Stacy Kingsley - The blog of author Stacy Kingsley

Movie Review - IT'S ALIVE (1973)

12/10/2018

SPOILERS included in this review. You have been warned.

I previously watched the remake of It’s Alive, and after watching the 1973 original movie I really don’t think it needed to be remade, because the remake is a million times worse than the original (which wasn’t the best movie itself). The 1973 version of It’s Alive is about a couple who have a monster of a baby. The baby goes on a killing spree to survive and get home to his parents. Frank, the father, feels an incredible desire to destroy the infant, but the mother has other ideas after she returns home and tries to start life back up. Their older son, Charlie, is left in the dark as the parents try to protect him from what happened, but in the end Charlie doesn’t need protection from his baby brother, the rest of the world, they might.

The original version of this movie was very different from the remake. In this version the mother hides the child for a few days in the basement of their house, only wanting to protect him. She doesn’t get to take him home from the hospital because after he slaughters the medical staff he runs in fear, whereas in the remake they take the baby home and find that the only weird things about him are his teeth and his size (he grows incredibly fast). The father in the remake doesn’t seem to take an interest in the movie, and the mother in the remake tries hide her infants murderous deeds by moving and concealing bodies.

One thing I liked about the original is that the father eventually comes around and tried to protect his child, unlike the remake when the mother sets the house on fire, killing herself and her baby. In the original the parents seem to really care for their oldest child, Charlie, while in the remake the kid seems to be left on his own, or he disappears and the audience has no idea what might have happened to him.

Since the original was made in the early 1970’s it is a little bit hokey, but the fun of it is the badly done effects and some of the interesting acting. In fact one of the best lines of the movie came from the lead detective trying to find and destroy the infant. The line was, “Hunting and killing babies doesn’t seem to be my specialty,” and I thought it was the most apropos line in the movie, since how does one justify hunting down and killing an infant, even if it is a homicidal monster?

I actually enjoyed the original version a million times better than the remake, and I thought it not only had a better story, but a better ending. If you haven’t watched it, look for the 1973 version, and skip the 2008 version.

Movie Review - LET'S BE EVIL

12/3/2018

2016’s Let’s Be Evil is a movie that doesn’t quite have a specific plot or outline. What it seems to be about is a young woman named Jenny, who accepts a temporary job at a research facility to help care for her ailing mother. While there she is set to watch the children in the facility as they are trained for unspecific purposes.

Jenny is a young woman who must find a way to care for her ill mother. She ends up getting a temporary job at this research facility. She is never told what she is doing there, nor what the children she is watching are doing there. Each day she is awoken by an alarm and must wear special glasses to view the augmented reality of the facility she is at. In reality she may or may not be in some sort of virtual reality game. Throughout the movie she tries to connect with the children and feels that she does connect with a young girl named Cassandra. In reality it is all a game.

This movie started out very interesting, because as Jenny and her two coworkers do what they are supposed to be doing, they don’t really learn much about what they are doing. Neither does the audience. There are suspicious things that happen throughout the movie, like lights going out, black smoke roaming over a door, and children playing vicious games on Jenny and the other two workers. The audience sits waiting for something, anything, to happen. Then when something does happen, it is both expected and unexpected.

At the end of the movie, I can’t say I was shocked. I found that the entire idea of the movie changed with the end of the movie. I didn’t think the ending was a good one, and it was frustrating to see the movie ending like it did. It was one of those movies, one where you find out at the end that the movie was just a dream. This was just like that, except it wasn’t a dream, but it was close to one of those stupid movies.

Now, I don’t mind a twist at the end of a movie, but I really think directors should try to make things more interesting, and stop with the ambiguous or circular endings of movies. Please, I’m begging all of you directors and producers and writers out there, stop writing the same ending in different cities and realities for all of the movies out there. Try being original! I don’t need another twist to another movie that tells me that none of it really happened at all. I’m so over that!

So, did I like this movie? Yes, until the end. Was it worth a watch? Yes, until the end. Should you watch it, I mean, if you don’t mind something that seems like it will be a good movie that craps out in the end? Yeah, go ahead, it’s not a long movie, and it is free on a few streaming services.

What's in a Critique Group?

11/28/2018

I'm not sure, when a critique group says this, that is it creates a creative environment to keep a writer going: The admin team had a discussion about your writing sample and we think that's it's slightly below the standard for the group. This is by no means a conclusive judgement and you may feel that an alternative sample will better display your skills. Or you can resubmit the original sample with changes made according to the critique it received. Another option is to spend some time working with another group member to hammer it into shape.

I don't mind critique, in fact I welcome it. But I don't like being told that something (when it has been stated is a rough, rough draft) gets a comment that the writing is below standards for a group, or that one can stay in the group if the suggested changes are made (that's not how critique works, you can't demand an author make the changes as they are suggestions). I also am not sure I appreciate being given the suggestion that another member can help me hammer it into shape. I do know what I am doing. The sample I submitted was written this month for Nano. I haven't even edited it yet. I submitted a sample thinking it was just to give an idea of what I am working on right now. If I had known I was to be judged acceptable or not for the group, I would have submitted something perfect (nothing is ever perfect though). I also am not sure I feel comfortable with a group of people discussing me without including me.

I have been kicked out of a writers group for being a menace to society (one romance author hated horror and gore and thought society should be protected from it). I've been called disgusting because of my writing. I've been asked very personal questions because of my writing. I've had people think they were better than me (and maybe some were, it isn't a contest) and tell me I should quit. But, too often, I have people tell me that my writing isn't up to their standards, but isn't that why I am in a group? To help me improve? I, like most authors out there, am full of doubt, and anxiety, and devaluing of self because of writing. I get scared anytime someone buys my book that they will write a scathing review. I myself try not to write bad reviews, although I will admit, I have. But more often than not, it isn't the writing that bothers me, it is the characters, or the plot, or the formatting.

I'm a damn good author, but no one has a good first draft, and often no one has a good second draft. I want critique, how can I fix what I don't know is wrong? However, I don't think we, as writers, should be judged good or bad or worth being part of a critique group by someone else's standards. In Huntsville, Alabama, I was in a critique group that I truly miss. We accepted all types of authors and all genres, but we still did what we were supposed to, we critiqued. We told people what we thought was good, and what needed work, and we didn't pussyfoot around feelings, or at least I didn't feel like we did. I don't want people to tell me my stuff is fabulous, I know it isn't. But, I want acceptance, just like everyone else does. I want people to read my work and see the value in what I have so far, while telling me that this is what I can do to make it better. Don't just tell me it "is below standards for the group" and insinuate that other members in the group can help me do a what I do better than I do it by telling me "another member can help hammer it into shape." We've just met. You got 250 words of a rough draft, give it a moment.

I'm not mad, or angry, or upset, but I feel like we are so ready to be critical and put someone down, that we forget everyone is struggling. I mean, I know authors who have some 20 books, and had books made into television mini-series, and they still have to work a day job. Help each other out but offering real help. Don't make assumptions that lead an author to believe that only your opinions matter. Really, the thing about the message that bothered me most was this part, "you can resubmit the original sample with changes made according to the critique it received." I don't even know if I am keeping what I have, and when you critique something it is a suggestion (as previously stated).

As authors, we need to help when we can, because being an author is such solitary work. We need friends who will give us honest critiques, without making us feel like we should give up. It isn't about being better than someone, because some of already know people who are better than us, it's about strengthening a community that has already failed so many.

Movie Review - DEVIL'S KNOT

11/26/2018

Devil’s Knot is a movie based on a true crime. The story revolves around the murder of three young boys who were out riding their bikes. Another boy states that he saw what happened, and that it was a satanic ritual. This was also during part of the crisis when lots of people were being accused of being satanic worshipers. The three teenagers accused of the crime were convicted and later released, which is not a spoiler because you can look the story up and get all of this information.

The movie stars Reese Witherspoon as one of the mothers and Colin Firth as an investigator of sorts. The town screams that the teenagers were all involved, yet one mother isn’t sure (Reese Witherspoon’s character) because one of the boys, Jesse, has the IQ of a ten year old, and he gets a lot of the details wrong when he is telling the police of being at the murder.

There is also the interview of a child, and children are often unreliable witnesses. All of the evidence used against the three teenagers was circumstantial, and there wasn’t any concrete evidence. It turns out that the mother of this child was trying to get out of some legal trouble of her own.

The movie was an interesting look into the legal system, and how broken it really is. People judge things that they don’t understand, and they always think that Satanism is evil, which it is not (just look it up if you don’t believe me).

The beginning of the movie is very suspenseful, and even heartbreaking. When the bodies of the boys are found and one boy is brought out of the water he was placed in, it is a horrifying moment that would touch even the hardest soul. Throughout the movie the audience is left to wonder who is guilty of the murders, as even some of the parents (besides Witherspoon’s character) doubt the guilt of the three convicted of killing their boys. Then again, maybe they doubted the guilt of the teenagers because they themselves were the murderers.

Since this movie is based on a true story, there isn’t really an ending to it. It is still ongoing, and there are suspects, but the truth may never be found. The movie was interesting, and well done. It showed the limits of the justice system, and really why innocent people are convicted. In a murder this heinous, everyone wants to find the guilty party as soon as they can, so that everyone else with a child can feel as if their child is safe. But if we rush to accuse and convict, sometimes we miss important things, like who might have actually committed the crime. This is one of the reason crimes from fifty plus years ago are still unsolved, or are just not being solved.

A good, if not heart strangling movie.

Poetry

11/25/2018

I don't write much poetry, but I thought I'd share this one here. If you like you can tell me what you think, or if it is good or godawful! I've written few poems in my adult life, and when I was a teenager my poems were called disgusting ad gross. I was told to never write again, and that was the first time, but not the last. So I share with a little bit of hesitation, because a lot of my work is not well received. Later, if I can find it, I will share a story that got me kicked out of one writer's group.

Anyway, here is the poem:

Tin Soldiers

Bright and shiny, new in box
Unused soldiers waiting for their day.
Opened plastic, rosy cheeks,
Wide innocent eyes, waiting to be deployed.
A moment later, battle bound,
Shiny faces dimmed down,
Soldiers waiting, cheeks tanned and brown
Standing, watching,
Battle found.
One year later, homeward on,
Sinking soldiers,
Broken down.
Boxes beaten, weathered and faded,
Soldiers begging, brains broken,
Guns in hand.
No one helping, paint fading,
Tiny tin soldiers,
In the graveyard now.

Book Review - THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey

11/23/2018

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey was an interesting zombie book about a bunch of children who don’t know they are anything but. The characters are there to protect themselves, teach the children, and to use the children to find a way to save humanity. Dr. Caldwell has one mission, and she keeps doing it, even if it goes against everything else everyone else wants. She doesn’t care about the cost, or repercussions of what she has and continues to do. Melanie is the main character, and the smartest child in the classroom. She waits every day for her favorite teacher, Miss Justineau. Justineau shows that she cares for the children, but she isn’t supposed to care, nor is she supposed to forget what they are – monsters.

The characters were all very interesting, although I did get frustrated with Dr. Caldwell and Sargent Parks. Caldwell is over and over only concerned with the children, and when she loses some of them she treats Melanie like property. I know this was part of the book, and that Dr. Caldwell had a purpose and wasn’t supposed to be liked. I realize that she was there to find the answers for the greater good. But, there could have been one moment of humanity from her, one moment, that made me not dislike her, one moment where she learned something from what she had been doing.

Sargent Parks could have been a little more interesting as well. He was the typical military man, only doing what his orders required him to do. Keeping the humans safe, not worrying about the “Hungaries” or zombies, and watching out for the “Junkers” – the men and women who survived the infection and live their lives as scavengers. I do get a little tired of seeing stringent military men, who follow the code, no matter what happens. They always end up the same way in books like this, dead, learning slowly along the way that they don’t have to treat the monsters as they do, because in reality, the monsters are the humans.

The relationship between Melanie and Miss Justineau was interesting, as it did make me wonder where the children who these people are using came from. Justineau was a mother figure to some, and a savior to at least one. The mother/daughter relationship develops in a way, that in the end one wonders who is the mother and who is the daughter.

The idea of the “Hungaries” in this book was interesting, although I would have like a little more backstory, as I didn’t see enough of what made the zombies different, besides a desire to eat human flesh. However, the idea of how these children will develop, and what they will do for the future. It all brings up the question, how will humanity save humanity? In the end will the human race find their humanity, or will they find ways to continue to destroy it.

In today’s society, and the political and moral climate that we currently live in, this book begs the question: how should we treat those who are different? And what steps should we take to protect and save those who can’t always save or protect themselves. It’s a frightening time, and this book, again about an apocalypse, makes one thing about their own humanity.

Movie Review - OUIJA SUMMONING

11/19/2018

The synopsis for Ouija Summoning from IMDb is: A beautiful woman is haunted by an evil spirit after an innocent game of Ouija board goes horribly wrong.

First off, in this day and age are there any “innocent” games of Ouija. I mean I am sure everyone has read the warnings and seen the other movies where teens have played with an Ouija board and have died.

Ouija Summoning begins in an older house where one women arrives and is attacked by another. As things happen the police arrive, and the crazy woman is arrested, all while chanting that it had to be done.

This was a problem for me as I had no idea who these people were, or why this was happening. So while it starts in the action, it doesn’t do anything me because I have no idea what is going on, or really why I should care. Plus, this isn’t something that is returned to later in the movie, so it is a scene that doesn’t matter. Later three young college age students stop at the house because one of them needs to pee. They don’t stay in the house but they do step in, and from there bad things happen.

The main character, Sara, is haunted by someone crying and telling her to kill people. As people start dying around her, she is viewed as insane and her parents seek help for her. Her parents, who are divorced, attempt to help their daughter, but they find that they don’t really know how, and then they decide that they think she might actually be killing people.

Bad acting and a bad story line were the biggest issues throughout this movie. There was a lot going on and nothing was explained. The audience has no idea what is up with this specific Ouija board, or why it is the one that is haunted, or who the woman that keep crying is. With so little information the movie doesn’t make much sense. It also isn’t very interesting as a horror movie because there is nothing scary throughout it.

I felt that this movie seemed like a half-hearted attempt to make a scary movie that was attempting to bank on the Ouija board fears created by other movies. However, there was no character or story development, nor was there any reason for the audience to feel fear or suspense. So there wasn’t anything to redeem this movie to the audience, and there was nothing to make it worth watching.

I absolutely do no recommend this movie to anyone, not even if you are bored and looking to watch something on streaming. If you watch it you have been warned that it is a waste of an hour and a half.

Movie Review - HATCHET

11/12/2018

A group of tourists on a New Orleans haunted swamp tour find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Their evening of fun and spooks turns into a horrific nightmare when their boat is stranded and they must find a way back to civilization, all in the movie Hatchet, from 2006.

As a horror movie this doesn’t really stand out, using the same tropes often used in a horror movie about a monster human. It does give backstory to the villain/monster, Victor Crowley, but not really enough to state why he goes about killing everyone. I understand revenge doesn’t always have a sensible reason, but there wasn’t much for this movie and it seemed like a stretch.

Now, I also know that this movie is becoming, or already is a cult classic, but that could be because it is so badly acted, and it has a ton of boobs. I know when a movie has a lot of nudity sometimes it becomes a cult classic just for that. The acting was dry, mostly from Joel David Moore, who often plays dry, monotone characters. This movie also has a cameo by Robert Englund and Kane Hodder (as Victor Crowley), so there are some horror icons in it, which should bring credence to the movie. The “young” women in the movie are provoked into showing their boobs in almost every scene, and Misty the blond, played by Mercedes McNab, is a stereotype blond bimbo who cries and screams and gets stuck in every scene, causing people to die.

The ending of the movie was obviously made to lead to a sequel, and reminded me of the ending of the original Friday the 13th. It could have been a little more original, and the deaths could have been better lit so the audience gets to see the broken, torn-up bodies of the victims.

Overall, this was just another horror movie in a long list of horror movies. I don’t think it was great, but it wasn’t terrible either. I would have like the ending to be a little more original, and I would have liked to see a little more lead up in suspense to the final moments.

Veteran's Day

11/11/2018

Today is Veteran's Day. I only want to write here to say thank you to all of the Vets who have no one to post for them.

I have several Veterans in my family, and I know several veterans. This isn't just a day for Americans here, it is also a day for all who have served. All who have been to war. All who have been broken by combat. All those who may be lost and think they have been forgotten. You have not been forgotten. You have not been lost. I see you. I see all of you. I thank ALL of you.

So, thank you to all of the Veterans out there. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you to the families.

Movie Review - RINGS (2017)

11/7/2018

2017’s movie Rings was an unnecessary addition to the story of little Samara. It is obviously about the story of a group of people who view a tape and then get a phone call telling them “seven days.” Of course they know by now that to live they must show the tape to other people. If they show the tape to other people then they are passing on the curse and saving themselves.

This movie tried to delve deeper into the story of Samara, pointing out how she came to be and what happened to her, but it seems to forget all of the things that happened in the previous like what happened to her body and who was the person who cared for her. It seems to want to change the story to make her video viral, trying to create a modern horror story.

I don’t think this was a needed movie in the series, and it detracted from the things that happened before in the series. I would have liked to see more development into how the video got out there in the first place, or how it became cursed, or anything, a prequel wouldn’t be a bad idea.

If they went back to the very beginning, saw Samara in the asylum, maybe in her house before the asylum, maybe how she was treated as an infant. I find it unfortunate that they keep building on what has already been said, and honestly Rings adds nothing to the story.

I like Vincent D’Onofrio as an actor. I find him great in almost everything he does, although lately I’ve seen him more in the role of a villain that a good guy. I feel almost as if he is being type cast as a man who is more bad than good. From his role in Full Metal Jacket (a private who is pushed too far) to Rings he gets more rugged and rough with each role. The only role where he wasn’t the villain was during his time on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, but he wasn’t a happy man.

The main character in this film, Julia, was annoying and she didn’t do much for this film. The attempted frights were the same as they were in the previous movies. Lots of images from the cursed film and more well shots as well as bugs and hair being pulled from the mouth of people, gag inducing moments that have been done several times before.

I can’t say I cared for this movie, and I lost interest halfway through, probably sooner than halfway through. I would have liked more to the story, and I would have like if it hadn’t deviated from the original story to make Samara seem more piteous.

I don’t recommend this movie, not only was it bad but it also didn’t add anything to the series. I think if they want to make another movie for this series they should start in the beginning, at the birth and childhood of Samara.