Nick Cato's Blog, page 29

Decent...But No Real Magic

MISTIFICATION by Kaaron Warren (2011 Angry Robot Books / 303 pp / tp and eBook)


Warren's latest novel deals with a young magician named Marvo (a REAL magician, not one of those phoney illusionists) who harbors some amazing powers.  With his parents gone, his grandmother takes care of him, and when a bunch of thugs try to kill him, she takes the boy to a secret room in a huge house where they live for four years(!).  The boy spends his days listening to his grandmother's life stories of magic, and also sneaks out daily to find them food.  If you can get past this whole premise (which I had a hard time doing), you'll probably stick around for the next act, in which Marvo's grandmother dies, forcing Marvo to finally venture out into the world.


Without any formal education, Marvo fends for himself by doing whatever he can, and also by "collecting" stories from the many people he meets (there's quite a few of these stories here, some of which tried my patience to the max).  He winds up in a psychiatric institution where he eventually gets into a relationship with one of the nurses.  They take off and begin performing magic shows together, and as a couple continue to collect stories from everyone they come into contact with (and while some of these stories are interesting, It seems like they're here for filler).


MISTIFICATION had the potential to do alot more than it does.  Marvo's powers are more discussed than actually used, and it seemed as if Warren was holding him back for some mysterious reason.  While there's some fine moments (especially during Marvo's magic act at a young child's birthday party), I kept waiting for more to happen, but it never did.


In the hands of a lesser writer, I don't know if I would've made it through MISTIFICATION; Warren's prose is always smooth and tight, and I liked the whole "real magic" angle at play here, but like her novel SLIGHTS, there's that same THING going on that seems to be keeping her from unleashing that true classic I KNOW she has in her.  A decent read, just don't expect too much magic...

More Over-the-Top Mayhem from Japan

As part of the 10th annual New York Asian Film Festival, Sushi Typhoon (Japan's answer to Troma Films ) unleashed another manga-inspired sci-fi/action/splatter/slapstick dark comedy titled YAKUZA WEAPON.  Like MACHINE GIRL, this one deals with a gang lord who is enhanced after being captured by the government...this time with a machine gun arm (that turns back to a human arm at will) and a rocket-launcher hidden in his new flip-down knee!


But our anti-hero Shozo (played with comic glee by Tak Sakaguchi) was a lunatic even before his amputated body became weapon-enhanced.  After serving 4 years in the jungle (I'm assuming with the military?), Shozo returns home to Tokyo to find his father (a mob kingpin) murdered and his families' hang out turned into a seedy "loan" store.  When Shozo learns a rival gang leader is trying to take over the entire underworld by shooting up various gangs with a new "hyperdrug," all hell breaks loose.  With only a few brief scenes of a tame nature, YAKUZA WEAPON is an almost constant barrage of kung-fu action, gunplay, sword fights, and some really off-the-wall sequences (Shozo's pissed-off girlfriend welcomes him and his 2 friends home by tossing a small speed boat at them, almost crippling him!).


The highlight of the film features Shozo up against a naked female robot who fires mini-missiles from her vagina (!) and her head flips down to unleash some serious machine gun fire (yes---the Japanese know how to party!).  There's also a 4-minute fight scene that was filmed in a single take, yet it looks as if it were professionally choreographed.


Director Yudai Yamaguchi has gone ballistic to see that his fans have a good time, and he has succeeded quite well.  Kudos to co-director and star Tak Sakaguchi, who played a major part with the fight scenes here.


With gallons upon gallons of blood (although some of the CGI-splatter looks a bit silly), heads and limbs flying all over the place, and as much old-school fist/foot fighting as any classic karate film, YAKUZA WEAPON is one of the more entertaining Asian mob flicks to come down the pike in years.



A Yakuza member about to have his fembot fire missiles from her crotch!

Shozo wakes up with an interesting new appendage...

Helman Returns

COSMIC FORCES by Gregory Lamberson (to be released Oct., 2011 by Medallion Press / 380 pp / tp)


After battling an unusual serial killer in PERSONAL DEMONS and defeating an army of drug-spawned voodoo zombies in DESPERATE SOULS, private investigator Jake Helman returns in yet another action-packed case.  This time the wife of New York City's mayor hires Jake to see if her hubby is cheating on her.  What he discovers is far worse than a role in the hay: it seems the mayor belongs to an ancient order who have been manipulating world events for centuries . . . and the only way for Jake to bring these guys down is to join them.


But before Jake joins the order, he tangles with assassins, strange, hooded creatures, and through a folk lore expert, learns the legend of Avadiim, who turns out to be an all-too real octopus-like god who is worshipped by the mayor and his cronies.  Jake's ex-wife (as well as Cain and Abel) return from the afterlife, giving this installment its heaviest supernatural edge yet (and also some of its more emotional moments).


For fans of the series, there's a slight step taken in Jake's relationship with his psychic neighbor Laurel, and his former partner is still living in the form of a crow named Edgar.  Its highly recommended that newcomers check out the first two books in the series, as there's plenty of mention here of what came beforehand.


Despite losing an eye in the second novel, Jake's still as hard as nails as he deals with crooked politicans, battles man-sized as well as giant monsters, and even manages to help his ex-partner's teenaged son to get out of an obscure new age cult (!).


COSMIC FORCES' 380 pages fly by like lightning, and fans of the series will be MUCHO satisfied.  Lamberson's modern noir/supernatural horror hybrid has become a must read for me.

And Yet Another COMIC GEEK UPDATE

Only 3 issues into their new GODZILLA series, IDW releases a 2nd Godzilla title (GODZILLA: GANGSTERS & GOLIATHS) with a slightly silly premise: Gangsters attempt to whack a detective who tried to turn in their family...but he manages to escape and washes ashore on MONSTER ISLAND!  Godzilla deep-fries the Yakuza, but the cop is rescued by an ancient order who guard the twin girls who control Mothra.  The cop takes off with the girls, telling them he needs Mothra to help him take down the mob.  It sounds ridiculous but John Layman's script actually works here.  Hopefully it'll work in the 2nd issue.  Either way I'm GEEKING out over all the new Godzilla comics lately...

The 6th issue of CONAN: ROAD OF KINGS wraps up the first section in Dark Horse's current CONAN saga.  Everything that has gone down in the first 5 issues is wrapped up nicely here, especially the fate of Gamesh and the return of the giant gold-eating worm creature.  While the story here is well done, Mike Hawthorne's artwork is a bit too "Saturday-Morning Cartoon-ish" looking for my taste.  (Horror fiction fans: can you spot authors Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni in a one-panel cameo?  They make fine barbarians!).  ROAD OF KINGS continues in 2 months, after a brief 2 issue tale called...

...CONAN: ISLAND OF NO RETURN.  In this first issue, Conan is rescued from a frenzied gang of guards by 2 hot-to-trot barbarian women, both thieves.  They blackmail Conan into joining them on a dangerous heist: it seems the girls have learned about a huge treasure that's been left in an isolated castle.  The only problem is the castle sits on a high mountain on a tiny island, surrounded by fierce waves.  Of course Conan manages to scale the mountain and help the girls  up, when they're spotted by a strange creature (we only see its silhouette as the issue leaves us hanging for part 2).
Ron Marz' script is a bit lacking here (way too much silly innuendo and some dialogue that sounds like modern language), and while artist Bart Sears does a decent job, I'm not diggin' his rendering of Conan's face: just doesn't cut it for me for some reason.  Michael Kutshce's cover, however, is fantastic (see above).
Here's hoping we get the classic Dark Horse CONAN team of Truman and Giorello back before this fine series begins to show signs of age.

MPD's Were Never So Much Fun...

NIGHTJACK by Tom Piccirilli (2010 Crossroad Press / 241 pp / eBook)
While Piccirilli has been pumping out the crime noir thrillers lately, this one blends bizarre elements not seen since his novel NOVEMBER MOURNS.
Pace is released from a mental institution only to be abducted by three of his former ward mates, who managed to escape the hospital right after something horrible happened to the daughter of wealthy industrialist Alexandra Kaltzas.  All four of Piccirilli's characters suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder, and it's up to Pace to try and discover which one (presumably) raped Cassandra Kaltzas--and being there's so many personalities here, the suspect list is nearly endless (the mystery of just who Cassandra was/is helps drive the tale at a break-neck--ummm--pace).
But Pace has a dark history of his own: after watching his wife burn to death in a mob-orchestrated restaurant arson, an inner demon known as Nightjack had come out of him and managed to slaughter all those responsible (and the constant wait for Nightjack to re-emerge gives this novel nearly non-stop suspense).
As our foursome face constant danger and hitmen sent by Kaltzas, they eventually find themselves on an isolated Greek island, owned by the revenge-hungry tycoon, in an all-out brain-trip of action, dark fantasy, and endless questions (and while I admit to being confused at times due to so many characters popping out of our group, Piccirilli manages to tie things up at the end...so if you go in don't let the insanity turn you off!).
NIGHTJACK is yet another satisfying yarn, sure to please the author's continually-growing legion of fans (kudos here for some dark and slick humor).

It's Time to get FUNKY...

IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY: A CASHIERS DU DINEMART COLLECTION by Mike White (2010 Bear Manor Media / 377 pp / tp)


From 1994-2008, CASHIERS DU CINEMART was a fanzine featuring wildly opinionated movie reviews and retrospects, as well as interviews with everyone from Crispin Glover to cast members of seldom-seen 70s blaxploitation films.  IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY collects some of the fanzine's finest moments, and features introductions from exploitation film guru Herschell Gordon Lewis as well as everyone's favorite media whore, Chris Gore.


Author Mike White is perhaps best known for calling Quentin Tarantino out for "borrowing" scenes from a 1989 Hong kong movie named CITY ON FIRE for his own film, RESERVOIR DOGS.  White even made a short feature titled WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLING, which shows (side-by-side) shots from both films, calling Tarantino's motives into question.  The opening chapters deal with this whole saga, and while I had seen White's film online, there's plenty more here for those interested in this on-going celluloid grapple.


Among my favorite sections were Mike Thompson's look at the original script for the Nicolas Cage film 8MM,  Mike White's section on ALIEN 3, White's interview with Canadian cult film director Guy Maddin, and of course, the huge section dedicated to the 1975 blaxploitation classic BLACK SHAMPOO, which features an overview of the cast, interviews with the director and a few stars, and an interesting story on how Mike and his friends became addicted to it (and still hold annual viewings).


While I haven't mentioned even half of what's on display here (STAR WARS fans will get a kick out of the small section dedicated to it), IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY looks at films through the eyes of super-geek film fans, and while (at times) things get a bit anal (I mean, what film geek DOESN'T get anal when talking films?), film fans will not be bored, even if a topic being discussed isn't of particular interest.


A fun. informative, and smart book to garnish any film freaks' book shelf.

A Parable in the Hood!

Check out my latest column over at CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT

A Novel of Indeterminate Ethnicity

SENSATION by Nick Mamatas (2011 PM Press / 208 pp / tp and eBook)

From Cthulhu cults to suburban nuclear bomb creators, you never know what you're gonna get when you crack open a new novel from Nick Mamatas...SENSATION is no exception.  And despite a few head-scratching moments, this was a hard one to put down.

It seems a centuries-old war between a rare species of Costa Rican wasps and an intelligent breed of spiders has spilled over into human society.  While the spiders are able to latently control people and change the course of human history, the wasps' victims are usually chaotic and cause worry among the arachnids.  In SENSATION, the wasps sting an average New Yorker named Julia who quickly begins to change into a radical anarchist after leaving her hubby during one intense sex scene (and I don't mean that in the pornographic sense).  The spiders keep dibs on Julia's movements by living inside the heads of "men of indeterminate ethnicity."  (I should state here that the first 50 pages or so feature some truly funny scenarios and dialogue...something I didn't expect from Mamatas).  When Julia begins to influence other like-minded radicals, the spiders begin to worry the wasps may be planning something big, as Julia's husband Ray watches her actions on the news, wondering what on earth is going on.

SENSATION is told from the spider's view points (and--I THINK at times--from the wasp's), and while it was a bit confusing to follow at times, Mamatas makes it work.  The underlying question here (do humans have free will or is something else controlling them?) is quite frightening, and considering this novel suggest insects are, makes this whole thing downright creepy (and I say this in a positive way).  This is another original, well-written--if uneven--tale from Mamatas that can be consumed in a sitting or two.





Now where did I put that can of Raid?...

Industrial Savior...

LET IT BLEED by S.L. Schmitz (2011 Dead Tree Comics / 348 pp / tp and eBook)





Basically a goth-re-telling of the Gospel, S.L. Schmitz's LET IT BLEED takes place in the early 80s in middle America, in the middle of an already established post-punk/industrial music scene (there's references to countless bands in the early chapters).





A young, drug-addicted punk known as "The Dead Girl" is pregnant with the Messiah while her boyfriend ("The Razorblade Boy") sings for a a punk band (and doesn't exactly treat her like the new Mother of God).  Described as having a voice that's "producing a tune so bereft of romance, erotic to the point of suicide," Razorblade Boy quickly becomes the most interesting character here, although everyone in Schmitz's dark, moody novel managed to come alive in their own unique ways (and while there's many, Schmitz wisely keeps the tale focused on a chosen few).





LET IT BLEED's strength is in its poetic prose; there's certain sentences (and even entire sections) that I re-read not only to get what the author was trying to say, but to enjoy the beauty of the wording.  Whether describing the scene in a crowded night club, demons contemplating their eternal struggle with Christ, or The Dead Girl's love for her abusive boyfriend, Schmitz makes it all read like a poem spawned from the collective auras of Peter Murphy's lyrics and the short stories of Samuel R. Delany (in particular, Delany's "Aye, And Gomorrah" from his classic collection, DRIFTGLASS).





With endless scenarios that are simultaneously beautiful and horrific, and a heartbreaking conclusion that left me wanting more, LET IT BLEED is a sure-fire hit for anyone into music or religion-based dark fiction (just make sure to take the time to read this slowly...there's much going on and Schmitz gives much food for thought).

The Armageddon Chord

See my review for this forthcoming debut novel by Jeremy Wagner over at THE CROW'S CAW:
THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD review