Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary (2019 Film): Stephen King’s Terrifying Novel Comes to Life

Eric Michel Books, Movie Review, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

 

Horror movies are a dime a dozen these days. A quick scan of any movie database will confirm this. Currently, Jordan Peele’s Us is taking the box office by storm, and later this year we’re going to get several more horror blockbusters including the second half of Stephen King’s IT, a modern Chucky, and a film adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. For whatever reason, audiences have proven time and again that they love to be scared. Horror is somewhat of a niche market in both books and film, but it always manages to sustain itself with a few yearly gems, and this year’s spate isn’t likely to be an exception.

Whenever a Stephen King film gets the Hollywood treatment, it’s a boon to the industry for a multitude of reasons. King films, while they aren’t all box-office darlings, inherently have an audience in the fans of his work. The King name has transcended the world of fiction and become a pop culture touchstone; love him or hate him, it’s impossible to deny the impact he’s had on the arts over the last 45 years.  Horror fans flock to theaters for his films, and those who normally pass on the blood and guts make exceptions to see the characters they love brought to life. In rare cases, a King story is so beloved that it gets multiple adaptations. 2019’s Pet Sematary is an adaptation of the 1983 novel, but it’s also a remake of the 1989 film of the same name. The new version is a relatively true-to-source retelling, but modernized. What results is a truly scary film that benefits greatly from 21st century cinematography, but doesn’t do enough to set itself apart from other contemporary horror. It’s terrific, as far as book-to-movie adaptations go–however, fans of horror movies in general who are looking for this one to stand out in a crowd may leave underwhelmed. Continue reading →

The Twelve by Justin Cronin: A Gripping and Masterful Sequel Done Right

Eric Michel Book review, Fiction Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

 

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Conventional book wisdom would have readers believe two things: 1) The book is always better than the movie, and 2) A sequel cannot be better than the book from which it stems. Obviously, there are some exceptions, but adages like these don’t develop from thin air–they’re based in something, whether it’s hundreds of anecdotes or thousands of online ratings. It often feels edgy to say that a sequel is better–and, most times, this simply isn’t the case. Once the novelty of a new world wears off, the difficulty of sustaining reader interest intensifies substantially, and many writers resort to gimmicks and cheap tricks to warrant revisiting a story’s characters again. Every so often, though, a sequel comes along that not only enhances enjoyment of the first book, but improves upon the flaws from the first story in nearly every conceivable way. The Twelve by Justin Cronin is one such tome– it masterfully continues the story where The Passage left off, hooking readers with its nonlinear narrative and indelible characters, and it does so in a much shorter timeframe. The Twelve is 200 pages thinner than its predecessor, forcing the story to move at a breakneck pace that whips readers along for the ride. Not a second is wasted, and every narrative move pays dividends by the story’s end. Everything that made the first book so memorable is still present and in the forefront–it’s just better on this second go around. Continue reading →

Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin: Perfect for the Hardcore “A Song of Ice and Fire” Fan, but Probably not for You

Eric Michel Book review, Books, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

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At this point in its life cycle, everyone knows George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series–which burst onto the fantasy scene in 1996 and amassed cultural clout with the arrival of the HBO adaption in 2011– isn’t going to be completed any time soon. It’s been eight years since the last main-series installment, and, while we’ve been given numerous ASIOF themed books and spinoffs, things have gotten to the point now where the TV series has surpassed the show, and fans who don’t want things spoiled for them (that’s me) will have to hide under a rock for years starting this April, It sucks, but that’s the way it is.

Our constant clamoring for the sixth book in the series, The Winds of Winter, has been heard by Mr. Martin, and while he has continued work to work on the book since the completion of the last one, he’s shared his struggles with completion time and time again.  It’s unfathomable why writing a series with literally hundreds of characters and nearly 5,000 pages of text might get difficult after the fifth book, but George has been having a time with it*. For those of you who are more addicted to ASIOF than a rat to cocaine, there is a silver lining: The end of November saw the release of Fire and Blood, a Game of Thrones .5, if you will. The book is the first part in a two-volume history that takes readers back 300 years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire, to a land ruled by dragons and those damned Targaryens about whom everyone in the main series keeps talking. Fire and Blood is less novel and more textbook, opting for a (mostly) linear march through time as it chronicles the reign of every Westeros king from Aegon the Conqueror to Aegon III. The book is teeming with historical information, and if you’ve ever wanted to know how Maegor’s Holdfast got its name, Fire and Blood can deliver than answer. It’s absolutely fantastic if you’re immersed in the Ice and Fire universe, but readers who have only dabbled in the first book or two would probably be better served staying away.  Though compelling and characteristically witty, Fire and Blood only sustains its charm for so long. Eventually, it becomes a laundry list of names and places with little significance to the average fan who likes to watch direwolves bite Lannisters. Fire and Blood caters to the niche ASIOF fan, and unless you fit that bill, you may want to wait out The Winds of Winter with the rest of the world.

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