The blog of author Stacy Kingsley - Stacy Kingsley

About DOCTOR WHO

8/31/2014

I really enjoy the television show DOCTOR WHO, and I'm surprised how much I am enjoying the new doctor thus far, especially since he is Scottish and not English. I'll admit I haven't watched any episodes before the 9th doctor, but I keep being told that I should, and eventually I will get to it (I know some of the older doctors are interesting as well).

After watching seven seasons I think about the bad guys and the good guys. There have been so many intense moments in the show, both heart wrenching and mind boggling. The situation between Rose and #10 was so intense and what an interesting love story. The forgetfulness of Donna and the way she lost everything she had loved, it still makes me sad to think about. The way Rory and Amy's story ended was the only way it could have ended, no matter how much the audience would have loved for it to end a different way, yet they were together, no matter what. Then there is Clara, the impossible girl who deserved something she will never get now.

The bad guys, the ones that are silly and the ones that freak me out, are some of the most terrifying and thought provoking monsters I have ever seen. The cybermen, Daleks, the silence, weeping angels, because of these anyone who has watched the show won't look at statues, robots, or toasters again, and we will question if we are losing time because the silence is hanging around.

And the question that keeps coming up is who is good and who is evil, or an even more pressing question is what consequence does a person's actions create and if it kills or hurts others does it make that person evil?

So, with this being said, I'm wondering how many of you out there in the internet universe watch the show and how many enjoy it...still...even with a Scottish doctor?

Book Review - NIGHT CHILLS by Dean Koontz

8/30/2014

This is the first book I decided to review for my blog. I figured since it was published in 1976 it was a good place to start. I'm sure Mr. Koontz has already received all the reviews he could want for this book and for me, well, for me this is good practice. I've don't mostly movie reviews in my career, for websites and print publications (the print ones have mostly been for newsletters at places I worked).

Generally I enjoy the works of Dean Koontz. A lot of his books tend to be more in the vein of science fiction with some horror elements added, and NIGHT CHILLS seemed to follow that pattern. The story is about mind control and how subliminal messages could be used to control people.

Paul Annendale is a father taking his two kids, Rya and Mark, on a nice little vacation. When they arrive in Black River they learn that almost everyone has been ill with a weird flu. The flu only appears at night and and the infected only seem to suffer from nightmares and the chills. Salsbury is a man with a plan and a dream, he wants to rule the world, literally. With the help of a military man and a rich man he sees that his dreams might be fulfilled. In NIGHT CHILLS there is something in the water, and after one drink no one will ever be the same.

I enjoy a good book about mind control and the use of subliminal messages, however after a point I didn't think there was much to the plot. What started out as an interesting class on power and the need for humans to be in control ended up being a book about rape, murder and torture. I honestly don't mind rape, murder and torture, but there was so much that didn't seem to have a point or add to the story. The plot gets watered down by the violence and I lose interest in the characters, especially after the strong women become weak and whiny. I'd like a book where a woman isn't destroyed by rape or a beating and who can continue to take care of herself (without the help of a man) after the bad things have happened.

Movie Review - IF I STAY

8/23/2014

This is not a movie I would typically watch, but I was bored and today was hot and I could go to a cheap showing, so after taking in all those factors I went and watched it. I'm now glad I did.

I understand this movie is based on a book (maybe a two book series) but I never read it, mostly since I can't put any more books on my already over crowded book shelves. Knowing that, I can't say if the book was better than the movie or if it was true to the book.

A young girl, Mia, waits anxiously for her letter to Julliard. Instead of letting her sit at home on a snow day and wait her family decides to take a day trip, enjoying the time together as a family. Unfortunately a major car accident cuts that trip short and the next we see of Mia she is standing in the snow with the wreck all around her.

This movie takes us through Mia's life as she decides whether to live or die. Her story is mostly that of her love Adam, a young rocker who falls madly in love with her and to whom she falls madly in love with as well. While most of the movie shows the development of Mia and Adam's relationship, it also shows the love of her family, how things change over time, the beauty of life. The movie has a lot of pretty good music in it, the acting was well done, and while I would have liked to see Mia's best friend a little more developed (she kind of disappeared into the background) this wasn't a bad flick at all.

Several of the other moviegoers were crying, sniffling, or sucking in the dripping snot from their faces. So if you want to see this I suggest taking some Kleenex. I lost my girl card so I didn't cry, but I understand how the movie could have been a tearjerker.

Movie Review - SERIAL KILLER CULTURE

8/23/2014

I have an interest in serial killers but not because they are killers, more about why they are killers, which is something I don't think we (humanity in general) will ever understand. I have never thought of collecting art or letters created or written by serial killers. I know people do, and I've known for a long time that people collect this type of thing, but I never really gave much thought to why or what they collected. This movie is a documentary about people who collect art done by these killers and write to serial killers.

The first guy interviewed is kind of a jerk about it. He says things like "this crap" and this "shit" when referring to the stuff he has gathered from serial killers. I'm not saying that they (serial killers) should be respected but if he is the one asking and collecting he should at least have some respect. He came off as quite an ass. The rest of the people interviewed (surprisingly all men) were quite interesting when they talked about why they collected things or why they wrote the killers.

Most of them don't do it out of a sense of morbidity, they do it because they are curious as to what goes on in the minds of these murderers (the psychology behind murder will be studied for forever since no one person goes out and kills for the same reason as the next person). The art is mostly mundane. John Wayne Gacy is featured several times, and I'm guessing this is because he was so prolific with his painting (what else do you do when you are waiting for death on death row). Gacy was not a fabulous artist and I wasn't honestly impressed, but some of the work was very interesting. Charles Ng for example paints mostly nautical scenes with a mermaid in peril.

Learning more about the culture behind these collectors and what they collect, or why they write songs about serial killers, or why they themselves create art inspired by the horrors these killers caused, was more interesting than seeing the art itself. People don't just collect art either, they collect things these killers used to kill that have made it out into the general market, or photos of crime scenes, mug shots, fingerprints, etc.

This movie was an interesting insight into things most people keep behind closed doors.

Movie Review - THE AWAKENING

8/19/2014

This movie takes place in London in 1921. A young woman named Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall), trying to prove that the supernatural is nothing but a hoax. Robert Mallory (Dominic West) asks her to look into the death of a student at the boarding school where he teaches. The boys all see and are afraid of a young boy's ghost, she decides to take the case. After exploring Florence begins having trouble seeing what is the truth and what is a lie, and she finds out something about her own mysterious past.

I didn't think this was a fabulous ghost movie, but I did find the ending a little surprising.

Being a haunted house movie I expected a little more out of it when it came to scares, but it was just the same as many others, startling sounds or shadows that pooped in and out of frame. It just wasn't scary and the scares that it did attempt were pretty predictable. The most jarring moment in the movie and active moment was the attempted rape scene that happened between Florence and another character.

Some things are not explained as thoroughly as they could have been, and I would have liked to be more invested in the other characters, not just Florence. I also found the fact that Florence was so badly shaken by some of the events that happened to be unrealistic for her character. She is a non-believer and yet as soon as she thinks there are ghosts she just falls for them and searches for them. This seemed uncharacteristic for someone who had spent her life proving that the supernatural didn't exist.

So while the end was surprising it really didn't make up for the rest of the movie.

Movie Review - EXPENDABLES 3

8/19/2014

While I know that the Expendables movie isn't a horror film I did want to do a review on it because I saw it, and I didn't hate it.

If you've seen the first two movies you already kinda know the plot...a bunch of older soldiers take jobs that involve guns, fighting and killing. The movies star Sylvester Stallone as the leader of this government sanctioned group.

The earlier movies were a little funnier than this, making more fun of the actors and what they have done in real life or what rumors or urban legends surround them. This one was no exception, with Wesley Snipes out of prison and making movies he was a big butt of a few of the jokes, and they were quite hilarious (do your research on Mr. Snipes before seeing this movie). Jason Statham is hilarious as always, but the rest of the cast kinda gets lost in the story. Although I have to admit, no matter how much I like Snipes and Statham, the scene stealer was Antonio Banderas...he couldn't have been better!

So the story follows the group as they fail in a mission, then are replaced by a bunch of youngsters, at the behest of Stallone. It is of course somewhat predictable so I can't say too much about what happens, but there is a lot of action, some really bad and some really good jokes, and there is a lot of really cute men and boys.

Not a great movie, not a horrible one, this is best watched on a hot day when you have nothing else to do and a couple of hours to kill.

Movie Review - THE ABCs OF DEATH

8/16/2014

26 short movies from 26 different masters of horror, each using a different letter in the alphabet. Sounds like a good time right? Yeah...maybe not.

Each of these little vignettes were about 4-8 minutes long, and I'm sorry to say that I was incredibly disappointed.

There was one short titled "F is for Fart" and it was literally about a bunch of Japanese girls dying from gas, while one dies from the stinky farts of her teacher. I don't mind a fart joke, in fact I just say A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST yesterday and there were fart jokes galore in that flick, but a horror movie shouldn't be about women being gassed to death by the farts of another. Then they die and get to start their love affair. Just no.

In fact the movie after that was titled "G is for Gravity" and honestly it was just as dull. It involved a surfer who went out and basically died while surfing. It wasn't horrifying, it wasn't frightening, it wasn't scary, nor was it in the least bit interesting.

Most of these shorts were just really ridiculous. A man boxing a dog, a Nazi cat woman killing a fighter pilot dog who basically uses the American force within to fight the cat, a young girl afraid of the abominable snowman, the Japanese men making faces was silly. I could keep going on, but I will just say that when you get to Z you will be terribly happy that the movie is over. Especially when you realized you watched a cartoon with a woman who's poop is talking to her.

Movie Review - DRACULA 3000

8/16/2014

I don't like constantly saying I am not a fan of movies, but this was a waste of time and a terrible movie. I am sorry to say. The acting was just flat and where the script had the actors trying to be funny it instead fell flat. Coolio was a drug addicted man who was constantly searching for more and new drugs to get high on, which got tiresome at a certain point. Erika Eleniak began the movie as an intelligent young woman and ended the movie as a sex crazed bimbo. and the rest of the characters were just as silly and not at all enjoyable to watch. The only interesting thing about this movie was that the vampires begin as dust and can be brought back by a few drops of blood, an interesting take on the vampire lore.

My reccomendation, don't watch this movie, just believe me when I say it was terrible.

Movie Review - LIZZIE BORDEN TOOK AN AX

8/16/2014

This 2014 movie starred Christina Ricci as the infamous Lizzie Borden, the young woman who was accused and acquitted of murdering her step-mother and father in 1892. If you know the case you know that the speculation was that Lizzie literally got away with murder, and there have been few other witnesses, nor have there been many other suspects (one was a man who briefly worked for the Borden's, another was a stranger), so in all honesty Lizzie probably did get away with murder.

At the time women were still delicate creatures, and Ricci plays that well given her stature and petite frame. I, personally found her unbelievable as the character of Lizzie mostly because I would never have believed a woman with as little muscle as Ricci could have swung an ax over twenty times to kill two people. The movie created a suspicion around Lizzie and her father that they may have had a somewhat incestuous relationship, especially on Lizzie's behalf.

I'm sorry but this movie wasn't very fabulous. While I enjoyed Clea DuVall as Lizzie's sister, Emma Borden, the rest of the acting was just sub par and not that great. Ricci wasn't a believable Lizzie, and even Stephen McHattie (who played the father) whom I have enjoyed in other things (the TV show MILLENNIUM for example) wasn't that great in this. Clea as Emma was really good, disapproving where she needed to be, and a comforting and loving older sister when that was needed instead.

If you want an accurate portrayal of the Lizzie Borden trial and ax murders I wouldn't suggest watching this movie. If you are a fan of Ricci then go ahead.