Live and let live in ‘Army of the Dead’ #ArmyofthedeadNetflix

Oddly, I ended up caring more about the Zombie King more than the two-dimensional human characters in the new Army of the Dead movie on Netflix. It opens with a US military convoy carrying a ‘dangerous cargo’ out from the Area 51 base in the Nevada desert. There’s an accident and our Zombie King breaks free! He promptly begins to infect and recruit an army to overrun Las Vegas (cue the comedy-horror to a modern soundtrack).

The US government fails to quell the zombie outbreak (yes, it’s all fairly covid-y) and, instead, seals off the city. The government is tempted to nuke the entire place, but there are humanitarian activists who create a fuss and everything gets a touch delayed.

A mercenary group of humans then decides (for various individual backstory reasons) to break into the city in order to retrieve a load of cash from under one of the mega casinos. It basically becomes a bit of a heist movie at this point.

It’s the politics of this movie that set it apart from the norm. We come to realise that the zombies aren’t just mindless invaders who should be destroyed – as they seem to have a social hierarchy and a language. Indeed, they just seem to want a place to live – it’s apparent that they could break out of Las Vegas if they wanted, but they’re content simply to have a home. See the politics? Indeed, given how poorly the human refugees of the city are treated by their own government in a holding camp, we understand that the true monsters in this movie aren’t the zombies. The zombies actually make the humans look bad. And we come to appreciate just how poorly the Zombie King has been treated (experimented on in Area 51, humans terrorising his city and ‘family’, etc)!

Is it full of silly gore? Yes. Is the tone of the movie entirely haphazard? Yes. Is it one helluva lot of fun? Abso-zombie-lutely! And the cast isn’t too bad. If you’re a fan of the genre, this movie has something a tad different to offer. Worth a look. 7 out of 10 from me!

The Terror lacks… well, terror, really #BBC #TheTerror #horror

Well, I watched the first three episodes of The Terror on the BBC. That seems like giving it a fair crack, really. It certainly breaks the ice. LOL. It tells the historical tale of the ill-fated British ships named The Erebus and The Terror which sought to discover the North-west Passage back in the 1840s. This puts us in mind of one of the key sub-plots of the novel Frankenstein, of course. We are expecting some sort of monstrous horror from the off, therefore.

One of the producers is Ridley Scott, so it should have some chops, right? Well, the setting in the icy wastes is convincingly done. The costuming and the claustrophobic life on the ships is beautifully evocative of the era. The dialogue is interesting and engaging, and the internal politics are diverting, and they do build a sense of tension. The cast is top-notch. So what’s not to like?

Sadly, this series provides us with its own spoilers right from the beginning. It states several times over in the opening sequence that everyone ends up dying or disappearing. And the start of the second episode makes sure to hammer it home yet again. Therefore, we’re just sat waiting to see each of the characters die in a fairly anti-climactic manner. The episodes do try to create ‘spooky’ moments that cannot be rationalised, but then we understand that there’s just a big polar bear on the loose and killing everyone. Oh. So what? The polar bear might be controlled by a vengeful Inuit. So what? But the manner of the deaths seems poetic and symbolic of the individual’s own sins punishing them. Yeah. So what? AND WHERE’S THE TERROR IN ANY OF THIS?

Sheesh. What a waste of time and money. The series would have done far better to get writers who understand the plot-beats and mechanics of horror. I really wouldn’t bother with the show if I were you. But that’s just my opinion.

Sassy sequences and laughs in Vampires Vs The Bronx! #VampiresVsTheBronx #vampires #netflix #horror

Watched the new comedy-horror Vampires Vs The Bronx on Netflix last night! A faceless corporation, Murnau Properties (a reference to the director of Nosferatu, presumably), is buying up real estate in the Bronx on the cheap, gradually dispossessing the underprivileged black and Hispanic community, forcing them out and generally gentrifying the place, so that the real estate is then worth far more. Here, then, is the story of modern America: the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Once we find out who’s behind Murnau Properties, we’re not surprised really: a privileged, white, parasitic elite (yes, vampires). The vampires in this movie, therefore, work on both a literal and metaphoric level – making the whole movie strangely compelling, despite its general lack of originality.

As you’ll detect from the above, there is a general satire of modern America going on. In keeping with this satirical vibe, there are a good number of visual jokes as we go, using Timberlands, mobile phones and skateboards. Indeed, this movie is authentically immersed in the modern black and Hispanic experience in the US as well as the genre of vampire fiction (Salem’s Lot, Blade, etc). It makes for a persuasive and well-informed mix.

Looked at from a female perspective, there is quite an interesting (albeit understated) debate concerning competing narratives around ‘beauty’. The Aryan white, blonde female vampire dominates the first half of the movie, but is slowly revealed as all manipulative artifice, and ugly, selfish demand, prepared to stop at nothing to win advantage over or destroy men and women alike. Zoe Saldana is actually sacrificed upon the altar of such contrived beauty in the movie’s first scene! By the end of the movie, however, the young black character of Rita (Coco Jones) wins out with a self-possessed and generous version of beauty that is ‘au naturel’, a beauty that cannot simply be owned by others (be they a vampire or the heroic male lead).

So, this film has social relevance and importance! Okay, okay, there’s a LOT of cliche, if you know the genre well. But it’s only 1hr25mins long, so not too much of a demand on your time. It gets a 7 out of 10 from me. Check it out!

Great scares and chills in Bird Box #SandraBullock #BirdBox #Netflix

No wonder Bird Box has been one of the most viewed movies in the world during lockdown! This scif-fi/horror film sees humankind struggling to survive when sight of the ‘monster’ outside causes insanity and a suicide pandemic. You can only get about with your eyes covered, and you must never open the front door when someone or something knocks! Don’t let it in! It’ll infect you! A pregnant Sandra Bullock(!) works with a groups of desperate strangers (including John Malkovich), and she gets to raise two young children in ‘the new normal’. But her group dies one by one, until she has to go outside with her kids to try and get them to some sort of safety. They have to deal with all manner of hazard and marauder!

Honestly, it’s a great great movie that plays with your mind. It’s utterly relatable. And the ending is a triumph. I flaming loved it. 9.5 out of 10. My missis doesn’t tend to like horror, but even she enjoyed it.

Satan speaks out: ‘You shouldn’t believe everything you read. There’s a lot of fake news out there!’ #fantasy #horror #Satanic #science fiction #newbook

Satan launches his new authorised biography today: The Satanic in Science Fiction and Fantasy! ‘What’s the odd misunderstanding between friends, eh? Come on, live a little, before it’s too late. Hey! Don’t look at me. I’ve never even heard of the damned virus. I was busy elsewhere.’

A J Dalton is interviewed and all his ugly truths are exposed, including his more than passing familiarity with Satan! Fie, for shame! #Satan #TheDarkLord #authors #authorconfessions #horror #sciencefiction #fantasy #MondayMood

Argh! Don’t look at it. Put out your eyes! Don’t tell anyone. Bite out your tongue! https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/post/interview-with-aj-dalton-by-megan-bond

Creative writing mini-lesson: no.13 ‘More pain please’, or the principles of conflict #Lockdown #coronavirus #creativewriting #MondayMotivation #MondayThoughts #MondayMorning

Today’s lesson was produced by scriptwriter (and former Lecturer in Scriptwriting) Matthew White. He can be found on IMDb or twitter, and his latest movie is Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunchbreak, starring Katherine Parkinson, Tom Meetan, Jonny Vegas and Kriss Marshall.

Check out this passage from a script, and see if you recognise which film it’s from:

John wakes up – his clothes are neatly arranged on the end of the bed. He gets dressed, enjoys a steaming mug of coffee with his muesli. He kisses MICHAEL goodbye, climbs into his car and drives to work.

 

 

Trick question: it’s not from a film, because it’s terrible. It’s poorly written, it has no rhythm or movement or life.

And, most importantly, there’s no conflict.

Conflict is your story engine: you can’t tell a story without drama, and you can’t have drama without conflict. Here’s my very simplified description of how drama works:

A character or group of characters wants and/or needs something (goal). A character or thing (antagonist) gets in their way. There’s a struggle (conflict), rising to a crescendo (climax) and an emotionally powerful resolution (catharsis).

Simple!

 

As a bonus, here are some handy tips on how to make conflict your friend:

1) Keep conflict central to your planning

A powerful way to express your theme is to do so through conflict. For example: I once had an advisory session with Barbara Crampton, one of the Gods of Horror. And she told how to deal with theme in horror: when someone lives according to your message, they live. When they don’t, they die.

2) Forget good guy/bad guy

The world has moved on from this binary conflict. Think about the most successful “bad guys” of the last 30 years in film, TV, theatre and literature. They may be monstrous, they may do some horrible things, but in their own mind they are convinced that they are the good guy. Kurt Vonneghut never wrote a villain in his life – and he didn’t do too badly. Consider a book and movie like The Martian. Where’s the bad guy? There’s fundamental conflict between the characters, but it’s caused by brilliant people struggling to solve an almost impossible problem.

3) Conflict can – and should – take many forms

As Robert McKee famously said, conflict can be as simple as two people needing to get past each other to reach the other side of the room. He also encourages writers to build conflict upon conflict, and try, at the very least, to cover the following:

• Internal conflict: the battle between opposing aspects of the protagonist’s own psyche. It’s often the most fundamental battle of the story, and what your third act is really about. Or to put in another way:
  • Chief Brody has to overcome his fear of the water before he can kill the shark.
  • Carol Danvers has to overcome her disdain for the Skrulls and unleash her true self if she wants to save the day.
  • Arthur Fleck has to channel his rage before he can fight back against a world that keeps stamping on him.
• Personal conflict: the battle between the protagonist and their lovers, friends, family. In a heist or quest movie, your team is a great source of conflict. If a hero needs to save her loved ones, make sure that the loved ones don’t WANT saving. And don’t even think about writing romance or drama without having a wealth of conflict stored up here.
• Everything else! The shark. The rules of society in Victorian England. The ticking clock – and the bomb sitting underneath it. This is the stuff that hooks your audience in, gives them excitement, makes them hold their breath and propels them into that third act where our protagnist has to resolve all the other problems!

[Different genres of story will focus more on different areas of conflict, but if you can deliver on all three, you’re going to give us powerful stories and reduce the risk of repetition.]

4) There’s always room for one more

In other words – don’t be nice to your characters. Think about the last time a story left you breathless. Was it because the hero was having an easy time? Or did things just keep getting worse?

As the old saying goes: get your character up a tree, throw some rocks at them, show them getting down from the tree. To which I would add: whilst you are throwing rocks at them, put some barbed wire around the tree. Tell them that their wife hates them. Steal their dog. And set fire to the tree.

Quick tasks

Look at the passage at the top of the page and try to imagine five places where you could introduce some conflict.

OR

Use my ‘how drama works’ formula below in order to write a logline or short summary of your own movie idea.

A character or group of characters wants and/or needs something (goal). A character or thing (antagonist) gets in their way. There’s a struggle (conflict), rising to a crescendo (climax) and an emotionally powerful resolution (catharsis).

If you’d like me to look at how successful your attempt is, please do feel free to email me (Adam, in lieu of Matthew): adz_d2003 @ yahoo.co.uk – deleting the two spaces either side of the @ sign.

I’ll be posting a new lesson every day (Monday-Friday), to help people who are stuck at home because of the coronavirus situation. These mini-lessons will give you a useful daily routine, and might just keep you sane! Stay safe.

If you enjoyed this mini-lesson, do SHARE it with others.