Ed Gorman's Blog, page 17

Hammer's Dracula Films Ranked from Best to Worst from the great classic movie and tv guide

Hammer's Dracula Films Ranked from Best to Worstfrom the great classic movie and tv guide David Peel as Baron Meinster.1.  The  Brides of Dracula (1960). This should be no surprise to readers of this blog. Indeed, I recently ranked Brides among my top five choices for the greatest horror films of all time. It's a first-rate affair from start to finish with strong performances, interesting themes, and an exciting, inventive climax. The only thing it's missing is Count Dracula--but David Peel's Baron Meinster is a worthy substitute. Less physically threatening than Christopher Lee's vampire, the charming, handsome Meinster may be a more dangerous adversary. One of the film's best scenes is when the sweet Marianne introduces her paternal friend Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to her new boyfriend.
Dracula is staked--but not for long.2. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968). Vastly underrated, this lively tale has a revived Dracula (Lee) seeking revenge against a Monsignor who has "desecrated" his ancestral home by performing an exorcism. The theme of religion combating the evil of vampirism is not an uncommon one, but rarely has it received such a rich treatment. The film also benefits from director Freddie Francis' brilliant cinematography, some fabulous rooftop sets, and a solid cast. Veronica Carlson may be the most fetching of all Hammer heroines (well, let's call it a tie with Caroline Munro..and Valerie Leon).
Van Helsing's makeshift crucifix.3. Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula) (1958). The one that started it all is an effective adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. The opening scenes with Jonathan Harker at Castle Dracula and the climatic confrontation between Dracula and Van Helsing are marvelous. My only complaint is that the pacing drags in the middle when the action shifts to England. Still, it set the standard not only for the rest of the Dracula series, but for all the Hammer vampire films that followed it. James Bernard's exceptional score would become very familiar to Hammer fans.
John Forbes Robertson as Dracula.4. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974). Who would have thought that a mashup of vampires, kung fu, and The Seven Samurai would be so much fun? When Dracula and some unconventional vampires take over a small Chinese village, its residents send for visiting lecturer Van Helsing (Cushing). The journey to the village, punctuated by some well-staged fight scenes, sets the table for an all-out climax that ends with another Dracula-Van Helsing face-off. Be sure to skip the heavily re-edited version called The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula.
Barbara Shelley as a vampire.5. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1964). Although well-made and sporting an impressive cast, the direct sequel to Horror of Dracula lacks inspiration. Christopher Lee seldom has much dialogue in the Dracula films, but, in this one, he has none! The premise, which injects attractive English tourists into the Transylvanian landscape, seems recycled from the previous year's superior Kiss of the Vampire. Still, there are some nice touches, such as how Barbara Shelley goes from a dull lass to a smoking-hot vampire.
Lee strikes an imposing pose.6. Scars of Dracula (1970). An improvement over the same year's Taste the Blood of Dracula, the sixth film in the series offers little of interest other than a flashy finale and a creepy shot of Dracula climbing down a castle wall, face first, as he did in Bram Stoker's novel. In The Films of Christopher Lee, the actor said: "Instead of writing a story around the character (Dracula), they wrote a story and fit the character into it."
Count Dracula--corporate CEO.7.  The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973). As modern-day variations go, I like the idea of Count Dracula as a businessman who recruits four influential blokes to help him take over the world. I don't like the idea of Drac releasing a strain of bubonic plague as some kind of revenge on mankind. The resulting film reminds me of a lesser episode of The Avengers that sorely needs Steed and Mrs. Peel.

Cushing as a Van Helsing descendant.8. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972). My main problem with this entry is that it came two years too late. The 1970 Count Yorga, Vampire had already mixed vampires and contemporary youths. Hence, there was nothing jarring about seeing Count Dracula in modern-day London. The film does get credit for pairing Lee's Dracula and Cushing's Van Helsing (a Van Helsing descendant actually) for the first time since the 1958 original.
Dracula on the verge of being destroyed.9. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970). There was no Dracula in the original film treatment for this fifth series installment. The intention was for Ralph Bates' character to be killed and then resurrected as a vampire to avenge his death. However, when Christopher Lee agreed to appear in the film, the script was rewritten and Bates' character stayed dead--with Dracula avenging him. The premise, which revolves around a sort of Hellfire Club, is initially interesting. However, it soon evolves into a straight revenge tale and ties Satanic Rites for the worst climax in the series.

The new Paperback Parade

Paperback Parade  is the magazine for you if you are a book collector, reader, or just love great old books! Each 100 page, perfect-bound digest-size trade paperback, is in FULL COLOR loaded with articles on rare books, authors, artists, publisher runs, with dozens and dozens of gorgeous FULL COLOR covers of rare books of all kinds. Also “Paperback Talk” news, letters, show info, new books, people in the hobby. PAPERBACK PARADE #90, edited by Gary Lovisi, is the latest issue just out with articles by Phil Harbottle on rare British Authentic Science Fiction digests; Day Keene crime by Richard A. Lupoff; a look at western author Clair Huffaker; the Dagmar spy pbs; Tom Disch SF by Graham Andrews; Lancer 2-for-1 Books; Lou Cameron’s Angel Flight; Pulp Adventurecon 2014 report , more, full color, trade paperback, 100 pages, $15 + $3. postage. or You can subscribe: 3 issues in USA for $40. All International 3 for $65. You can pay using Paypal at the Gryphon Books website: www,gryphonbooks.com; or to the Gryphon Books email address. You can also send a check or USPS money order to Gryphon Books, PO Box 280209, Brooklyn, NY 11228, USA.

Gravetappin' Ben Boulden reviews Stephen King's Joyland

This review originally went live July 3, 2013. There is a new illustrated edition out from Hard Case Crime in hardcover. Come back soon for an original post.

Purchase a copy of Joyland at Amazon.
Ben BouldenPosted: 22 Oct 2015 06:00 AM PDT Hard Case Crime recently released a new Stephen King novel—straight to trade paperback—titled Joyland.  It is a short novel, probably not much more than 50,000 words, but it is Mr King’s best work in several years.  Joyland is a difficult novel to categorize.  It is part supernatural ghost story and mystery, but it doesn’t easily fit into either, or even both categories.  It is something approaching a working class soliloquy.  It is narrated as though the protagonist is speaking to himself attempting to find the truth hidden in the story’s events.

Devin Jones is an early-twenties college student with an unfaithful girlfriend, a mourning father, and a dead mother.  In the summer of 1973 Devin takes a job at an amusement park in the small resort town of Heaven’s Bay, North Carolina, called Joyland.  The summer changes Devin; he meets two life-long friends, a murderer, a dying boy, and in the process discovers adulthood.The story is centered on two primary events.  The first is a murder in the funhouse of Joyland, which occurred a few years before the story begins, and the second is Devin’s introduction to a dying boy named Mike.  The two story lines run parallel, but neatly and satisfactorily collide in the final climax.     

Joyland is a carnival novel—every horror writer should have one—but it is much more.  It is a coming of age story where the protagonist is dragged into adulthood by circumstance; a truer understanding is achieved, and the naiveté and brilliance of youth is forever lost.  It is a sad and wistful tale, but it doesn’t dwell on sorrow; rather it is more about hope than anything.  The opening lines frame the mood and pacing of the novel perfectly:“I had a car, but on most days in that fall of 1973 I walked to Joyland from Mrs. Shoplaw’s Beachside Accommodations in the town of Heaven’s Bay.  It seemed the right thing to do.  The only thing, actually.”  

Joyland is a small masterpiece.  It is smoothly readable, and while it tells a story of meaning it does so with a strong and interesting story.  It is anything but HCC’s usual fare, but it is an appealing novel, which should be well liked by Mr King’s usual suspects, HCC’s readers, and a bunch more.  You should try this one.   

This review originally went live July 3, 2013. There is a new illustrated edition out from Hard Case Crime in hardcover. Come back soon for an original post.

Purchase a copy of Joyland at Amazon.POSTED BY ED GORMAN AT 12:01 PM NO COMMENTS: LINKS TO THIS POST 

The finest issue of Mystery Scene Ever #141

MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE, Fall Issue #141
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Hi everyone,
We may all enjoy the damaged-yet-hip privates eyes, the crazed-yet-erudite serial killers and the dead-yet-hot vampire cops of current crime fiction, but there is something to be said for a good, old-fashioned hero with a code of honor and a commitment to his community. Yes, Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire is a throwback in today’s world, but I’m betting that label wouldn’t bother him a bit. It certainly doesn’t bother his many, many fans. Oline Cogdill caught up with Johnson for a chat in this issue. She also spoke with Robert Taylor, who plays the Wyoming sheriff in the Netflix series Longmire. Boy howdy! 
Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite all-time writers, yet I was surprised to learn of the extent of his work in the crime genre. In this issue, Michael Mallory offers an overview of Bradbury’s early pulp short stories and innovative mystery novels.
Here’s an image: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball icon, riding on the Lakers’ bus—and avidly reading Sherlock Holmes stories. It was time well spent, apparently, because now Abdul-Jabbar has written his own Sherlockian tale, or rather, a tale featuring Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft. Don’t miss our interesting conversation with the amiable all-star in this issue.
Julia Keller’s novel Last Ragged Breath is especially timely given the current trial of Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy Company, for the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in West Virginia in which 29 miners lost their lives. Keller’s novel was inspired by another West Virginia mining-related catastrophe from the 1­­970s, and it’s a grim reminder that greed can kill.
There’s lots more in this issue, but I want to be sure to welcome our new contributing editor, Matt Schlecht, to the Mystery Scene masthead. Matt’s been handling a lot of our Twitter and Facebook communications, as well as other editorial tasks. He’s worked at a number of magazines over the years and we’re delighted to have his expertise in house. Enjoy the issue!
Kate StineEditor-in-chief

Kate Stine, Publisher

Mystery Scene Magazine
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Barry Malzberg on Gil Brewer

Subj: and the girl screamed - by Gil Brewer Fawcett Crest Original 1956A rodomontade on a troubled, forgotten writer.  To my close friend and collaborator, Bill Pronzini but I send it on to be unread by others..."what the hell" as my friend Larry Janifer (1933-2002) used to say.  Rara-avis was presented to me years ago as an online discussion group centered on the category...it's lifeless but then again so might be this short essay.Regards to all,       Barry N. Malzberg                      #########################################################

Went through this in two hours yesterday it well reinforced the conclusion I had reached on Brewer (1922-1983): talent, real talent, no kidding, but a drunk, undisciplined and in a way contemptuous of himself and his own work (_not_ I must emphasize of the category)...the same old stuff here, the hasty improvisatory plotting, the absurd coincidences, the situational lurches, the shifts in direction, the random, unresolved intrusions and plot points and then as if he frantically typed drunk 48,000 words and then realized that he was coming up sheer against the wordage limit for this market, a hasty slam-the-doors hellbent false resolution which sweeps the characters and situation from the cluttered stage and turns to the audience to say with a winning smile "That's all folks".  Well, it may be all for him and Brewer in his dark way even here is some kind of a winner but all that he leaves this reader is a kind of querolous sense of loss...he could have been so much better.  Like his great model Big Ernie (they died at roughly the same age with booze a huge contributant) he had big ideas and precise, small treatment when he started but unlike Big Ernie he had no editors and no help and no literary culture of any kind to infuse as it surrounded him and it did badly, this zeitgeist, it little served him.

I suppose some Harold bloom of the category could take apart Brewer with greater precision than Brewer himself and show how his situation, his work refracted all of the strengths and ills of his very medium, the mass market slambang paperback original suspense market of the 50's which debased Chandler and was raised by John D. MacDonald (this was David Thompson's argument on Orson Welles) but I am no Harold Bloom.  In fact, I am no Gil Brewer.  Grateful on both counts.
Barry

The great Barry Salzburg on Gil Brewer

Subj: and the girl screamed - by Gil Brewer Fawcett Crest Original 1956A rodomontade on a troubled, forgotten writer.  To my close friend and collaborator, Bill Pronzini but I send it on to be unread by others..."what the hell" as my friend Larry Janifer (1933-2002) used to say.  Rara-avis was presented to me years ago as an online discussion group centered on the category...it's lifeless but then again so might be this short essay.Regards to all,       Barry N. Malzberg                      #########################################################

Went through this in two hours yesterday it well reinforced the conclusion I had reached on Brewer (1922-1983): talent, real talent, no kidding, but a drunk, undisciplined and in a way contemptuous of himself and his own work (_not_ I must emphasize of the category)...the same old stuff here, the hasty improvisatory plotting, the absurd coincidences, the situational lurches, the shifts in direction, the random, unresolved intrusions and plot points and then as if he frantically typed drunk 48,000 words and then realized that he was coming up sheer against the wordage limit for this market, a hasty slam-the-doors hellbent false resolution which sweeps the characters and situation from the cluttered stage and turns to the audience to say with a winning smile "That's all folks".  Well, it may be all for him and Brewer in his dark way even here is some kind of a winner but all that he leaves this reader is a kind of querolous sense of loss...he could have been so much better.  Like his great model Big Ernie (they died at roughly the same age with booze a huge contributant) he had big ideas and precise, small treatment when he started but unlike Big Ernie he had no editors and no help and no literary culture of any kind to infuse as it surrounded him and it did badly, this zeitgeist, it little served him.

I suppose some Harold bloom of the category could take apart Brewer with greater precision than Brewer himself and show how his situation, his work refracted all of the strengths and ills of his very medium, the mass market slambang paperback original suspense market of the 50's which debased Chandler and was raised by John D. MacDonald (this was David Thompson's argument on Orson Welles) but I am no Harold Bloom.  In fact, I am no Gil Brewer.  Grateful on both counts.
Barry

Ken Levine explains why I hate network crime shows

Ken Levine's formula for a hit procedural:

Network development season is in full swing. Comedies are hot commodities this year but one staple that never seems to go out of style is procedural dramas. Fame and fortune and a spin-off with :MIAMI at the end of the title can be yours if you just follow my simple rules.

Your star must have some supernatural power. He or she can read minds, has an amazing photographic memory, can remember every lunch he/she ever had, is a math whiz, or the most common – can see Fairy Tale characters.

But with this gift must come a curse. They must be tortured emotionally. They must have a dark past. Their wife/sibling/child/imaginary friend has been killed and they’re still haunted by it.


They’re only helping the police solve crimes as a way to better get in touch with resolving the unsolved circumstances of their dark past. The killer is still out there!  But only week one and the season finale.  Otherwise, it's business as usual.  Solving crimes and tossing off zingers.

When we go home with the hero we see he’s lonely. He can’t really get close to anyone because he’s so damaged. He compensates for no social skills by possessing this wondrous ability to bend spoons with his mind.

The hero must have a code. Oh sure he may come off as a cynic or she a bitch but ultimately they’re the champion of the little people.

The hero must have a partner of the opposite sex who finds him/her infuriating but is totally dependent on him/her. The partner is always somewhat of an idiot. He enters the crime scene and every week comes to the wrong conclusion. Only our hero, with his snazzy power, is perceptive enough to surmise what is really going on. And if the partner wasn’t already dumb enough, he has to now argue with the hero. The hero ultimately turns out to be right.

The hero must be surrounded by an investigative team. They stand around, provide exposition, and chase bad guys. Having a superpower means you never have to run. This team should be young and attractive. And one member must somehow be “quirky”. Note: If it’s a CBS show at least one attractive team member must be a brunette.

Throw in some grizzly murders, a cool stylized squad room (who knew police stations looked like the penthouse restaurant in the Space Needle?), and toss in a former major TV star or two and you’ve got a five year run.

So get going. A cop who channels Columbo. A detective who can go forward in time five minutes. A forensic expert who can communicate with inanimate objects. A coroner who can break down the ingredients in food without having to refer to the packaging.  The possibilities are endless!

All I ask for in return is the following credit:

Based on a Tired Formula by Ken Levine  

Let’s all get rich!

Steal Big, by Lionel White May, 1960 Fawcett Gold Medal

From Glorious Trash:

for the entire review go here:

http://glorioustrash.blogspot.com
Monday, October 19, 2015Steal Big


















Steal Big, by Lionel White
May, 1960  Fawcett Gold Medal

Known as the “king of the capers,” Lionel White is apparently most 
remembered as the guy who wrote the novel that Stanley Kubrick’s 
1956 film The Killing was based on. That novel was titled Clean Break, 
and it’s one I don’t have; strangely, for an author who was once so 
popular and well-published, White’s books appear to be pretty scarce 
on the used books market. I don’t think any of them have been reprinted, 
even by Hard Case Crime. At the very least, his books are overpriced 
these days, but I was able to score this one cheap.

Steal Big is a classic heist story. A professional thief named Donovan 
has just gotten out of prison and is already planning his next big 
caper: this one should bring in at least half a million dollars. 
He’s put together a team of five people, and they’re also the 
classic diverse lot demanded by this subgenre, from an
 alcoholic old woman to an ex-boxer. Or as Donovan himself 
considers them:

An evil old woman who could steal the pennies from a dead 
man’s eyes. A puny, psychopathic sadist who likes to kill for the f
un of it. A punch-drunk moron who by all rights should be in a 
side show. A college boy who hates the world because he figured 
he took a bum rap. A girl who isn’t dry behind the ears yet and who 
only wants to go for the ride because she thinks she’ll get enough 
money out of it to spring her old man out of the clink.

The putting together of the team is another hallmark of the heist 
story, but White skips it here; Donovan, who is described himself 
as getting on in years, has already put his team together when the
novel begins. Told in third-person, the book hopscotches across the 
perspectives of these characters, sometimes jarringly so 
(White is a firm POV-hopper, with perspectives changing between 
paragraphs with no space to warn the reader). However, W
hite also plays interesting tricks with time. 
He writes sequences and then doubles back a
nd write them from the perspectives of other characters, 
which occasionaly lends the narrative a bit of a surprise factor.

Duane Swierczynski dreams up a violent new cocktail for The Black Hood A.V.Club

Duane Swierczynski dreams up a violent new cocktail for The Black HoodBy Derrick Sanskrit@ducktasticOct 9, 2015 11:05 AM<img src="http://i.onionstatic.com/avclub/5583/..." >




he New York Comic Con is three days of tightly packed comics action, a quick but enormous event in Gotham City. Sifting through the content, we ask some of our favorite comics creators questions on their craft in The A.V. Club’s Comics Questionnaire.Duane Swierczynski is primarily known for his crime novels, but he’s recently made a name for himself transitioning his hard-boiled man-on-the-street perspective to the world of comics. Across runs on Punisher, The Immortal Iron Fist, Judge Dredd, and Bloodshot, Swierczynski has consistently shown the challenges of heroism in the face of an unflinchingly cruel world. Now, with Archie Comics’ relaunched Dark Circle Comics line, Swierczynski has brought back one of the great pulp heroes of the 1940s, the Black Hood. This latest incarnation of the vigilante has no superpowers, just an addiction to pain killers, and takes to costumed crime-fighting to ease his guilty conscience.If an alien species discovered The Black Hood as the only remnant of human civilization, what would they learn from us?Duane Swierczynski: They’d go back home, quickly. They would learn that we are a fragile and troubled race. It’s a guy that tries to do the right thing. In our world if you try to do the right thing the universe pounds the shit out of you and shows you better. That happens to this guy. I love noir stories. I love seeing guys on the worst possible day and watching them scramble, and the whole series is this one long scramble as the sand goes up under his limbs. Still tries to do the right thing—that’s the worst. The noir universe hates do-gooders so it tries to pound them and punish them and that’s the fun of the series, punishing this character in a weird way. I root for him though.The A.V. Club: So, humans as a race, we generally just like watching each other get beat up?DS: Absolutely, yeah.If my résumé included a whole summer spent reading The Black Hood, how could I spin that into valuable work experience?DS: I think managing pain with narcotics could be a useful skill. Hiding your true self from you co-workers, which is totally true. Exacting justice when it needs to be dealt.AVC: Those are all useful skills in life, but I’m not sure you’d want to bring them up in an interview.DS: No. No. Definitely don’t interview in a black hood, that would set a wrong precedent. Set up a red flag right there.If copyright law were no concern, what character from another game, comic, movie, etc. would you like to see crossover into The Black Hood?DS: My Little Pony. (Laughs.] That’s the natural fit for his world. Better Call Saul or Breaking Bad ? Total fit with Black Hood. Or The Wire . If David Simon had a Wire comic, man, Black Hood would be down there in Baltimore hanging out with the Wire guys.AVC: Put the Black Hood there into some modern TV drama.DS: Exactly. But honestly, Greg as a superhero, he has no powers. He’s an addict. He’d probably be killed quickly, I think, versus anybody. Lamest superhero I can think of, he’d be killed pretty quickly.AVC: He’s the Walter White of super heros.
DS: Totally.

for the entire interview go here:
http://www.avclub.com/article/duane-s...

FROM BRASH BOOKS A STARRED REVIEW FOR "TRUE GRIFT"

FROM BRASH BOOKS

A STARRED REVIEW FOR "TRUE GRIFT" Debut author Jack Bunker hit the big time by winning a coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly for his incredible new novel TRUE GRIFT. They said, in part:This caper novel is a fun, fast read, kind of like Elmore Leonard meets Donald Westlake, or the Golf Channel hosting a season of "Better Call Saul."
Robin Burcell and Jack Bunker at BoucherconThat, plus rave reviews from New York Times bestselling authors like Joseph Wambaugh, Ron Hansen, and Joseph Finder, are making TRUE GRIFT the must-read book of the fall."FOR THE DIGNIFIED DEAD" WINS RAVESTRUE GRIFT isn't the only Brash Book basking in the glow of acclaim from Publishers Weekly. FOR THE DIGNIFIED DEAD also got big kudos. Here's an excerpt:The chilly European setting is the perfect backdrop to very dark deeds, and Matinova is a clever and capable heroine who’s not afraid to buck the system to solve her cases. Those who like strong female characters and meticulously plotted procedurals will be rewarded.A BRASH BOUCHERCONBrash Books authors were out in force at Bouchercon in Raleigh and our own Craig Faustus Buck, author of GO DOWN HARD, won the Macavity Award.
Craig Faustus Buck proudly displays his award
Bill Crider signing his book OUTRAGE AT BLANCO
Philip Reed signs OFF & RUNNING
Five Brash authors and one proud publisher. Robin Burcell, Craig Faustus Buck, Bill Crider, Philip Reed, Lee Goldberg and Andy StrakaCheck out our latest videos!
Our authors and founders discuss writing, publishing, and reveal the inside stories behind Brash Books and the crime novels that we publish.
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