The Gunslinger - The Dark Tower Series (1982) - Stephen King Book Review

Official Score = 1 Devil

I have been a fan of Stephen King's works for literally decades, I read most of his works, and have watched a large cross section of the movies that have been made based on his books, and I have to say that not only do I love almost all of them, but that more then a few of them have been my inspiration in becoming a writer!

There is one book though that he did, that well... I have to say that I was fairly unimpressed with... That novel being, 'The Gunslinger' from the, 'Dark Tower series'...

One of the few fairly unimpressive novels that Stephen King has ever done!

Now don't hate me for saying this, but it is true... I mean I did like the surrealist aspect of the story, and the setting in which Stephen King had the story revolve around... But I found the fact that there is a, 'Cowboy' in some seeming alternate dimension, to be an odd selection, and for me, I have to admit that I was pretty unimpressed with the overall story of the novel...

Now I know there are a lot of people that do seem to be fans of this novel and the series as a whole, and for those that do like the series, you may want to just skip this review, but I can't recommend this book, or the series, but don't let that be an attack on the author!...  Stephen King is a great author... I reckon that you just can't win them all!

Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982) - Movie Review

Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils

You know I will be honest and say that, Halloween (1978) is my favorite movie of all time, I mean this movie is just fun, it has everything that a classic slasher movie has in it! Great victims, a heroin that you really rooted for in the end, and a great villain, (Michael Myers,) that just makes that movie series just a truly awesome and memorable one!

Now since I have been reviewing movies on Hellinspace.com one of the things that I thought that I would do is to review one of the Halloween movies every year around Halloween, and over the last couple of years I have done, Halloween, and, Halloween 2 (1981), and now I thought that I would do Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)!

An unfortunately misunderstood movie!

I will be honest with you guys here, and say that this movie may not be the best movie of the series, and for obvious reasons (primarily the fact that it is the only Halloween movie that doesn't have Michael Myers in it,) and where as I think the idea behind taking Michael Myers and making the series an anthology series that have a different story each time would have been inspired had fans not grown to love having Michel there, but never the less, I didn't think this movie was as bad as every one is making it out to be!

I mean it had a great cast that included: Tom Atkins (The Fog), Stacey Nelkin (Going Ape), Dan O'Herlihy (RoboCop), Nancy Loomis (Assault On Precint 13) and that is just to name a few!

Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) & Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) as they check out the deadly masks!

This movie also brought John Carpenter (The Ward) & Tommy Lee Wallace (Fright Night Part 2) back to the world of, 'Halloween'!

And the story... I have to admit that the story of how a crazed Toymaker/Halloween mask maker uses Stonehenge, and Halloween to play the cruelest trick of them all on the rest of the world... (Killing off the worlds children on Halloween through the masks they wear,) and the fact that a Doctor and the daughter of one of the Mask Maker's distributors are the only ones that can stop them was truly inventive!

Stay tuned to that dial kiddies... For your final message from, 'Silver Shammrock'!

I mean my main problems were 2 fold, 1: I thought the Androids were a little odd, and 2: I thought about midway in to the movie it seemed liked Mr. Wallace was adding filler to get to the good stuff...

Other then that though, this movie is worth checking out at least once... Trust me, if you are a fan of the series... Well it may not be imperative... But then again... If your like me and have to see all of them, good or bad... Then you might check this one out as well!

Five Classic Synthpop Songs From The 1980s

I will be honest and say that I am not the biggest fan of the, 'Synth' music movement... Don't get me wrong, it certainly has it's place, and the truth is, is that there are some good groups out there making even better songs...

So to give it it's just deserve, I thought that I would give you guys a small sample of this with 5 classic synthpop songs from the 1980s!

So without further adieu, and enjoy!

At number 5: The Buggles - Living In The Plastic Age (1980):

For number 4: Devo - Whip It (1980):

And next up at number 3: A Flock Of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song (1982):

With 2 more left to go, at number 2: Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome (1984):

And finally at number 1: Depeche Mode - Strangelove (1987):

Duran Duran: Save A Prayer (1982) - Song Review

Official Score = 1 Devil

You know I have to say that Synth Pop has always been a sort of mixed bag... I mean there has been some great songs that have come out, such as some of Depeche Modes work... But the truth is, is that there has also been a lot of garbage as well...

The truth is, is there is a reason why I mention all of this, and that is, is there is a cheesy as hell synthpop song that Duran Duran did back in 1982, that I got stuck listening to a lot in the late 80s and early 90s, that seemed to be making waves for me through my social circles at the time... That song being Save A Prayer from their album, 'Rio'.

Duran Duran... A decent enough group.... But Save A Prayer... Certainly not!

Now this song is not something I would normally review on this site, but because of it's electronic beats, and tones I decided to do so, 'Unfortunately'...

The truth is, is I never understood why people like this song, It just was not fun, the dull beats, and the ridiculously melancholy nature of this song just wasn't for me!

Well ultimately in the end, I imagine if you were around during the time, that you might like to take a listen to this song as a blast from the past, but for me... This song was dull as hell, and I am telling you this, I wouldn't blame you if you felt the same way!

Box Art For The First Five Mario Games Ever

Super Mario bros. is a classic series that helped make, 'Nintendo' what it is today!

Being a fan of art and a fan of video games, I have found that as time goes on, that rather it be in the form of music, or box art, or the like, that the art that has helped to create masterpieces in video games have always been great, and are just getting better! So how befitting it is to showcase some of the great box art that helped make the, 'Super Mario Bros.' The phenomena it is today!

At number 5: Donkey Kong (1981):

A truly classic game!

At number 4: Donkey Kong Jr. (1982):

A fun that probably helped cement, 'Donkey Kong' as a historic video game franchise!

At number 3: Mario Bros. (1983):

This video game saw the brothers working together for the first time!

At number 2: Super Mario Bros. (1985):

This maybe one of the most famous video games ever made!

At number 1: Super Mario Bros 2 (1988):

This game saw the first major update of the series.

The Bloodstone (1982) - Ken Eulo - Book Review

Official Score = 2 Devils

When I was younger I used to be in to reading a lot more then I currently am... Don't get me wrong, I still love reading and try to do so every chance that I get... But back in the day one of the things that I used to like to do, is to go down to the local used book shop and sort through and find that perfect novel that I just know that I am going to enjoy!

Well one of the types of books that I used to like to get is the books that were in the .25 cent - $1.00 novels... They may have been the forgotten lot, but you could almost always find something fun to read in it!

Now you might be wondering why I am mentioning this, well the reason that I mention this is because one of those books happens to be: 'The Bloodstone' (1982) by: Ken Eulo!

One of those novels that have been lost to the test of time... Till now!

As it turns out, I recently discovered that this book is actually the sequel in a trilogy that Ken Eulo wrote back in the 80s... And where as I can't tell you guys that the other 2 novels were any good, this one I will say was pretty solid...

You see this series tells the story of a woman whom after a traumatic night when she was a kid, ends up being drawn back to her home town (New York), and to a small Coach House...

Well in this novel, things are starting to heat up! You see at points in this novel it has witchcraft, and other assorted forms of sorcery, that threatens to envelop the young actress! And in the end, if she doesn't learn the truth about what  is going on, then she could end up in a situation far worse then the destructive night that she had when she was a kid!

In the end, this novel is a fun one, it is well written, and really made me root for the lead character... The only thing that I had a problem with, is the fact that this novel is not ultimately very memorable in the long term, but if you get a chance, check it out, you might like it! I did!

Survivor: Eye Of The Tiger (1982) - Song Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

You know Rock 'N Roll and Heavy Metal are some truly amazing music genres, I mean they can both excite and enthrall, but they can also make some one extremely happy, or they could really depress the hell out of people listening to them as well!

But you know what? There are very few songs I think that could be universally considered to be inspirational to everyone that hears them and likes the song (anything can be inspiring, but what I am talking about more is songs that are universally inspiring to almost everyone).

Well one of those songs I think is truly inspiring is the song, 'Eye Of The Tiger' (1982) by Survivor!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Survivor doing, 'Eye Of The Tiger' a truly inspired song![/caption]

Why is this song so inspiring? Well I couldn't tell you why exactly, but the truth is, is I have found that listening to this song while working, ends up making me want to work harder, and there has been a couple of different times while listening to this song that I have come up with some stuff that has helped set me on my path!

And that does not even go in to the song itself! You see, this song has a great beat, that everyone does a great job doing, ultimately I just don't have anything bad to say about this song!

You know what else is cool? I am not the only one that thinks this song is cool as well, you see it has been used many times in other entertainment mediums including: the Rocky movies, and the movie that has the same title as the song, it has also been used on TV in such shows as: Family Guy!

In the end, this song is truly fantastic, and if you haven't heard it yet, then I do recommend checking it out, it is a truly amazing one, and if you check it out you might find the same thing as well!

http://youtu.be/btPJPFnesV4

The Thing (2011) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

John Carpenter (Halloween)… What can I say about the guy… I mean this guy is most definitely a true legend in the horror/science fiction genres! (I would go so far as to say that Halloween (1978) (a movie which he directed) was one of the first movies that helped me to become a true and long standing fan of horror movies!)

Now the reason that I mention him in this is that because besides directing true classics like, ‘Halloween’, or ‘Big Trouble In Little China’… He also directed the remake to a classic Howard Hawks movie that would eventually become so popular that people who, ‘HATE’ horror, and are not interested in Science Fiction still know of this movie… This movie of course is the movie… The Thing (1982)…

Now this movie which is a remake of the original, The Thing From Another World (1951) and told the story of how a group of American Researchers in the Antarctic end up having to destroy a Norwegian Helicopter, after it starts causing problems in the American Camp, while the Norwegian’s are trying to kill this fleeing dog (don’t worry, there is a lot more about this dog…) Anyway the American’s destroy this chopper, and as they go to investigate what the Norwegians are up to, they come across an Alien specimen that will eventually infect the team, and pit them in a struggle between their lives and their deaths, as well as the whole of the human race!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="216"] Definitely a fun one![/caption]

As for, The Thing (2011), this movie is a prequel that stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Final Destination 3), Joel Edgerton (King Arthur), Ulrich Thomsen (Hitman), Eric Christian Olsen (Not Another Teen Movie), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (The Bourne Identity), Trond Espen Seim (Fallen Angels), & Jorgen Langhelle (Elling), and tells of the story leading up to Carpenter’s original movie!

You see, this movie tells the story of how after falling through the ice, the Norwegian research team end up finding an Alien space craft under the ice as well as an Alien himself!

So they end up creating a research team that is comprised of a few Americans (and although it is not conclusive, I suspect a Brit) to dig the craft and the Alien up… The only problem is that once they do so, they ultimately end up unlocking Pandora’s box, and waking up the Alien who will proceed to infect this crew in the same way that it infects the next crew, and if they can’t stop it… Well let’s be honest… No one can!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="553"] The team after they pulled up the Alien...[/caption]

Now for the bad part... this movie does seem to lack for a certain element of originality (I,e… the shot where they first burn an infected person in the snow in this new movie is almost the exact same shot that Carpenter used for his… The characters, ‘Sam Carter’ and, ‘R.J. Macready’ seem to be a little to similar to be coincidence. Also, although they did a great job in re-creating what the burnt out parts that were seen of the, ‘Norwegian Camp’ by the Americans in the first one would have looked like had they not been burned out… the rest of the set I suspect was probably what was used by Carpenter in his movie... Also, I did like the fact that they tried to use pistols in this movie, they still used Flame Throwers in this one (if you have seen the first one, then you will understand why I am asking, ‘does no one have a rifle in these movies’?

In the end, albeit the fact that this movie is not entirely original, it is a fun one, and I do hope to see the what is next for, ‘The Thing’…

 

http://youtu.be/UKjErC2JLQc

5 Uncommon Killer Weapons In Horror Movies

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] The umbrella... Definitely an item you don't see as a murder weapon frequently in horror movies![/caption]

You know we all know the standard tools that killers use in horror movies, I mean Jason has his Machete, Freddy has his glove, and even Michael Myers has his kitchen knife... So I thought that I would mention, '5 Uncommon Killer Weapons In Horror Movies'....
Now before I go on, I will say that each one of these have been in more then 1 horror movie, but tend to be seen in less horror movies then you might think!

With that in mind, lets get stared...

At number 5: Garden Shears.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="427"] The new killer in Crystal Lake is trying out some new instruments of destruction![/caption]

Now this one I have found in my travels to be a little more common, but still this one is quite cool, from it's use by, 'Fake Jason' in Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985), to gouge out horny teens eyes, to it being Cropsey's weapon of choice in, The Burning (1982), this item has been one of the more unusual choices for weaponry in horror movies, but it definitely has it's place in the annals of horror movie history!

At number 4: A Drill.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"] This guy is so good with both the, 'drill' and the, 'guitar' that he decided to show a group teens at a slumber party his, 'killer style'![/caption]

This one is fairly common in the one time kill category, but I thought that I would mention this one because, the drill was made famous as the popular way that the, 'Driller Killer' used to kill people in the, 'Slumber Party Massacre' series, and real briefly in the, 'Sorority House Massacre' series, (both by the way are awesome slasher film series that were produced by Roger Corman!)

At number 3: A Ruler.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="546"] Chucky has decided to take educational tools in a new direction![/caption]

This one is real rare... I mean I have personally only seen this once, and that was in Child's Play 2 (1990), when Chucky beats Andy's school teacher to death with it after Andy leaves!

At number 2: A Corn Row.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="620"] This is one corn field that doesn't want people picking it's corn![/caption]

You don't see that to often, but it is kind of a unique way to kill people that was first popularized in the, 'Children Of The Corn' movie series, and remains one of the reasons in my opinion that the, 'Children Of the Corn' series is still one of the better supernatural movie series of all time!

At number 1: Ice Cream Cone.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] This guy is serving up a little more then just his customary, 'Mint Chocolate Chip'![/caption]

This one is one of the more interesting ones, you see, this one was popularized by the brief but popular 90s horror movie series, 'The Ice Cream Man' and is still one of the most unique ways to kill people in a horror movie that I have seen to date!

In the end, in the history of the horror film, there has been quite a few ways killers have killed people in these films, but these are definitely some of the more unique ways I have seen of it being done, and definitely helped set the tone for the series that they would eventually produce!

http://youtu.be/9KgUcni8OxM

http://youtu.be/8BUlBD76ek8

http://youtu.be/tNYW8hyN3G0

http://youtu.be/Nh9vVd2R6to

http://youtu.be/5Idh6YHc5Ic

Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan (1982) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Let me ask you guys a question... Which series do you like better? The original Star Trek series or the rebooted series? For me it is a hard question, because the original series was absolutely truly amazing, and the first rebooted movie was truly awesome as well... But the rebooted part 2... meh...

But the original Star Trek 2 is a freaking awesome movie! It had a great cast of original series actors that include the likes of, William Shatner (Kingdom Of The Spiders), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), DeForest Kelley (Night Of The Lepus), James Doohan (The Duke), Walter Koenig (Babylon 5), George Takei (Futurama), Nichelle Nichols (Heroes).

This movie brought in a lot of other great actors as well, including: Merrit Butrick (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Paul Winfield (The Terminator), Kirstie Alley (Cheers) & Richardo Montalban (Battleground).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] The smiling face of the man who wanted everything... And ended up with nothing![/caption]

You see this movie is actually a continuation of an original series TV episode, when after Captain Kirk (William Shatner) & the crew of the, 'U.S.S. Enterprise' maroon a crew of extremely dangerous super men on a planet in the hopes that they can become their own society... They end up breaking free and taking over the Federation Starship, 'U.S.S. Reliant'...

With revenge in his heart, it will be up to Kirk and crew to come together one more time to stop Khan (Ricardo Montalban) from taking out his revenge on not just Kirk and his crew, but also to the rest of the human race that tried to dump him and his group!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Kirk and crew, when Khan and his followers strand them in an underground paradise.[/caption]

In the end, this movie is one of my personal favorite of this series, and if you get a chance, I do recommend checking it out, it is well worth it!

http://youtu.be/UJTi7KJPx_E

Swamp Thing (1982) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

Before Wes Craven (Scream) did, A Nightmare Elm Street (1984), he did, The Last House On The Left (1972) with Sean S. Cunningham (Friday The 13th)

With all of that in mind, just before really delving in to the world of A Nightmare On Elm Street, Wes Craven was working on a fun little movie called, Swamp Thing (1982).

Written and Directed by: Wes Craven. Starring: Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), Louis Jourdan (Octopussy), Ray Wise (Dead End), David Hess (The Last House On The Left), Nicholas Worth (Darkman), and Dick Durock (Death Journey).

Now the reason that I mention all of this is because, even though Sean S. Cunningham was not attached to Swamp Thing, it turns out that Wes Craven may have been inspired to borrow some of the stuff from Sean Cunningham, that they used while working together as well as separate! Included in this batch is David Hess who played, 'Krug' in, The Last House On The Left, and Harry Manfredini (A Secret Space) the person who composed the music for Swamp Thing, also composed the music for Friday The 13th (1980)... And despite the fact that the music was almost exactly the same in both movies, they worked real nicely in both movies!

As for the story, Swamp Thing tells the story of an Agent by the name of Alice Cable (Barbeau) who on her first day being transferred to an undisclosed secret government project that is deep inside some swamp land that is out in the middle of no-where is about to have the worst day of her life!

You see the project, which is being conducted for the government by, Doctor Alec Holland (Wise) is being done to try and create plant life that will grow anywhere, in any temperature, on any surface anywhere on the planet!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) and Agent Alice Cable (Barbeau) during Cable's first day at the research site![/caption]

As it turns out though there is a wealthy Doctor by the name of ‘Doctor Arcane’ (Jourdan), who will stop at nothing to steal Doctor Holland’s research for his own nefarious reasons…

In the end Doctor Arcane sends his henchmen, which are lead by the evil, ‘Ferret’ (Hess) to steal the formula… The only problem you see is that Doctor Holland is consumed by flames during the raid on his lab and heads in to the swamp, never to be seen again… or does he?

After all of this, Alice Cable will have to work to make sure that notebook that she stole during the accident stays with her and doesn’t fall in to the hands of Doctor Arcane and his goon squad, and helping her in all of this is a boy, and a mysterious Swamp Monster that seems to be following her like he knew her!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Alice Cable with, 'Swamp Thing'![/caption]

Now the interesting thing about this movie, is that I am pretty certain that this movie was inspired by, The Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) with Julie Adams (Slim Carter), and I am pretty certain that this movie was partly the inspiration for the creation of the TV series, Beauty And The Beast with Linda Hamilton (The Terminator).

In the end though what makes this movie great is that it was a fantastic monster movie that despite being a Horror/Sci Fi movie, it also has an element of Romance in it, with the interesting dynamic between Cable and the monster how she fell in love with the man and stayed in love with the monster!

http://youtu.be/ZDP9otOTaHI