Dean Koontz's Intensity and High Tension

Hey everyone,

Recently, I began reading a Dean Koontz book called Intensity that my grandmother gave me (along with a few other books by Koontz) and I am still reading it. I noticed some undeniable similarities between Intensity and the French film High Tension (Haute Tension). Apparently, I am not the only one who has noticed that the two have similarities between them, as I find blog posts and message board entries from people who have seen the connections between the two. The book was published in 1996 and the film was released in 2003 (I think), so there is no doubt, which came first. On a blog entry that I read, someone listed details from an interview that someone had with Alexandre Aja and stated that he was asked if he was aware of the book Intensity, to which he uncomfortably replied that he was aware of the book and had in fact read the book. Intensity was adapted into a 3 hour TV movie in 1997, starring Scrubs Doc. John C. McGinley as the murdered. The TV movie is currently not available on DVD (as far as I know), much to my chagrin. If you are a fan of High Tension, I would suggest that you give Intensity a read (it should be available at a decently stocked Chapters, Indigo or if you live in the U.S.: Borders, Barnes and Noble or Walden Books). Apparently, Dean Koontz has not made any comments regarding High Tension's relationship to Dean Koontz's Intensity, which saddens me because I think that he has complete and total cause for a lawsuit, but as that has not happened yet then it probably will not happen. I thought this relationship between the Koontz book and the French film was interesting, so there it is.

Take It Easy Guys.

Fanboy Dave

The Nines

Hello Everyone,

The Nines is a film that I have been waiting for. I downloaded a trailer for it and thought that it looked good. Unfortunately, it was either in limited release at theatres in Canada or did not play at theatres in Canada at all. Then I had to wait for a DVD release date, so I could rent it. That day came and I rented the film and it was not what I expected, but I thought that it was really interesting. I would not give the film away but will provide a basic description. The film is broken into three segments; each features Ryan Reynolds as the main character and Hope Davis (The Weatherman) and Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls) in important supporting roles; some other minor characters are also featured in each segment. The first segment is about an actor (played by Ryan Reynolds) who is in a popular crime scene detective drama TV show called Crime Lab (of course referring to CSI and its popularity), who is under house arrested for a few crimes he committed (driving under the influence, arson and there may be more but they are not specified). The second segment is about a TV writer (Ryan Reynolds) that is trying to get his pilot filmed and picked up by a TV Network; this segment is shot like a reality TV where it show him trying to get his pilot made, getting it made and trying to get it picked up. The third segment is pilot that the writer from the second segment was trying get made and picked up by a TV network. Ryan Reynolds again plays the main character in this pilot. In this third segment it is explained as to how these three segments are related to each other. The mysteries or unanswered questions from all three segments are pretty much all explained; they may still be unanswered questions but the main ones are addressed. What it all means is explained at the end of the film and I think that it is pretty big and has a lot of meaning. Others may not agree but it really spoke to me and I thought that it was a really great and interesting idea; not the run of the mill mystery or thriller, although it considered a comedy; it had comedic elements, but also dramatic ones and elements of mystery, so it is somewhat hard to classify. I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a film that is different. If you are tired of the run of the mill Hollywood films (no matter what genre), I would suggested this film to you.

Take Care and if you watch this film, please email me and tell me what you thought.

Fanboy Dave signing off.

I wish I was a Jumper!

Hey all,

My wife and I went to see Jumper yesterday; It was more of a rental for me, but my wife wanted to see it and I enjoy going to the movies, so to the theatre we went. Her and I talked about the film afterwards and agreed on a number of points regarding the films' strengths and weaknesses. If some of you are not familiar, Doug Liman, who directed The Bourne Identity and Go, which are both films that I enjoy, directs the film. If you want to be entertained, then Jumper is a movie for you to see. Very quickly the action begins in the film (after about a half an hour). Seeing Hayden Christensen and Jamie Bell teleport (or jump as they call it) is very cool, but the film had some problems with regard to writing. ATTENTION SPOLIER ALERT (MINOR SPOILERS). Hayden and Jamie are jumpers and Samuel L. Jackson and his cohorts are Palladins (religious fanatics) who are out to kill the jumpers because they believe that no one should have that power but god. Jamie Bell tells Hayden that the jumpers and Palladins have been at war since the medieval times. No more background is given regarding the feud between the jumpers and Palladins and no information is given as to where these powers come from. The film was only about an hour and a half, so if the film had been extended by 15 to 30 minutes more background and explanation could have been given, without it being bogged down with a lot of plot, because for me the plot did not have enough. I was not expecting a lot of plot, but the film was not die hard, it had a little bit more to it because the characters can violate laws of science and you would think that more explanation would be given, regarding how they are able to teleport. ATTENTION SPOILER: Hayden's character was abandoned by his mother when he was 5, but comes into the movie as Samuel L. Jackson starts to pursue him and she had a part in this war between the jumpers and Palladins; that is explained to Hayden by her and then not followed up by any real explanation. The ending of the film for me felt flat. I felt that there should have been more resolution. I can enjoy and take ambiguous endings, but only where the film prepares you for this. As Jumper is a pretty mainstream Hollywood film, I believe it should have more resolution. I do not expect total resolution in any film and some films cannot have a lot of resolution because it does not work for the story of the film, but this film needed more resolution. I believe that the ending can save a film, if it is big enough or meaningful enough. Some films, such as Jumper cannot be saved by its ending, but should have had a better one.

Take Care.

Fanboy Dave

It's Killer Time!

There is no doubt some of you reading this blog are familiar with the Showtime Television Show Dexter. Now, you may not have seen the show but you likely have heard of it. I would just like to say that I am a big fan of that show; it is very well done. A show about a serial killer who kills killers is an interested but not unheard of idea; see Suspect Zero, where a remote viewer (can tune into what others see) becomes a serial killer, who kills other serial killers. I not just interested in this idea, but in trend of films about serial killers. The first thing to do would be to attempt to find out when this trend began. A big cult film about a serial killer, Henry: Portrait of a Serial killer came out in 1986 and is still a cult favourite today (see also Psycho (1960), Peeping Tom [1960] and Badlands [1973]). Now, of course that was not the first movie about a serial killers, but it was a popular one done in the 80s (late 70s maybe), which is where I am going to plot my starting off point. I am a big Nightmare On Elm Street fan and I would consider the film's villian/star Freddy Krueger as a serial killer; he kills teenagers whose parents burned him to death as an act of revenge for him killing their children (that is his MO; Modus Operandi) and he is a dream demon, so he kills them where he resides (in the dream world). The Nightmare On Elm Street films are often considered slasher films, which they are but they are also horror films. The Friday The 13th films also contain a serial killer; of course I mean Jason Voorhes. Unlike Freddy, Jason kills teens in the real world where he exists as a sort of superhuman undead monster. His MO is killing teens who try to restart Camp Crystal Lake, where Jason drown when he was a boy as the camp counsellors that were supposed to be watching him were busy having sex or making out. Again, The Friday The 13th films were seen as slasher films with regard to their subgenre and genrically were horror films. Michael Myers from the Halloween series is also a serial killer, but his MO gets a little bit hard to pin down after Halloween 2 (remember he is not in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch; do not let the title fool you, there is no witch in this movie) (see also Texas Chainsaw Massacre). I believe that the current trend with regard to depicting serial killers in film and TV is indebted to Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lector book series. Thomas Harris' first Hannibal Lector book, Red Dragon was first adapted in 1986 with the film Manhunter (one of my favourite films), but the trend does not start there, as the film was regarded as somewhat campy. It was an early serial killer film that dealt with psychological profiling. Harris' second Hannibal book, The Silence of The Lambs was released in 1992 and basically made Anthony Hopkins a huge start with American audiences. Some of you may be aware that it won the Best Picture Oscar in 1992. Spawing from this, you get films such as House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) , The Devil's Rejects (2005), From Hell (2001), Suspect Zero (2004), Seven (1995), Zodiac (2007), Saw (2004), Mr. Brooks (2007), Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006), Identity (2003), "The Profiler" (1996) TV, "Millennium" TV (1996), and a host of others. I am not attempting to discount any novels or graphic novels (From Hell is based on a graphic novel on jack the ripper) that exists as source material, I am simply stating that the trend begins with Harris's Hannibal Lector books and with The Silence of The Lambs having such financial success and literary acclaim. With the continued success of Showtime's Dexter, it is unlikely that the trend in film and TV of depicting serial killers is going to wane or fade out at all. Having said that, some of my favourite serial killer films include the following, American Psycho, Disturbia, Se7en, Zodiac, Manhunter, Mr. Brooks, and Candyman.

I hope that you all have enjoyed my ideas about where this 'serial killer mania' in film and TV began.

Singed,

That Crazy Guy; Fanboy Dave.