Dark House (2014)

I feel cheated. The way I feel cheated when watching any Wes Craven movie besides Nightmare on Elm Street and The Last House on the Left (which still baffles me as a glaring outlier in a rather mediocre yet prolific career) or when watching any John Carpenter film besides Halloween and his Masters of Horror entry Cigarette Burns. I have this predisposition that the movie should be good while actively relegating strong contrary suspicions to the back of my mind, only to be left disappointed and perhaps a bit incredulous as to how anyone could take such a movie seriously (The Ward, My Soul to Take). Of the few defenders of duds from pros, you get defenses like "the movie was meant to be bonkers," but in the case of Dark House, the filmmaker interviews included on the DVD beg otherwise, leaving me even more floored as to the actual goals of this film.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)

Bear with me. I'm writing this nearly a week after watching the movie, which isn't typical for me; I try to at least braindump my thoughts into a rough outline no later than the day after. And not only has a week passed; in that week's time, I've quit one job, vacationed in New York City, and started a new job (yesterday). So, needless to say, the freshness of my thoughts has diminished a bit. What hasn't diminished, however, is the strong inclination to watch this unexpectedly good Paranormal Activity entry again! This could possibly be the first time since the Friday the 13th franchise that I found the fifth installment to be at least as good as the first.

Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

Not sure how I let this movie pass me by, and it's unfortunate that I missed it as a candidate for last year's top picks, but it's better late than never, I suppose. Even if late means nearly 3 years late. It's been so long I've forgotten a lot of the first installment's story other than the basic elements (really, the only thing that stands out is that hulking ghost-dude pacing back and forth outside and then suddenly appearing inside the room!). In lieu of re-watching the first film, I decided to read the review I wrote--and, wow, I was pretty harsh. Judging by my words I was really put off by the film, which is interesting because I distinctly remember watching it again with a friend only to settle into its vibe and enjoy it. Fortunately, this second chapter chronologically (save for an opening exposition) picks up where the first left off, ties nicely back into its predecessor, and adds in some comedy, mostly courtesy of the paranormal-investigator duo Tucker (I can't recall any other horror movie where a character stands on someone's front porch eating a Hot Pocket!) and Specs.

Haunter (2013)

Not willing to come down from my recent high with the striking I Am a Ghost, I've been pining for more movies that take this fresh approach to the haunted-house plot. As it turns out, Haunter, which premiered at SXSW last year (a year after I Am a Ghost made its festival rounds), is very much the movie I was looking for--and here I've been skipping it on Netflix Instant for a while. It has the same premise and many similar parallels to Mendoza's film, but the execution is very different; and we get to see much more of the mystery surrounding the hooks of the opening act. I don't view Haunter as the superior film (others will), but it is definitely a welcome and effective effort that makes it stand out among the sea of dross out there.

I Am a Ghost (2012)

Had it not been for a recent perusal of The Jaded Reviewer (in my usual fashion, however, I did not read the review before watching the movie; just sought out the title), there's no telling when I would've finally caught wind of I Am a Ghost. At first I was disappointed because it appeared too old to be a candidate for this year's top DVD releases, but then I saw that the non-film festival USA release date on IMDB says March 1, 2014, so I'm going with that data to justify this flick's 2014 candidacy (mostly because I loved the film and want it to appear on one of my end-of-year lists). Still, as technology progresses, my "DVD release" list is quickly becoming a bit of a misnomer, as I technically watched this on a VOD platform (VuDu). But I'll sort out semantics later. For now, allow me to share a few words about a film that seemed tailored for me, and urge you to check it out too.

Dark Skies (2013)

I really should've hated this one, but it was quite good.

Lovely Molly (2011)

The Blair Witch Project, Altered, and now Lovely Molly--Eduardo Sanchez's movies really appeal to me.  Blair Witch scared my fifteen-year-old self nearly out of the rickety cinema in which I chanced to watch it with a couple buddies; and Altered was a ton of fun on a night when my twenty-six-year-old self chanced to watch a seemingly randomly picked offering from the slim catalogue that is Netflix Instant.  It wasn't until yesterday--the day of my planned viewing of Molly--that I even realized this was written, directed, and edited by Sanchez.  In fact, it wasn't until I looked up his filmography that I realized he also did Altered.  So, for better or worse, my expectations were as piqued as my interest.  Luckily, it delivered!

The first thing of note is atmosphere.  This movie has remarkable atmosphere, from lighting to sound engineering to POV transitions to overall compositions.  Speaking of POV transitions, this movie is a very interesting experience.  There are something like 4 different perspectives that the movie oscillates between, producing a very enjoyable and plot-thickening effect.  Thumbs way up there, Mr. Sanchez.  The use of sound has to be my close second favorite element of atmosphere.  The score is phenomenal: understated, swelling at just the right moments.  The digital squeal coming from the camcorder is not a new effect, but welcome all the same.  And that ghastly baritone that's still stuck in my head: "Molly, lovely Molly."

I contemplated leaving out any commentary regarding the visual aspects of the movie since I believe it will be unanimously apparent to all who watch, but I can't resist.  This is such a well-shot, well-edited movie.  Composition after composition, I kept thinking how perfect this house was for such a movie.  That claustrophobic stairwell thoroughly creeped me out every time it was in the frame.  That austere bedroom with two old single beds, covered with old blankets I know I, too, slept under as a kid.  The wicker wreaths on the doors.  The iron  lock slipped into the eye-hole and held by an old piece of twill.  And those horses!  Why are horses so terrifying to me?  They don't even do anything.  (And what did the whole horse thing have to do with anything, anyway?)  Why does the whole concept of horses in The Ring get under my skin?  Anyway, I really felt as though I were actually in this secluded old Virginia farmhome (I'm from Virginia, so if the movie doesn't specify, I always imagine it being set there).

Now that generalizations about the movie are out of the way, let me talk about a couple of specifics.  The opening scene executes as soon as you hit the play button, so be ready.  I thought I had a few seconds to settle myself onto the couch and all, but, no!--I hit play on the DVD menu and Molly appears on the screen, talking to me.  Then there began a quick moment that reminded me of the opening scene in Mirrors, and I rolled my eyes, thinking, oh great this is going to be crap.  Luckily, we're spared such a cheap opener and we move onto a found-footage-style wedding scene.  Since I watch movies without reading anything about them, I thought, oh it's going to be in this style the whole time.  But, as I've mentioned, it wasn't.  Instead the movie was quite crafty with its perspectives.

Spoiler Paragraph Alert.  As the mystery unfolded, and you catch on quite quickly--at least to some aspects of what happened--I found myself thinking of Silent House.  There are a lot of similarities to Silent House, but, thankfully, when Molly's epiphany (epiphanies) hit the audience, they're not forced on us as a big GOTCHA!  The similarities have more to do with underlying plot and psychological breakdown.  Like the rest of the film, they're subtly revealed without overexplanation or this strange groping for an actual ending.  Instead, Molly has an ending that left me ambivalent in the same way that The Last Exorcism's ending left me ambivalent.  (In truth, I kept waiting for a Blair Witch ending of Molly standing in the corner of the cellar!)  The end might work for some, but for me it's a little too much given the nature of the entire preceding film--again, like The Last Exorcism.

I found more than enough to love about Lovely Molly to overlook its inevitable weak points.  Any self-respecting horror fan will appreciate this film, and any lover of mystery and suspense will enjoy their experience.  From start to finish, I remained engaged, thrilled with the pacing and reveling in the freedom from being subjected to cheap thrills.  I haven't read any other reviews, but I can imagine that some might have been put off by the movie's understated approach, or by some of the loose ends.  But I've got enough questions cycling through my head today to warrant a re-watch as soon as possible.  So, I'll throw even more points at the film for eliciting enough interest to secure subsequent viewings.  A panoply of all the things I love in horror movies and devoid of all cheap gimmicks, Lovely Molly just made my Chris's Picks page.

The Innkeepers (2011)

I've been waiting for this one for a while--not because it hasn't been available, but because of my self-imposed Netflix dependency.  Let it be known up front that I am a Ti West fan.  Though I sympathize with those who cannot tolerate the slow burn and the flaws of a "neophyte" filmmaker, I have enjoyed watching West mature from The Roost to Trigger Man to--one of my all-time favorite horror movies--The House of the Devil.  (I will include Cabin Fever 2 parenthetically.) And now we have his most mature film yet, The Innkeepers.  But along with maturity comes a film with which I wasn't, at first, completely smitten.

 I watched the movie Friday night, alone, late, with the lights out; in the exact conditions that horror-movie watching should be conducted in.  And, after the movie was over, I sat for a while, noodling it over.  Quite a different reaction from my last Ti West experience.  But I quickly checked myself each time I began comparing this film back to his last film, forcing myself to think (as much as possible) about the film at hand.  Then I went into the bonus features and activated the commentary with Ti West, Sara Paxton, and Pat Healey.  I don't typically rewatch a film immediately, especially with commentary turned on, but I highly recommend it with this one.

I see a lot of reviewers calling out the childishness of Paxton, but for me it works.  I find Paxton's performance, coupled with the sarcastic, passive-aggressive Pat Healey, charming.  In fact, given West's penchant for the slow-burn, this is the best cast yet.  Paxton and Healey have great chemistry and they own their bored, aimless character roles well.  After listening to the commentary, it's even more enjoyable to observe what West talks about when he says he realized that Sara cannot run or scream!  And, as I said, Healey's passive-aggressive sarcasm works well.  It never tends toward annoying or cliché, even though it is annoying and cliché.  There's at least one moment ("Yeah, I know which room you're in.  I work at the hotel.") that is perfectly executed by Healey.

Regarding the horror factor, this could be considered a chiller.  In fact, it could very well be a movie made for the Chiller TV channel.  But the chills are evenly spaced, which stands apart from West's usual pacing.  With the exception of the more overt chills (when something is actually shown), the chills work really well.  The piano scene is fantastic.  Over all though, the best scary moment comes from a super close-up of Healey's laptop; and even though I, like most others, had seen a similar video floating around the Web, it was still the most intense scene in the movie (whether that's good or bad, I'll let you decide).  In the end, what shines through all of the intense horror moments is West's cinematic decisions: video and audio, especially audio (putting us in the perspective of the headphones). 

In order to eschew spoilers, suffice it to sat that West breaks some genre conventions, which is an interesting choice.  At the same time, however, I experienced no real response, no epiphany, no a-ha moment, etc.  But, again, that's not to say that the film was bad.  I don't agree with the all's-well-that-ends-well philosophy.  It's just another variable that went into the movie's formula, to which I responded, initially, with indifference--or, rather, ambivalence--and then walked away with satisfaction.  Yes, this is a satisfying movie, mostly to the more serious, meticulous, pedantic genre fan.  It's not a game-changer; it's not mind-blowing; but it is an entertaining, well shot horror movie with a handful of crowd-pleasing moments.

La Casa Muda (The Silent House) (2010)

Now here's a great, creepy little flick that has stuck with me for about a week now.  I'm dying to watch it again.  Wonderfully subtle, this is the type of horror movie I thoroughly enjoy.  Watch this before the American remake, which I'm sure will add too much to retain the beauty of this piece.

Insidious (2011)

It's been a while since I've seen a new release. Or, rather, it seems as if it's been a while--probably more like a month. I just haven't been blogging. Anyway, I've managed to steer clear of reviews, trailers, and other spoilers, diligently taking note of upcoming release titles and filling my Netflix queue, waiting patiently for DVDs to arrive. There are a lot of titles I've been waiting for: Cropsey, Stake Land, YellowBrickRoad, Serbian Film, The Ward. And as with Insidious, I know nothing or almost nothing about these films.

The problem is that I can't tell if being caught off guard was a good thing or not this time around. Typically I stave off all hype because I don't want my imagination to start shaping the movie, potentially resulting in a huge let-down when I realize that the movie "isn't what I expected." I don't want to expect anything, and this usually secures the fun and entertainment of experiencing someone else's creativity. With Insidious, however, I don't think I could have prepared for its often bonkers antics at all. I was caught completely off guard, and I'm not sure I liked it.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The scares are not really scares, and there's very little of the subtly that viewers will expect since Paranormal Activity is plastered on the marketing material. After the opening montage, which itself has a really odd tone, the viewer knows the deal: it's a haunted house without the mysteriousness of invisible entities. Every entity is placed right there for the viewer/character to see. Halfway through it gets very old. How many more ways can they show me another entity, I found myself thinking. So, again, I'm caught in this weird state of not knowing whether I liked being caught off guard by the nonchalance of the merging of the two dimensions, the matter-of-fact manner in which entities appeared, or not.

Not to mention the array of cliché devices that were halfheartedly deployed. In an attempt at brevity I'll stick with three. First and most obvious, the police are never involved. But reading Richard Laymon novels has rid me of my incessant need for characters to call the cops! Then again, the alarm is going off in the house, the front door is open, the wife and kids are upstairs, and this dude decides to wield a firepoker and mosey around for himself? Later in the film, the husband refers to himself as the "voice of reason," but he moves them out of the house (a first in haunted-house genre history?) and entertains the trio of paranormal investigators.

Second, the allusion to a husband with a big secret. This was the strangest portrayal I've ever seen. He's a (high school?) teacher who works until nearly midnight, telling his wife he's been grading tests and working late to pay medical bills. Two things here: teachers don't stay at work that late to grade papers, and they certainly don't get paid extra for it. Plus, just in case we're wondering about an affair, we get shots of him in an empty schoolroom doing nothing but flashing to the same bland shot of a kid in bed, which is used later.

And third, the exposition underpinning the husband's vague visions and the little quip about how he's terrified of having his picture taken. What was supposed (I think) to be a shocking revelation was delivered in yet another pattern of casual storytelling. I found myself thinking, Oh, okay, figures. Then, in the end we realize that it's another means of being able to show more entities in creative ways. Oh, and a setup for the ending.

Speaking of the ending, the crazy musical sting behind the bold red-lettered INSIDIOUS is so strange in the beginning but a good confirmation at the end. It was then that I realized I should've viewed the bizarre, off-centered opening montage as a staging of the entire pattern of the movie: a normal haunted-house movie slightly skewed at an attempt to be unique. Not sure if I can call it unique or not, actually; I'm not even sure I can consider it a good movie; but it's definitely entertaining if only for the interesting manner in which it is delivered. I can't help but feel the filmmakers took the two biggest complaints of Paranormal Activity (we never see anything, and, they never attempt to leave the house) and addressed them in the extreme.

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

I wondered to myself how in the world one would make a sequel of this movie. Well, here it is, and it wasn't a bad effort. Nothing amazing, but it worked. At times it feels like more of the same, but overall, seeing as how a sequel was inevitable after the enormous success of Paranormal Activity, it was a fine effort.

Hausu (1977)

Rating: B
Experience Vitals: Netflix DVD.

(Credit for this pick goes to BC at Horror Movie a Day.) So, how to explain the movie, or, at the very least, how I feel about the movie? Imagine Evil Dead as a psychedelic acid-trip and you've got Nobuhiko Obayashi's House (Hausu). Well, no, that's not quite right. Imagine a Japanese screwball comedy crossed with a Japanese arthouse film, add in the antics of Evil Dead, and you're almost there! Like Mega Piranha, this one is made to be viewed with friends. This is a film made with one thing in mind: crowd-pleasing!

The Ceremony (2008)

Rating: A
Experience Vitals: Netflix Instant on Wii.

Movie Spotlight! Has anyone else heard of this one? I looked around and can't find many reviews. Just like yesterday's movie, The Perfect Witness, this is one I never would've found without Netflix. And it was a hit! I love these slow-burn psychological/supernatural thrillers. The slow-burn structure typically yields more character development/sympathy/empathy and intensifies the creepiness of the subtle horror. I admit that this one, like Lake Mungo, was able to creep me out without overdoing anything--indeed, because of not overdoing it! If you liked The House of the Devil and Paranormal Activity (I recently took a liking to PA, so don't be misled by the old review), you'll like this one. The lead deftly carries the movie through the banal, the creepy, the absurd, and a messed up ending. This one is to be watched late at night, alone, with the lights out.

Bloody New Year (1987)

Rating: C
Experience Vitals: Netflix DVD shipped to house roughly two months back and lost amidst bills and credit card offers, on a full stomach churning from late-night Mexican food, settled into chair around 2345 with, of course, Horror Cup¹.

I thought I'd ring in the new year with a New Year's-themed horror movie. Turns out there aren't a lot out there (please comment suggestions if you know of any), especially compared to, say, Christmas-themed horror flicks. But there was this one, Bloody New Year, and though it didn't stand up to the Thanksgiving-themed flick I had the privileged of checking out over Thanksgiving break (ThanksKilling; yes, that is the title!), it was still a real treat. Yes, it's that type of 80's movie--the one you invite friends over to watch and criticize and laugh at. All the cliché characters and situations are here. We get severed arms but you can see the character's tucked extremity inside their shirt. We get a harrowing sinking boat scene only to find that the boat's (more like the dingy's) terrified occupants are merely fifteen feet from shore! ("You know I can't swim, Tom!") And, to top it all off, this movie is a myriad genres and the "explanation" is well set against the 1959-1960 epoch of government paranoia. At the very least, if you're like me, you'll speak in an exaggerated British accent for the next few days!

[1] Horror Cup is a 16-ounce orange plastic cup with a jack-o-lantern emblazoned on the side, that I have used for various beverages during horror movies for ~4 years.

Paranormal Entity (2009)

Rating: B
When people see this title, they're going to scoff, as I did, and dismiss it as a poorly done Paranormal Activity knockoff. Well, I'm here to tell you that, while it is a knock-off, it's not a bad little film. In fact, it's pretty good. Sure, it capitalizes on Activity's success--the characters even reference the film as a means of capitalization (though not of Activity directly), which wins points from me--but the suspense is effective, and the film obviously decided to mollify those who denounced Activity by addressing their complaints. The chief complaint being that nothing (physically) threatening really happens in Activity. Entity isn't without some holes despite decent editing, but the acting is mostly good when the mother isn't around, and the end works for me. One of my gripes with Activity was the addition of CGI, which Entity omits. Any horror fan would do well to check this one out. If you're wondering where this "mockbuster" came from, check out The Asylum.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

I'm probably the last person to see this movie, or at least the last horror movie advocate, anyway. I purposely decided against seeing this one in the theater as I knew it would elicit text-messaging, Twittering, giggling, laser pointers, and the inevitable audience commentary that comes with a theater-going experience. It also happens to be the first movie I've purchased in years; at a petty $15, I couldn't resist. And I managed to watch it at two in the morning, the house silent and all the lights doused!

Now that I've seen it I read a bunch of reviews. Only one of the eleven reviews I read were on-the-fence; all others were loved-it or hated-it reviews. As for me, I'm on the hated-it side of the fence, but I didn't hate it. I am simply a victim of the hype, and it pains me to know that there are thousands of people out there who were finally affected by a film. It hurts to know that I missed out on a truly scary experience. I tried, tried, tried to shun reviews. I covered my ears when people would talk about it. But it's hard to do when it is heralded the scariest movie ever made everywhere I turn.

* Spoilers Ahead *

The movie was over-hyped which led to high expectations (despite my attempt at suppression) which led to disappointment. Nothing scary ever happened. A door closed. A character stood in place for a couple of hours. A bed sheet moved. Some footprints appeared. And so on. Nothing scary ever happened. Obviously the scares were in the tension produced by the waiting for something to happened. But Paramount decided to wreck that by adding a rumbling at the beginning of each night. I think ZERO score would have increased the creepiness.

Paramount also decided to add a CGI ending to what I'm guessing is the theatrical version since I selected theatrical version on my DVD. This poor CGI ending felt completely out of place. All along we are never actually seeing anything, everything is real. Then, we get to see the same face that Megan Fox makes in Jennifer's Body. Come on. I tried the alternate ending and it wasn't much better. Can someone tell me what happens in the original ending and why they did keep it? I've heard inklings that Katie comes back into the room alone and rocks herself in place for like two days, but this so-called original ending isn't consistent across the sites I've checked out.

What the movie does have is stellar acting. You would think these two, whose real names are Micah and Katie (cool), were seasoned professionals. The candid footage of their everyday life sells them as two very real people and effectively adds to the film's reality. When they are startled, they are seriously startled. Most of the time an actor or actress playing up fear comes off cheesy, and I have to try and see past it in order to stay focused on the movie. Not so in Paranormal. Absolutely stellar acting.

So, what to do now besides post this and let the comments collect. I don't know. Will it be any better the second time around? I hope so. Sometimes it takes that first viewing to properly align expectations. Then again, this is the type of movie that evokes fear by keeping the audience in suspense over what happens next. Oh, well. I wish I hadn't heard anything at all about the movie. I will be watching it with the wife and several groups of friends here and there, so at least I'll get to keep an eye on their reactions since I know what is (or rather isn't) coming.

Now I'm off to make my 2009 Top 10 list...

BOOK: The Midnight Tour

A brilliant third installment of the Beast House series. Unlike the second book, The Beast House, this one compared to The Cellar.

More to come...







Review Soundtrack:
Artist - "Track"

---

[ About Horror Dose ]
[ FAQ ]

House on Haunted Hill (1958)

For my first review, it was suggested I take on the original House on Haunted Hill. I remember seeing this back in '99 when the remake came out and I quite liked it, but the original sucked. I tried to keep in mind the context, but this just sucked. I probably won't be going retro for a while after this, thank God.

A poor attempt to pull off a handful of plot twists, and laden with terribly wooden acting, especially on part of the wrecked blond who screamed constantly like a whistle. The film almost redeems itself with the entertainment we get from the husband and wife, but it's all moot in the end.

This is yet another campy, cheesy, not-scary horror movie classic. For those of you aiming to use these classics as history lessons, @#$! these history lessons. I like horror movies, especially offbeat cult films. Do I need to paste the definition of horror in here?

I probably won't say this a lot, but, save your time and watch the remake.

BOOK: The Beast House

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a devout Richard Laymon advocate. If you look at my ratings on GoodReads, you will find a consistent five/five stars for every Laymon book I've read...until now.

In the case of The Beast House, I think the first book, The Cellar, prematurely robbed it of its glory. Having read the first book, I already knew the mystery behind the killings at Beast House in enough detail to make me sick, so I didn't see how he was going to build any suspense. The answer is that he didn't. Not that it could have been done exactly, but what Laymon did was resort to his character development toolkit and create a small, but strong, cast.

Laymon is the master of taking what seems like a simple situation and turning it into a white-knuckled thrill ride of mystery, suspense, terror, and--this is the biggie--interesting characters. That, my friends, is Laymon's niche: interesting characters. He knows how to reach out from the pages and pull you into the characters' world, turning the pages frenetically, desperate to spend more time with them. It's amazing how nuanced the characters are in each and every book.

Character development aside, this guy knows how to build suspense. Sometimes I have to flip pages back and forth to make sure none are missing because of how quickly he jumps around to create a sense of confusion and panic. He knows how to introduce a mysterious character that immediately puts you on guard and causes you to keep turning to pages because, well, you're just not so sure about this guy or girl. Then, there's his amazing ability to execute the shock factor. Suddenly, your favorite character is in a spine-chilling situation that could only come from the mind of Richard Laymon. Seriously, some scenes are outright revolting!

With The Beast House, we get a group of wily, young friends (two guys and two girls, conveniently) who meet up along the way to Malcasa Point, CA, home of Beast House. Then, we get a conniving duo of author and research assistant who come to look into the Beast House for a potential bestseller. Like Stephen King, Laymon uses the writer character a lot in his books, most likely because that's what he knows best. But this is the first time I have comes across an evil, murderous, scheming writer character of his, and I loved it. Usually, Laymon's writer is the most formidable character in the book. This writer, on the other hand, basically gets everyone, including himself, killed for his shot at fortune and fame.

Long story short, they all end up at Beast House after a third of the book is spent developing the relationship between the one girl, Tyler, and the one guy, Abe, while the other guy-girl, Jack and Nora, constantly disappear together, undoubtedly lost in their infatuation. There is a bunch of graphic violence, a lot of gore, then the mother-daughter pair from the first book are brought back into the picture, and then we hit the final pages.

Before reading the final pages, I settled myself after the grisly crescendo at Beat House and prepared myself for how Laymon was going to setup for the third book in the series, The Midnight Tour. He ended up leaving the daughter alive and hidden in the house, pregnant with one of the creatures' offspring. Then, we find that even after all of the publicly known killing, the house still stands and the tours continue to run.

The only thing we really get from this sequel is a little more information about where the beasts came from. Sprinkled on top of that is a classic dull horror story.

Do I sound like I am defending Laymon even though I'm giving his book a bad review? I should, because that's exactly what I'm doing. I guess the reason is because I don't want to turn anyone curious away from Laymon. I can honestly say all of his other books I've read are outstanding. But as far as the Beast House series is concerned, I think it should have stopped after The Cellar.

Now, off to read The Midnight Tour, with hopes of a better job...

BOOK: The Cellar

After reading about 15 other Richard Laymon books, I finally cracked open his debut novel, The Cellar, which also happens to be the first book in his acclaimed Beast House series.

As I said, I'm familiar with Laymon books, so I knew what to expect. But thinking about the fact that it is his first novel, published in '80, I'll bet it was quite a shock for people! It would've been great to have seen some new author's "horror" novel in the bookstore and pick it up out of pure intrigue.

A lot can be said for The Cellar, a debut novel that is a perfect blend of character development, plot development, solid writing, chilling horror, and humor. Richard Laymon's sense of humor and the macabre bleed through every page. He makes sure that each and every character has a problem they're dealing with, while further adding conflict at every angle. It all starts with a lady and her daughter packing their things and hitting the road at the news of the husband's release from prison. He is in prison for molesting the little girl and torturing the mother, and they know he's headed for them again (with a whole new level of anger, mind you).

They end up fleeing right into the belly of the beast, so to speak, in a little town called Malcasa Point, in California. Here is where the legend of the Beast House unfolds.

At almost the same time that the lady and her daughter head there, we are introduced to two other male characters who meet one another and go back to face the demons at the Beast House. The one male character fled the beast as a child and watched it demolish his friend. Now, they are out to seek revenge and uncover a few secrets of the house.

In true Laymon style, all the characters meet for a disturbing ending.

And finally, we get a nice little Laymonesque epilogue. While not as good as the ending of Island, it will still make you shake your head--I know I sure did.

Now, off to start the next book in the series, aptly entitled The Beast House...