We rented Clive Barker's "The Plague" last night. It's about how all of the world's children under the age of 9 fall into a comatose/catatonic state, and remain that way for 10 years. All children born during this period are born comatose, and the world is considering placing a ban on pregnancy and childbirth. The story begins with all the children falling ill, and goes right to 10 years later.
At the 10 year mark, they all awake at the same time and kill every adult they can get their hands on. They're just like "mindless killing machines", except you come to realize it's more of a hive mentality.
I liked it, but didn't as much as I thought I would. It moved a little slow, and was not something I would have expected Clive Barker's name to be attatched to. It reminded me a little bit of a French film called "They Came Back" - in it's pacing and such.
And, much like They Came Back, there's no explanation to why this has happened, and the ending just kinds of....lets you sit there. Not an ending exactly, just....eh.
I guess I just have too many questions. I think I'll watch it again now that I haven't been up for 20 straight hours.
Amanda,
I've been curious about this one. I'm going to have to rent it due to the fact that you compared it to They Came Back which is one of my favorite French films.
The idea sounds intriguing. And I kind of like the 'because it just happens' reason. A la Night of the Living Dead mentality.
Although The Plague wasn't bad (it was pretty decent, actually - given a second viewing), just let me say it wasn't as good as They Came Back.
Have you read Stephen King's "Cell"? That popped into my head, too. They're just the closest things I can associate The Plague with. The opening segment was actually really good, very promising. The pace of it is what I didn't care for.
Yeah, there is no answer to the why of it, but there are clues that some of the folks know why it happened. They just never bother sharing it with the rest of us.
And the kids are obviously supernaturally enhanced, just a wee bit.
Amanda,
I actually just read Cell about two months ago. Great, classic Stephen King...even if it does get a bit silly towards the end.
I'll have to give The Plague a chance. Sounds interesting, and I'm a fan of Barker's other works.
I bought Cell in Hardcover and I just couldn't seem to get into it after reading the first 100 pages or so.
This book is definitely one of King's worst and I've read most of his books.
The storytelling seems so...weak.
And it has characters that I couldn't give a s**t about.
That's a rare thing in a King book...usually, I really care about all the characters, but not in this book.
I constantly kept comparing it to the stuff I've seen in Romero's zombie films and it just doesn't hold up.
As for right now, I put it back on the shelf where it will stay for some time.
Maybe one of these days I'll finish it...
"The Cell" soon to be a motion picture. No cast members listed as yet, but the director is Eli Roth, who also wrote the screenplay based on Stephen King's novel of the same title.
Ash,
I found it to be a pretty refreshing read. It starts out strong, has a decent middle portion, but the end does fall a bit flat. There was no doubt, while reading it, that it was a King book. It has his trademark sense of humor and such, and I liked it much much better than most of his latest works. Give it another chance, and leave out any Romero comparisons.
I actually really liked Cell, and I was hesitant about getting it. I've been terribly disappointed with King lately, and I own, in hardcover, almost every one of his books. I thought Cell was a nearly triumphant return to old King. Not 100%, but close.
Yeah, I was disappointed in the end a little, but was overall very pleased.
Not sure I'm happy about Roth directing it, although I suppose - as far as present day horror directors go - he's about the best of the bunch. He'll get the gore down pat, that's for sure.
What would your favorite Stephen King book be? Me I love his book "It" not the tv movie though.
Ellie,
I'm going to have to say Bag Of Bones. Amazing book that I could read over and over. "It" never worked for me...I never finished that one.
My favorite Stephen King book has to be Salems' Lot. Movie is soso but book is excellent.
My favorite King book? Hands down, Salem's Lot. Both versions of the movie blew, but the book is just wonderful. Followed closely by "It".
He did a wonderful piece of non-fiction called "Dance Macabre", and a fantasy called "The Eyes of the Dragon". Love that book too.
REGULATORS and DESPERATION . Its a double feature!
REGULATORS and DESPERATION . Its a double feature!
RCMerchant,
I loved Desperation but I just couldn't find myself getting into Regulators. It just didn't quite work for me.
Skaboi - Did you watch the TV version of Desperation? I was all excited for it, mainly for Ron Perlman, but really got bored towards the end. Started out promising though.
Amanda,
Yeah, I watched it when it premiered. I liked the fact that Perlman was the cop, but it just didn't have the bite that the book did. That's understandable considering it was made for TV.
I am of the opinion that Mick Garris should be banned from making any more King novels into films. The man isn't that great of a director, and would rather make made for tv films rather than hold to the source material.
But, sometimes straying from King's ideas can make the better movie. Kubrick proved that point with The Shining.
I say give the scripts to different directors. Let someone else try their hand at King. Hell, I'd love to see another Romero/King team up.
And it's funny that Stephen King HATED Kubrick's Shining. To me, and I'm serious, that was the only GOOD film adaptation of a King novel ever. Closely followed by Secret Window, kinda. Most of the movies made from King's horror novels blow.
Now, Stand By Me and Shawshank Redemption...that's another story.