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1408

John Cusack stars as Mike Enslin in 1408
John Cusack stars as Mike Enslin in 1408

Hello Halloween month buddies! It’s Slick Dungeon and I’m back to review another Stephen King adaptation. What’s the most haunted hotel room in the world of Stephen King fiction? Is it room 237 from The Overlook Hotel in The Shining? Not even close. Nope, it’s the room 1408 at The Dolphin Hotel in New York. MIke Enslin tries to spend a single night there and boy does it go poorly. I’ll be reviewing the film which was an adaptation of the Stephen King story. There will be spoilers in this review so if you don’t enjoy that, turn up your thermostat, grab a drink from your mini-fridge, order up the movie in your hotel room, make your escape after said room tries to kill you, and come on back here to read the review!

1408 background

In 1999, Stephen King wrote one of his most frightening short stories. 1408 told the story of a cynic and skeptic who believes in nothing, named Mike Enslin. Ironically, he made his living by “exposing” haunted locations and saying how scary they were, even though he never saw anything supernatural at all. But when he walks into a certain hotel room, everything changes.

This story was adapted into a film in 2007 and starred John Cusack in the role of Mike. It’s a horrifying film with tons of scares. And it was hugely successful.

The film was made for $25 million and made $20 million in just the opening weekend. It went on to gross a staggering $132 million, proving once again, horror is not just good entertainment, it’s good business. Now, on to the review!

Mike Enslin doesn’t believe in anything

Mike Enslin is known for writing books like, 10 Haunted Graveyards, 10 Haunted Houses and similar titles. His latest book is 10 Haunted Hotels. Mike goes to a supposedly haunted hotel where the owners are more than eager to share with him all of the creepy stories they have heard. Mike spends a quiet night there, observes nothing at all unusual, and promptly awards them a rating of 5 skulls in his tape recorder. Clearly, Mike is just going along with these stories so he, and the hotels, can profit.

At a book signing Mike is mechanically signing his books. But a woman asks him to sign his first novel. This book is a literary story about a father and son which clearly has a lot of meaning for Mike but did poorly in sales.

It’s safe to say Mike’s days have become routine. And it’s clear he’s estranged from his wife. But when he receives a postcard, it has a strange message on it that will change his life. The postcard shows The Dolphin Hotel and says, “Don’t enter 1408”

The morbid history of room 1408

Mike does some research and discovers a long history of death in this room. Also, he figures out that if you add up the numbers 1408 it equals 13. And, since hotels often don’t label their 13th floor, this is the 13th room on the 13th floor of The Dolphin Hotel.

Mike can’t resit wanting to stay here. But the manager, Gerald Olin, played by Samuel L. Jackson, does everything he can to dissuade Mike. Olin tells Mike that in the past 95 years, no one has lasted more than an hour in the room. He goes so far as to offer to let Mike stay in a different room for free, write his story, and go on his way. Just as long as he doesn’t go into 1408. But Mike is stubborn and determined.

Mike enters the room

Threatening legal action if Olin doesn’t let Mike into the room, the hotel manager relents. When Mike enters, it’s a normal room. There is typical furniture and paintings. There’s a little min-fridge where you can pay exorbitant amounts for a tiny bottle of alcohol. The standard hotel setup.

Mike thinks this is going to be yet another routine, boring visit, where nothing happens but he can write a spooky story about it.

But then, the radio starts playing, “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters. And the clock in the room starts counting down from 60. This kicks off an escalating cascade of horrors for Mike to endure.

Terror in 1408

Just in case you haven’t seen this movie, I’m not going to go into detail about the horrors Mike experiences in 1408. But watching John Cusack act in these situations is an absolute delight. And there are some genuinely terrifying moments here. It rapidly becomes apparent why no one lasts more than an hour.

The remainder of the film is seeing whether or not Mike will survive this. Is he going insane? Possibly. Even if he does get out, this could drive him to madness. Did Olin set him up so he could profit from the story? Unlikely, but possible. Is this an evil room trying to kill its occupant? This seems like the most likely option.

I’m also not going to tell you if Mike survives here. But I will say, the horror here is real. And it goes to some very deep emotional places. And not only that, even when it seems like there is a breather here, the doom is simply waiting in the wings to return in the worst way. It’s a masterful horror film and if you don’t get scared at least once during this, well, you’re braver than me.

1408 in conclusion

This is one of my all time favorite Stephen King adaptations. And for good reason. The cast is great, even though the majority of acting is done by Cusack himself. As always, Samuel L. Jackson is a joy to watch. And just when you think you’ve figured out what will happen, the movie throws you for a complete loop and brings the horror right back. It’s relentless. While there are certainly jump scares, there are also other types of horror here. There is gore for sure. But also psychological terror, impending doom, survival horror, and just about everything else you might want out of a horror film.

If you want a good horror film about a hotel, watch The Shining. If you want a movie about a hotel that will scare your pants off, watch 1408.

Hospitably yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Doctor Sleep

Ewan McGregor shines as Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep
Ewan McGregor shines as Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep

Hello horror pals, Slick Dungeon here. I’m back to review yet another Stephen King adaptation. This time I’ll be talking about the criminally underrated sequel to The Shining known as Doctor Sleep. There will be spoilers in this review so if that bothers you, head over to a massive abandoned and isolated hotel, enter room 237, ignore anything undead in the room, watch the movie, and then come on back here to read the review!

Doctor Sleep background

In 2013 Stephen King published a book no one was expecting. It was titled Doctor Sleep and was a sequel to one of his most famous novels, The Shining. Soon after, Akiva Goldsman wrote a script adapting the novel. The script languished without a budget until It became a box office hit in 2017. Enter Mike Flanagan.

Flanagan had already proven his chops with Gerald’s Game so if anyone could adapt a Stephen King novel of this force, it would be him.

The film was released on Halloween 2019 internationally but didn’t premiere in the United States until November 8th of that year. The film grossed $72.4 million and was well received by critics and audiences. Yet this was considered a disappointment as it did not earn as well as other King adaptations that year, including It Chapter Two and Pet Sematary.

This makes the film a perfect choice this Halloween as there are plenty of people who have not seen it and it delivers on the scares and on the performances.

Surviving trauma

Dan Torrance endured a horrific ordeal at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado in 1980. There, a malevolent evil awakened, tormenting Dan and his mother. And his father, Jack tried to kill the two of them in the incident. Jack Torrance died as a result.

But the ghosts are not done with Danny. They keep coming to him, trying to invade his mind and take his “shine” from him. Dick Hallorann, the ghost of the man who helped Dan survive teaches him how to lock away these ghosts in his mind. But not all goes well for Dan Torrance.

Driven to drink

in 2011 Dan is a full blown alcoholic and addict. He gets into bar fights and goes home with strange women. In one incident he takes money from a single mother who he sleeps with. He’s haunted by his own actions but the alcohol is clearly a coping mechanism to deal not only with his trauma but with his psychic abilities.

Dan goes to a small town in New Hampshire where he makes a friend named Billy Freeman. Freeman gives Dan a job and sponsors him in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dan tells a doctor at one of his AA meetings where he left his watch. The doctor offers Dan a job as an orderly at a hospice care facility. While there, Dan is especially good at reassuring dying patience, letting them know we continue after death. This is how he earns the nickname Doctor Sleep.

Also, Dan makes a psychic connection with a young girl named Abra Stone. Dan’s life is in recovery but the horrors are still waiting for him.

True Knot

Meanwhile, a group of psychic vampires led by Rose “the Hat” preys upon psychic children. They need the “shine” or what they call “steam” these kids have in order to live. To get it, they have to torture and murder children. It’s the reverse of how Dan helps people.

With only a few people in the world capable of psychic ability things are tough for this group. They are near starving.

In 2019 the group kills a young boy and Abra Stone sees it happen with her psychic powers. She reaches out to Dan Torrance to tell him what happened. With Abra’s level of psychic ability, it is only a matter of time before True Knot comes for her.

Doctor Sleep to the rescue

Dan can’t sit on the sidelines any longer. He tells his friend Billy what is going on, risking his friendship and recovery. They take a trip to where Abra says the little boy True Knot murdered is buried. The friends find the body and confirm True Knot is doing what Abra says they are.

Dan decides to set a trap for the group. They fool the majority of True Knot into thinking they have captured Abra. But Dan and Billy are waiting with shotguns and kill most of the cultists.

Still remaining are Crow Daddy, a top lieutenant in the group, and Rose the Hat. Crow Daddy captures Abra and drives away with her. But Danny helps Abra by using his psychic powers to make Crow Daddy crash his van and die.

The final showdown at the Overlook

Rose the Hat is furious with Abra for killing all her friends. She’s out for blood and needs Abra in order to keep living. But Dan Torrance knows the perfect place to stage a psychic fight.

The Overlook Hotel has been abandoned for years. But as soon as Dan arrives, it comes to life. The ghosts are still there. In a brutal and vicious showdown Rose the Hat fights with Dan psychically. But he unleashes all those horrific ghosts he’s locked up through the years. Rose the Hat dies. However, the ghosts have Dan and they want Abra.

Dan comes at Abra with an ax but he’s able to stop the ghosts long enough for her to escape. Prior to confronting Rose the Hat, Dan rigged the boiler room to blow. He sets the whole place on fire, himself included. He dies so Abra can live. And it should be noted, it’s the exact opposite choice his own father made.

Doctor Sleep in conclusion

This film doesn’t work if you haven’t seen The Shining. But if you have, this is full of great scares and references from the first film. Mike Flanagan was smart enough not to use de-aged actors for the parts played by Shelley Duvall or Jack Nicholson. But the set design is eerily familiar in those scenes.

There is more nuance here than in The Shining. This film is more than a simple descent into madness. This is about what people should do when they make mistakes. It’s also got a fantastic cast who deliver top notch performances. Much of Mike Flanagan’s work has been lauded in recent years but for some reason this film is consistently overlooked. For a great Halloween double feature, throw on The Shining followed by Doctor Sleep. Just stay out of room 237.

Sleepily yours,

Slick Dungeon

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The Dark Half

Timothy Hutton stars in The Dark Half
Timothy Hutton stars in The Dark Half

Hello horror fans, Slick Dungeon here! It’s getting close to Halloween and that means it’s time to add some scary movies to your watch list. Well, what can be better than a Stephen King movie directed by George A. Romero that dives into deep body horror and psychological terror? This time I am reviewing The Dark Half. There will be spoilers in this review so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, throw it on, take out your Berol Black Beauty pencil, takes some notes, get in touch with your dark side, and come on back here to read the review.

The Dark Half background

The Dark Half is a 1993 film adapting a Stephen King novel of the same name. George A. Romero, director of The Night of the Living Dead, both wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Timothy Hutton pulls double duty here playing both Thad Beaumont and George Stark, a much darker version of Thad. Amy Madigan plays Thad’s wife Liz. And an actor who would later star in another zombie project, The Walking Dead, Michael Rooker, plays sheriff Alan Pangborn in the film.

The film was completed but stuck in distribution limbo for almost two years as Orion pictures was in financial straights at the time. When it did release in 1993, it earned $10 million domestically.

This is one King adaptation that is often overlooked. It’s not perfect but there are some body horror moments that only Romero could create. And it’s a fascinating look at the duality of a person.

Time for a change

Thad Beaumont is a successful author who rakes in money. But he does so under his pen name George Stark. Thad writes high brow, intellectual literary fiction. Stark writes about down and dirty crime.

Most people wouldn’t care one way or the other about Thad having made his money through popular fiction rather than literary works. But, a man named Fred Clawson is convinced Thad’s publishers would care. Clawson attempts to blackmail Thad. He knows Stark and Beaumont are one in the same and he’s planning to expose the writer. Unless Beaumont pays him.

Deciding to get ahead of the blackmailer, Beaumont holds a publicity stunt where he buries George Stark in a symbolic, and literal grave. Stark is not a real person so there’s nothing to bury, but the stunt does the trick and Beaumont has avoided the blackmail.

The DArk Half comes out to play

Soon after this stunt, strange things start happening. Someone digs out of the grave, although there was never anyone in it. People around Beaumont are killed. First Homer Gamache who took the photos of the publicity stunt. Then people like Thad’s agent, editor, and Fred Clawson.

The whole time this is happening, Thad is getting glimpses of what is happening as if he is psychically connected to these events.

At one point in the movie we see a horribly graphic scene of a surgery performed on Thad when he was a boy. He had a brain tumor which turned out to be the remains of a twin. Thad survived the surgery but after, tons of sparrows showed up outside of the hospital. It’s not wholly clear if this is George Stark or not, but it’s still a shockingly gory scene.

No one can be in two places at once

With death coming closer and closer to Thad, it was only a matter of time before the police would start to suspect him. Sheriff Alan Pangborn suspects Thad of some involvement. And Thad’s fingerprints match those at the scene of at least one murder. The problem? At the time the murder happened, Thad was giving a public talk in front of a crowd of people in another state.

At first Thad thinks the killer is Clawson but when Pangborn finds Clawson’s body, he’s ruled out. And even stranger, written in Clawson’s blood are the words, “The sparrows are flying again.”

Soon, Thad gets threatening messages from George Stark. This should obviously be impossible since Thad is George Stark. But somehow it’s happening. Stark describes in vivid detail how he is going to kill Thad’s family.

Thad realizes Stark is somehow his parasitic twin brother. And this man is out for blood.

Talking to yourself

Thad does figure out that somehow Stark is real. And he can be controlled through Thad’s writing. However, Stark will do anything to kill Thad. If he succeeds, Thad will die and Stark will live. When writing books as George Stark, Thad always used the same kind of pencils. A Berol Black Beauty pencil. When Stark finally confronts Thad he makes Thad sit down to write a story that will bring Stark into reality for good.

As Thad writes, Stark gets healthier while Thad begins to fade. But Thad gets the upper hand by stabbing Stark in the throat. Thad’s wife and kids who had been prisoners are free. And Pangborn shows up just in time to see tons of sparrows landing.

The Dark Half in conclusion

There are some problems in this film. It’s not ever entirely clear if Stark is this dead twin come back to life, or someone who walked off the pages of an author’s imagination. But the scares, the body horror, and the intense psychological drama here all make up for that. It’s a disturbing film that will remain with you after watching. And Timothy Hutton pulls off a great performance acting against himself in two roles. Do yourself a favor and give this one a watch if you haven’t seen it (or haven’t seen it in a while). It holds up for the most part and it’s one of the more disturbing King adaptations out there.

Darkly yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Thinner

Stephen King's Thinner
Stephen King’s Thinner

Hello horror fans, it’s Slick Dungeon! I’m back to review another Stephen King adaptation. This one is the disappointing, and frankly, strange and offensive, film, Thinner. There will be spoilers for this but since I don’t recommend watching it, maybe that’s irrelevant here. If you do care about that, you have been warned.

Thinner background

Thinner is a 1996 body horror film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Originally the book was published under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman. One member of the literary guild said the book read like a work by Stephen King if Stephen King could write. Eventually it came out to the public that Bachman and King were one and the same person.

The movie was made for $8 million dollars and generated a healthy $15.3 million. But it was far from a critical success and upon re-watching this does not hold up. The main character is wholly unlikeable, although that is probably intentional. But more problematic is the way Romani people are depicted in uninspired stereotypes.

The end does offer some fateful justice but there are so many problems along the way, this is one I recommend skipping.

Not a nice lawyer

Billy Halleck is a lawyer willing to defend a mafia boss named Richie “The Hammer” Ginelli. Everyone in America is entitled to a vigorous defense but Billy must know on some level that Richie is guilty. Halleck succeeds in an acquittal of the trial. Billy Halleck is also, severely overweight. In fact, he’s somewhat obsessed with food.

His wife, Heidi loves him. And she wants him to do better with his nutrition. While driving home, Billy keeps talking about food. Heidi tries to distract him by, let’s just say doing things to him that are better done while not driving. As a result, Billy is distracted and runs over a Romani woman named Suzanne Lempke. The woman dies.

There are no consequences for Billy Halleck in court. He has a friendly judge acquit him of manslaughter after getting the police chief to commit perjury and clear Billy’s name.

Thinner

Suzanne’s father, Tadzu Lempke is justifiably angry. Outside of the court he sees Billy and touches Billy’s cheek. He says one word, “Thinner.” From now on, even when Billy is eating everything in sight, he gets thinner. No matter what he does, he loses weight. At first this is seen as good thing. But the rapid weight loss is concerning to Heidi. She thinks it might be cancer.

Both the judge and the police chief face their own consequences. The judge has turned into a lizard-like creature and the police chief has ulcers all over his face and hands. Both of these men have been cursed and both of them commit suicide.

Looking for solutions

Billy knows he is in trouble. He goes to the Romani camp to make a deal with Tadzu Lempke. Although Billy is a good lawyer, he can’t make a deal here. Tadzu banishes Billy from camp and his granddaughter shoots a ball bearing from a slingshot that tears right through Billy’s hand.

Billy angrily vows revenge and decides he is going to do everything he can to destroy these people.And he has the mafia connection with Richie Ginelli to do it.

Through a series of attempts, Ginelli does his best to terrify everyone at the Romani camp. One of these tactics results in the death of Tadzu’s granddaughter’s husband.

Tadzu agrees to meet with Billy to lift the curse. He gives Billy a pie, mixes in some of Billy’s blood and tells him what will happen. If someone else eats the pie they will die quickly and Billy’s curse will be lifted. Tadzu encourages him to eat the pie himself and die with dignity.

Billy Halleck is just the worst

Billy suspects Heidi is having an affair so he gives her the pie. When he wakes up, he wakes up next to Heidi’s corpse. But to his horror, he discovers his daughter also ate some of the pie. Billy is going to eat the rest of the pie when he is interrupted by the man Heidi is having an affair with. Billy invites him in for some pie with a smirk on his face.

The book actually ends with Billy eating the pie himself after discovering his daughter is cursed but the movie makes it a little more ambiguous.

Either way, I take Billy eating the pie as yet another time this guy escapes accountability as he won’t have to answer for any of his crimes if he’s dead. But that’s just my take.

Thinner in conclusion

This film might have worked in the 1990’s. There is some decent body horror but the practical effects used to make Billy look overweight don’t work well now. The ones that make him look thinner work better and leave a few creepy impressions on the viewer. But more problematic is the whole plot of a “gypsy curse” which feels outdated, irrelevant and essentially offensive at this point. Add to the fact that none of the nuance from the book is here and this makes for poor viewing. While Billy gets some consequences, he never seems to learn from his actions and does not become more likeable. I’m not against an unlikeable protagonist but Billy is really hard to sympathize with at any level here.

Not all Stephen King adaptations can be good ones. But as we get further into October, I’ll be reviewing some of scariest of his films so buckle up because from here on out, they are all likely to give you nightmares.

Thinly yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Sometimes They Come Back

Sometimes They Come Back is a tight, moody, TV series that mostly works
Sometimes They Come Back is a tight, moody, TV series that mostly works

Hello horror pals! Slick Dungeon here, back to review another Stephen King adaptation. This time, I am reviewing the 1991 made for TV series, Sometimes They Come Back based on a Stephen King short story of the same name. There will be spoilers in this review so if that bothers you, head out to the train tracks with your brother, run away with the car keys, go watch the film and come on back here to read the review. Just watch out for ghosts!

Sometimes They Come Back Background

Along with several other stories, Sometimes They Come Back was originally meant to be a part of the anthology film, Cat’s Eye. But this one was considered strong enough to be its own movie. Plus, Cat’s Eye was running over budget so a new production for the film was planned.

The movie tells the story of a high school teacher who comes back to his home town for work, only to find memories of the past haunt him. And some of those people from the past are back. The only problem? They’re dead. Either the man is having hallucinations or a malevolent force is awakening.

But does this adaptation still hold up? Let’s take a look and find out.

A return home

Jim Norman takes a job as a teacher in his old hometown of Liberty, Missouri. He has a wife names Sally and son named Scott. Jim and his parents had moved away years ago after the tragic loss of his older brother Wayne.

When they were kids, Wayne protected Jim from a group of greasers attempting a mugging in the middle of a train tunnel. As a result, Wayne is murdered, and most of the group of greasers die, hit by the train. One member of the group of thugs survived and still lives in Liberty.

Despite the bad memories, and maybe to bury them, Jim agrees to return to teach at the high school in town. But soon after he arrives, he has horrible dreams.

The kids aren’t alright

Soon after Jim has nightmares, some of his students die. They are killed by people who look exactly like the greasers who killed Wayne. And even worse than that, these greasers show up one by one in Jim’s class. The police are rightly suspicious about Jim’s close connection to the dead students.

It’s eerie how they all come into Jim’s class and sit down like everything is normal. They badger the teacher and he flies off the handle at them more than once. We know who these people are but for Jim it’s hard to tell if he is hallucinating or witnessing a supernatural phenomena. And things are about to get worse for him.

reenacting the crime

After antagonizing Jim to the breaking point, the greasers challenge Jim to a confrontation and threaten to kill his son Scott. One thing leads to another and Jim finds out a few things about these ghosts. For one thing, his own brother, Wayne is stuck in limbo because of them. Until something is done about Wayne’s murder, he can’t find peace. But in order for Wayne to come back, someone has to die, similar to how the greasers came back after the students died.

Jim seeks out Carl who is still alive but living a miserable life. Carl’s guilt is stronger than ever. He knows what he did was wrong. And he wants to make amends. But he leaves with the greasers.

Jim has to go back to the tunnel where his brother died. His family has been kidnapped and the greasers want to reenact the scene. Only this time, they want Jim to die too. Carl tries to stop the greasers. But one of them kills Carl. This is bad for Carl but it’s good for Jim and Wayne. Wayne and Jim rescue Jim’s family and send the greasers straight on to Hell. They’re hit by the train once again and Wayne finally gets peace.

Sometimes They Come Back is more mood than horror

There are a few scares in this one. I’m always just a little creeped out by a movie where someone comes back from the dead. And there are instances of violence. But, in this one the horror is fairly quiet most of the time. The oppressive mood and feeling of dread does most of the work here. The most eerie scenes are not when the greasers are committing overt violence but when they show up at school to taunt Jim. They carry an attitude about them that Jim finds unsettling and it in turn unsettles the audience.

Overall, I enjoy this one but there are admittedly much better Stephen King movies out there. If you want something dark and moody, with a bit of gore and violence, this is a good one to watch.

Eerily yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Graveyard Shift

Brad Dourif has a great turn as the exterminator in Graveyard Shift
Brad Dourif has a great turn as the exterminator in Graveyard Shift

Hello horror fans, it’s Slick Dungeon here. I’m back to review one of the least seen and most disliked Stephen King adaptations of all time. I’ll be diving into Graveyard Shift in this review. There will be spoilers so if you care about that, run it past your horrible boss, take a little time off from the cleanup crew, watch the movie and come on back here to read the review.

Graveyard Shift Background

Graveyard Shift started off as a Stephen King short story in an issue of Cavalier magazine. But it wasn’t until the story showed up in the Stephen King collection Night Shift that it gained popularity. The story tells the tale of a crew of workers, abused by management, forced to work in harsh conditions who have to face a dark terror in the old mill.

As far as Stephen King stories go, this one is enjoyable and frightening. As far as a movie? There’s not much good to say about it. Upon release the film made a decent $11.5 million gross domestically, and took the top spot at the box office in the first weekend. But negative word of mouth crushed any real success for the film. Even now, it’s got a 0% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

But there is one, and only one, standout part of the movie, and his name is Brad Dourif.

I’m going to give you my review of the film. But just to cut to the chase, it’s not one I recommend.

Looking for Work

John Hall is a widower and a drifter. And he needs work. Badly. So, when he’s hired to work a rat infested mill by a corrupt foreman named Warwick, John is thankful. But he’s a realist and sees the problems here right away. Warwick is greedy, misogynistic, corrupt, and all around a terrible fellow.

Warwick’s mill has a rat problem. And I mean, a big rat problem. They are everywhere. Warwick hires an exterminator named Tucker Cleveland to take care of the problem. But even with his best efforts, and intense hatred towards rats, Cleveland can’t rid the mill of the rats.

As Hall begins work in the mill, he strikes up a romance with a coworker named Jane Wisconsky. But Warwick has his eye on her (and on the rest of the women in the mill). Warwick and his pals bully Hall relentlessly.

The Clean Up Crew

A select group of workers, who Warwick particularly hates, are assigned to a clean up crew. Their task? Clean up the basement, rid the place of rats, and have the mill up to inspection standards. And this will be no easy feat. People start disappearing as a strange creature keeps snapping them up while in the basement.

Warwick doesn’t care when people go missing. But he does send Cleveland to go to the cemetery, where he thinks the source of the rat problem is. Cleveland does his best to eliminate rats but he dies when a stone coffin falls on him.

Meanwhile, the cleanup crew does their best to get rid of the rats. They shoot them, turn fire hoses on them, and hit them with slingshots. Eventually they discover a network of tunnels that leads to the creature’s lair. Soon only Hall and Wisconsky are left. They stumble upon Warwick who has been trapped by the creature and driven insane. A scuffle ensues and Warwick stabs Wisconsky. The creature, a huge bat, rat hybrid tries to kill Hall but he gets the thing caught up in the equipment and kills it. An extended version of the movie shows Hall punch out his time card as well as Wisconsky’s. But the movie just ends with the mill still open and under new management.

Graveyard Shift is silly and ridiculous

If you are looking for a humorous horror film, this one would count. Although, I don’t think that’s intentional. There are moments clearly meant for comedy and those are the best in the movie. And every one of those scenes involves Brad Dourif as the exterminator. You’ll recognize him from his role as Wormtongue in the Lord of the Rings and as the voice of Chucky from the Child’s Play movie. To me, he’s the only reason to watch this movie at all.

To see an over the top, completely outrageous performance in an otherwise ridiculous film, watch Brad Douriff in this. Otherwise, don’t waste your time on this one. It’s not worth it.

Ridiculously yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Misery

James Caan stars as writer Paul Sheldon in Misery
James Caan stars as writer Paul Sheldon in Misery

Hello horror fans! Slick Dungeon here and I’m back to review yet another Stephen King movie. This time, I’ll be talking about the exercise in toxic fandom known as Misery. The film features James Caan as author Paul Sheldon caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it stars Kathy Bates in her tour de force performance as Annie Wilkes, Sheldon’s number one fan. There will be spoilers in this review so if you haven’t seen it yet, drive your car through the snow, get in an accident, be fortunate enough for a good Samaritan to help you recover, ask them to rent the movie for you, give it a watch, and come on back here to read the review.

Misery Background

This is the second Stephen King film Rob Reiner directed. His first was the highly acclaimed Stand by Me. And Misery proved to be another critical success earning an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Kathy Bates for Best Actress.

Luckily for the world, the producer of the film, Andrew Scheinman read the novel on an airplane, recommended it to Rob Reiner who then asked William Goldman to write the screenplay.

Several big name actors were considered for the role of Paul Sheldon, including, but not limited to, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro and Robert Redford. They all turned it down. The actor who got closest was Warren Beatty but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. James Caan won the role.

But the real star of this film is Kathy Bates who plays Annie Wilkes. We almost had an Annie played by Bette Midler or Angelica Houston. I think this casting choice was much better because Kathy Bates was not well known at the time and it just works for the part.

A crash in Career And in Reality

Paul Sheldon is a famous, wealthy writer, known for his hit Victorian romance novels starring a character named Misery Chastain. Feeling unfulfilled in his creative life, Sheldon writes a new book. This one is a serious literary effort which is likely to lose him money but gain critical stardom.

After meeting with his agent in Colorado, Sheldon drives towards his home in New York. A blizzard hits and road conditions become extremely dangerous. In white out conditions, Paul crashes his car and sustains major injuries.

A Good Samaritan

Annie Wilkes finds Sheldon, brings him back to her home, and tends to his wounds. The author has a dislocated shoulder and two broken legs. Annie does have some skill she can put to use because she was a nurse at one point. The conditions outside remain horrendous so she can’t get through to a hospital and the roads are not clear. But she also tells Sheldon, “I’m your number one fan.” It’s the line that sticks in your memory the longest after watching this movie.

Paul is at the mercy of this woman. She discovers he has a manuscript for his latest Misery novel in his bag and asks if she can read it. Sheldon doesn’t have much choice but to allow her. And things get serious from here on out.

Toxic FAndom

It starts small. Annie tells Sheldon how much she loves the new manuscript but she has one criticism. There is too much swearing. Sheldon patiently explains that the type of characters he is writing about would use profanity. Annie flies off the handle and yells at Sheldon in the most disturbing manner possible. She calms down. But this woman is unhinged.

But then Annie discovers Misery dies at the end of Sheldon’s latest novel. She burns the only copy of the manuscript right in front of the author and tells him she never called anyone for help. No one knows where Sheldon is. And he is at the mercy of Annie’s whims.

A New Misery Book

Annie forces Sheldon to write a new book. He takes advantage of any downtime he has. He snags a bobby pin so he can pick the lock to his door. At the first opportunity, he gets in his wheelchair and snoops around Annie’s house while she is gone. He finds disturbing newspaper clippings about Annie involved in a trial where she was suspected of infanticide at the hospital she worked at.

Annie finds out Paul has left his room and she is outraged. In the most brutal scene of the entire film, Annie puts a wooden block between Sheldon’s legs and breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer. I don’t care who you are, if you watch that scene and don’t cringe in pain, you are not human.

Paul needs to finish the novel. Otherwise, Annie will kill him. But she’s so unhinged she’s likely to kill him even if he does complete it.

The sheriff

Meanwhile, the local sheriff investigates the disappearance of Paul Sheldon. It takes forever but this guy figures out Annie Wilkes has something to do with the case. He visits Annie only to die by shotgun moments later. This guy is the most useless sheriff in all of the Stephen King books, and that’s saying something.

The Final Showdown

Annie wants to commit murder suicide with Paul. But he’s crafty enough to convince her to let him finish writing the book. He hides lighter fluid in his pants. Once Sheldon finishes the novel, he asks Annie to have dinner with him. Annie brings her gun. Sheldon doesn’t let Annie read the manuscript. Instead he lights it on fire and says, “I learned it from you.” There’s a massive struggle. Annie shoots Sheldon. But Sheldon wins the fight, bashing Annie’s skull with a metal doorstop shaped like her pig named Misery.

Living past trauma

Eighteen months later, Sheldon is back on his feet. He’s got the literary acclaim he wants but everywhere he looks he still sees Annie. And people still say to him, “I’m your number one fan.”

Misery in Conclusion

The name Misery works on multiple levels in this film. First, it’s the name of the character in the fictional novel series and it’s a perfect name for a Victorian romance. Second, it’s what Sheldon goes through in the course of the story.

Stephen King said when he wrote the book this was basically a metaphor for his struggle with cocaine addiction. And I can just see King imagining bashing cocaine in the face with a metal doorstop.

In a weird twist of fate, years later Stephen King would get hit by a car himself, although it doesn’t seem he was kept locked up by a toxic fan.

Whatever you think of the story, the movie is memorable for the incredible performance of Kathy Bates. And it’s one of the King films that will endure for as long as film does. This predates other capture films like Saw but it’s an escape film nonetheless.

As far as psychological thrillers go, this is top tier film making. To me, it’s incredible how well this film holds up. When you think about the way fandom can be lately, with the audience dictating how a creator should make something, it feels more relevant than ever before. I think more creators should take a page out of Sheldon’s book and fight back against their “number one fans” if it doesn’t serve the story well. But that’s just my opinion on the matter.

Fanatically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Creepshow 2

Creepshow 2 features three more adaptations of Stephen King stories
Creepshow 2 features three more adaptations of Stephen King stories

Hello horror fans! Slick Dungeon here and I’m back to review another of Stephen King’s anthology films. He’s back with his second film to emulate EC horror comic vibes with Creepshow 2. There will be spoilers in this review so if that bothers you, hop in your car, head out to the abandoned lake, skip getting on the raft, go back home instead, watch the movie and come on back here to read the review!

Creepshow 2 Background

Originally, Creepshow 2 was going to feature five different stories but due to budget, two had to be cut. The film was directed by Michael Gornick who had been the cinematographer on the first film. Legendary horror icon George A. Romero who directed the first film wrote the screenplay for this one. While this film did make a respectable $14 million at the box office, critics did not take to it and it currently sits with only a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

With the horror icon power of this movie, one would think this would become a King classic. I’ll admit I am one of the few that enjoys this film but I will also admit I think there is only one story here that is actually scary. Why didn’t this work? Let’s take a look at the stories and find out.

Old Chief Wood’nhead

Ray and Martha Spruce are an elderly couple who own the general store in Dead River. Dead River is a small town all of the locals frequent. There is a local Native American tribe in town and the elder of the tribe, Benjamin Whitemoon, owes the couple a debt. To make good on what is owed, Benjamin asks Ray to keep his tribe’s most sacred treasure until they can come up with the money. Ray and Benjamin have clear respect for one another and are both important community leaders.

Outside of this little store is a wooden carving of a Native American warrior named, “Old Chief Wood’nhead.”

Late at night, the nephew of Benjamin Whitemoon and two of his thuggish friends break into the store and steal the turquoise jewelry that makes up the tribe’s sacred treasure from Ray and Martha. In the scuffle, both Martha and Ray are shot to death. Old Chief Wood’nhead comes to life and relentlessly pursues the killers. In the morning, Benjamin finds the treasure by his bed and the wooden carving holding his nephew’s scalp.

This one has a decent setup but it certainly feels outdated. And it goes on for far too long. I doubt this would be made again today. Also, there are not any good scares here as it looks pretty fake. It might have worked at the time of release but just doesn’t play well now.

The RAft

This is the scary one. The raft is a simple story of four friends who decide to go out on a lake in the middle of October. They’re just four college kids looking for a good time, not trying to hurt anyone. There is a raft in the middle of the lake and they decide to swim out to it. But, on the way, one of them notices a strange black sludge in the middle of the water.

A feeling of dread overwhelms one of them and he encourages those still in the water to hurry up and get on the raft. But, the sludge gets closer. One of the girls reaches her hand over the side and the sludge grabs her and drags her down to the water. And it consumes her and melts her skin in the process. One by one, the remaining three are inevitably destroyed by this strange black sludge.

I’m not sure what it is about this one but it terrifies me. I’m a decent swimmer but if I’m ever invited out to swim to a raft in the middle of a lake when there is black sludge in the water? I’ll take a hard pass on that.

The Hitch-Hiker

This one is pretty standard campfire story stuff. A woman hits a hitch-hiker with her car because she didn’t see him when she was running late. She was especially anxious to get back home because she was having an affair. And if she was late, she had not good excuse. So her husband would know she was cheating on him. As you can guess, the hitch-hiker comes back.

There are a couple of good gory moments in this one but no genuine scares. It feels rather uninspired. And it’s overly predictable.

Creepshow 2 in Conclusion

In addition to the stories I mentioned above there is a prologue and epilogue story. But it’s the same basic premise as the first movie’s prologue/epilogue. It’s nearly as good this time. I do find entertainment value in the whole movie but I’d be fine just watching The Raft and skipping the rest of the movie too. Creepshow, the original movie is much more original and fun. I recommend that one over this one any day.

All in all it’s not a bad watch, it’s just not a great one either.

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Creepily yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Silver Bullet

Gary Busey stars as Uncle Red in Silver Bullet
Gary Busey stars as Uncle Red in Silver Bullet

Hello Halloween month pals, Slick Dungeon here. Have you ever had one of those summers where a werewolf just ravaged your home town? If so, you can relate to Silver Bullet, the silly, campy, but still somehow entertaining werewolf film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. There will be spoilers in this review so if you haven’t watched the movie, strap yourself into your modified wheelchair, hang out with your eccentric uncle, watch the movie, and come on back here to read the review.

Silver Bullet Background

This story actually started out as… a calendar? Yes, that’s right. There was a calendar that was going to be illustrated by the amazing Bernie Wrightson with short vignettes by Stephen King. But King just couldn’t keep it that short so it ended up as a novella, but still with illustrations by Wrightson.

Eventually, this story became a film starring Corey Haim, Everett McGill, Gary Busey, and Megan Follows.

This one sharply divides audiences. Some people think this is one of the worst werewolf films of all time, while others find it campy and humorous. Almost no one thinks it’s a quality film, but I find some entertainment value here.

Siblings

The story is narrated by Megan Follows as Jane Coslaw. She relates the story of what happened to her and her brother in 1976 in Tarker’s Mills, Maine. Jane has a rough life because she’s often expected to look after her little brother, Marty who is paraplegic, played by Corey Haim.

In town a series of murders happens. First, a railroad worker is decapitated. Then a pregnant woman is slaughtered. An abusive father dies in his greenhouse. And finally, Marty’s best friend, Brady Kincaid dies. What do all of these murders have in common? They are brutal and bloody. Almost as if an animal had attacked them.

These events will ultimately bring Jane and Marty closer together than ever before.

Vigilante Justice

After Brady’s death the townsfolk get sick of nothing happening and the lack of justice. They decide to take matters into their own hands. Despite protestations from local law enforcement, the group goes out looking for the murderer. Three of the party die in a brutal attack.

The local Reverend starts having nightmares of werewolves attacking him, and he wakes up saying, “Please God, let it end.” Not suspicious at all…

Uncle Red

Things get worse in town, more people die, Fourth of July fireworks are canceled and a curfew is put in place. Jane and Marty have an eccentric and alcoholic uncle named Red, played by Gary Busey.

Red is seen as a loser by his own sister and the whole town knows he’s a drunk. But he’s the cool uncle who genuinely cares for his niece and nephew. He’s one of the few people who treat Marty as a whole person, rather than someone to be pitied because he is in a wheelchair.

Speaking of wheelchairs, Red is good at making stuff. So he makes an awesome motorized wheelchair for Marty and names it the Silver Bullet.

Marty goes out with his sweet ride and a bunch of fireworks in the middle of the night. As he’s lighting these things off, the werewolf shows up. Marty blasts the creature in the eye with one of the rockets and he escapes. He tells Jane all about it.

The One Eyed Man

Because Marty snagged this thing in the eye, he tells Jane she needs to look out for someone with one eye. Jane goes around town collecting recycling to take back to the church. She doesn’t care about the recycling but it’s a good excuse to look everyone in the eye. Jane has no luck until she ends up back at the church to turn in the recycling.

Sure enough, Reverend Lowe has only one eye. I guess his dream was suspicious after all. Jane tells Marty who the werewolf is. Marty writes anonymous notes telling the Reverend he should kill himself. But that’s not what the man does. Instead, he tries to run a kid in a wheelchair off the road. What a great guy. A passerby saves Marty from certain doom.

Convincing Adults

Even with all the carnage that has befallen the town, it’s tough to convince adults there is a werewolf on the loose. Uncle Red is skeptical but he chooses to believe his nephew. Red does the smart thing and enlists the help of the Sheriff. The Sheriff goes to Lowe’s house where the Reverend has locked himself in his own garage to try to end the killings. But that doesn’t work because Lowe kills the Sheriff. And he knows to go after Marty and Jane next.

The Real Silver Bullet

What’s the only thing that can kill a werewolf? Say it with me, a silver bullet. Jane has a silver cross and Marty has a silver medallion. They convince Red to take these items to a gunsmith to make an actual silver bullet.

You know what happens from here. The moon is full, the werewolf comes out, there’s a scuffle, and Marty shoots the werewolf right in the eye. And we see it’s Reverend Lowe after the werewolf reverts back.

At the end, Jane says after that she was able to tell Marty she loves him. It only took killing one werewolf so I guess it could have been worse.

Silver Bullet in Conclusion

I’m the first to admit this film is not even close to for everyone. But, I think there is some entertainment value here. It’s silly and campy and it makes you laugh. Gary Busey is fascinating to watch and it’s made better because he improvised a ton of his lines. You shouldn’t expect Shakespeare out of this film. Heck, you shouldn’t expect Creepshow out of this one. But, if you can switch your brain off a bit and just enjoy the ride, watch it as a comedy rather than horror, you can have a good time watching this one.

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Howlingly yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Salem’s Lot (2024)

Salem's Lot (2024) is the latest adaptation of the Stephen King book of the same name
Salem’s Lot (2024) is the latest adaptation of the Stephen King book of the same name

Hello horror fans, Slick Dungeon here! I’m back to review yet another Stephen King adaptation. And no, you are not experiencing déjà vu. I already reviewed Salem’s Lot but that was the Tobe Hooper directed version from 1979. Today I want to talk about the newest adaptation, the Salem’s Lot (2024) version you can only catch on Max. This is a newer adaptation so I will keep the spoilers to a minimum but if you can’t stand spoilers, watch the movie in daylight and come on back here to read the review!

Salem’s Lot (2024) Background

This film has a bit of a convoluted history. In 2019 it was announced Gary Dauberman who wrote It and It Chapter Two would be writing the next adaptation of Salem’s Lot. James Wan was attached as a producer and production on the project began with Lewis Pullman as the lead.

Unfortunately for the movie, and the world, COVID-19 hit. The film was delayed and set to release on April 21, 2023. But this film lost that release date due to the release date of the Evil Dead Rise film.

It was then supposed to come out on Max in October of 2023 but the writer’s strike was in full force at this time. In February of this year, Stephen King questioned on social media why it had no release date. And soon after that, Max announced it would air in October of 2024 and here we are.

It’s a project that could have been yet another fully finished bit of media, simply hidden from us for tax write offs if had not been for an author with an exceedingly large following. But, now that it has debuted, the question remains if it is worth viewing. Let’s find out.

The Premise

Like the book and previous adaptations, the story centers around an author named Ben Mears. He returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot, since shortened to Salem’s Lot, obsessed with a huge, supposedly haunted house. As he starts to mingle with the townsfolk, Ben notices strange things happening and believes the epicenter of these events is the Marsten house. He has to team up with a group of people to stop an immense evil from destroying everyone in his hometown.

For a more in-depth breakdown of the plot, you can look at my post about the 1979 version of Salem’s Lot here. Many of the events are similar, however, the 1979 version is a miniseries and has a bit more room for subplots and side characters. And the third act of the 2024 version varies greatly from the third act of the 1979 version but I don’t want to give that away in this review.

The Good

The good news about this version is it was not shelved permanently. The story is still set in the 1970s just like the book. The performances here are all good performances. No one seems to go too far or be too reserved in their emotions.

And there are definitely a few good, scary moments. Enough to make you jump out of your seat a time or two but not so many that you are always on the edge of your seat. The set and production design are excellent and in a lot of ways this version feels more believable than parts of the 1979 version.

It stays largely true to the novel but it’s obviously condensed considering it’s a lengthy book.

The Bad

While it’s exciting to see another adaptation of Salem’s Lot this version feels a bit underwhelming. It doesn’t have the gravity of the 1979 version and it definitely doesn’t pack the punch the book did. There are moments that feel like they are on the edge of greatness but it doesn’t ever manage to get there. It and It Chapter Two were both adaptations that deviated a little from the book but really had an impact. Yet, Salem’s Lot feels more sluggish and too rushed all at the same time. It would have made more sense for this to be a miniseries of some kind in my mind but at least we got to see it at all.

The Ugly

I’ve got to make an argument here for practical effects. While there are some creepy moments and good scares in the movie, there are also some distracting scenes. These are the ones involving CGI. Giving the vampires glowing eyes and making crosses glow with computer effects is fine and all but there are moments here which just feel silly because of the CGI. And there are some parts where vampires burn. I know it is very difficult to do but CGI flames just do not look the same as real fire. It takes away a good amount of the horror we should feel when we see something burning. I understand the reason for the choice, I just wish it could have been done a different way.

On top of that, this film was made now to look like the 1970s. Having recently watched the Tobe Hooper version, which was actually made in the 1970s, there is no comparison. Hooper’s version looks and feels like the decade while this one looks like it is trying way too hard to reproduce that look.

Salem’s Lot (2024) in Conclusion

There’s a lot that can be said for and against this version of Salem’s Lot. While it has some high points, there are definite problems with it, and one gets the feeling if it could have more room to tell the story we might have seen something amazing.

But I also want to take us back for just a minute to when Stephen King wrote Salem’s Lot. This book was one of the first to take the idea of vampires invading a small town. This predates things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries, TruBlood, and even The Lost Boys. It felt new to the audience first reading it. Now, we have had all that media. To see people in a small town figure out, and be surprised by, vampires getting burnt by crosses feels quaint and obvious.

I’m not the kind of person to tell people how to make a movie or show and I appreciate the work that went into any kind of entertainment. But, if I was able to make a wish and have this movie done differently, I have two ideas that I think might make it better.

First, and most obviously, is to make this into a solid one or two season series, where we can go into all of the characters, subplots and nuances from the book, but still set it in the 1970s.

The other idea, I think, is to keep it movie length but place it in our current time period and have the vampires have to deal with all the things like social media, cell phones, a huge amount of lore known by the general public and still be able to surprise people. One series that did this pretty well was Midnight Mass, so it can be done. And I’d absolutely love to see Stephen King be the screenwriter for that because I am sure he’d have some thoughts.

But that’s just my feeling about it. What’s yours?

Do you prefer this version, the Tobe Hooper version, the 2004 version, or the book? Let me know in the comments!

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Vampirically yours,

Slick Dungeon