound strange but to people who go to unsigned gigs this is our bread and butter. The band like the sound of their own voices between songs and we are treated to some 'humour' but it feels like we've all been left out of the loop and maybe its a band thing. They finish and the shift starts, these are those manic moments between bands when music equipment is moved onto the stage and used stuff is moved out. For us its the moments where the lady's go to the toilets and the men head to the bar. Me I'm fumbling with a camcorder and feeling lied to, I'm still bloody cold. After a few moments and more people flooding in Million Empire take to the stage. The first song is 'Hunt with desire' its the perfect song to start, hitting the captive crowd with a wall of sound that leaves you unable to do anything but watch. The set thunders through and I here someone singing in the crowd which brings a smile to my face. The temperature thankfully starts to rise as the band thrash out the songs, by thrash I don't mean they play 80's style thrash music, I mean they play with a lot of energy and as they put it 'balls to the wall'. I shift a little to get a better view with the camcorder which by now is the main and only reason all the blood is rushing from my hand. With the fear of fluid collecting in my elbow and ending up with some kind of hideous elephant man type extremity I carry on. The set comes to a loud energetic end and as the hum dies there are shouts of more. I thankfully press stop and check for a football sized elbow, I'm ok I'll live to see another Million Empire show.

Additional content: A video from Million Empire's show at the Flapper Birmingham:
Million Empire live: 'My Honour'

PS3 vs Xbox 360 (the great war like thingy)

There's a bitter war taking place right now as you read this nonsense. Out there in the homes of ordinary folk like me and maybe you. A long running battle that has seen many casualties, many names called and even a stick, a really big stick. For years now there has been absolutely no room to sit on the fence and if there was it would only result in a case of splintered arse.

Its either PS3 or Xbox 360. (and I bet even now there are readers who are saying Xbox should come first). The two gaming giants have been going head to head since the infant years of the original Xbox and Playstation. I started with the big old white Playstation (1) mainly on the back of the then amazing Destruction Derby. This was a huge step in home gaming, and the price showed it, but we bit the bullet and emptied our piggy banks to bask in the new gen' greatness. This was worlds apart from the likes of the SNES or Megadrive or even the amazing Atari 2600 (baby) which I still have minus the power and TV connection. From that point I set up tent in the Playstation camp.

In those early days a Playstation could be 'cracked' or 'chipped' very easy and most just involved the comical 'hot swap'. If you did this you could get games for about £5, but I never partook in this non-parrot boat-less piracy, and still managed to build a good library. For many years I went through the Playstation's. The 1^st (big white), 2^nd (little white), Playstation 2 (big black) and finally Playstation 2 (little black). I loved the Playstation 2 and had tons of games, some good, some bad, and some that carried the label 'what the hell was I thinking' and a few carrying the label 'what the hell was the game maker thinking.' (Backyard wrestling I'm looking at you).

Change was coming and time was not on the side of my old friend the Playstation 2. New Tech' was being built and suddenly on the horizon like the monolith in 2001 a space odyssey stood the mighty PS3 it sounded too good to be true. But the line in the sand had been drawn and Microsoft rushed out their next gen machine the Xbox 360 and boy did it make an impact. Wireless controllers, eye watering graphics and online play that had never been seen before.

After many years of Sony I gave in to the Xbox and brought a bog standard 360 telling the women in the shop, who I thought was a little bit pushy (I never did get on with the staff in Game) 'that I wouldn't go online'. Not a long time after I was talked into buying a used copy of Call of Duty: Modern warfare and 'jacking in' and from then on my Thursday day off from work became game day. Armed with my headset and a few friends on list, it was shouting, laughing and shooting fun and the DucK clan was born (worst game clan ever created and proud of it). But as with everything like that it was going to end ...and it did with the horrible red ring of death. A fault with over heating and some screw thing, I don’t know the technical side and don’t care, as far as I was concerned 'game box no play no more!' I sent my 360 off to get it fixed in Germany, but my eyes had strayed to the new 'slim' version PS3 which had just had a big price drop. So still 'burned' by my red ring encounter (that sounds so wrong) I packed up my 360 games and plastic bits and bobs and headed off to my local Gamestation.

£183 that's how much I got for the little stash, I was over the moon and out the door with my shiny new PS3 with a couple of games.

So what about the fixed 360, well I've still got it but its in the box it came back in. I haven't wanted to buy the new 'slim' 360, I'm happy with my PS3 and have already built a nice collection of games.

So where do I sit (apart from the sofa) well at the mo' PS3. So whine about all the plus points of your Xbox, or just shout 'Xbox rules' over and over again. All I will say is I have been there and done that.

Splatter that punk?

After reading some non horror as of late, I have decided to jump neck deep into the gore and piss by searching out the cult like writing style of Splatterpunk. This extreme style of horror first come to the public eye in the 80's. The name Splatterpunk was coined by writer David J. Schow, at a convention describing a movement in writing at the time that went far beyond anything else that had come before it. It was hyper intensive horror with no limits. After a search on the internet I found a few books that were 'classed' as Splatterpunk, and more importantly these were books I might be able to get hold of. Now its unsure what really makes a novel extreme enough to be classed as Splatterpunk as the phrase has died out over the years so some might see these book as the real thing and some might not, its up to the individuals sense of gore and violence.

The first book I got was 'The Cellar' (1980) by the late Richard Laymon. Laymon built a following by cutting straight to the gore and sex. Unlike writers such as Stephen King. 'The Cellar' was his first novel and the first book in the Beast House trilogy. The book tells the story of a house that has a history of beast attacks and is opened up to the public as a museum of the macabre. We follow a mother & daughter on the run from an prison escaped lunatic husband and a couple of men who set out to tackle the house head on.

This is a short book 256 pages (paperback) so Laymon doesn't weight his writing down with character development. The whole book reads like a B-movie horror. Now that is not a bad thing, if you like your gore and sex upfront. The problem I found with the book was the balance of the two. Laymon focus's on the lunatic husbands actions, but its not the violence that he describes in detail but the paedophile acts he does. This was done to shock, and it does. But when it comes to the climax of the story and the downfall of the husband the reader is left feeling let down. The whole end seems rushed and the husbands demise is very poor as throughout the book you really want him to suffer the most horrible death imaginable.

I have also read the 3^rd book in the trilogy called The Midnight tour this is considerably longer then the other two books and its clear that Laymon had developed as a writer over the years. This time he tries his hand at character development but never really pulls it off as the characters seem hard and unreal. The horror is typical Laymon but again the end seems a mess of ideas and some of the action seems rushed.

I am at the moment reading The Woods are dark by Richard Laymon and I have to be honest I'm not really enjoying it. I can see how back in the early 80's this may have been a shocker. The trademark sex and gore of Laymon is there and I didn't expect anything less as this was his second published book and the one book that nearly killed his Career as a writer due to very poor editing by the publisher and very dubious cover art (see picture) 

These books may not be Splatterpunk but they do indeed contain some very gory moments. There are a number of other authors that have been put in the same vain, Shaun Hutson's Slugs and Jack Ketchum's Off season. Personally I don't find these books that shocking, mainly due to the fact that they were written so long ago and most haven't aged well. Much of the shocking material has now become a common occurrence in horror movies. If you really want a disturbing read that will entertain and is balanced look no further then the vampire novel Let the right one in by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

Boot the reboots

Since the first time early man made fire there was another man stood looking over his shoulder grunting. If we could build a translating machine strap it to a time machine, pick that exact point in time and translated those grunts it would go something like 'I could do better than that and I would have made it blue'. Jump back in said time machine and travel to now and the same thing is happening in the movies. Every week there seems to be a remake or as the studio suits are calling them 'reboot'. In 2002 Spiderman was released, it was ok, directed by Sam Raimi it told the story of Peter Parker and his journey as he becomes the web slinger. Ramini went onto do two more movies including number three which was a waste of the Venom character. But now they are 'rebooting' the series with what looks like a darker story much in the vain of the Batman movies made by Nolan. My question is do we need these remakes or reboots? One remake I could of done without and even now makes me sad was the remake of Rollerball. The original Rollerball starring James Caan was a great movie, set in a future dominate by a violent sport called Rollerball. The remake was to put it plainly shite, nothing seemed right and the sport didn't have the impact and what the hell was all that night vision crap about. Then there was the horror remakes that became the fashion, we got Friday 13^th it seemed pointless and brought nothing to the story. The remake of A nightmare on Elm street did much the same just a few more CGI effects. Then there was the remake of Halloween now this was a different animal. Director Rob Zombie decided not to just update but tell the story from a slightly different point of view. For me this worked and I enjoyed it. The second movie was a bit hit and miss. They even remade Day of the dead which from start to finish had me asking only one question how did they con some poor shmuck into paying for this tripe. And then the remake of The Wicker man, oh my god the original was a horror masterpiece, Woodward played a man of strict Christian faith on a pagan island and the end was all the more horrific because of his unshakable love for his god. The remake with Cage in the roll just seemed lack-lustre and boring. Now there's news of a Second Blob remake Surely this is a sign that the movie machine has run out of ideas, maybe they have shot them selves in the foot by making it increasingly hard for new talent to come through. There needs to be a shift in the business or we will only have the remake of Avatar to look forward to..I give it a year.