Posts Tagged ‘Stephen King’
Author: James
Lacking spark
Hollywood’s fascination with Asian horror would be something worth celebrating if US directors and heads-of-studio would only take note of what made the originals work and then, hey! adapted them with style rather than completely rework them for ‘delicate’ Western sensibilities.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2001 original, Kairo, was meticulously paced, subtle and damn scary in places. Director Jim Sonzero and writers Ray Wright and Wes Craven’s reworking, on the other hand, seems to be the product of far too many test-screenings and alterations.
Author: James
Howlingly good
So, what is it with all the UK re-releases? Not that anyone’s complaining – cinemagoers in Blighty have been given splendid opportunities to take a trip down cinematic ‘memory lane’ recently, with John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) receiving silver-screen encores.
Author: James
A grave business…
The late Albert Band was, along with William Castle, a master producer (and, later, director) of pulpy horror during the 1950s, 60s and onwards – the father of similarly prolific B-movie director Charles Band, some of his more recent classics included Dracula’s Dog (1978) (‘Man’s best friend is now man’s worst fiend’, ahem), and Ghoulies II (1987) (‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the bathroom’, ahem), but I Bury The Living (1958) (‘Out of a time-rotted tomb crawls an unspeakable horror!’, er, no it doesn’t, actually) was his finest hour.
Author: James
Not to be missed
As someone who has read Stephen King since I was around 11 years old, who has grown up loving (and loving being scared by) the man’s work, from Carrie, through The Shining via his Dark Tower cycle (and around 40 more novels and short-story collections, all told) to his most recent, Lisey’s Story, my reaction to the prospect of another King big-screen adaptation has, over the years, largely moved from child-like excitement to confused disappointment to weary boredom and, often, outright anger.
- Colin: Mike: the Matrix was utter toss. Don’t go there. Anyhow, I’m right with you on Aliens –...
- Colin: James: Why not do ten more and see if you can avoid putting the god-awful travesty that is Independence Day in...
- CD: The Day the Earth Stood Still (it’s about an alien who is Jesus…but better than ET) Soylent Green...
- James: Hello Chris, and welcome to Picturenose!
Many thanks for your comment – I thought, in fact, that... - James: Colin, good points, both on Westworld (which should really have been included, I know, I know) and otters.