Review Category: Reviews

PUNISHER: SOVIET

WRITER: GARTH ENNIS | ARTIST: JACEN BURROWS | PUBLISHER: MARVEL | FORMAT: TRADE PAPERBACK | RELEASE DATE: JUNE 9TH

As Marvel’s resident serial killer, Frank Castle doesn’t have a whole lot of friends. Aside from the occasional begrudging team-up, the Punisher really doesn’t play well with others. The more conventional superheroes tend to take umbrage with his murderous methods, and Frank himself doesn’t have a whole lot of time for copycat killers (see the end of Welcome Back Frank).

Frank finally gets his bromance in Garth Ennis’s Soviet. Marking Ennis’s big return to the character after a definitive run on Marvel Knights and Punisher: MAX, this bloody thriller sees the Punisher investigate an apparent copycat killer taking down Russian mobsters – on his turf, no less. But in ex-soldier vigilante Valery Stepanovich, it looks like Frank might have actually found his Russian counterpart.

Like some of Ennis’s best Punisher stories, Soviet primarily operates as a grisly war thriller, taking in a grand conspiracy and extensive flashbacks which stretch all the way back to 1980s Afghanistan. This is no mere retread of Ennis’s greatest hits, and an excellent story in its own right, quite unlike any of the writer’s other Punisher tales. Ennis is very well matched with artist Jacen Burrows (having previously worked together on the repulsive but effective Crossed), and Burrows’ Punisher is wonderfully stony-faced and intimidating. Naturally, the gore is in ample supply, and the violence in Soviet is some of the most brutal ever seen in a Punisher book.

But it’s the writing which shines. These days, Ennis is best served by his more serious war stories and crime books, and Soviet is no exception. This exciting, slightly horrifying action thriller is up there with some of the best Punisher stories ever told, and finds both writer and artist on top form. Frank too. Look, he made a friend and everything.

FANTASY ISLAND

DIRECTOR: JEFF WADLOW | SCREENPLAY: JEFF WADLOW, CHRIS ROACH, JILLIAN JACOBS | STARRING: MICHAEL PEÑA, MAGGIE Q, LUCY HALE, RYAN HANSEN, MICHAEL ROOKER | RELEASE DATE: JUNE 1ST

Director Jeff Wadlow’s adaptation of the ’70s television series, Fantasy Island, for Blumhouse Productions, is just one of many feature film versions of fondly-remembered small screen entertainment. While most big-screen takes on television series go for a comedic or ironic touch – The Brady Bunch Movie, Charlie’s Angels, 21 Jump Street, et al – or straightforward take – The Addams Family, Star Trek, Maverick, and so on – it’s rare to see a darker take on the original iteration.

Thus, Fantasy Island‘s dark and twisted Twilight Zone-esque interpretation of the 1977 Ricardo Montalbán and Hervé Villechaize-starring drama is a rather unique film, in theory. While we’ve seen so many dark-and-gritty reboots on TV, it’s certainly an intriguing proposition to take a four-decade-old property and turn it into something creepy for the big screen.

Despite all this hullabaloo, the picture is basically fine. It’s not terrible, but it’s certainly nowhere near as interesting as the premise makes it out to be. First and foremost, with the exception of Maggie Q’s Gwen Olsen, none of the characters exists as anything but broad sketches. Props to giving the film Jimmy O. Yang as Brax Weaver, an Asian character who is also gay, and also treating his desires and fantasies with just as much validity as those of his brother, J.D. (Hansen), but given that Hansen is essentially playing his Dick Casablancas character from Veronica Mars, that’s not much of a grand stroke for LGBTQ rights.

Overall, Fantasy Island plays out like an overlong version of a television pilot. It’s definitely a quarter of an hour minutes too long, with far more time given to most of the various characters’ fantasies than is resolutely necessary for the film as a whole, but not nearly enough time for anyone watching it to really care about anyone, outside of the J.D. and Brax or Gwen storylines. The Patrick Sullivan (Stowell) fantasy of being a soldier is particularly trite, and the story of Melanie Stole (Hale) is such a mess that the various red herrings only serve to make the ending an absolute wreck.

The less said of the magical stone at the root of everything, the better. While the film certainly manages to entertain, with some effective action sequences, Fantasy Island is just too bloated and circumscribed to ever land within the realm of creepy or hilarious. At best, it’s a diverting Cabin in the Woods knock-off, and at worst, it’s the horror version of Starsky & Hutch – a ’70s adaptation no one asked for, and no one wanted.

DAYMARE: 1998

DAYMARE: 1998 / DEVELOPER: INVADER STUDIOS / PUBLISHER: ALL IN! GAMES / PLATFORM: PC, PS4, XBOX ONE (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The story of how Daymare: 1998 came to be is an unusual and interesting one. Originally conceived as a fan-made remake of Capcom’s survival horror classic, Resident Evil 2, production was halted when Capcom began work on an official RE2 remake themselves. This was the impetus for Invader Studios (the small Italian development team behind the project) to shift focus and turn their reimagining into an IP of its own.

To say Daymare wears its influences on its sleeve would be an understatement. Maximum effort is made throughout to give loving tribute to many of the horror classics of yesteryear. As nostalgia-inducing as that may be, it also represents Daymare’s first issue in that it struggles to establish any kind of identity of its own. Playing very similarly to the recent RE2/3 remakes with an over-the-shoulder perspective and extremely familiar combinations of circuitous key items, backtracking and cryptic puzzles, Daymare isn’t exactly trying to win awards for originality. That’s not to say that there aren’t any innovations – the novel reloading system, while confusing at first, is rewarding and we could see it being implemented in other games quite well. There are also some nice crafting mechanics which are a welcome addition to the formula.

Unfortunately, Daymare is fraught with problems. There are certainly some positives – the atmosphere is consistently foreboding with some excellent lighting effects, and the story, while hardly groundbreaking, is creepy and enjoyable enough to keep you interested. The gameplay, however, and particularly the shooting mechanics, just don’t feel fun or satisfying. The convoluted puzzles feel arduous and, as nice as some of the environments look, they just aren’t enjoyable to navigate. Add in the jerky and extremely inconsistent framerate and a whole host of sound bugs and technical glitches, and you’re left with an experience that feels almost unfinished.

There’s a lot to praise Invader Studios for. This is an incredibly ambitious project for such a small team and, with a few tweaks here and there, this could have been a good game. We can’t, however, currently recommend this as much more than a curiosity for huge fans of the genre.

THE BOOK OF KOLI

THE BOOK OF KOLI / AUTHOR: M.R. CAREY / PUBLISHER: ORBIT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Mike Carey is no stranger to apocalyptic sci-fi. He is best known for his book (and inevitable movie adaptation of) The Girl With all the Gifts. Thankfully for these current times, Carey’s latest novel (the first in a planned trilogy), is not about a horrific viral outbreak. Instead, it’s about the folly of trusting too much in technology that you don’t understand and taking on too much too soon. A classic sci-fi trope, but given the sort of clever twist we’ve come to expect from Carey.

Set in the far future, mankind has adapted following some sort of environmental apocalypse. Most of the biosphere is actively hostile to mankind. Even trees have to be killed repeatedly (mostly by poison) before their timber can be used. At some point in the past, mankind saved the world at the cost their own future. Conflict is still a thing, but there are so few people left that civilisation is divided into villages, people rarely travel and everything on the face of it seems simpler. However, this is not a simple tale of a world gone strange, instead this is a more measured mystery, bundled with a touch of coming of age drama and some world class weird fiction.

Our hero is Koli Woodsmith, a young man who seeks to a better life for himself and the remains of his family. His home of Mythen Rood owns four pieces of ancient technology, each one, if wielded well, could vastly improve their lot in life. The heart of this story are the complications that arise from people trying to interact with things that are frankly beyond them. The book is told from Koli’s perspective and yes that means he speaks in a strange and futuristic patois, which can slow down the storytelling on occasion. Koli is a sympathetic character and knows just enough to know nothing, making him a fine person to tell the tale.

This is a tale in two parts. The first part focuses on letting the reader explore the world through Koli’s eyes and the problems one would have growing up in such a strange world. Just as the reader gets a handle on things, the author cheerfully changes gears and the book moves from casual to utterly gripping.

The Book of Koli is a fine start a fascinating world and we have high hopes for the next two novels.

THE ONANIA CLUB

THE ONANIA CLUB / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: TOM SIX / STARRING: JESSICA MORRIS, FLO LAWRENCE, DARCY DEMOS, DEBORAH TWISS, KAREN STRASSMAN, AD VAN KEMPEN, JOHN T. WOODS / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Finding pleasure in others’ suffering isn’t something we see much of publically – particularly at the moment as the world has been suffering in the wake of a pandemic – but it’s just that sort of taboo that writer/director Tom Six relishes. The creator of one of the biggest cause célèbre franchises in recent history, The Human Centipede, revels in shock and thrives on controversy so it’s no surprise that his latest opus, The Onania Club delivers those aspects in spades. Surprisingly, though, there’s also an engaging story being told in between the outrageousness.

A while back, Hanna (Morris) noticed something strange about herself. Her care and attention to her husband, suffering from MS, has disappeared. Instead, she has a tingle of pleasure at his discomfort; his struggling; his pain. Things have come to a head and she is seeking forgiveness of a priest (Kempen). During her confessional, she recounts her sordid entry into a group of middle-aged women (played by various actors from cult films) who call themselves the Onania Club. They spend their meetings relishing the badness and the suffering in the world, while pleasuring themselves. Hanna seems to have found people who understand her bizarre peccadillo.

When the teaser trailers for The Onania Club appeared well over a year ago, there was genuine outrage from many quarters and many people have made their mind up about the movie long before they will get the chance to see it. They’ll be surprised, then, to find that the film has many layers and while certainly shocking and unquestionably tasteless, it’s actually a remarkable piece of art, albeit not for everyone.

Presented in black and white, Six (who even manages his own Alfred Hitchcock-type cameo) treats his story as a neo-noir – complete with a gorgeous jazz score – unpicking pieces of Hanna’s repugnant fantasies and sexual needs. Her, and the other members of the club, obsessions can never really be satiated, they need to always go further. Parallels to paedophile rings are easy to be made, particularly as she has chosen to retreat to a Catholic church to reveal how depraved these meetings have gone. We’ve all been guilty of some measure of schadenfreude in our lives, although hopefully not to the level depicted here, but as we’re bombarded by so much death and evil in the world, at what point do we become desensitised to it all?

The Onania Club is not an easy film to recommend – the real footage, in particular, is hard to stomach – but it’s not one that should be dismissed as, like the director’s other films, its pitch-black humour alone makes it worth your time.

THE CONSTANT RABBIT

THE CONSTANT RABBIT / AUTHOR: JASPER FFORDE / PUBLISHER: HODDER & STOUGHTON / RELEASE DATE: JULY 2ND

Anthropomorphised rabbits notwithstanding, this satirical literary fantasy is very much of our own world. Its wit, wisdom, and filmic physicality will be no surprise to Jasper Fforde fans; it’s elegant, intelligent, enjoyable, and as deeply funny as it is moving.

‘The Event’, an unexplained anthropomorphising phenomenon, has left rabbits living beside humans, sharing our language, size, and intelligence – but not our intolerance for difference. Peter Knox lives a quiet life in an English village with his daughter, Pippa. He has happy university memories of his friend Constance Rabbit whom he failed to ask out; then their adult worlds collide as Connie’s family move in next door, to the shock of vehemently anti-rabbit villagers. Peter’s job, like everything else about village life, is another problem: he’s a Rabbit Spotter, providing information to UKARP (United Kingdom Against Rabbit Population). Peter and Pippa must confront their own tacit racism when they fall for, and finally need to stand up for, their Rabbit neighbours.

While the initial concept’s introduction may be a little heavy-handed, humour and philosophy more than sustain momentum. The sense of having grown up in a small world, and lacking courage or imagination to see beyond it geographically or ideologically, is particularly well played. So is our culture’s embarrassed prejudice when sensing better ecological or moral choices in others.

A victim of its own stylistic success, Peter’s reserve and embarrassment can distance Pippa, Connie, friends and enemies, but that’s consistent with his voice. A likeable but spineless hero is a gamble, but the right choice when here but for the grace of circumstances go us all: Peter is the embarrassment and awkwardness of the well-off and well-intentioned, allowing evil to flourish, recognising their part very late. The rekindling of his friendship with Connie is a satisfying exploration of the importance of doing what you can, how incremental change both of self-awareness and social action really can add up.

Fforde’s exquisite command of how our assumptions about animals have seeped into our language blends with elegant comparisons of how racism does the same. His deftly blended satire, literary fantasy and horror forces Peter, and us, to have the balls to look ourselves in the face, learn about the violence and racism we’re capable of as individuals and species, and note the call of action, whether satirical or natural, to do better.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF KYLO REN

WRITER: CHARLES SOULE / ART: WILL SLINEY / PUBLISHER: MARVEL / FORMAT: TRADE PAPERBACK / RELEASE DATE: MAY 26TH

While the ending of Kylo Ren’s story may have split fan opinion, he remains an intriguing character; the brutal leader of the First Order, consumed by destructive rage, troubled by inner conflict. This miniseries, now released in collected format, sheds light on his steps towards the dark side.

It must be tempting, when writing such a prequel, to cover the character’s whole backstory, from childhood to The Force Awakens. But knowing he has a mere four issues to tell his story, writer Charles Soule wisely decides to focus on one key turning point in Ben’s life.

After his destruction of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Temple, Ben is on the run and unsure of his next steps. Under advice from Snoke, who’s pushing him towards the dark side, he seeks out the Knights of Ren. To be accepted into their ranks, he must prove himself, and fighting off the trio of Jedi pursuing him may grant such an opportunity.

This tightly plotted story adds substantially to our understanding of the character, while leaving some elements of mystery. Soule captures Ben’s voice perfectly – the arrogance of a future Supreme Leader is starting to emerge, but he’s also plagued by insecurities, pulled in different directions by conflicting influences.

There’s also time spared for a flashback in which a younger Ben, along with Luke and Lor San Tekka, first encounters the Knights; Luke’s at his Grand Master peak here and anyone who wanted more action from him in the sequel movies will be pleased.

Artist Will Sliney’s compositions have a cinematic feel, while his convincing likeness of the young Ben is as emotive as any of Adam Driver’s powerful performances. There are also some great new character and location designs, all made even better by Guru-eFX’s colours – dramatic and foreboding but not gloomy.

TRIALS OF MANA

TRIALS OF MANA / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: SQUARE ENIX / PLATFORM: PS4, SWITCH (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: 24TH APRIL

Hot on the heels of the recent Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix turn their attention to Seiken Densetsu 3. Known as Trials of Mana in the west, this 1995 sequel to classic 16-bit RPG Secret of Mana had never been officially available outside Japan until its appearance as part of 2018’s Collection of Mana, and now returns in a completely reworked format with glorious 3D visuals, a full voice cast and an updated soundtrack.

Trials offers six playable characters to choose from, although you’re only allowed three in a single playthrough (one main character and two companions, all of whom can be swapped between at the push of a button). The characters you choose affect the storyline in various ways – the main goal of defeating the eight “Benevodons,” saving the Mana Tree and restoring balance to the world is always the same, but you’ll come across different primary antagonists and side stories along the way, making it well worth playing through the game at least twice to experience all of the characters’ journeys.

With its roots firmly planted in the mid-90s, the actual gameplay in Trials could be considered a little shallow when compared to modern titles. After travelling to the appropriate part of the map, you’ll be following a linear path to the end of each area before fighting a boss and moving on to the next section. Each character has two standard attack buttons which can be linked together for simple combos, and a range of special moves eventually become available as the game progresses, although these seem to come at a fairly slow rate and never threaten to become overwhelming. Many passive abilities can be learned too, and purchasing new weapons and armour (always visit the merchants when you reach a new area!) helps players to feel like their chosen characters are getting stronger, although again the options for equipment are rather limited.

Your quest to save the world is likely to last somewhere around 15-20 hours (ours was 16 and a half), but the game doesn’t end there. In the interests of keeping things spoiler-free, all we’ll say is that there’s a generous amount of post-game content that follows on from the main game but takes the story off in some unexpected directions…

Apart from an occasional frustration caused by attacking and interacting being mapped to the same button, Trials runs pretty much flawlessly – and this extends to handheld mode on the Switch, which performs tremendously well. It does seem to be quite demanding on the battery though, so keep a spare battery pack or charging lead to hand!

Fans of modern RPGs might feel that Trials of Mana comes up slightly short in the gameplay department, but it’s still a fine way to experience one one of the greatest RPGs of the 90s. Go into it expecting a retro title with up-to-date graphics, and there’s a superb adventure lying in wait for those who take the plunge.

CURSED FILMS

REVIEWED: SEASON 1 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: SHUDDER

As genre fans, we all enjoy the occasional salacious behind the scenes story of intrigue on movie sets, be it a falling out between actors or something much more attention-grabbing. This is where Shudder’s new series, Cursed Films, comes in. Focusing on five of the most infamous horror movies ever made, this short-run covers The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, The Crow, and Twilight Zone: The Movie, and delves into the sordid tales that we’ve all heard about. What is most interesting is that the episodes don’t gravitate around the urban legends surrounding the sets but, in fact, they try their best to debunk what we’ve heard.

Using talking heads from fields ranging from individuals involved in the films themselves to religious experts and practising black magicians, each episode gives us a recap of the ignoble events that have been the crux of numerous websites and books before going beyond the looking glass to reason why these things actually happened. A set fire on The Exorcist, leaving only the Regan bedroom set untouched, separate aeroplanes of the cast (main star Gregory Peck) and crew of The Omen being hit by lightning, the tragic deaths of Poltergeist stars Heather O’Rourke (who died from a misdiagnosis during the filming of the second sequel) and Dominique Dunne (who died after her boyfriend strangled her) had nothing to do with the production of the films, and, of course, the apparent curse of the Lee family as Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set of The Crow are just a few subjects covered here.

For Twilight Zone: The Movie there is only one specific focus, the sad deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children on the set due to an accident involving a helicopter. Richard Sawyer, who was the production designer on the film, recounts how this film was his big break and the end of his career at the same time. He tells us of how the events unfolded, and it is truly heartbreaking to see this man laid bare as he clearly still blames himself, even though the extra information we are given proves that there are others who are more accountable than him. One warning we offer you, the viewer, about this episode, is that you do actually see the footage from the set which includes the devastating moment the helicopter crashes into the three victims. The moment is jarring and seemingly at odds with what is shown elsewhere in the series. It comes across as almost sensationalistic, and the event would have been better served if the footage had cut just before the crash. Of all the episodes, this moment actually leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

What experts, including Kane Hodder giving the stuntman point of view, offer us are explanations that serve to provide a real-world grounding as to what actually happened – be it pure coincidence, bad luck, timing, or even pure negligence. In the Twilight Zone case specifically, director John Landis does not come across well, and it may be telling that the director allegedly did not respond to a request for comment by the creators of the show. There does appear to be more of a story behind the events on The Exorcist, with Linda Blair flatly refusing to discuss any further detail as to whether she actually had bodyguards after the release of the film in the US.

This may only be a one-off series, but it’s interesting to see the creators try and put a different spin on the rumours we’ve all heard and give us a fresh perspective on whether these films were actually cursed or not. Whether you decide to believe what you’re told here or prefer to hang on to the sensational history of these films is entirely up to you.

HOPE ISLAND

AUTHOR: TIM MAJOR | PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS | RELEASE DATE: JUNE 6TH

There’s a dash of John Wyndham and a soupcon of The Wicker Man in the richly-atmospheric latest novel from Tim Major that weaves an eerie, esoteric supernatural mystery into a story of troubled familial relationships in an isolated, insular off-shore community. Workaholic English TV producer Nina Scaife travels with her teenage daughter Laurie to the remote Hope Island off the coast of Maine to spend some time with her estranged partner Rob’s parents. But the tension between them all becomes obvious almost immediately. Nina and her daughter do not enjoy the close relationship of a typical mother and daughter, and over the years Nina has spent little time in the company of Rob’s parents Tammy and Abram. Nina’s situation is exacerbated by the secret she knows she has to share; she and Rob have split up, and he is settling into life with his new partner and her own children. Nina just needs to find the right time to break the news to her daughter and to Rob’s parents, but she is distracted by the strange, unsettling behaviour of the island’s tiny population, especially its unearthly, distracted children, one of whom Nina almost runs over soon after arriving on the island. Nina quickly becomes entranced by a commune of bohemian artists, but is jolted back to a savage reality by the discovery of a body on the beach, its head brutally smashed open…

Hope Island is a gritty and compelling page-turner, and with its coterie of cold, apparently emotionless children it’s difficult – especially in the latter chapters – not to draw comparison with Wyndham’s memorable Midwich Cuckoos with their hypnotic blue eyes and blonde hair just as Hope Island itself brings to mind The Wicker Man’s off-kilter Summerisle. Both cast long, distracting shadows across Major’s book. There’s always something disconcerting about any story featuring scary dead-eyed children, and there are a couple of skin-crawling sequences here in which we fear for Nina’s life (and perhaps even her sanity) as she sees the children apparently committing terrible atrocities before turning on her and hunting her down across a savage, storm-swept landscape. The adults of Hope island are an odd bunch too, inward-looking and wary of outsiders, and Major does his best to avoid the “we don’t like strangers ‘round ‘ere” genre cliches by the introduction of the kindly Clay and a handful of other denizens of the commune who, frankly, we could have done with spending a little more time with as they often seem to be entirely peripheral to the main storyline.

Hope Island, unfortunately, wobbles a little as it races towards its denouement. The resolution underscores the book’s maternal themes of nature vs nurture, but the last few chapters drift into a slightly messy surreal fantasy as Nina battles with strange preternatural forces which threaten not only the lives of her and her daughter but also everyone on the island. Major populates his book with well-drawn, believable characters and the action rolls along agreeably, building up a decent sense of creeping dread and foreboding. But Hope Island is a book compromised by the nagging sense of overfamiliarity engendered by its setting and its storyline and a wilfully obscure climax that aims for the metaphysical but tumbles instead into a gabble of hokey metaphor leading to a slightly flat and underwhelming conclusion. However, it remains a powerful and generally well-considered work that might well haunt you a little more than you might expect.