Matt is enthralled by The London Vampire books (review)

The London Vampire / Nuptial Flight

John Michaelson

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“I took the sword from my coat and held it out ready to use. I opened the stairwell door. It was dark but I could see a glow coming from the top of the stairs; it drew me upwards…”

The London Vampire books are an exciting glimpse into a supposedly ‘biographical’ tale of horror, a horror that intersects with everyday life. Starting with October’s Son / The London Vampire and continuing with Nuptial Flight / The London Vampire Conspiracy.

Imagine if vampirism is just an urban legend that disguises a real evil stalking the streets of the UK and beyond? What if human trafficking and more criminal activity is linked to a secret underground cult of subhuman baddies who conduct sex orgies and pull the strings of events behind the scenes?

'Michaelson has a face for radio'

The self-confessed no-longer-fully-human author John Michaelson makes for an enjoyably demented narrator, documenting his descent into the seedy dangerous underbelly of the night. He claims to have been ‘turned’ into one of the creatures that he came across, but then he goes all ‘Blade’ and becomes a hunter of their kind.

Both of these books are great reads – shocking and dark but shot through with glimpses of salvation followed by religious redemption.

I asked Rich Mayers from Burton Mayers who publish The London Vampire books (along with my own debut novel Complete Darkness) how they picked up such a freaky author and what he told me was a fascinating story in itself…

'Give generously - I don't mean blood'

He said: “We met John Michaelson early on during our publishing company began to take shape. It was about 2009 and we had been working on Spikez and building a universe around that, which included learning how to create online content. I stumbled across one of John Michaelson's business cards advertising himself as The London Vampire, a hunter. I contacted him via email and the next time I was in London for my course, we met him.

He seemed normal enough and friendly (very polite and well-spoken) but he was also very troubled and keen to let people know about the city's 'problem'. Despite our initial fears, we thought it was a great opportunity to break into the adult fiction market at Burton Mayers Books. We proposed developing the website for him in exchange for rights to his book, which he agreed to.

'Casting a shadow - a non-traditional vampire'

After we published his second book in June 2017 he seemed satisfied that we had set the record straight. He even agreed to do some writing and promo, but then in September 2017 he just vanished. We haven't had contact from him, even until this day. One of the contract stipulations he had with us is that we must, at all costs, keep his website and books in circulation as his legacy, on the off chance that the Ants should get to him, so we're committed to do that as we respect our authors and their wishes.

Also, why wouldn't we? It's a fascinating subject and his writing is so different to anything else we've read on that subject and genre. Since launching our .com website we've only just got round to transferring all his content over to the www.TheLondonVampire.com in his honour.

If you're out there, John, we miss you and hope to make you proud!”

'They walk amongst us'

So it seems that I share a publisher with a vampire-hunting nutter, maybe that's why I like Burton Mayers so much?

Anyway, what you have to ask yourself is 'are you brave enough to take this creepy, engaging and suitably grim trip?'

You might never look at things quite the same if you do…

Now available on most formats including Kindle, Kobo and Nook as well as hard copy – I’m personally hoping for more in this series – I guess it all depends on whether Michealson is still alive out there somewhere…


Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

October's Son / The London Vampire 

öööö

(4 - Descend into a fascinating nightmare ...)


Nuptial Flight / The London Vampire Conspiracy

ööööö

(5 - A rare sequel that outshines the original ...)

Get The London Vampire Books Here

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Matt embraces his Northern Souls (review)

Northern Souls

James Parsons (@ParsonsFiction)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“You’ll burn too… Fire and brimstone. Quite the holy man now aren’t you?”

Here’s a funky UK thrill ride that is set in the North-East of England that sees ancient supernatural forces battling for the souls of humanity.

Meet Eric – he’s a young man who has lost his true love Grace and to make matters worse, is suspected of her murder. With nothing left to live for he sets off to commit suicide but his girlfriend isn’t going to let him join her so easily and she appears to him as a ghost telling him of demonic tribes fighting to seize control within the North. Obviously, this is pretty wild, not only to get a date from this dead girlfriend but also to be drawn into a war against ungodly forces…

Northern Souls feels very much like a northern companion piece to The London Vampire books (review coming soon) as both deal with hidden literally ‘evil’ underworlds operating amongst us. The plot sees Eric team up with his pals Taylor and Emma to investigate the strange and brutal attacks taking place – and handily has the his ghostly girlfriend giving him directions and clues.
Can they successfully confront and battle the unholy forces from Tynemouth to Gateshead? Will Eric make a trade with the demons in return for saving the soul of Grace?

I really liked the motive of our unlikely hero being given unspeakable supernatural power (which is a nice alt version of what happens in my novel Complete Darkness where the hero gets ‘super’ powers to fight evil from an unlikely source)…

'Not to be confused with soul music flick Norther Soul'

There are some nice details about life in Northern England, and, at times it feels like you’re on a quick tour of the various towns and landmarks. Parsons writes with a good eye for detail and his characters feel real – if it jars a little fusing ancient blood thirsty demons the modern world it’s a good effort all the same.

I’ll certainly be looking out for more by Parsons but in the meantime – you could do much worse than check Northern Souls out.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - It's grim up North...)

Get Northern Souls here

>>> Imagine a world where the earth is becoming hell?

Click below to find out in my dark sci-fi novel...

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Matt finds A Good Woman Is Hard to Find (review)

A Good Woman Is Hard to Find (18)

Dir. Abner Pastoll

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“If you want to get somewhere in life, you have to be a bit of a bitch”

I fell in love with this film at Fright Fest 2019 – it’s the unapologetically violent tale of single mum Sarah (a star-making turn from Sarah Bolger) who is struggling to make ends meet while also trying to raise two young children – Lucy (Macie McCauley) and Ben (Rudy Doherty).

Life is tough in the rough neighbourhood where drug dealers operate in broad daylight and the local supermarket security guard is a sexist asshole. Sarah is in a bad place following her husband being murdered – witnessed by her son who stopped speaking as a result. Her experience as a female is one of being put down by almost everyone in her life, even her obnoxious mother - and yet you sense there is more to her.

'it's the filth outside'

But whilst the grind of her daily life is hard, it gets much worse when a local wideboy Tito (Andrew Simpson) breaks in to hide from the nasty local heavies – from whom he’s just stolen a huge stash of drugs. He demands Sarah hold the drugs in her house which puts her little family in harm's way…

As the film builds up the all too believable horror of her existence, there comes a point where she is pushed to breaking point and has to choose whether to crumble or fight back. Sarah chooses the latter and becomes a feminist force of nature, taking extreme action to protect her family and woe betide the very bad men threatening her – led by Leo Miller (Edward Hogg) who is a grammar Nazi as well as a drug kingpin.

'Things get out of 'hand''

A Good Woman Is Hard to Find changes gear from urban drama to full metal revenge-em-up and it’s incredible to witness. The slow build-up pays off massively as the crunchingly violent repercussions kick in.

The writing is on-point and hugely satisfying. The climax might be absurd but it’ll make you cheer out loud. Pastoll’s cinematography is strong, with a clever use of colour and a cool soundtrack adding to the vibe.

Bolger is incredible with what could have been a very one-note character. She brings nuance as well as righteous fury as it proves that a mother’s love knows few limits.

Not for the faint of heart, the film gets bloody and earns its 18 certificate with some impressively grisly scenes.

'a hero to believe in'

A Good Woman Is Hard to Find is a brilliant film that is likely to be a cult classic- experience it now!

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - Satisfying revenger crime tale)

Awesomeness ööööö – Cool build up and killer climax

Laughs ööö – Some dark fun in places

Horror öööö – Nasty in parts but it feels necessary

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Revenge can be righteous

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Matt witnessed the Screaming Metal (review)

Screaming Metal 

Made in DNA (@bzwriting)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)


"Expanding outward as if reaching for her face, several spider-legged flashes danced before her eyes before dissipating.

Priyanka blinked away the afterflashes..."

Meet Priyanka and the crew of the 'Alley Cat' - think Serenity from Firefly and you're in the same galaxy not so far, far away... The heroes here are 'junk-mercs,' a specialized kind of bounty hunter who search for Metal 'braincores' which are the 'minds' of rate alien machines (def nod to Iain M Banks) but the 'Metals' as they're known are now non-functioning chunks of alien tech.

The action cracks along as the Alley Cat crew get wind of detailed coordinates for their latest hunt. But this one is different - apparently the very machine they are after is the one sending the info from its functioning braincore!?

This job in the depths of a starship junkyard on the planet 'Shake Hands' might be more perilous than anything they've faced before - the colonists talk of the junkyard being haunted and Priyanka isn't the only one interested in the potential technological haul there...

With time running out and a heavily armed starship closing in... Well I'm not going to give any more of the plot away - just needless to say that if sci-fi is your cup-of-tea, Screaming Metal should be high on your reading list.

This tale began life as a 'Twitter novella'  which meant that the 31,000 words were written in microfiction format (25 words or less per "paragraph") on Twitter in 2015 and Vocal in 2017-2018.

Inspired by works like Makoto Kobayashi's Dragon's Heaven, Fred Saberhagen's Berserker series, and the wildly imaginative adult-level reader (but not adult content) stories within Heavy Metal Magazine among others. At its core, 'Screaming Metal' is action-adventure sci-fi set on a distant planet in the far future, featuring sentient AI mecha of a mysterious alien origin.

The writing from Made in DNA is crisp and tight, much of the narrative is explained in dialogue exchanges and as such Screaming Metal would make an excellent anime or animated short film. Slotting in alongside the recent Altered Carbon Resleeved or the classic AniMatrix.

I found myself caught up in this fascinating fusion of ideas which give a fresh new perspective on ground that many others have covered.

What else can I say but to drop a tweet-worthy and only slightly borrowed tag line:

Screaming Metal will tear your A.I. soul apart...

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5- Engage your braincore and scream for more...)

Get Screaming Metal here

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– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

The Rhythm Section sends Matt to sleep (review)

The Rhythm Section (15)

Dir. Reed Morano

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“I'm here to offer you closure… Violently.”

"wigs a go go"

Stop me if you’ve heard this before but a ‘normal’ girl whose life has been wrecked is given training and funds to become a hitwoman. Yes, this is the plot of classics like La Femme Nikita, decent efforts like Atomic Blonde or Red Sparrow and some fairly forgettable flicks too.

Alas The Rhythm Section finds itself firmly in the ‘forgettable’ category. This is despite packing a great cast with lead protagonist Stephanie Patrick played by Blake ‘Savages’ Lively. She’s the civilian who is turned into a spy/assassin by Jude Law – playing her mentor Iain who is ex-MI6 and in the business of training new spies. This of course is rather than tracking down an anonymous terrorist who blew up the plane Stephanie’s family were on himself, oh no, he’d rather spend months in Scotland doing a Rocky-lite training montage with her.

"who's laughing now?"

Lively and Law do their best, bringing their extensive acting experience to the party but despite this - there is nothing redeeming about this dull franchise-wannabe. The Rhythm Section obviously wants to be a gritty action film but it fails to make you care much about any of the characters, so viewers really aren’t invested.

What we’re left with is a bit of shonky film, lots of shaky handheld footage – the cinematography isn’t great with only a frantic car chase raising the pulse for a few minutes. Even in these locked down times after an hour my wife and I mostly had enough and were yawning.

Stephanie’s switch from washed up drug addict and prostitute to weaponized bad-ass assassin isn’t very believable even as she struggles with her initial ‘hits’. The wince inducing plot crutch of relying on handy coincidental events just to survive as she struggles to get her killer instinct into gear.

"sorry - you've failed the parking test"

If you want to find a way to enjoy The Rhythm Section – I’d suggest you play action/spy film cliché bingo:
Struggle to actually kill target on first hit? Oh yes. Pretend to be sex worker to get close to high roller baddie? Yep. Shootout in close quarters with unexpected security goons? Of course. It’s not awful but it doesn’t excite like it should.

With so many great revenge-em-ups out there, this feels very unnecessary and is probably one best left for when it comes to the free to view channels rather than splashing out on a to see it now.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öö1/2

(2.5 - Average spy revenge-em-up)

Awesomeness ööö – Some of the set pieces work well

Laughs ö – Not funny

Horror ööö – Some grimness

Spiritual Enlightenment ö - What does revenge get you?

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– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt faces evil in FOR RYE (review)

FOR RYE

Gavin Gardiner (@GGardinerHorror) - read my interview with Gavin here

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“ ‘The mans a damned hatemonger…’ Trembling fingers tugged at his yellowed clerical collar as he spoke.”

Some truths are best left buried – reads the blurb on Gavin Gardiner’s debut chiller and for the weak of heart that’s a fair warning... FOR RYE is a heavy-duty horror that feels like vintage James Herbert (and I say that as a huge Herbert fan – Sepulchre being one of my all-time fav books).

What we have here is the unhappy tale of Renata Wakefield, a traumatised romance author with a history of abuse who is on the brink of suicide. Her life gets worse when she has to return to her unfriendly childhood hometown of Millbury Peak where the locals are about as welcoming as the League of Gentlemen and her nasty father awaits. The reason for her return is that someone has murdered her mother in a ritualistic slaughter – in the local church no less.

Renata becomes involved with the world’s leading writer of horror fiction - Quentin C. Rye – whose presence in Millbury Peak might be more sinister than anyone could imagine. As the plot creeps along with a growing sense of voodoo menace, the players' lives intertwine in despicable ways.

What is the reason for the killing? Why does Rye want to film his latest movie in Millbury Peak? Can Renata find a way to forgive her abusive father who is now ill and requires care? You’ll have to read to get the answers and I recommend that you do.

Gardiner writes with an acid wit and an impressive grip on what it takes to horrify. Be warned that there are scenes that are extreme, FOR RYE is no lightweight horror but a full-on demonic chalice overflowing with evil deeds and mind-bending situations.

'nice back cover quote!'

I’ll be excited to see what Gardiner writes next – this is an impressive debut by the potential new king of UK horror…

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5- An excellent new horror voice has arrived...)

Buy your copy of FOR RYE here

Visit Gavin's site here

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– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt rides The Storm Legacy: Broken (review)

The Storm Legacy: Broken

K.L Hart (@kerry1hart)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“GO! GO! GO! Ash shouts and we all run down the hill, pulling out guns, I kick down the front door and start shooting the assholes behind it.

Phase two of my reading books that I wouldn’t normally pick sees me dipping into the fast-paced world of a bunch of young spies who are rich brats and at least one of them is a pop star. The Storm Legacy: Broken is the second book in a series but it is easy enough to pick up and get caught up in the action.

The ‘Heirs’ as the group are known are bad-ass young agents who think nothing of going into a foreign country, shooting up the baddies and saving slaves on an hour’s notice. The fight and battle scenes are pleasing for anyone who likes action violence even if they are brief (I’d have liked more time spent in the heat of battle).

The plucky heroes spend most of their time when not saving people or taking down despots drinking coffee and shopping online. Their relationships are complicated – due to events in book one which left one of the main characters captured and being abused. Some of the scenes might need trigger warnings with sexual abuse, and a wince-inducing revenge just one of the elements.

"licence to shoot - and shop"

I asked author Kerry about her inspiration for Storm Legacy and she said:

“My inspiration was I just wanted a strong girl from the start that was equal to the boys not just being dragged along kind of thing and it went from there!! I would say this book is for late teens / twenty’s age range but also anyone who loves high school-age drama.”

Along with the youth speak and banter, there are some deeper emotional foils – like exploring whether true love survives after one of the parties is horribly broken? And even what it might take to make a life-long commitment at such a tender age.

There are also some steamy and detailed sex scenes to go along with the hedonistic lifestyle and occasional world-saving jaunts. So this probably isn’t a book for the puritanical minded.

The action cracks along at a good pace and I found myself caught up in the world of the Heirs. Can certainly imagine this becoming a fun TV show – think love island mixed with mission impossible and you’ll have some idea…


Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - High calibre young adult adventure...)

BUY YOURSELF A COPY HERE

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– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt experiences some Misbehaviour (review)

Misbehaviour (12a)

Dir. Philippa Lowthorpe

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“The only other forum in which participants are weighed, measured and publicly examined before being assigned their value is a cattle market.”

Would you believe that over 900 million people tuned in to the 2019 Miss World pageant? Whilst the appeal may have waned in the UK, it is still one of the biggest televised events worldwide – hugely popular in China and India especially.

Misbehaviour is the cinematic retelling of how in 1970 some women liberation activists took a well-publicised stand against the event which they deemed as an oppressive expression of patriarchal values.

'non-gratuitous swimsuit shot'

Director Philippa ‘Swallows and Amazons’ Lowthorpe frames the incident through the lens of two of the activists involved: Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley) and Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley). The two leads are opposites in how they want to change the world – both strong Feminists but whilst Alexander wants academic acceptance to ‘change the system from the inside’, Robinson wants to destroy the patriarchy head-on with direct action – she spends a lot of time graffitiing billboards and waving placards.

The film suffers from some slightly cringy moments but does at least try to show the real characters with their differing attitudes as to how to fight for change. What is more regrettable is the simplistic
approach taken to a subject that really should have been taken apart with more gusto. The plotting fails to seriously reconcile how aspirations amongst women, especially women of colour, from around the world were not really aligned. It rankles a bit to see a group of white middle-class protesters in effect upstaging the quest for recognition by ethnic groups who were underrepresented.

'the plot is afoot'

Where the film works best is in exposing the vintage sexism – Bob Hope (a nicely slimy Greg Kinnear) is the perfect embodiment of all that is wrong with male attitudes. When asked if he considers the feelings of women he jokes “I consider feeling women all the time.”

So whilst the right on agenda presented to us here fails to manifest the level of rebellion required, there is a touching nod to the struggles of those women who have ‘accepted their place in the home’
through Phyllis Logan as Alex's mother Evelyn. She brings some sense of the conflict faced by older women in the career v family dilemma.

If looking for a lightweight and enjoyable dramatization of what happened back then
– Misbehaviour delivers that but not much more.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - Nice enough but it should have shocked more)

Awesomeness öö – Fem-em-up voices are important

Laughs öö – A few funnies

Horror ö – Some sexist material

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - created equal...

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– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt is Not Giving Up On Forever (review)

Not Giving Up On Forever

by Yana Stevelork (@Stevelork)

"School days ended, so Anna gathered remaining strength and in search of healing moved to another city to study. But what was ahead frightened her even more than the youthful sufferings left behind."

Knowing me, knowing you. A-ha,,, What if Abba wrote a tale about a young, headstrong woman who is ruled by her heart rather than her head?

When Anna is unceremoniously let go by her first lover (and in her mind future husband) Mark – she goes off to Italy for a sex and fun-filled romp that will change her life – and put her in the middle of a love triangle. Falling for smooth local Randall seems like a good idea but once she returns home Anna is heartbroken again when he sleeps with someone else.

Determined to get revenge she returns to Italy and gets it on with his rival (the successful, rich DJ 'Teo') – cue adventures on a Mamma Mia scale with her trying to work out who among three men in her life, is her true love…

Not Giving Up On Forever is a fun romantic romp – not my normal ‘cup of tea’ by any means – but once you get past the imperfect English and basic writing style you’ll be hooked to find out if Anna can find true love swapping partners as she goes.

I talked to Yana the author about the inspiration for writing this novel - she said:

"I was observing that romance stories had either black or white story lines. Either it's a story with plain happy ending or some toxic relationship plot and main character was always totally relatable universal favourite, and I wanted to read something real... Where the character can make silly decisions, like in life... Mistakes... Or total craziness!"

There's not much more you need to know - if you're the type who enjoys a romantic tryst or 2 for your reading pleasure then step this way for a date with Anna...

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - Fun, lightweight romantic euro-thrills...)

BUY YOURSELF A COPY HERE

Click this image for some darker future fiction

New Netflix Films: The Platform vs Mark of the Devil

The Platform (18)

Dir. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“On those high levels you can eat anything you want, but you don't have anything to wait for. Your mind runs wild…”

Welcome to the future. By the way, what is your favourite food? This is one of the main questions asked when you’re assigned (or volunteer for credit) to be incarcerated in a new high-tech prison. Divided into many vertical levels – those at the top get the pick from a huge banquet of food on a levitating platform that moves slowly downwards. As the platform drops, so does the amount of food left and those in the lower levels get nothing – cannibalism is rampant.

If you imagine Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer crossed with Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise you’ll get some idea of the madness on offer here. Director Urrutia goes full ‘dystopian-nightmare’ staring into the gruesome brutal outworking of our inherent selfishness – be warned it gets very violent.

We join Goreng (Ivan Massagué), whose favourite food is snails, signs up to a term in the prison in order to be granted a qualification, he chooses to bring a book with him. His cell mate Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor) however, brings in a knife – this might not end well for one of them.
The Platform feels very timely in our current panic buying nightmare world. If we heed the message of each of us just taking our share – then there will be enough for all. But survival is at stake here – can human greed be overcome to send a message back to those in control? This is decent sci-fi fare for those willing to test themselves.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö1/2

(3.5 - Future penal justice through food)

Mark of the Devil (15)

Dir. Diego Cohen

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“Did you read the incantation?”

Meet Karl (Eivaut Rischen), a man who suffered and supposedly ‘died’ after being possessed by a demon as a child – 30 years later he makes a living as a bad-ass exorcist – apparently packing some demonic superpowers to boot. In Mark of the Devil he has to team up with a junkie priest named Tomás (Eduardo Noriega) when two sisters read aloud from the Necronomicon (yep that book from The Evil Dead and H.P. Lovecraft) – and all sorts of very average devilry ensues.

There is little new in this Mexican horror – the possessed get violent, speaks in ancient tongues, cough up blood etc. It feels like there is a good movie in here trying to get out but alas it all builds up to possibly the lowest budget battle with Satanic forces ever to grace even the small screen.

Horror fans might appreciate some of the creepy cinematic elements but this is one most people can happily avoid.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ö1/2

(1.5 - Limited horror thrills)

Click this image for some great dark sci-fi reading !!

– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt is a deplorable in The Hunt (review)

The Hunt

Dir. Craig Zobel

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“Did you see that article? Every year these liberal elites kidnap a bunch of normal folks like us, and hunt us for sport.”

In these trying times when toilet paper seems to be worth more than gold bullion, here’s a refreshing and insanely gory distraction from the madness of real life. The Hunt is a fiendish, funny, clever and
very dark satire that takes the old ‘rich people paying to hunt poor people’ scenario and injects it with some adrenaline.

"a new action hero in the making"

Director Craig ‘Compliance’ Zobel (also from Westworld, Leftovers and American Gods shows) goes all out unleashing the worst of human behaviour. Before you can say ‘oh an adult hunger games’ a group of working-class Americans labelled ‘deplorables’ awake after being drugged and transported to some eastern European wilderness. They find a crate with weapons but rather than fight between themselves they must try and survive being hunted by better armed ‘liberal elites’ who are paying for the chance to shoot those less fortunate than themselves.

The action is intense, extremely violent and well-crafted – there are some deaths here that you may never forget and horror fans craving bloodshed get plenty to feast on. But The Hunt isn’t really a horror movie – it’s a fast-moving action flick that introduces a superb girl-power heroine to turn the tables on the rich scumbags.

"The poor get no voice"

Crystal (Betty Gilpin) is excellent. Imagine a kind of female John McClane - cool, resourcefully deadly, and quick with a wisecrack. She is the deplorables secret weapon and watching her take the fight back to the elites is a total joy to behold.

Sure the violence is gratuitous but the constant threat of really nasty death keeps the stakes and body count high. The writers do a good job of messing with your expectations and there are some
deliciously paranoid ‘who, if anyone, can trust’ scenes.

The supporting cast have fun in their short-lived roles many with fun names like Vanilla Nice (Sturgill Simpson), Staten Island (Ike Barinholtz) and Yoga Pants (Emma Roberts). And Hilary Swank is great as the big baddie Athena – her one on one fight with Crystal is a classic, set in a well-stocked kitchen.

"Who can you trust?"

The Hunt has angered rightwingers in the States, even Trump himself and the marketing of the film uses the controversy to its benefit. It might be dangerous to venture out to the cinema at the moment but The Hunt is worth the trip if you’re in need of some violent escapism!

"Look out baddies"

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - Excellent dark action horror fun)

Awesomeness ööööö – Lots of pure class(war) scenes

Laughs ööö – Darkly humourous

Horror öööö – Gets grim in places

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Shoot your neighbour?

Click this image for darker sci-fi !!

– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt visits the Greenhills (review)

Tales from the Greenhills – Tommy Dywer 2 weeks in the summer of ’76

Terry Melia (@FromGreenhills)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“his mum told my mum he woke up screaming every night for a week afterwards…”

Choose life, choose 1970’s Liverpool, choose a social realist coming of age tale, choose music, hanging out, sex and drugs… Tales from the Greenhills is a killer trip fusing love, violence and friendship into a pure “must read” nostalgia hit.

Meet Tommy Dwyer a young scallywag trying to survive on the mean streets of his urban hometown of Liverpool. It’s 1976 and life dealing Tommy some tough breaks. His working-class family is dysfunctional, money is tight, his best pal is his dog Butch and his girlfriend has left him. Worse still is the lurking danger of gangs roaming the streets, dealing drugs and smashing faces – this is a powerful, raw and compelling trip to a recent past that channels the ‘This is England’ vibe.

"the only reason I'd thought about Liverpool '76 before now...'

Melia writes with a concise and cool narrative style; at times it almost feels like a diary of reminisces. The details feel ‘lived through’ and whilst not political it makes a great insight into how the world was back in the days before the internet, social media etc.

The best stories give you either characters that you care about and / or a world that fascinates and engages you. Tommy’s adventures in the Greenhills blends both these and explores themes of love and loss, growing up, crime and redemption, as well as masculinity, guilt, peer-pressure and morality.
I really enjoyed the pop references, e.g. the reactions to The Exorcist (see opening quote) and some zen-like philosophy picked up on a Welsh camping trip. There is much to enjoy in this novel and I’ll be keen to see what Terry Melia writes next.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - ‘Liverpool gets its Trainspotting...)

BUY YOURSELF A COPY HERE

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Matt feels the Color Out of Space (review)

Color Out Of Space (15)

Dir. Richard Stanley

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“Alpacas – the animal of the future…”

Director Richard ‘Dust Devil’ Stanley is a fascinating guy. After making the superb robo-terror flick Hardware and following up with an excellent supernatural serial killer in Dust Devil he got fired from the troubled H.G. Wells adaptation of The Island of Dr Moreau in 1996. He hasn’t made a film since. But now he’s back and he’s come back strong with a freak0ut sci-fi horror based on a weird short story by H.P. Lovecraft.

"a new kind of car advert?"

Color Out of Space is a cosmic tale of what happens when a meteor lands in the grounds of ex-artist Nathan Gardner (Nic ‘Mandy’ Cage)’s rural alpaca farm. The titular ‘Color’ is slowly unleashed and proves to be an extra-terrestrial organism that spreads madness and violence.

The results are a mash up of grisly body-horror and psych-out – shot through with laugh-out-loud humour. Basically, this is a perfect Friday night entertainment. I caught this at the gorgeous old-school London ‘Screen on the Green’ cinema and the crowd lapped it up whooping and cheering at the crazed on screen antics. Only getting a limited cinema run, this is a film to seek out on streaming channels or disc and watch with your favourite tipple in hand.

"Cage mode engaged"

The sinister effects of the space color slowly permeate the farm - mutant flowers spring up, alien insects spawn, blood-like water drips from the taps and a very grotesque tribute to ‘The Thing’ but with alpacas rather than dogs happens in the barn.

Cage leads the line for humanity as only he can. His bug-eyed patented crazed look was made for plots like this. He’s given great support from Joely Richardson who plays his wife and especially Madeleine Arthur as his daughter who thinks pagan rites might ward off the alien color.
Probably not for those of a sensitive disposition, or anyone who really doesn’t like sci-fi weirdness.

I found Color out of Space however to be a stone-cold cult classic that really delivers on the slimy dread. It’s been said that Lovecraft’s tales are pretty much ‘unfillable’ – and this one in particularly as it has descriptions like ‘It was just a colour out of space - a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all nature as we know it’ but Stanley has somehow pulled it off in style.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - Full metal freak out)

Awesomeness ööööö – Five star alien invasion

Laughs ööö – Darkly humourous

Horror öööö – Disturbing and icky

Spiritual Enlightenment öö - super weird, don't judge until you've tried it

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– Read what other people are saying about COMPLETE DARKNESS (here)

Matt gets Possessed (review) Matt Hunter Book 4

Possessed

by Peter Laws (@revpeterlaws)

Published by Allison & Busby

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“I thought it was a trick of the Devil. An illusion…”

Demon’s eh? Always causing bother with their horrible head-spinning, blaspheming and swearing coupled with green vomiting hijinks – not really the sort you want possessing you or anyone you know… So, when the UK is hit with an upturn in demonic possession (not actually linked to Brexit) some religious types go mental trying to do DIY casting out these evil demonic entities. But what if the poor folk claiming to be possessed are actually just experiencing mental health issues and are much in need of medical assistance than holy hands?

And where there are confused and mentally unstable individuals, there are often US Pastors looking to cash in – which is very much the case in this brilliantly messed up murder-em-up. Fortunately Possessed sees the return of stoic Professor Matt Hunter (sceptic hero of Peter Laws’ three previous dark crime thrillers) a maverick former minister who lost his faith and helps police investigate religious tinged crimes.

Hunter is called in when a blood-soaked naked man is discovered with the name Baal-Berith carved into his flesh – is this guy an innocent possessed by an ancient evil? Or has he maybe been confused by the ramblings of a deluded local pastor craving more than his local church existence? Whatever the truth it certainly seems like the spirit of blasphemy and murder is out and about as the body-count rises and the media get involved leading to a climactic first live TV ‘mass exorcism’.

I’ve been a fan of the Matt Hunter novels so far but Possessed is absolutely the best yet. Laws has really found his literary groove, his prose flows easily and the plot cracks along with a hard-to-resist page turning pull. It’s not overkill to call this God Tier / next level - 5 star dark crime fiction that will please horror, crime and even religiously open-minded folk (there must be some)…

'Graphic novel version?'

Possessed keeps the tension high and the core ‘is it all in their minds – or might it be real?’ question front and centre. Those who have journeyed with Hunter so far have a real treat on their hands as they will understand the rabbit references and more. Whilst those jumping in at this 4th entry should be able to enjoy it almost as much without the back-reference knowledge.

Refreshing, bold and unforgettable – Possessed is superb, highly recommended reading for those willing to face the darkness!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - The power of Christ compels you to read this)...

BUY YOURSELF A COPY HERE


Read the Darkmatters review of Purged (Matt Hunter book 1)

Read the Darkmatters review of Unleashed (Matt Hunter book 2)

Read the Darkmatters review of Severed (Matt Hunter book 3)

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