Friday, January 2, 2009

Posted @ 15:36 GMT

bouncing into the New Year

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
—T S Eliot, "Little Gidding"

Welcome to the voice of 2009!

Last year was a good one for short story/poetry sales, and that came from a concerted and consistent effort to submit my work to markets.

I pretty much doubled the number of submissions I sent out last year. Which means that I must match, and if possible raise again, the number of works in circulation in 2009.

Of course, the rejections still out-weight the sales. My reaction can range from a shrug of the shoulders to a deep depression. I had a number of particularly cruel disappointments this year. The last one was two days before Christmas.

Rejections don't care about holidays, anniversaries, or birthdays. They fall, like anvils, when they wish.

I was flattened, like Wile E. Coyote, for a time. Yet, the roadrunners were too tasty to forgo, so I peeled myself off the canyon floor, found a bicycle pump, and re-inflated myself to normal.

On the other hand, a new market emerged recently called Thaumatrope, which is a webzine devoted to Twitterfic (stories under 140 characters that are posted on Twitter). It pays pro rates, notwithstanding the micro size of the tales. I sold six teeny stories to them in December. It was a fun challenge to produce something evocative and yet comprehensible in less than 140 characters.

I plan to push myself harder this year. The more you do the more you know you can do. I'll just have to learn to sidestep the anvils, or draw the ground as a bouncy castle, so I can rebound faster and jump higher.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Posted @ 16:28 GMT

Winter Cheer

I started writing this blog post a week ago, but then I became happily distracted by the visit from a dear friend of mine.

October and November are busy months for me. It's when the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild organises its annual screenwriting awards, the ZeBBies, and it generates a lot of extra work.

On November 25th we had the ZeBBie Awards Ceremony in the Sugar Club in Dublin, and it was a fun night. I put on a frock and shiny shoes. People were bewildered but complimentary.

I spent all of that Tuesday at the Arts Council's conference, New Media, New Audience? The panel I participated on was stimulating and informative, so much so that it felt like a pity to finish up when we did. Overall it was a fascinating day, listening to speakers discuss the intersection of technology with the arts, and how they can be best utilised together. I always enjoy meeting and talking to creative people from across disciplines, but this was particularly satisfying (to me) since so many were tech savvy.

The Arts Council promises to follow up the conference because it had such an overwhelming, positive response, and I hope it will do so.

On the personal news front a couple of weeks ago Pseudopod, the horror story podcast, bought the audio rights to my short story "Bone Mother". I am delighted, because Pseudopod not only pays its authors, but also offers an excellent product. This story has now almost paid its way (short stories rarely return on their investment of time and effort).

Last week I received the welcome news from editor Chris Cevasco that Paradox Magazine is buying my short story "Beautiful Calamity".

Each of my stories resonates with me in different ways. To execute a story in a manner that feels meaningful and natural usually requires a specific process - every story has a unique labour. It's not that some stories are more important than others, but some hit the mark better than the rest. "Beautiful Calamity" is a story that required concerted effort, but the result was worth the time. It's deeply gratifying when someone else appreciates that kind of story, and wishes to share it with others.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Posted @ 13:17 GMT

recovery

I'm recovering from my tumble two weeks ago. I spent most of the first week lying down, with sporadic bouts of hobbling around. My left foot displayed a shocking palette of colours for a while, some of which have not yet faded.

I'm thankful I've a resilient body, and the ability to work from home.

You'd think this would mean I had plenty time to write, watch movies, and read, but for the first period I was incredibly lethargic and unfocused. There were times when I just did nothing - this is difficult for me, but I decided to take the injury seriously and rest completely. Coincidently, Martin was away on a scheduled trip a few days after my fall, and I found myself completely alone (except for my excellent dog companion) and on bed rest.

About six weeks ago I bought a Nintendo DS, and that is the only thing that saved me from utter boredom. I don't own many games for it yet - most of them are the "edutainment" variety. However, I'm now pretty damn awesome on the hard level of "Germbuster", the Tetris-based game that is bundled with the Dr. Kawashima's More Brain Training cartridge.

Alas, my scores on the strategies and puzzles plummeted for a couple of days (my brains must have been knocked about), and Dr. Kawashima shook his weeny head at me and clucked in disappointment. Still, he expressed pleasure at my regular attendance. I've more appreciation for how useful a Nintendo DS can be to someone who is incapacitated. I will have to invest in a few more games so I have a more diverse selection.

As a rule I don't game very much. It's not that I don't possess the urge, it's that I recognise it as a gigantic time-sink. In my personal time management wars games always become an early casualty. (That is until Diablo 3 comes out, because I am a diehard fan of the game - I've played Diablo and Diablo 2 multiple times.) However, the portability of the DS, combined with its huge range of titles, means that it is becoming the main outlet for my gaming impulse, which I continue to moderate.

Despite all this I kept up with work, rewrote my film treatment, and sent it off for opinion.

Today, I'm suffering from insomnia, which hit sometime before 5am. It gave me plenty of time to think about life, the universe, and my writing plans for the future.

A couple of days into my thumb-twiddling bed rest I decided to quit coffee, as it wasn't doing me any favours physically since I was so inactive. The caffeine withdrawal came in fast and brutal (an eye-watering migraine), but departed quickly. So, I've been off the black ichor for ten days now. I don't even crave it. It's not a permanent change, merely one that's useful for the moment - although since I'm sleep-deprived today coffee seems like an attractive solution. I suspect I'll refrain.

In the run-up to Halloween, as I began feeling better, I watched a bunch of movies. I have opinions I'll share about them, but in the next blog post.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Posted @ 16:59 GMT

Fall

It's been a lively few weeks, hence the lack of updates.

Recently I received my contributor's copy of the September edition of Aoife's Kiss, which contains my flash short story "The Homunculus". It's always great to see my work in print.

I've finished a treatment for a new feature film I'm working on, and thanks to the input from the fortnightly Galway Screenwriters and Playwrights Group I'll be re-writing it in the coming week.

I'm somewhat discomforted at the moment, however, because I had a nasty fall on my way into Monday's meeting courtesy of filthy weather and unmarked roadworks on the pavement.

It was a memorable meeting for me because not only did I have to offer critiques on a short film script, and listen to feedback on my own work, I did so while soaked on one side of my body, and with my left foot -- bare and chilly -- elevated to help with the healing. My ankle and foot is bruised and swollen, and I'm feeling wrenched in a number of places. I am on the mend, however.

On November 25th in Dublin I'll be taking part in a conference, organised by the Irish Arts Council, entitled New Media, New Audience? The event is designed to discuss how new social networking technologies can help promote the arts. A blurb:

"The Arts Council is pleased to bring together national and international experts from the arts, social media and broadcasting in this one day working seminar to explore the ways in which artists and the public are adapting and adopting new ways of producing, presenting and promoting the arts.

This seminar is open to artists, organisations and policy makers interested in the potential that new media has on the way in which they work, and in the way it can attract and broaden audiences.

I'll be participating on a panel entitled New Media in Practice, which will be moderated by Eoin Purcell (Commissioning Editor Mercier Press), and I'll be in the company of Nicky Gogan (Film maker, Darklight Film Festival), Conn Ó Muíneacháin (New Media Specialist and Blogger), and Sheila de Courcy (Head of Young People's Programming, RTÉ).

It should be an interesting event, and I'm looking forward to attending several of the other panels.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Posted @ 14:07 GMT

'tis the season to be creepy

It's the first of October, so 2008 is already on the way out. The shops are groaning (and wailing) with Halloween gear, which makes me smile. I love seeing oozing eyeballs, skeletons, and ghosts for sale, and happy little children waving a zombie head at their parents and demanding, "Buy me the Wizened Skull of Lord Shambles!" The parents sigh dramatically as if over-burdened, until they spot the lopsided inflatable Frankenstein monster, and superstitiously add it to the shopping cart. I spot its face jammed against the window as the car trundles out of the car park, and it waves its plastic hand at me in glee. A new generation to terrorise.

Lots of people have been discussing the recent release of the latest edition of the reprint anthology Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, which is edited by Ellen Datlow, Gavin Grant, and Kelly Link. My short story "Bone Mother" received a honourable mention in the book, which is lovely. Thanks are due to the esteemed editors of YBFH for giving my story the nod, as well as to Sean Wallace and Paul Tremblay who edited the Fantasy collection in which my story appeared last year.

I haven't been blogging here much lately, due to time constraints. I don't publish short and pithy blog posts (perhaps I should), and regard my blog as a place to where I can loosen my belt and expand upon topics. As a result I've been converted to the charms of micro-blogging over on Twitter, where I tend to be more informal and yet concise (a 140-character limit to your post will enforce that). I've also been DJing over on Blip.fm, which is an online form of crack for those who love music. I'm sure a following wave of next gen online applications will wash over it eventually, but for now I'm enjoying playing some of my favourite tunes and discovering a lot of fantastic musicians.

Otherwise I just watched the first three episodes of True Blood, the new HBO vampire series that's airing in the USA, and is based upon the series of charming novels by Charline Harris. Generally, I'm liking it, but the show is being driven by Alan Ball of Six Feet Under fame so that's to be expected. The series has a great style, and is chock full of actors giving strong performances. We're in the usual territory of a brooding vampire smitten by a cheery blonde, but there is enough novelty in the dialogue and characters to keep it interesting. I particularly liked the opening scene of the first episode, which was a humorous and smart introduction to the world of the show.

It has its problems: issues to do with pacing mainly, and that's partly to set up the characters and the plot, but there are dollops of sweaty sex to keep you diverted at various points. I'll be hanging in for the first season to watch how it develops.

I dug out my Charline Harris books afterwards. I'd read the first book some time ago, and picked up the next three in the series. I'm stuck into book two now, and I'm enjoying its breezy style. Still, it reminds me that poor Sookie gets the crap kicked out of her on a regular basis. Good job she's the feisty type.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Posted @ 12:07 GMT

a positive exchange

Today I heard from Jessica Wick and Amal El-Mohtar, the editors of Goblin Fruit, that my poem "Exchange" will appear in the Spring 2009 issue.

I'm delighted because Goblin Fruit is one of my favourite poetry markets. Every issue is beautiful, and stuffed full of strange and lyrical work.

I've also been asked to record myself reading the poem, so hopefully that will work out well enough to appear on the site along with the text. I've done some work for podcasts in the past, so I'm looking forward to the process.

Of course, not every day is a happy sales day. I received a terrible rejection recently, probably the worst in a couple of years. There's an awful stunned period of feeling like someone slapped you across the face with a wet, smelly trout, followed by the mental collapse into a gloomy heap, and rather too much sniffling.

My only antidote for this soggy deflation is to force myself back into the chair, and to send out some submissions. If I'm also gripped with a cold fury of "I'll show them!", as I wipe the glittery scales off my cheeks, then so much the better. Anything to get me motivated to write and submit work again.

Yesterday I received a lovely, personal rejection from a market I admire greatly. This had me smiling and optimistic, despite the refusal. Quite early I learned to mine rejections for the positive. Otherwise I would have given up long ago, suffocated by the alases, sorrys, and nos.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Posted @ 15:58 GMT

another one in

Yesterday I sold my short story "The Diet" to Arkham Tales, a new online magazine. This is my seventh sale of 2008, so I'm pleased with how my work has been received lately.

I finished reading Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and enjoyed it a great deal. There's a slight stiffness in the prose on occasion because it's a translation from Swedish, but it's an intriguing re-imagining of the vampire myth. The protagonist is Oskar, a twelve-year-old boy who is a bit of a loner and picked on at school. He befriends his new next-door-neighbour, Eli, who appears to be a twelve-year-old girl, who isn't affected by the cold, and only comes out at night. There's much about Eli that is deceptive. Her "father", Håken, is actually her minder, the one who attempts (badly) to obtain the blood Eli needs to survive. Over time as the friendship between Oskar and Eli deepens, so do the complications that arise from Eli's need for human blood.

This is a classic coming of age story. Oskar's parents are divorced, his dad's an alcoholic whom he sees rarely, and Oskar is humiliated daily by the bullies at his school. His friendship with Eli brings about a transformation in his confidence and his ability to cope with the world. During the novel he makes that first difficult step towards adulthood, although under extreme circumstances. There is a cast of side characters in the book, including the local boozers, a police officer in charge of the murder cases, and a couple of kids who are friendly towards Oskar (outside of school where it won't be noticed).

Lindqvist set his vampire story in an ordinary world, populated by everyday people without any extraordinary talents or privileges. They get by on a day-to-day basis. By rooting his characters in this world it makes Eli's need for friendship, love, and survival seem just as natural as anyone else's.

The story shifts points of view through all of the main characters, and this could be a bit difficult for some people since Håken is a paedophile. Lindqvist does a fine job of portraying Håken in a sensitive way without ever diminishing the major problem of Håken's desire for boys. A couple of the point of view shifts were a little clunky in places, where it moved into a minor characters for a couple of paragraphs, and then back to the chapter's main point of view character. Apart from the set-pieces towards the end of the novel there isn't a lot of action, or scenes of extreme gore, which suited me fine. Fans of horror novels that revel in displayed viscera might not be so pleased.

I was impressed at how well Lindqvist adapted his material to the big screen, as the majority of the important parts of the story are retained. Despite having seen the film I found the book compelling enough to finish it over a couple of days.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Posted @ 12:55 GMT

a nod of (mixed-up) appreciation

My Clarion West classmate Tina Connolly pointed out to me that my short story "Bone Mother" has been placed on the latest very very long list of stories eligible for the Nebula Awards. It's nice that at least one SFWA member thought my story good enough for a nomination.

What's amusing to me is that the story is miscredited to Maureen F. McHugh. Maureen is a fabulous writer, so I'm mostly flattered by this mix-up. I've pointed out the mistake, and I'm sure it will be resolved eventually.

At the weekend I picked up Marjorie M. Liu's latest novel, The Iron Hunt. Liu has established herself with a series of paranormal romance novels, none of which I've read. The story description of The Iron Hunt caught my attention a while back when it was released, so when I saw it in Forbidden Planet in London I scooped it up.

There are a number of reasons I enjoyed reading this novel, but one factor is its brisk, lean style that lends the prose a muscular vigour that propels you along with the action. The story revolves around Maxine Kiss, whose entire body is covered in tattoos of demons - at night the pack of demons peel off her body and become flesh.

Yet, Maxine is a demon hunter, a hereditary job that is passed from mother to daughter upon the death of the mother. The mythology of this world states that demons were captured in a prison over ten thousand years ago, but certain demons have always been able to escape - and when they do they possess the bodies of humans (Maxine refers to them as zombies). Maxine's job is to exorcise people of demons, preferably without destroying the host body, but the host is often considered disposable. At this point in the story the prison is failing, and it's expected the demons will descend upon humanity in a short period of time.

Hunters generally have short, brutal lives, with no emotional attachments except between mothers/daughters. The main story opens five years after Maxine has become a Hunter, and she has settled into a life in Seattle with Grant, an ex-priest and social worker, who is capable of influencing others. He's been trying to work with the demons that infect humans to sway them to a different life. Maxine has allowed this to happen, despite her innate suspicion and the dictates of her vocation. As the story progresses more about the background of the creators of the prison is revealed, along with information about the initial pact made by Maxine's progenitor, the first Hunter. Maxine realises she must revise her notions of what is right and wrong in order to survive.

Overall I thought The Iron Hunt was a terrific fast-paced book. My only complaint is that there is a story device used that became tiresome at times. In fact, I commented upon the use of this same device in my review of Cherie Priest's Four and Twenty Blackbirds. In The Iron Hunt Maxine is ignorant of a great deal of information about her background - people have wilfully kept it from her. So, over the course of the book this information is doled out in dribs and drabs, often in obscure hints, and via silences. It's a way to control the exposition in the story so it doesn't hit the reader in one torrent, and it's tied up with the mystery at the centre of the novel that Maxine must uncover. Yet, there were several times during the novel when I just found the deliberate obfuscation downright irritating. I don't mind being tantalised, but when everyone in the story seems to know more than your POV protagonist it seems rather unbelievable as well as aggravating.

Despite this quibble I think The Iron Hunt shows tremendous promise for this urban fantasy series, and I look forward to the next instalment.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Posted @ 01:59 GMT

FrightFest 2008 Roundup

Another year, another FrightFest.

Here are a number of horror movie clichés I could do without in the future:

• A blood-covered girl being chased in the woods as a hook to start a film
• A woman being captured, locked up, and tortured
• Stating at the beginning "Based on actual events"
• Yuppies being menaced by psycho assailants
• Creepy mirror scenes that aren't scary enough
• Comedy horror flicks that have more gore and rubbery intestines than story or funny lines
• Oh gosh, the bad guys are kids!
• The countryside is occupied only by crazies - even if you escape, you can be guaranteed you'll fall back into their clutches just as you think you've evaded them

So, what were the stand-out films?

In my opinion nothing tops the Swedish vampire film Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In). John Ajvide Lindqvist wrote the screenplay, which was an adaptation of his novel of the same title, and Tomas Alfredson directed the film with great sensitivity. It gets extra credit since the title comes from a Morrissey song, "Let the Right One Slip In":

Let the right one in
Let the old dreams die
Let the wrong ones go
They cannot
They cannot
They cannot do what you want them to do
Oh ...

The film centres around the relationship between twelve-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and his new neighbour, Eli (Lina Leandersson), who is "Twelve... more or less". At its heart the film is about the desperate need for friendship, especially when you're young, bullied, and lonely. The two outstanding performances by the young actors, the poignant story, and the restrained but lyrical direction make this a memorable film and a very welcome addition to the vampire film canon.

After watching the film I bought the novel, because if the film is that good than I expect the original material is even better (and I'm looking forward to learning more about the back story of all the characters). The film will get a UK/Irish release in the Spring, and I expect to watch it again if it turns up in a cinema near me.

Another film to watch is Los Cronocrímenes (Time Crimes), a low-budget Spanish time-travelling film, which was written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo. The film is intelligent, with a light touch, and well-crafted. Just when you think you know what's going on Vigalondo twists the story again. After watching a lot of films that were only on nodding acquaintance with the concept of a plot, it's a great relief to watch one that thought everything through to the end.

Chugyeogja (The Chaser) is a South Korean film written by Won-Chan Hong, Shinho Lee, and Hong-jin Na--the latter also directed the film. This film straddles the line between being bleak, funny, and touching without ever straying into melodrama. Our anti-hero Joong-ho Eom (Yun-seok Kim), is an ex-cop, and now a pimp who has lost three girls in a short period of time. He quickly sees a pattern to their disappearances: they were all hired by the same man before they vanished.

The film is set over the one night and day as Joong-ho becomes increasingly emotionally involved in saving Mi-jin Kim (Yeong-hie Seo). This is a film that has one of my movie clichés (girl captured and tortured in a house), but it works because it's not the central focus of the film, but rather the ticking clock that motivates the characters.

The best horror zombie romp was Dance of the Dead. Joe Ballarini wrote the script, and director Gregg Bishop gets extra kudos for thanking his screenwriter as soon as he got up on the stage to introduce the film. It's a good job he did, because the story, characters, and dialogue have that extra polish that elevates this above the usual guts and gore zombie flick. It features a bunch of teenagers in jeopardy on prom night, but there are enough new twists to make this very entertaining fare. It's probably the best horror comedy I've seen in years. You'll love the way the zombies jettison themselves from their graves.

There are three British films that held my attention for various reasons. Mum & Dad, written and directed by Steven Sheil, neatly avoids the worst excesses of the "girl captured and tortured in a house" by showing the awful consequences for rebellion early in the film, and concentrating on the characters and the complex relationships in this bizarre family situation. Unfortunately, I've seen films like this before, and while I appreciate the excellent acting, and the sense of complex character dynamics, part of me wonders why this film is being made again. Still, it's a fine version of this kind of film.

The Disappeared, was co-written by Neil Murphy and Johnny Kevorkian, and Kevorkian also directed the film. This is an effective ghost story, in which Matthew Ryan (Harry Treadaway) must follow the clues that will uncover the secret to his younger brother's disappearance. Effort has been made to establish credible and interesting characters in this film, and there are several creepy scenes that work very well, but overall the film could have been a touch shorter.

The Dead Outside was the only film directly solely by a woman, Kerry Anne Mullaney, and she also co-wrote it with her producer Kris R. Bird. This is an ultra low-budget film set in the Scottish highlands, which deals with the aftermath of a plague that has turned people into raving crazies who attack everyone on sight. Not the most original idea, but the execution of it avoids the usual tropes.

Two survivors meet and form a friendship despite all the horrors they've experienced. The filmmakers had the sense to slowly release the information about the back-story to the audience, and to keep certain elements deliberately vague. Instead, it focuses on the sense of isolation, and the importance of the friendship between the protagonists. The pacing judders in spots, but what was most amazing to learn was that the entire project was drafted, cast, and shot within a six-month period. The film is low on production values, out of budget necessity, but the filmmakers quite rightly realised that this made it more important to have interesting characters and an actual storyline.

Another solid film is From Within, which was written by Brad Keene and directed by Phedon Papamichael. The story is set in a hyper-Christian Midwestern town in the USA. After a suicide of a teen from the local "bad family", a strange series of apparent suicides follow. This is one of the many "don't look in the mirror" films that were shown at FrightFest this year, and was probably the best of them. This movie should prove popular with the fanbase of the Supernatural TV series since it features a good-looking cast, and a rather fine moody young man. The film provides enough scares and storyline to keep you interested, and the actors all put in believable performances. Having a story to work with, and credible dialogue certainly helps.

Midnight Meat Train proves that if you give Vinnie Jones a role in which he must prove physically menacing, but not speak, you've hit the jackpot. It's directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and the screenplay is adapted by Jeff Buhler from the original Clive Barker short story. Actor Bradley Cooper plays Leon Kauffman, an up-and-coming photographer, who wants to take pictures of the city at its most realistic (that means gritty and cruel, apparently). In the process he spots Vinnie's character, called Mahogany, who is a butcher, and rides the trains at odd hours in the morning. Leon gets a little obsessive about the man, which worries his waitress girlfriend, and their investigations unearth the truth about the bloodiest train journey in the world, and its ancient purpose. There are lots of gory scenes in which Vinnie wields a hammer with deadly skill. The final exposition at the end is kept carefully sketchy, which is a good thing, as it's a bit too preposterous to take seriously. However, the film works well for what it is, and is one of the better Clive Barker adaptations. I could have done with a bit more complexity, and a little less of the silly girlfriend antics, but it could have been worse.

What about the films I didn't like? The first film of the festival, the British thriller/horror Eden Lake annoyed me immensely. Not only were there Yuppies being menaced by working class yobs, but they were in the woods, so there was a lot of running around. I despised the ending, with its flat "what can you expect, look at their families" morality. The good acting and sound direction just can't save me from the message of the film, which seems to indicate that we should all be afraid of young, working class kids.

The Strangers is a stylish but ultimately empty film. It starts off well, but at least twenty minutes from the ending I just wanted everyone to get on with dying. This is the problem with films that indicate the ending right at the beginning. It also features rather vapid Yuppies being menaced for no good reason. There are a number of particularly stupid decisions made by the characters, which seems to be de rigueur for this kind of horror film - one gets the impression that the characters do everything to make the life easier for the plot, rather than because of character motivations.

Freakdog is a cross between Grey's Anatomy and The Entity, without the wit and originality of either. Since this was directed by Irishman Paddy Breathnach (it's written by Spenser Wright), it gives me no pleasure to dislike it. It's a bunch of clichés (unpleasant well-to-do medical interns break the law and then are in fear of losing their careers - oh noes!), set in a location that doesn't look American, with a cast of characters that aren't particularly charismatic, and many of them struggle with an American accent, although the lead actress, Arielle Kebbel, does her best with the material. It's not scary, no one speaks with any credibility, and the plot is entirely predictable.

The film, The Subsitute never arrived, so instead we got its substitute, El Rey de la montaña (King of the Hill). Of its type it's fine, but there is nothing new here in premise, despite the fine execution and acting. A young man takes that one wrong turn off the road in rural Spain and ends up being hunted, along with a young girl. There's an interesting shift in POV in the story about twenty minutes from the end, which worked enough to elevate this above the usual fare.

I quite enjoyed the schlock Trailer Park of Terror, which features a trailer park full of demons who are intent upon butchering anyone who stumbles into their domain on a dark and stormy night. Nichole Hiltz is charismatic as Norma, the leader of the demonic trailer trash gang, and the film shows promise for the first hour by its story-within-a-story structure. Once the demons began their a-torturing, however, I lost a lot of my initial enjoyment. I know some people appreciate the gruesomeness of over-the-top dismemberment scenes, but they rarely do anything for me. I thought several of these later scenes bogged the film down, and drained it of its essential fluids. If you like horror comedy flicks this is worth the price of a DVD rental.

Jack Brooks Monster Slayer is harmless enough of its type: rubber monsters, slapstick, and explosions of ichor. Robert Englund does his job as the possessed professor who becomes a ravenous monster, and there are the usual scenes of people running around, while others are turned into crazed creatures. The beginning and ending sequence were entirely superfluous to the film, however.

The French film, Peur(s) du noir, made a nice change of pace because it was animated. It consisted of several stories stitched together without much of a framing device, which lent it a fragmented feeling. A couple of the stories were better than others. There were beautiful and clever scenes animated with confidence and style, but it didn't quite bring the film together as a cohesive whole.

The Japanese film, Tôkyô zankoku keisatsu (Tokyo Gore Police) kept me awake at its late-night-showing because of its downright weirdness. This is a film that revels in its outlandish mutated monsters, and isn't afraid to marry it with strange sexual fetishes. There was one scene of racism that was so wrong and overt I almost thought I'd been transported back a decade or two. Like Robocop (to which it owes a lot), it peppers the film with hilarious advertisements, which indicated a sly subversive sense of humour. It's all drowned out as the film moved towards the inevitable scenes of monsters of different levels of difficulty being attacked. The film would have been better if it was shorter (a regular observation of the weekend).

I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer is a cheap and cheerful Aussie low-budget number, that celebrates its scenes of cricket-inspired mayhem. It's devoid of originality, but at least it's aiming for fun lowbrow humour, which it delivers most of the time.

Rovdyr (Manhunt), is a film about young middle class people being chased by the Norwegian equivalents of rednecks out in the forest. Cue scenes of running about, and barbaric acts by laconic woodsmen. I did like the 70s era credit sequences, and the film is competently made and acted, but there isn't anything new here. Again, I had to wonder why someone thought it would be a good idea to make another one of these films.

We're back to girls being tortured in Martyrs, although since it is a French movie the director/writer had a philosophy behind why this was happening. It still doesn't take away from the fact that there's a good twenty minutes of watching a defenceless woman, who is chained up, being beaten into a pulp, before the final torture. All for the greater good, it seems. That's all right then.

The budget of the final two films that played at FrightFest probably could have funded twenty or thirty of the lower-budget films I watched during the festival. Neither of them is particularly memorable.

First is Mirrors, a film that had the potential to be a spooky mirror haunted house affair, but turned into Keifer Sutherland running about, tracking down clues, and trying to solve a mystery (sound familiar?). I likened this film to fast food: easy to consume but forgettable. I doubt I'll recall much about it by the end of the month.

Death Race has almost nothing to do with the original film upon which it is based (the cult classic Death Race 2000). It's now a prison break movie combined with a racing film that features armoured cars with mounted weapons, and a race track that's more like a video game (which should make the computer adaptation pretty easy). There are plenty of chases, fights, and explosions. If you're in the mood for mindless entertainment then this should hit the spot.

I didn't watch Scar 3D, Bubba's Chili Parlour, The Broken, and Autopsy, so I can't comment on them, although I don't believe I missed much from what I was told.

As usual with FrightFest there are pros and cons to seeing so many horror films over a short period of time. It's a useful snapshot of the industry, and its current trends, but it also highlights the deep unoriginality of so many movies. Any film with a half-decent story immediately stands out. Sometimes I might be more forgiving of a film seen during the festival because it gave me a laugh, or it held my attention, but equally there are some films that I might have cut more slack if I hadn't watched them with the common horror herd.

I'm not sure what horror film directors and writers have against women. After watching so many films that were dedicated to chasing and/or torturing women I must wonder what is afoot here. This is not a random, unusual case, but a resonant strand in the horror tradition that is disturbing to contemplate.

As usual the FrighFest organisers put together a wide range of material, and it mostly ran to schedule - even if there was very little time to eat between the shows, especially if there was a Q&A scheduled after the screening with the director. I'm sure I'll be attend again next year, when it will move location to the Empire on Leicester Square. Let's hope I won't have to endure too many films that indicate that the countryside is scary, and populated only by murderous slackwits who are handy with weapons, and who enjoy hunting and maiming women.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Posted @ 01:54 GMT

fun weekend

I saw Hellboy II tonight, and enjoyed it. It is written and directed with panache by Guillermo del Toro (based on a story worked out between him and Mike Mignola). The film has a straightforward plot (a rather familiar fantasy quest), but I didn't mind because the characters were on form, the dialogue was snappy, and the film exuded cheerful entertainment. The creatures, and visuals were fantastic. I particularly liked the use of the song "Beautiful Freak" by Eels at one point. The mangled pronunciation of Nuada and Nuala ceased to annoy after the first couple of times. I think this is my favourite blockbuster movie of the summer thus far - of what I've seen.

I'm off to London today: my annual pilgrimage to FrightFest, the horror film festival. I'm looking forward to gorging on dark cinema for the British bank holiday weekend. I might even blog from the event, since I'll be bringing my Eee PC with me. It depends on the WiFi availability in Leicester Square - ah, and a quick Google indicates that shouldn't be a problem. Hurray!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Posted @ 23:25 GMT

silver!

Earlier today I heard from Stephen M. Wilson, the poetry editor at Doorways Magazine, that I placed second in their annual poetry competition.

My poem, "Grave Taster", will appear in issue #8.

The three judges were Corrine De Winter, Linda D. Addison, and John Edward Lawson.

Congrats to Robert Borski who took first place with his poem, "Scent & Sensibility", and Penny-Anne Beaudoin who won third place with her poem, "The Magician's Assistant".

I'm stoked. Posted @ 17:53 GMT

"I feel trapped like a moth, in a bath."

Irish screenwriter Graham Linehan (co-writer of Father Ted and Black Books, and the creator of The IT Crowd) has a blog - my cool discovery of today.

In his latest entry he discusses his progress on the third season of The IT Crowd, which has kept him rather busy. Too distracted to enjoy his usual research into a cool look for the set and the cast. He says:

How would you like to help in designing the look of series 3? Specifically, you'd be helping us choose the stuff that litters the main set. I'm talking about posters, comics, fanzines, T-shirts… anything you've seen in the last few months that you think is pretty cool or captures the spirit of the show or a particular character. By now, most of you know the kind of things I like…weird toys, indie comics, sci-fi, geek references, internet memes, boardgames…normally I'd delight in tracking down the stuff myself, but as I say, it's just not going to happen this time round.

In the very first draft of the show I described the set as looking like "a cross between a comics shop and the batcave". I wanted it to feel like a geek Shangri-La, and in each series I've felt we nearly got there. Maybe this time, with you guys involved, we'll finally nail it.

Go forth and offer suggestions!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Posted @ 23:01 GMT

behind the curtain

08/08/08 - pretty cool eh? Of course, it is just a made-up number, an arbitrary system to mark the days. There are plenty of other calendars where today is not special at all. It all depends on your point of view.

The Olympics opening ceremony was a beautiful spectacle, and there are many admirable ideas buried in the core of the games. Of course, everything is politics. The clothes the athletes wear, who carries the flag, who bears the torch, what diplomats turn up, who lights the flame - these are all political decisions designed to make an impact, to say something about each country's agenda.

And while I admired the colour and the pomp, as a writer I watched the storytelling and noticed the voids where stories were omitted. The careful arrangement of screens to allow for entertainment without the inconvenience of reality.

But, no one invites guests into their home and proceeds to discuss the skeletons in the closet under the stairs. Even if the guests can hear them rattling the doorknob. The newcomers sip their tea, compliment the fancy biscuits, comment on the pretty drapes, and ignore the sounds of past murders. Because, the guests have chains about their ankles that clank and scrape, and the occupants of the house don't mention them either.

This is what civilised people do when we get together. We pretend.

Afterward, when the visitors leave, we relax, eat plain bread, and go back to beating each other up behind closed doors.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Posted @ 17:43 GMT

well deserved

Most people on the Irish science fiction scene know John Vaughan - the Cork man who has been known to talk the hind leg off a donkey (I've seen the crippled animal myself), and is passionate about making films.

This afternoon I discovered via Filmbase that his short film, "My Dad", which he wrote and directed, and screened at Octocon last year, won the Best Short category in the Action on Film International Film Festival. He also won the award for the Best Unproduced Action (Short) Screenplay: "For Your Troubles".

John has slogged long and hard in a tough industry, and I'm delighted his efforts are getting the acclaim they deserve. Well done John!