Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #14: Batman’s Villains edited by Dick Giordano One of the things that has kept Batman a popular superhero over the many years of his existence is that he has a good rogues’ gallery, a set of colorful recurring villains that drive fun stories for the Caped Crusader. This… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #14: Batman’s Villains
Tag: mental illness
Book Review: Phobia
Book Review: Phobia by Thomas Luke When Peter Ross was seven, his little sister died in a swimming pool accident. He developed a crushing fear of swimming. Some years later, Peter’s father threw him into the deep end of the pool, and in his struggles to get out, the boy found that he could swim,… Continue reading Book Review: Phobia
Movie Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Movie Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) directed by Robert Wiene The frame story begins with Franciz (Friedrich Feher) having just been told by another man (Hans Lanser-Ludloff) about the supernatural events that drove him from his home. Franciz replies that the events he and his fiancée Jane Olsen (Lil Dagover) experienced were even more… Continue reading Movie Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Book Review: The Crossroads of Time | Mankind on the Run
Book Review: The Crossroads of Time | Mankind on the Run by Andre Norton | Gordon R. Dickson It’s time for another Ace Double, the classic paperback format of two novels printed upside down from each other. This time it’s two classic science fiction authors on tap. The Crossroads of Time by Andre Norton Blake… Continue reading Book Review: The Crossroads of Time | Mankind on the Run
Movie Review: Batman vs. Two-Face
Movie Review: Batman vs. Two-Face (2017) directed by Rick Morales It is night at Gotham Penitentiary, and a small group of people have gathered to witness a bizarre experiment. Doctor Hugo Strange wants to use his new Evil Extractor to remove the criminal impulses from Gotham City’s super-criminals in order to make them not evil anymore.… Continue reading Movie Review: Batman vs. Two-Face
Movie Review: The Casino Murder Case
Movie Review: The Casino Murder Case (1935) directed by Edwin L. Marin We begin our story with urbane amateur detective Philo Vance (Paul Lukas) fencing with his manservant Currie (Eric Blore). This is part of Vance’s recent exercise kick, and Currie has been dragged into it as well. More relevantly to the plot, an anonymous letter… Continue reading Movie Review: The Casino Murder Case
Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible
Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman There are two narrators for this story, neither of whom has all the pieces. The first is Doctor Impossible, a supervillain and mad scientist who has a compulsion to take over the world. The other is Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the… Continue reading Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible
Movie Review: Nightmare Castle
Movie Review: Nightmare Castle (1965) directed by Mario Caiano (original title “Amanti d’Oltretomba”) Jenny Arrowsmith (nee Hampton) (Barbara Steele) has always had fragile mental health, and has spent much of her life at the “clinic” of Dr. Dereck Joyce (Marino Mase). Recently, Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (Paul Muller) arrived to inform her of the death of his… Continue reading Movie Review: Nightmare Castle
Movie Review: Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch
Movie Review: Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch (1968) directed by Noriaki Yuasa Sayuri (Yachie Matsui) has mostly been okay with living at the Catholic orphanage with the Director nun (Kuniko Miyake) and handsome “big brother” Tatsuya (Sei Hiraizumi). But now she’s been adopted by the Nanjo family, and she’s determined to be a… Continue reading Movie Review: Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch
Book Review: Thief River Falls
Book Review: Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman “Write what you know.” Thriller author Lisa Power followed that maxim in her fourth book, entitled Thief River Falls. It’s set in her home town of Thief River Falls, Minnesota and features real locations there, and even the real names of some of the residents. The verisimilitude… Continue reading Book Review: Thief River Falls