Jim Taylor

A ponderer with delusions of grandeur...

The Death of Social Gaming?

Dec 142014
 

When I think back over my personal history with games consoles, a few memories stand out with particular vividness.  There’s the utter joy I felt at receiving my first console – a NES – for Christmas when I was about 5 years old (that dates me); the atmospheric rush of discovering Doom via Playstation (sorry, PC purists) years later as a cynical teenager; and the triumphant return I’ve made to gaming in the last couple of years, immersing myself in the stunning storytelling experiences of titles like Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us.  But head and shoulders above all these stand the memories I’ve shared with others, because the experiences I’ve enjoyed the most over the last couple of decades have all been examples of what could be called ‘social gaming’ – that is, people playing video games together whilst in the same physical location.  Going by a variety of names, from “local multiplayer” to “couch co-op”, this phenomenon seems almost quaint in an era of massive online multiplayer networks, but it’s nonetheless one which is close to the hearts of many gamers.  I have so many fond recollections of hanging out with friends, eating snacks and listening to good music while we blasted through countless games of Halo, Tekken, FIFA and numerous other titles, and a cursory search for internet articles on the subject reveals that a great many people across the world share this affinity for gaming as a social experience.  But is this affinity doomed to become simple nostalgia?  Is local multiplayer (LM) becoming purely a thing of the past?

The slow death of LM has been a pervasive myth in gaming culture for some time now, as discussed in this 2011 editorial from Co-Optimus, a website deicated to LM titles.  The piece makes several arguments against this myth, pointing to the increasing number of LM titles being released year-on-year (2007 to 2011), the indie developers stepping in to fill the LM void left by AAA titles eschewing the feature, and the lack of profitability involved in running networks like X-Box Live and PSN, which ensures fewer perverse incentives on the part of manufacturers who might otherwise desire an industry-wide shift to online-only multiplayer.  More recently, an #egmr article from August this year also emphasises the point about more and more indie developers embracing LM, just as big-budget games makers seem to be dropping it left and right.  While it’s tempting for the pessimistic observer to conclude that the prevalence of LM games may well have been a temporary blip in the history of gaming, possibly only coming about because multiplayer functionality was demanded in a pre-internet world, the points raised by these articles do give some hope to the LM fan.  After all, ever since the days of Street Fighter 2 and Mario Kart, the LM experience has been a major part of console gaming culture, and certainly not a blip or aberration; the acute alarm expressed by the many gamers who fear its passing is evidence enough of how important it’s become in the last 25 years.  What’s more, the very fact that the latest generation of consoles accommodate several local players (up to 4 on the PS4, 8 on the X-Box One) suggests that the major console developers see LM as very much part of gaming’s future, not just its past.

Mario Kart: a landmark title in the history of local multiplayer

So is the supposed decline of LM simply a myth based on selective anecdotal evidence?  Perhaps not.  You see, Co-Optimus’ figures don’t paint quite as rosy a picture for LM as that 2011 editorial claims, for while it’s true that a large number of LM-enabled games are still being released each year, this doesn’t account for proportionality.  Between 2009 and 2011, the total number of console games released remained pretty much flat, as did the number of these that were LM titles.  However, if we jump ahead to 2014, the total number of console games released for the year has crept up to around the 280 mark (an increase of 21% on 3 years ago), but the total number of LM titles released has remained flat.  Relatively speaking, fewer LM games are being released now than there were a few years ago.  And this isn’t the only worrying trend; while Dom at #egmr is correct in saying that indie developers are starting to fill the LM gap left by the creators of AAA titles, this isn’t truly a comparison of like with like, because AAA titles have disproportionate power as taste-makers within gaming culture.

If we ignore beat ’em ups and sports games (LM being their bread-and-butter), only 5 AAA titles (excluding Nintendo, see below) released this year were LM-enabled.  Of these, 2 were re-releases (Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition), leaving just 3 AAA console titles released in 2014 that supported LM, namely Ubisoft’s Child of Light, Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, and the latest Call of Duty installment.  AAA titles are more widely purchased, receive more media coverage and attract more attention from games critics than their independently-produced counterparts (usually a lot more), so are hugely influential when it comes to shaping the future tastes and expectations of gamers as well as establishing the conventional boundaries of what games can do, what sort of experiences they can and should create for players.  As LM becomes less and less of an AAA-level experience, it is de-normalised for all but the most discerning gamers, and the idea of social gaming begins to seem increasingly antiquated and obsolete in a world of massive online multiplayer networks.  This is the reason that indie games cannot truly fill the gap left by AAA titles in the LM field, but why is this happening?  Why do fewer and fewer AAA titles feature LM capability?

Ubisoft’s Child of Light: one of the very few AAA titles released in 2014 with local multiplayer capability

There is an issue of supply and demand here, insofar as it is unclear to what extent AAA titles follow the gaming market rather than lead it.  The changing habits of gamers is certainly a major issue; many people feel like they no longer have the time to make an evening of gaming with friends by physically travelling to the same location as other players.  That said, the impressive recent resurgence in the popularity of boardgames suggests that the inclination to game socially still persists, and it’s possible that the presence of sophisticated platforms for online multiplayer console gaming are affecting players’ attitudes here.  Although Co-Optimus are right to say that running networks like X-Box Live and PSN is not an inexpensive undertaking by any means, Microsoft and Sony would not be doing so if they were incurring a monetary loss on the project.  Therefore, the networks must make a profit via subscription sales (PS4 users now have to pay for a subscription to PS Plus if they want to play online multiplayer games across PSN), creating a perverse incentive for console developers (who wield tremendous influence within the industry) to encourage a gradual but steady shift towards online-only multiplayer functionality.  What’s more, online multiplayer requires all the participants to have bought a copy of the game being played, an obvious financial incentive for the title’s developers to eschew LM capability (although the PS4’s new ‘Share Play‘ function mitigates against this somewhat).

A final factor is graphics standards.  Many LM games use a split-screen effect to achieve co-operative gameplay, meaning that the console effectively has to render two separate versions of the game environment.  The processing power required to do this with optimal graphics is beyond the capabilities of even the latest generation of consoles, so inevitably the frame rate drops and the game visuals suffer considerably (the LM function on the Halo anniversary editions on X-Boxes 360 & One has attracted numerous complaints for this very reason).  While many gamers may not mind paying this somewhat superficial price if it means they get to play co-op with their mates, there exists within the gaming industry a powerful drive to create better, brighter and clearer graphics; we are very much living in the HD era, and achieving 1080p at an ever-more intricate level of graphical sophistication is the goal at which most AAA developers are aiming.  The visual sacrifices demanded by LM thus make it a very unpopular form of gaming with such developers.

Is there a future for social gaming?

As fewer and fewer AAA titles are released with LM capability, it seems that the gradual, prolonged death of the form continues apace, driven by the changing attitudes of gamers and the vested interests of developers.  But there are still reasons for LM fans to be hopeful that “couch co-op” will live on.  Some AAA games (primarily beat ’em ups and sports titles) will likely always feature an LM aspect, and although indie developers cannot truly fill the gap left in LM gaming, recent titles such as Matt Thorson’s Towerfall: Ascension, Messhof’s Nidhogg and FLG’s Broforce show a promising future for indie LM games.  Furthermore, AAA-level local multiplaying does seem to have a champion among the games industry’s big boys, namely Nintendo.  In stark contrast to Microsoft and Sony’s consoles, the Wii U seems to be wholeheartedly embracing LM, with many of its AAA titles released in 2014, including Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, Super Mario 3D World and the latest installments in the Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart franchises all boasting LM capability.  Between them, Nintendo and the indie developers may be forging a future for social gaming, and the market is there for it: back in August the inaugural Local Multiplayer Summit was held in Berlin (their Youtube channel features a number of presentations from the event), strongly suggesting that a significant number of gamers want to continue enjoying a range of LM console titles in the years to come.  Gaming can be a truly social experience, acting counter to the often alienating effect of modern technology and providing a hugely fun experience to share with friends face-to-face.  Long may it remain so.

A variety of articles on local multiplayer gaming can be found at www.localmultiplayer.com

TV REVIEW: ‘Constantine’

Nov 212014
 

Since his first appearance in Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing thirty years ago, John Constantine has become one of comics’ most popular antiheroes.  That his solo title Hellblazer was the longest-running comic on DC’s Vertigo imprint (1988-2013) speaks volumes about the character’s enduring appeal, but up until now there’s only been one attempt to adapt the misadventures of this chain-smoking, Liverpudlian con-man/sorceror for the screen, namely the 2005 Keanu Reeves-starring feature film which, despite having its share of merits, was met with mixed reviews and a (relatively) modest box office.  That all changed with NBC’s announcement last year that they would be producing a TV series based on the character, and as we’re now 4 episodes into Constantine (out of the network’s initial order of 9), it seems like a good time to offer a verdict of John Constantine’s latest onscreen incarnation.

Probably the biggest criticism of the 2005 film was the casting of Reeves in the title role, and it’s clear from the choice of Matt Ryan as leading man that the TV show’s version of the Constantine will – superficially, at least – strive to be closer to its comic book source material.  Ryan’s Constantine is charming, witty, manipulative, angry and (most importantly for many fans) speaks with an English accent, albeit with generous helpings of Ryan’s natural Welsh brogue.  Based on 4 episodes’ worth of evidence, it’s no exaggeration to say that he’s nailed the character, warts ‘n’ all, and his performance is without a doubt the main reason to tune in every week.  Unfortunately, the rest of the show hasn’t, for the most part, lived up to Ryan’s promise.

Although elements of Constantine’s classic backstory are present and correct, particularly his difficult childhood and the life-changing trauma of Newcastle, thus far only one episode of the show (last week’s Feast of Friends) has been based directly on a storyline from the Hellblazer comics.  This seems a misguided approach from showrunners Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer, given the three decades’ worth of great material at their disposal.  In fairness, a good deal of this material could be considered too graphic and/or controversial for network television (Garth Ennis’ gut-churning early ’90s run springs to mind), but the success of shows like American Horror Story and Hannibal suggests that TV audiences have stronger stomachs than they’ve hitherto been given credit for.  Constantine‘s penchant for gore is actually another of the show’s strengths, hewing closer to the spirit of its comic book origins while simultaneously standing out a little from the televisual crowd, but simply throwing buckets of blood at the screen won’t be enough; Constantine‘s first three episodes were hampered by the hackneyed character beats (John aside) and plot structure of generic network television, and an easy way to tackle this weakness is for the writers to start adapting more unconventional Hellblazer storylines.  A risk, certainly, but a calculated and worthwhile one.  Fortunately, Matt Ryan recently hinted that episodes 8 and 9 of the first season will again be based on a story from the comics, and hopefully they can repeat the gruesome, compelling success of Feast of Friends.

Another stumbling block for the show thus far has been its supporting characters.  A version of Chas Chandler radically different from his comics counterpart is acted well enough by Charles Halford, but aside from some early hints about his possibly supernatural abilities, there’s been very little development (or even screen time) for the character.  Zed Martin (Angelica Celaya), a clairvoyant artist who becomes Constantine’s protégé, comes straight out of the pages of Hellblazer, and promises some interesting directions for the show’s core character dynamic.  But Celaya’s acting has been decidedly uneven over the course of the three episodes she’s appeared in (she replaced Lucy Griffiths, who played a different character in the pilot episode), and for the relationship (platonic or otherwise) between Zed and Constantine to spark onscreen she will have to prove herself a match for Ryan in the episodes ahead.

That unique Hellblazer atmosphere and the development of fully-realised supporting characters are the two elements that will distinguish Constantine from its televisual competitors, particularly The CW’s Supernatural, to whose “possession of the week” format it currently feels uncomfortably close.  The show already has Matt Ryan’s Constantine in its assets column, and at the moment it’s his performance that’s largely carrying the show, although not entirely.  Constantine has proved it can be creepy, exciting and visually stunning, and as such shows some encouraging potential.  But the showrunners (and also the network) need to take more risks, and draw more regularly on the treasure trove of inspiration that is the Hellblazer back catalogue if Constantine is to flourish.  They’d be foolish not to.

Constantine is currently airing in the UK on Amazon Prime Instant Video.

FILM REVIEW: ‘Radio Free Albemuth’ (2014)

Nov 132014
 

Between February and March 1974, renowned science fiction author Philip K. Dick experienced a series of bizarre occurrences (summarised here in graphic form by the legendary R. Crumb) which as far as he was concerned constituted a direct communication from either God, an alien intelligence, or both.  Experiencing visions of the ancient past (specifically 1st century Rome), xenoglossy (he suddenly – if temporarily – spoke ancient Greek without any prior knowledge of it) and premonitions (he became aware of a potentially fatal medical condition afflicting his son which doctors had missed), Dick became convinced that he had encountered something, whether it was an actually existing deity or just a product of his subconscious.  He spent the rest of his life (which sadly ended in 1982) trying to figure out exactly what had happened to him, both through his 8,000 page, stream-of-consciousness Exegesis as well as several semi-autobiographical novels written in the last few years before his death.  The most famous of these is 1981’s VALIS (which along with its direct sequel The Divine Invasion and Dick’s final book The Transmigration of Timothy Archer forms a thematic trilogy), an earlier (and radically different) draft of which was published after the author’s death under the title Radio Free Albemuth.

Given the bizarre, blasphemous and fantastical subject matter of these works, it’d be a bold film-maker that attempted to adapt of any one of them, but in 2007 writer/director John Alan Simon began work on a low-budget version of Albemuth, despite also having the film rights to the more famous (if no less esoteric) VALIS.  The result is an extremely mixed bag, neatly illustrating the potential pitfalls of adapting ‘unfilmable’ novels while at the same occasionally showcasing the virtues of overambition.

The film’s central plot closely follows that of the book: set in an alternate version of California in the 1980s (updating the novel’s setting by a decade), Radio Free Albemuth chronicles the life-changing experiences of record store clerk Nicholas Brady (Jonathan Scarfe) and his best friend, the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick (Boardwalk Empire‘s Shea Whigham).  While President Richard Fremont (Scott Wilson) and his secret police rule America with an iron fist, Brady begins to experience visions of a godlike alien intelligence named VALIS (an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System) which seems to be downloading information directly into his brain as part of some larger, unknown master plan.  With the help of Dick and a strange woman called Sylvia (Alanis Morissette), Brady sets in motion a chain of events designed to topple Fremont’s dictatorship and liberate America, but does VALIS really exist or is he simply going insane?  And even if there is an alien god pulling his strings, does Brady’s plan have any real chance of success?

The plot synopsis alone gives some indication of the left field nature of Radio Free Albemuth and the ideas it explores.  As with the book, one of the most interesting things about the film is the inclusion of Dick himself as a character, although not the character who experiences the visions that plagued his real-life counterpart.  These and other events from the author’s life are mixed in with his fictional creations, and it’s often hard to see where the line might lie between (perceived) fact and fiction, even though the the story depicts an alternate universe to our own.  This is the way in which Dick tried to process and analyse his uncanny experiences through his work (a blending of fiction and autobiography also occurs in VALIS, and to a lesser extent in The Transmigration of Timothy Archer), and John Alan Simon’s film remains faithful to the author’s intent on this score.

The premise of Albemuth is so peculiar that it asks a lot of its audience, so much so that viewers who aren’t fans of the book might not be willing to overlook its weirder elements and obvious flaws.  While some of the story’s themes resonate powerfully, such as comparing the contemporary USA to the empire of ancient Rome and exploring the life-shattering experience of being a deity’s ‘chosen one’, its depiction of VALIS and the rest of Brady’s visions come across as frankly ridiculous, especially when hamstrung by a miniscule effects budget.  Despite the tantalising backdrop of a totalitarian America where citizens are expected to provide “loyalty statements” for each other, these theological explorations actually form the heart of the story, just as Dick intended, so when they fall short the whole film is dragged with them.  There are times when the film’s low budget works in its favour; the lack of Hollywood gloss paradoxically lends a pronounced air of unreality to certain scenes that are rendered all the more effectively for it.  For the most part, though, the lack of funding is a definite hindrance, as one would expect.

Sometimes a talented cast can, by sheer force of acting, elevate a ropey movie out of its low-budget quagmire.  Radio Free Albemuth is, in this respect, a qualified success.  Jonathan Scarfe puts in a credible, if unremarkable performance in the lead role, and while Alanis Morissette isn’t actually much of an actor she does have that desirable actorly quality of being interesting to look at (different from simply being attractive).  The film’s secret weapon, though, is Shea Whigham’s terrific performance as Philip K. Dick, and the movie lights up every time he’s on the screen.  Whigham plays Dick as skeptical, sarcastic and defiant, but also ultimately passionate and caring, equally at home in the film’s more philosophical moments as he is its darkly humorous scenes.  Simon’s mooted adaptation of VALIS would be worth watching just to see Whigham reprise the role.

In a way it’s fitting that Philip K. Dick should be the character portrayed most memorably, as ultimately, despite it’s pretensions of paranoid political and religious allegory, Radio Free Albemuth is all about one man’s personal struggle to understand an incomprehensible experience.  For some reason, the story’s inherent strangeness works far better on the page than on the screen, and this might say something about how we as viewers experience storytelling in different media.  Despite being a pretty mediocre film, Albemuth does have some fantastic moments, and indeed the whole final act is as brutal, haunting and bittersweet as any fan of the book could hope for.  Some may well watch it and ask why John Alan Simon even attempted to adapt a novel so wilfully unfit for the screen, but his excess of ambition brought forth a movie that is often thought-provoking and occasionally very moving, and that surely is worth the effort.

The film’s official website can be found here.

FEATURE: Halloween Horror, Page and Screen

Nov 012014
 

Halloween Horror, Page and Screen

– Recommendations from the Geekzine team

Here at Geekzine Towers we feel very strongly about all things spooky, and what better excuse to indulge our love of horror films and books than the annual marketing ploy that is Halloween.

Below you will find recommendations from the Geekzine team, some of which you will no doubt be familiar with, others less so. There are a few from the Geekzine’s chief editor (me), Andy Jamieson, from the Geekzine’s chief correspondent, Jim Taylor, and from erstwhile reviewer, Sonya Doig. Enjoy.

Movies

(in no particular order)

Event Horizon (1997)

This widely-underrated UK/US co-production has gained a cult following in recent years, and it’s not hard to see why.  Using its science fictional setting to maximum effect, Event Horizon is intensely creepy and atmospheric, featuring terrific set design and great performances from Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne and Joely Richardson.  As horror, the film succeeds for the same reason that the computer game Doom does: it suggests that Hell is a place we can reach through the use of technology, thus dragging the concept of an actually existing realm of the damned uncomfortably close to our 21st century reality.  Director Paul W. S. Anderson (a man whose career has been patchy, to say the least) also creates one of the most inventive and unsettling depictions of Hell ever seen on screen. (Jim Taylor)

 

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The Wolfman (2010)

From its troubled production (out with original director, Mark Romanek, in with the ever-reliable Spielberg protege, Joe Johnston) to its lukewarm reception, life was not easy for this remake of the original Lon Chaney Wolfman. Time has been kind to it, and it is rare to find a horror film that revels in its gloopy, gory moments (Anthony Sher, meet iron railings) and in ripe melodrama (Anthony Hopkins). Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt are the heart and soul of this deliciously stylish, atmospheric back-to-basics lupine yarn, and the human story is as powerful as the theatrics on show. Awesome Danny Elfman soundtrack too.  (Andy Jamieson)

 

Possession (1981)

Polish director Andrzej Zulawski’s avant-garde horror film is beguiling and infuriating in equal measure.  It’s about the breakdown of a marriage, a man’s descent into insanity, cold war espionage, the creation of a monstrous creature and (possibly) the end of the world.  A sequence of increasingly surreal scenes forces the audience to question the sanity of the main characters, in particular Mark (Sam Neill in another fine turn) and Anna (an astonishing and disturbing performance from Isabelle Adjani); the latter’s infamous solo scene in a Berlin subway station is shockingly intense, and contributed to the film being ranked as a notorious “video nasty” by the British press.  To say any more would give too much away, but if you like your horror bizarre, then this one’s for you. (JT)

 

Halloween (1978)

How original, I hear you cry.  Recommending John Carpenter’s stone cold classic, one of the grandaddies of the slasher sub-genre?  No-one’s ever heard of that!  Perhaps, but I want to recommend it in a slightly different way: this year, try watching Halloween not simply as a superior horror film which spawned a thousand imitators and a string of inferior sequels, but simply as a film.  When you abandon your preconceptions about the limitations of genre, the movie reveals itself as a cinematic masterpiece.  Beautifully shot, scored and paced, with atmosphere practically oozing out of the screen, Halloween also remains cagey enough about the true nature of unstoppable killing machine Michael Myers to be nicely ambiguous in its supernatural leanings, and thus makes for an interesting watch on many levels. (JT)

 

From Beyond the Grave

From Beyond The Grave (1967)

… is a beautifully executed film comprising a series of 4 vignettes, a production from the legendary Hammer Horror made at their peak in 1967. Peter Cushing, the owner of an old curiosity antique shop, is swindled by his customers, each of whom meet a grisly end for their wrong doings. Ironically, the only honest patrons amongst them are the most irritating and the ones whom you’d kinda like to meet a nasty end. But we can’t have it all! Cushing is joined by British greats such as Donald Pleasance, Diana Dors and David Warner and although it’s dated and not remotely scary, the prick to the conscience and the uneasy sense of guilt when we ask ourselves about our own propensity to manipulate to prosper, is quite unnerving. (Sonya Doig)

 

The Crazies (2010)

Remakes in Hollywood, as a rule, tend to fall short of originals, especially where horror is concerned.  This, however, cannot be said of Breck Eisner’s reimagining of George A. Romero’s 1973 film The Crazies, which surpasses the original and proves itself a solid modern B-movie.  Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell play a couple caught up in the chaos after a small midwestern town is exposed to a military-engineered virus, finding themselves stuck between a deluge of homicidal maniacs and the increasingly brutal containment measures taken by the armed forces.  Playing like a zombie movie with a twist (in that these zombies can use guns and open doors), The Crazies is fun, thrilling and is a perfect choice for the more lightweight “middle film” in your Halloween movie marathon. (JT)

 

Lost Highway (1997)

No list of recommended Halloween watching would be complete without an entry from David Lynch, which is slightly strange when you think about it, as the iconic director has made very little that could be considered out-and-out horror (even Eraserhead is, I would argue, borderline).  Regardless, some of his works come pretty damn close, and I’m going to take a leftfield approach and recommend his underrated 1997 surreal noir Lost Highway.  Why?  Well, mainly Robert Blake’s chilling peformance, the crazy industrial soundtrack and the fact that the film remains one of Lynch’s most infuriatingly ambiguous works (even if some critics have claimed that it’s essentially the same film as Mulholland Drive).  Plus, it’s very creepy.  AND…it’s one of the only horror movies ever to be adapted into an opera.  Can’t go wrong. (JT)

 

 

TheProphecy_poster

The Prophecy (1995)

This remains a testament to the acting prowess and screen magnetism of one Christopher Walken, who blazes across the screen as the Archangel Gabriel, an antihero like no other. In his quest to gather an army to take on Heaven, he is as deluded as he is quotable. Eric Scholtz, as the Archangel Simon, learns of Gabriels’s plan and foils him by stealing the soul from the dead human general that Gabe is seeking to help him in his warmongering. Yes, the plot is batshit crazy, but gives plenty of room for the star wattage of Walken to strut his stuff, sniffing and grunting as he hunts his prize. Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen co-star as the humans trying to stop him. And Viggo Mortensen cameos as Lucifer! Incredible stuff, this has to be seen to be believed. From the mind of Gregory Wden, one of the original creators of the Highlander series. Watered down by four worsening sequels that had the gumption of firstly giving Walken a long grey wig (the third film) and adding Sean Pertwee to the mix (the fourth). (AJ)

 

 

 

Books

(once more, with no order)

 

 

Collected Ghost Stories by M. R. James

The master of the winter ghost story.  We’ve waffled about how great M. R. James is in these pages before, but for that gently chilling, dreadfully slow-burning style of horror there’s simply no-one else who comes close.  Criticised these days for not being “scary enough”, James’ stories still have plenty to offer in exercising the more horrifying parts of your imagination.  H. P. Lovecraft was a big fan (although the admiration was not mutual), which is as ringing an endorsement as any, and no reader can tell me that Count Magnus and Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad don’t send a chill through the old bones… (JT)

 

 

 

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

Less a novella than a story cycle of four sinister tales, Chambers’ hugely influential piece of horror writing has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity this year, due to being repeatedly referenced in the hit HBO TV series True Detective.  Revisiting it now, one discovers a deeply macabre mystery surrounding a peculiar play called The King in Yellow which seems to bring madness and death to all who read it.  Chambers’ atmosphere of creeping terror and hints about cosmic entities directing human affairs influenced many 20th century writers, including H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King and Grant Morrison.  Suffice it to say, it’s aged well. (JT)

 

DeadofWinterThe Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley

Edgar Allan Poe. M.R. James. Wilkie Collins. Add Chris Priestley to that list; an esteemed storyteller of ghostly delights. Following on from his Tales of Terror trilogy (of which this book is a great companion piece to), Priestley’s 2010 novel oozes a rich, gothic-laced atmosphere. Young orphan, Michael, moves to the country manor of Hawton Mere, set amongst misty marshland, to live with his guardian, the sickly and troubled Sir Stephen. But something is not right at the estate and, from the off, Michael is certain that there is a ghoulish mystery waiting to be uncovered… Michael’s adventure is gripping, and by the end you will be feverishly turning pages to discover what happens next! This is an exceptionally well-crafted book, and more than matches the high standard of the Terror books. It’s simply a great pleasure to read and reiterates that Priestley is very, very good at what he does. If you read one book over the winter months, look no further than this masterpiece of festive chills. Superb. (AJ)

 

 

 

Ring_1st_American_Edition

Ring by Koji Suzuki

The original novel that started the craze, Suzuki’s breakout novel in the West is better than any of the films. The heartbreaking tale of Sadako is rendered with layers of mystery as journalist Asakawa investigates the mysterious deaths of four teenagers, one of whom he was the uncle to. His investigations lead him to a holiday resort, weher the teens were last all seen together. There he discovers a peculiar VHS tape (that’s VIDEO, kids, not a dvd-blu-ray in sight…) that has what appears to be an abstract short film recorded on it – ending with the message that the viewer has 7 days left to live… The initial set-up lures you in and as the week deadline encroaches on Asakawa you quite simply cannot put the damn book down. Essential for horror fans. (AJ)

FILM REVIEW: ‘Nightcrawler’ (15)

Oct 302014
 

Nightcrawler is one of those films where you know from a very early point in the plot that terrible things are going to happen.  The trajectories which characters embark upon, either by their own volition or at the behest of another, seem destined to terminate in chaos and ruin, and you can barely bring yourself to watch these seemingly inevitable events unfold as the film progresses.  This is certainly true of Dan Gilroy’s stunning directorial debut, and in its protagonist Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), the instigator of this terrible sequence of events, we’re introduced to one of the great antiheroes of modern cinema.

Bloom emerges mysteriously from the Los Angeles night, a man with no past and a demonic drive for self-advancement.  Spouting catechisms from business textbooks and self-help manuals, he roams the city in search of a job, and seems to find his true calling after witnessing the wreckage of a car accident being filmed by cameraman Joe (Bill Paxton) so that the footage can be sold on to a local TV news network.  “If it bleeds, it leads,” says Joe, and just like that Bloom is initiated into a gruesome moonlit world of police scanners, ambulance-chasing and bloodied victims – “nightcrawling”.  Arming himself with a cheap camera and showing no regard for human dignity, Bloom’s determination and natural talent catch the eye of TV news editor Nina (Rene Russo), who promises rich rewards if he keeps bringing her intimate shots of dying accident victims.  With the assistance of his newly-recruited navigator Rick (Four Lions‘ Riz Ahmed), Bloom begins his unscrupulous ascent towards the top of the TV food chain, and in doing so crosses the line between chronicler of tragedy and author of it.

Nightcrawler is ostensibly a satire about American TV news, albeit an extremely dark and disturbing one.  That bloodier and more shocking news reports are automatically given more coverage seems unsurprising in our spectacle-obsessed society, but this doesn’t stop the bloodthirst of Nina and her employers leaving a bad taste in one’s mouth; it is, of course, this hunger for carnage that enables Bloom and his immoral antics.  The questions the film asks are, however, applicable to every area of society and human interaction.  It’s as much about the dog-eat-dog model of personal advancement advocated by many amoral business gurus as it is the ethically dubious nature of 21st century news coverage, putting it in a similar bracket to movies like Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and James Foley’s Glengarry Glen Ross.  Bloom’s almost inhuman hunger for success is what drives the movie forward, and it leads to some horrifying scenes which mirror the character’s internal corruption.  While Paxton, Russo and Ahmed all turn in fantastic performances (the depth of acting talent on show is one of the film’s key strengths), Gyllenhaal’s performance is stunning.  He portrays Bloom as a nightmarish wraith; pale, wide-eyed, frighteningly intense, and acting like a Travis Bickle for the 24-hour news age, the character’s psychopathic lack of empathy and talent for manipulation make him one of the most memorable movie villains of recent years, and if Gyllenhaal is overlooked at next year’s Oscar nominations it will be criminal.

Director Dan Gilroy has been writing films for over twenty years, and Nightcrawler is the first time he’s stepped behind the camera.  The strength of his own script makes for an auspicious debut, but the film wouldn’t be half as good if his directing didn’t live up to the writing.  With a look that’s at times reminiscent of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, his cameras conjure forth a Los Angeles saturated with tension and dull dread, where screaming sirens pierce the inky black night as another car burns, another victim expires.  Deftly balancing intimate character moments and gripping action sequences (including a thrilling car chase at the film’s climax), Gilroy proves himself a capable film-maker, and gives us an unexpectedly brilliant piece of cinema.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Strange Bodies’ by Marcel Theroux

Oct 262014
 

I usually can’t stand literary fiction.  That’s a gross generalisation, I know, but stories of middle class people struggling with “worthy” social problems and unexpected family histories set my teeth on edge, and that (or some variation of it) is what the majority of literary fiction seems to concern.  As such, Strange Bodies took me by surprise.  At times it reads like literary fiction – it’s about a middle class academic struggling with estrangement from his family and the various disappointments of his life – but it also grips like a fast-paced thriller, and grapples with ideas that’ll be familiar to any fan of science fiction, albeit in a refreshingly philosophical way.

Nicholas Slopen is dead…or is he?  A confused diary entry from a former lover begins Marcel Theroux’s novel, leading us into an eerie and mysterious world of paranoia, conspiracy, metaphysics and bittersweet heartbreak.  Strange Bodies is the story of a man trying to make sense of something terrible that has happened to him, something beyond the boundaries of normal human experience.  Like the best science fiction writers, Theroux takes an intriguing idea (a Soviet experiment in preserving a person’s mind beyond bodily death – its practical workings left deliberately opaque) and concentrates on the dire consequences for those who become tangled up in it.  The bulk of the novel is formed by Slopen’s testament about his disorientating experience, and the dark hints and clues dropped about the sinister “procedure” which he has undergone create a compelling mystery, making Strange Bodies a real page-turner despite its weighty philosophical themes of identity, memory and death.  The first person narrative also allows us to feel more keenly Slopen’s mourning for a life snatched away, a life which, despite its failings, was his to hold onto.

The involvement of a parade of scientists, business moguls, military officers and eccentric millionaires hints at a grand conspiracy which Theroux only sketches loosely, seen as it all is from the viewpoint of just one man, and the focus of the book remains firmly on the main character and the trauma of being wrenched into a realm beyond sanity and understanding against one’s will.  It is this emotional rawness, coupled with its compelling pace and intriguing meditations on the nature of the self that make Strange Bodies a terrific read, and Marcel Theroux a science fiction author worth keeping an eye out for.

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