In 2018, Stephen King released the fifth Holly Gibney story in his novella collection If It Bleeds. That story, which is the titular tale, “If It Bleeds,” is something of a follow-up to Holly’s previous adventure, The Outsider, and might have been conceived as something of a closure for Holly herself, but it nevertheless leaves […]
Read more "Poop Happens: Stephen King’s “If It Bleeds”"Dr. Herbert Lyutak (Mickey Hargitay) has enough insight into the criminal mind to help police on their murder cases. However, as his introduction in the film shows, that insight not only comes from his education in criminal psychology but from personal experience. After meeting a beautiful girl (Stefania Fassio) in need of a ride to […]
Read more "Vile Fantasies of a Mad Doctor: Delirium (1972)"Emerging from the social push toward conformism of the 1950s, the United States found itself in a strange circumstance as the 1960s got under way. Big shifts in the politics and culture were shaking the nation to the core, and these found avenues for larger expression in the era’s entertainments. Particularly in fiction, we saw […]
Read more "Quality Instead of Quantity: Crime Novels: Five Classic Thrillers 1961-1964"Ruthie (Gayle Rankin) really, really, really did not want to come to this little out of the way hotel in the dead of winter. It’s an inheritance, a property best gotten rid of, really. However, Cal (Hari Nef) wanted to see it, maybe take it over as a new project—something they could build together while […]
Read more "A Wintry Haunting: Bad Things (2023)"Police officer Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) has a good job, a daughter he adores, and an ex-wife he’s … on speaking terms with. When they don’t show up at church for Christmas, Bob and his father-in-law Arthur Naci (David Thornton) head over to see if they’re okay. They find Sara’s current boyo Sam (Kola Olasiji) […]
Read more "United By Suffering and Pain: God is a Bullet (2023)"The third and final volume in the Bill Hodges trilogy opens with Hodges and his partner Holly Gibney being called to the scene of a possible murder-suicide, a woman crippled in the Mercedes Killer incident from years before and her caretaker mother. Bill’s old detective pal Pete Huntley and his younger partner Isabella Jaynes are […]
Read more "One Door Closes and Another Opens: Stephen King’s End of Watch"When she was finished with her final exams, Leslie (Stacey Logan) planned on heading out to Lake Tenkiller with her bff Janna (Michele Merchant). Unfortunately, her controlling boyfriend Josh (Kevin Meyer) has other plans, and he’s not above leaving bruises to have his way. Bolstered by friendship, Leslie breaks off with him though he promises […]
Read more "A Nice Relaxing Trip to OHMYGOD: Terror at Tenkiller (1986)"In the summer of 1983, while waiting for Return of the Jedi to hit the theater in their small town, the lives of brothers Johnny and Roscoe took some strange turns. It’s not until much later, when an adult John is able to look back on the family he knew, the friends he had, the […]
Read more "A Sad and Eye-Opening Thing: John Boden’s Jedi Summer"Some houses are born bad, some develop that way thanks to the bad tidings brought into them, and the new families that move into those places very often are not quite sure which situation they’ve stumbled into. Maybe the answers come along later, and maybe they do not. One thing is certain: When Myunghye (Seo […]
Read more "Hearing Strange Sounds: Contorted (2022)"At a majorly down and isolated time in her life, Mia (Sophia Wilde) drags bestie Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and her little brother Riley (Joe Bird) to a party. This is not the typical soiree interested in drinking and hooking up. Well, there’s that too, but when bad boys and party leaders Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and […]
Read more "Talking to the Hand: Talk to Me (2022)"
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