Carrie (2014)

This remake of the 1976 Brian Del Palma film is really kind of ho-hum. I’m a big Chloë Grace Moretz fan but she just can’t make this character work for her. I don’t ever believe that she’s as shy and detached from the world as Carrie White is. At times I feel like her performance, especially at the beginning, is forced. Her work opposite Julianne Moore is better and Moore is a terrific choice as the religious obsessed crazy mom but again there’s nothing new about their relationship. Sure they updated the story for our times with social networking and cell phones but it never can rise up to the standard that the first film brought to the table. I wish instead of using Del Palma’s film as their source they would have just adapted the book in a new a refreshing way. While some of the special effects at the end are pretty cool (the car scene) and Portia Doubleday’s over the top performance is screen stealing, this is one even horror fans should skip. Trust me, here’s an example where the remake is so forgettable it’s almost not worth mentioning. Grade: C

A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons (Novel)

I love Dan Simmons and while I thought this was a good book, it’s not his best. Strange enough it’s a sequel to Summer of Night with the main character Dale Stewart returning to try and write a book about what happened while he was a kid. I’ve read Summer of Night but I didn’t recall any of it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had but it was some twenty odd years since I read that last book. There is a great feeling of disquiet about the book that is pretty spooky. I also love how damaged he is, he makes for a compelling character. In the end the writing is solid and I liked how the story flows but it didn’t leave me completely satisfied. Grade: B

Resolution (2013)

What starts out as a young man locating his drug addict friend living in an abandon house in the mountains and forcing him to go through withdrawal quickly turns into a mysterious supernatural story of unexplainable tauntings.  It’s a spooky film with many eerie and mind bending twists. The ending is a bit of a letdown but not in a really bad way. I’d say check it out if you want to see a Twin Peaks meets Paranormal Activity. Grade: B

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (Novel)

The vampire as an outbreak story has been done before but not through the mind of Guillermo del Toro.  Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, a CDC advisor, inspects an airline jet that arrived at John F. Kennedy International airport with almost everyone dead.  But as he starts to uncover the truth, an old vampire is coming to take New York, it maybe too late. Chuck Hogan co-writes what is really a fun and exciting vampire horror novel. And that’s what I really like about this book: it’s actually kind of intense and scary. It has a tragic feeling about it too, as civilization unknowingly begins its collapse. It’s the first part of a trilogy and I’m looking forward to reading the next book. In the meantime, a television series is airing based on it and you can sense the Toro-inspired creature designs will be gruesome. Grade: B+

Opera (1987)

I like Dario Argento but this is not one of his better films. The story is all over the place.  It centers around a young opera singer named Betty and a psycho who kills all of those around her as they close in on her. It’s not the Phantom of the Opera and I kind of wish he had just followed that story than do this weird out of sync version. There are Argento’s typical camera games and gore but none of it works.  Disappointing, I'm almost done watching all of his work and I had high hopes this would be a good one. Grade: C

Kiss of the Damned (2013)

Xan Cassavetes makes a vampire love story that is actually sexy. Move over Twilight, this is how you do it. It’s haunting and beautiful and when Djuna’s sister Mimi shows up it gets a little scary. The plot is thin for sure but the story unfolds with a moody atmospheric energy that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Milo Ventimiglia gives his best performance to date as the writer who falls in love with Djuna a vampiress and becomes a vampire in the process. When the film ends I was very satisfied. This is the kind of unpredictable vampire story I like and recommend it for those interested in these kinds of out-of-the-box kind of fables. Grade: B+

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Novel)

What I love about this book is that it’s very different than its predecessor; if you’re going to continue on a story here’s how to do it without repeating yourself while at the same time following similar themes and crafting something new and deserving of existence. What I didn’t love about it was how at the end it loses any real sense of danger for the main characters. Unlike the Shinning, it becomes clear it’s all going to work out although there are many chapters left to read. Still I have to give King a big thumbs-up here: taking one of his classics and making a sequel that is this fun to read as well as a nice ending for the character of Danny Torrance. It also feels like a genuine peek into the mind of a recovering alcoholic. King knows what it’s like to go to AA meetings and the demons of alcohol. It’s the core reason why Jack Torrance snaps in the Shining and here it’s the very thing that pushes Danny to find himself and ultimately save his family.

Spoilers: The villains in this story are really great. The True Knot and Rose the Hat are dangerous and evil and yet they are family and you can almost sympathize with their wish to live forever. That said, for how formidable they were at the beginning, they bumble about and never seem like they’re going to be a match to Abra Stone. After the True knot fails to kidnap Abra all suspense melts away and you’re left reading because you want to see if there are any surprises, and there really aren’t any. Still it’s a good book.