Horror – Page 13 – Savior Gaming

Jurrasic Park (novel)

After being surprised by Jaws (novel) I was really curious how much Spielberg changed for the movie. While I have reviewed the Jurassic Park series and while the movie is pretty much a cultural phenomenon, I’m not going to regurgitate the plot because the general plot is the same. What I’m going to do is basically talk about the differences and while I actually really enjoyed the book for some pretty damn different reasons.

So the book for Jurassic Park, while having a lot of the splendor and wonder of the movie, there is actually a lot of smart ethical questions and corporate evil in the book. In fact, Hammond is actually an eerily evil sociopath that is hell-bent on basically being his own god, no matter who dies in the process. The book never feels preachy about the ethical issues and the science but expertly feels like a grim kind of foreshadowing of how everything goes belly up. Another huge difference is the body count and gore in the book which is definitely past the pg-13 boundary and a lot of characters die in the book that don’t in the movies. The climax is more intense and well, a bit more brutal but also more realistic and fitting. Pretty much the only part of the book I couldn’t stand was Alex, Tim’s now younger sister (in the movie she was the older); she’s annoying and I swear she almost gets her, Timmy, and Grant killed at least half a dozen times in some pretty idiotic ways. Hammond maybe my favorite part of the book, starting as the kindly if not delusional grandpa figure he was in the book to becoming a heartless bastard as the story unfolds. The book is reasonably paced and Crichton had a great way of not talking down to his readers but not dumbing his themes down. In the end, I highly recommend the novel for Jurrasic Park, especially on Audible like I enjoyed it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Snowman

I have returned dear readers with glorious purpose and such horrors to speak of. Let me begin with a movie I was actually pretty interested in back in 2017, so much so I ran out and bought the book and was genuinely perplexed when the movie’s reviews came back as scathingly bad. But how? Michael Fassbender as a gritty detective searching for a sadistic killer who buries his victims in snowmen, how could this possibly go wrong?

Harry Hole is a broken man. While a talented detective, he struggles with alcoholism, depression, and his estranged wife and son. When a series of people mysteriously vanish and their bodies turn up strangely, it’s up to Hole to dive into a strange world of corruption and broken hearts to discover the truth behind the Snowman killer.

Ok, so they wanted to make Seven but instead they made an absolute mess. I truly regret complaining about the editing in X-Men: Dark Phoenix because this movie is a dumpster fire turned nuclear by the editing. It’s a jumbled mess of things happening, characters appearing with plot threads that go nowhere and I feel like there is a megacut somewhere that’s probably like 4 hours long but this movie isn’t worth saving. Poor Fassbender tries his ass off to save this movie but Harry Hole is such a trainwreck I can’t really take the guy seriously (his name sure as hell doesn’t help either.). I pegged the killer super early and when the mess of a story comes together, it’s meh. This movie isn’t gory or disturbing, it’s a not really a good noir, and holy shit drags. The only really redeeming feature I can really say is some of the cinematography is nice, not great but nice. The only other thing I can say is I laughed my ass off alot because of how unintentionally hilarious the movie is- so there is that. In the end, unless you are like Savior and I and enjoy super bad movies, I can’t recommend this movie at all. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Batman Joker deleted scene

So I got to say as I’m sure many of us are, but I’m tired of Batman and Joker stories. When I heard there was 0 Joker in The Batman I was pretty glad. That being said, I love this scene. I’m not really familiar with Barry Keoghan’s work but holy shit I love his portrayal as Joker; him and Pattinson have great chemistry in this scene and I like the Hannibal Lector callback. His design is very unsettling, and I love how degraded and ghoulish he looks. I hope we get some more of the duo in future films. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

How I Met Your Father Impressions

How I Met Your Father is a spin off of one of my favorite shows of all time, How I Met Your Mother. So clearly going into this I had low expectations it would be something I enjoy but very high hopes.

It’s a fine line to walk honestly, you need enough of a connection to make people coming back to say hey this is familiar enough to make me want to watch but new enough so they don’t say hey this is a rip off cash grab.

You also need it to be just be a copy and paste because let’s be honest here, if How I Met Your Mother came out in 2022, it would have gotten destroyed. It’s been off the air since 2014 and already Barney Stinson would probably be canceled as a rapist and Robin as being abusive to Ted. And don’t even get me started on Marshal and Lily. Even towards the end the show was acknowledging how messed up the group was.

Honestly that was half the charm of the original and much of that is missing here. Most of us knew a toned down version of all the people from HIMYM. One of the characters from HIMYF however is a very rich British guy (Charlie) that ran away to be with another character ( Valentina) and a third (Sid) legitimately owns the bar they all hang out at.

The main character,Sophie, (Hillary Duff) is equally as unrelatable, while she struggles with dating in the world of Tinder and hangs out with her friends she mostly whines about turning 30 and not knowing what to do with her life, even tho she already has a career.

That’s not to say the show isn’t entertaining, the show is actually quite entertaining. It has it’s laughs and I enjoy that the first episode they out right tell you that’s how she met the father even tho they never tell you which character it is. Some of the characters also live in the same apartment from the original that they got off an older married couple (clearly meaning Lily and Marshal)

The show is by no means bad, it just lacks much of the character of the original. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Thoughts on Peacemaker

Like most people, I had no idea who Peacemaker was until John Cena was chosen to play the part. Honestly when it comes to the comic version I still know almost nothing about him. Having looked him up he doesn’t have any super powers and is basically just a guy that is insanely skilled and talented. In fact one iteration has him as a diplomat that wants peace so much he starts just killing people.

That brings us to the show, where Peacemaker aka the guy with the best opening in comic book show and movie history possibly is pretty much a dark comedy. His best friend is an eagle, names Eagly because why would a guy like Peacemaker have a sense of humor. He is being used by Amanda Waller once again this time for Project Butterfly.

I won’t go to deep into the story so I don’t spoil it on you guys though I honestly love this show. I didn’t expect that I would but seeing John Cena dance around in his underwear after finally getting laid after being in jail for years only to almost get killed and steal important objects, which he decided we’re vinyl albums is amazing.

His watching his friendship with fellow characters Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and especially Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) is especially satisfying as all the characters show real growth and change as the season goes on.

Vigilante and Peacemaker playing with guns irresponsibly

If you haven’t started watching this yet, now is the time to catch up. Best wishes and may the gaming gods being you glory.

King of Thorns

King of Thorn: The Movie [Blu-ray] [2010] - Best Buy

A bizarre plague has swelled to pandemic level heights in such a short time. The plague is nicknamed Medusa because once contracted, the victim inevitably turns gray and crumbles like stone. As part of a highly experimental test, 160 people diagnosed with the disease are cryogenically frozen at random under the watch of a hyper-intelligent AI named Alice to study and hopefully find a cure. Kasumi, heartbroken to be separated from her twin sister, both infected, awakens with the others into utter insanity. The labyrinth of labs have been taken over by cruel, sharp thorned vines and hideous beasts have overtaken the facility. After most of the sleepers are slaughtered, only a handful of survivors are left to try escaping the murderous catacombs of vines that have a sinister will of their own and discover the truth.

So a funny little anecdote, I literally judged a book by its cover here. The cover made me honestly want to watch it and honestly I was glad I took the chance. The movie is far from perfect and if you are paying attention, the twists aren’t too much of a shock but there is a lot to love about this movie. First, the animation is beautiful and extremely well balanced between darkness, cramped spaces, and bright dreamy colors. I love how the movie juggles psychological drama, dark sci-fi, fairy tale fantasy, and horror all in one package with plenty of action to keep the pace going. The movie runs smooth mostly but one of my biggest problems is the story can get confusing if you aren’t paying attention. Certain aspects of the story at the end seemed a bit over-the-top and goofy and I feel like I may have missed something somewhere to put it all together. In the end, I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend checking it out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) trailer

When the hell will Hollywood learn to leave well enough alone? As a general horror movie, it looks ok but I got way too many Halloween (2018) vibes from the trailer, actually when the plot seemed revealed it seemed like a copy/paste job if you ask me. I wasn’t expecting much but I really wish we’d leave that poor family alone. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

A Head Full of Ghosts

Head Full of Ghosts, A: Tremblay, Paul: 9780062363244: Amazon.com: Books

How many of us have found ourselves losing ourselves in a over the top paranormal reality show? I think most of us have at one time or another, whether we genuinely believe or as a guilty pleasure. Well for Merry Barret, that was her childhood. When her older, sweetheart sister Marjorie starts acting out in some outlandish and disturbing way, the family finds itself pariahs of the neighborhood and focus of a hot new show based on her “possession”. The Barrets were average though financially struggling middle- class family and while the show seems to help that problem, the family begins disintegrating under the pressures of religion, mental illness, and repressed trauma as Merry Barret recounts the story of what really happened on the infamous shows years after, leaving us to wonder if what was really real?

This is the first book I’ve read by Tremblay and what I’ve seen to be his most popular. I don’t say this much but this book actually made me feel something really deep and I got to give Paul Tremblay credit for that. Merry Barret is a really sympathetic main character you really do feel for as the story goes on; her family I related to but I hated them because of Merry and her plight. I like the approach the story takes, leaving quite a bit of ambiguity at play. While not an outrageous ghost story, this is a very tense and tragic story of how mental illness and greed can destroy a family. I won’t recommend if you want something flashy and gory but I highly recommend it as a quick psychological horror drama. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Wandavision

The picturesque town of Westview just got a new whacky couple comes to town, Wanda and Vision. As we join the newlywed Avengers in their shenanigans, all may not be as it seems. A suspicious neighbor, an impossible pregnancy, and reality-bending to Wanda’s shattering psyche as we discover how far Wanda will go to hide the pain of her losses and the true depth of her mysterious powers as she becomes the fabled Scarlet Witch.

Fun Fact, Wanda was my first big Marvel crush as a kid and seeing her in full costume at the end was a huge treat. Wandavision is a great character study of Wanda Maximoff and a look at a shattered woman coping with a life of loss and tragedy. Olsen, Bettany, and Hahn steal the show as Wanda, Vision, and Agatha. I loved Agatha as a villain and I can’t wait to see more of her in the MCU. I loved the visuals and how well the sitcom spoofs were done. Going in I didn’t know what to expect but I can say Wandavision is a unique way to begin the 4th phase of the MCU and I can’t wait to catch up with the Scarlet Witch in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness trailer 1

Staying all the way to the end of Spider-man: No Way Home was well worth the wait for the first look at the Master of the Mystic Art’s return. As to be expected it looks beautiful and I’m happy to see Wanda and Mordo’s return; Scarlet Witch’s new outfit looks badass and I’m glad they finally gave her a real costume. I’ve seriously been waiting for this movie and I’m ultra pumped for it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.