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Posts Tagged ‘Fantasy author LaTaeya Lane’

by LaTaeya Lane

Warning: Mild Spoilers Below

Halloween Ends, starring (Jamie Lee Curtis) and directed by David Gordon Green, takes place four years after the last battle, which left Laurie Strode and the residents of Haddonfield still reeling from the traumatic events after Halloween Kills.

We find Laurie once again attempting to pick up the pieces of her life. This time we see her and her granddaughter managing to fuse their lives as they try to move on. Things quickly spiral once Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson played by (Andi Matichak) finds a love interest, Cory, portrayed by (Rohan Campbell) who completely changes the narrative of Michael Myers.

Laurie Strode, portrayed by the legendary Jamie Lee Curtis, is a formidable force to be reckoned with. After all these years, she still has a lot of fight in her. However, Laurie is much older and is in a different place in her life as she continues her battle with Evil. On the other hand, the Shape has also weakened with time, and moviegoers will see the effects of that weakness and how it plays such a pivotal role within this storyline.

Without giving too much away, I think that the film presented a fresh take on the lasting impact that Michael has had on Laurie and Haddonfield. It also gave fans an interesting spin on how the magic of horror can be revealed without remorse or explanation. Finally, this film introduces dedicated fans to a new concept of energy transference to The Shape’s, aka Michael Myers’ persona.

To some degree, the film did miss the mark on providing a better conclusion to Michael’s and Laurie’s story but overall, I was very satisfied with how the way things ended with Michael. At one point, I got excited about Cory’s introduction, thinking he might take the reins as a new reincarnated version of Michael Myers.

After 44 years of screaming, running, chasing, hunting, hiding, fighting, haunting, struggling, hoping, believing, and persevering, the Halloween saga has pushed the limits of horror. It has transcended time as the ultimate Good versus Evil theme and will forever reign as a staple in cinematic horror history.

Halloween Ends is must-see for those fans dedicated to the franchise.

I gave this movie 4 stars

L.L.

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Warning: Spoilers Below!

Halloween Kills “Movie Review”

Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Anthony Michael Hall, and Andi Matichak, is the sequel to the 2018 film Halloween. The film takes place right after the first film’s events where Laurie Strode and her daughter and granddaughter attempt to trap Michael Myers in a burning home to rid the world and Haddonfield of decades-old trauma and torment.

While Laurie recovers in the hospital, she and her family quickly realize that Michael is still alive as they band together with the local townspeople to help defend and protect each other. This movie was a lot different from the others in the franchise because it mainly focused on a variety of other characters’ perspectives that writers never before explored in the original films, such as Tommy Doyle, Officer Hawkins, and Lonnie Elam. We even see Nurse Marion as she joins the cause to help. However, once again, Michael proves to Haddonfield that he is a force to be reckoned with. Despite the efforts of Laurie and the strong women in her family, the darkness that is Michael Myers is practically impossible to overcome in this case.

Overall, I thought the film was exciting and well done. As a Horror fan and a fan of the Halloween Franchise, it’s just tradition to love a movie that defines the spirit of Halloween. It was good to see a more realistic hospital concept filled with patients and their families considering the deserted concept in the original Halloween sequel all those years ago. However, we’ve seen it all at this point, as police and the people in the town take shots and swings at Michael that have no lasting effect on him. We’ve seen him take out a whole police department and now practically an entire fire department. We’ve seen him throw people out of a window, strangle people in a car, impale people with strange objects, and so on. I’m not sure what the franchise has in store for fans in the future, but it may be time for Michael to retire his mask and for Laurie to enjoy the rest of her days with peace. The special effects and other production elements were done with a clear vision, but aside from the opening credits, the score missed the mark on so many levels. The classic John Carpenter Halloween theme wasn’t touched in a way that allowed fans to connect to the films as done in the past traditionally. I still don’t know how much I like the new story to reflect that Laurie is not Michael’s bother. I’m still processing that idea, and honestly, I may never get over that. This film’s body count is high, and Michael’s comedic and dramatic personality was still the same. Jamie’s performance was thrilling as usual, and the supporting cast brought a unique wave of interest that helped produce a decent flow of the film.

I gave this film 3 ½ stars.

L.L.

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it follows

It Follows directed by David Robert Mitchell and starring Maika Monroe tells the story of a young college girl who is haunted by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter with a guy goes terribly wrong.

The movie had a good story line but it just didn’t fully deliver as I expected. The guy that Jay sleeps with passes on to her some kind of entity that wants to kill her. The entity follows her everywhere and comes in the form of people that she some times knows. She and her friends spend all their time running away from the entity. On a couple of occasions they try to fight back but they quickly realize that they can’t defeat it. Jay takes into consideration and makes an attempt to pass it on, but her attempt fails.

The movie had some good scenes but overall it is a very slow-paced film. The tone of the film has a classic late 70’s early 80’s feel to it and I got the idea that the writers were going that, but that just was not enough to make it successful.

There were so many things that the writers and director could have done to make this horror magic, like coming up with a detailed plot that fully explains the origin of the entity and how to pass it on or defeat it.  The most important thing they could have done was make the haunting even more haunting, not just have people following the main character. I mean at times the appearance of the entity was more startling instead of scary. The entity should have been more  of a creature that hides in the shadows and comes for her at more of a time that is least expected. The opening scene where the girl has her legs broken forward was better than the whole film. They could have taken a more supernatural approach to this film and incorporated that type of gore and horror that the introduction promised.

I hate to say it, but i feel that modern horror is starting to die. Every movie that I give a chance lately has ended in nothing but disappointment. It seems like the film industry is becoming nothing but remakes, or shotty ideas that are not fully developed or portrayed in ways that horror movie fans can appreciate like in the decades of film and writing creativity. Thank goodness for Netflix and my classic horror collection.

The music was well done, the effects were almost not existent and the acting was mediocre. I’m happy that I didn’t spend money at the theater for this.

I give this movie two stars, if you can get through it.

L.L.

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TWD Season 5 poster

The Walking Dead season five finale went out with a bang. The entire season has been one big thrill ride after another, starting with Terminus and now ending with Alexandria. Rick and the group all have taken their own paths as they try to make sense of the new world around them. Deanna sees a world filled with possibility as her judgment as leader continues to be clouded. Rick does his best to blend in and make his new job as constable work but it doesn’t take long for tensions to rise in a community that doesn’t seem to be realistic about what’s going on in the real world.

Now that we all know that no major characters died on the show last night, we can take a deep breath. For a moment I thought that we were going loose Daryl and Glen.

The show opens with none other than Morgan sleeping in a car. He gets up to make some hot cocoa, and encounters a man who looks like big trouble. They have words and the guy threatens to take everything Morgan has. Seconds later another guy comes out and they try to double team Morgan. Morgan kicks some serious ass just using a stick. We do get some information about this new group “The Wolves.” They seem like bad business and there have been plenty of clues about what kind of people they are throughout the season. The Walker torsos that fell out the truck when Tyrese was dying was a clear sign.

(After the encounter with the “Wolves”, Morgan goes about his business and we don’t see him for a while.)

While all this is going on, we see Daryl and Aaron go out recruiting for survivals. They trail a guy wearing a red poncho, and are led to a can food warehouse. They are hopeful that they can come back to Alexandria with a trailer filled with can goods. They clear a few walkers and proceed to check out the area. They open two trucks and quickly realize that it’s a trap. Walkers from everywhere try to get them. (They strangely have” W’s” carved into their foreheads.)  Daryl and Aaron retreat to a nearby car and try to come up with a plan so they can get out. Daryl plans to lead them out so the Aaron can get away, but Aaron doesn’t go for that. Aaron makes it clear that they are in this situation together.

They try to make a break for it, and Morgan comes to the rescue, and kills just enough to clear out a path. Daryl and Aaron loose the red poncho guy and head out of that area before things get worse.

After Rick’s original confrontation with Pete the night before, he,Carol, Michone, Glen and Abraham come up with a plan of attack to take over the community just in case things go sour at the upcoming meeting.

At the meeting, Deanna plans to discuss what happened with Rick and Pete and make a decision on the future of Rick’s residence there.

Maggie does her best to try to talk to Deanna, and Reg about the situation in hopes of defusing it, but Deanna doesn’t want to hear it. Maggie storms off and tries to talk to the locals to see if that will put them at ease.

Carol and Rick have a moment, where they open up to each other about their secret of keeping more guns, as she questions some of the other members of the group. Rick is secure with his relationship with Michone and the others and let’s Carol know that she has nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, Glen’s confrontation with Nicolas spills over into the finale. With the pain of Noah’s death still heavy on his heart, he makes an attempt to follow Nicolas as he makes his way off the premises out of the Alexandria community.

Glen already knows that something is up and after a few minutes of playing cat and mouse, he is violently encountered by Nicolas. Nicolas shoots him in the upper shoulder and Glen vanishes for a moment. Glen comes back strong pumped up with adrenalin. They argue, and get into a bloody fight. Nicolas was very careless and didn’t know how to lead runs successfully outside the walls, and Glen made it clear to Nicolas that he is not ready to venture out with a team. Nicolas was reason why they lost so many on runs before Rick’s group got to Alexandria.  Glen beats the crap out of Nicolas and was so close to killing him. He musters up the will power to not kill him and they make their way back to Alexandria together.

Back in the chapel, Sasha struggles to deal with her own loss and cope with the guilt of killing the termite at the church, and now settling in the new community has taken a toll on her. Father Gabriel walks in from his own little adventure beyond the walls. Sasha asks Father Gabriel for help and he tells her no, and replies that she doesn’t deserve to be safe because of what she did.

At the meeting Deanna and the others openly express their feelings involving Rick’s confrontation with Pete. Deanna and others wonder why Rick wasn’t there to defend himself. In the mist of the meeting Rick encounters several walkers that got in through the main gate. (At the hand of Gabriel’s irresponsibility.)  He kills one of them with his bare hands as the blood and brains spew out of the mouth, nose and eye sockets. It was a great scene.

Sasha and Gabriel get into a heated fight, and Sasha reaches her boiling point. She pulls a gun on him and is ready to pull the trigger. Maggie leaves the meeting to look for Rick, Glen and Gabriel.

Rick shows up at the meeting with a walker over his shoulder and tells Deanna that he can no longer stand and wait to watch the community get overrun because of their lack of security. During Rick’s speech Pete shows up ranting that he wants Rick out. Wielding Michone’s sword, Pete slashes Reg’s throat, killing Deanna’s husband. Everyone is standing with their mouths open as Deanna tries to put pressure on his neck, and a group of men restrain Pete. Grief stricken Deanna gives Rick the order, and he shoots Pete in the head showing no remorse. At that very moment, Daryl and Aaron show up with Morgan, as Morgan see’s first hand what Rick is capable of.

Back at the chapel, Maggie stops Sasha from killing Gabriel, and in the end, Gabriel confesses to Maggie that he was the reason why people died. Maggie extends her hand, he takes it. In the end they pray together. I think that after everything that Gabriel has done to ruin Rick and the group’s lives at Alexandria, he deserved to die, or at least be exiled from the community.

The finale was a great episode, awesome special effects and great imagery. The walker death scenes were great and the scenes with the “Wolves” were pieced together very thoughtfully. I am so happy that no major characters died and I can’t wait to see what happens in season 6. The comic books are starting to blend and reflect the show which is great and I hope Negan will be introduced in season 6. If that happens, I expect Carl to be shot again, walking around with one eye like the Governor.  I also expect Glen to be beaten to death by Lucille, which will led to Maggie’s suicide attempt. Let’s see how far they will go. I am reading book 21.

So while we are waiting for October, 11 2015 we can check out AMC’s new Spinoff called “Fear”the walking dead airing this summer. Check back on LaTaeya.com for season updates.

Happy Reading

L.L

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As I paced back and forth in the Loving Hills Rehabilitation Center lobby, the hospital was in disarray. Doctors and nurses were running around, and the security staff was gathered outside the lobby entrance all asking questions at once. The uneasiness of the situation gave off its own energy. My mother Pandora threw herself out of the window of her room seconds after I tried to heal her of the darkness that had held her for so long. I thought that healing my mother would cure her of her condition, but clearly, but clearly I’d been wrong. Almost regretting my actions, I could not gather the words to explain what really happened. Within minutes the police were scampering around to survey the area.

Angelo acted fast, and tried to keep the hospital staff and police away from me for a while so I could think of a way to explain what was going on. The craziness in the lobby quickly vanished. I wasn’t sure what he actually did, but it gave me enough time to get myself together. The silence in the lobby was pretty haunting and to be honest, I think I blacked out for a moment.

When I could think clearly again, I realized that a detective was staring me in the face with a little notepad in his hand. He looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Miss London?” he asked. “You look a little pale.” I trembled slightly as I eyed him, and luckily, he assumed that I was in shock over everything that had happened—which was true to some degree. What he didn’t know was that I was worried that it was becoming harder to hide the truth about myself—about my powers and what I really was. I silently hoped that Angelo would come and rescue me from this interview. He didn’t though, so I did my best to cooperate and answered all his questions as honestly as I could, despite the fact that I still hadn’t re-acclimated to being back on the Earthly realm after having astral-traveled to so many other realms.

I was anxious to get home to sort this whole thing out when I was done with the detective, but my stay at the hospital turned out to be very lengthy. The police searched every nook and cranny of the hospital for hours, looking for any sign of my mother. In the end, the police officially declared her a missing person, and asked me to come down to the station to answer more questions. By the time Angelo and I made it back to my house it was very late in the evening.

I was so upset with myself and what went down with my mother that I could barely think straight. I sat at the small round kitchen table, with a steaming cup of hot cocoa in front of me. I gazed at the floral table cloth as I pondered my mistake. Angelo started to prepare dinner, and I sipped on the hot beverage trying to relax. It was no use. I left my mug on the table and went upstairs to take a shower.
I tossed my clothes in the hamper, drew the shower curtain back, and turned on the water. I stepped in slowly and inhaled the steam, closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax. I rubbed my hands over my head, as the water saturated my long black hair. My mother was still on my mind. I was hurt. What in the world went wrong? How could I misunderstand Michael? Why would Michael, the archangel and leader of the Great Seven, tell me to go to my mother if healing her was not the intent? I was thinking so hard that I gave myself a headache.

I tried to clear my mind as I dried off and threw on some dark jeans and my old Milford High School tee shirt. I couldn’t be bothered with drying my hair or putting on makeup. I brushed my hair thoroughly and pulled it back in a low ponytail. I looked at my pale reflection, and studied my icy blue eyes. I felt empty and sad.

I made my way back down the steps and into the kitchen. Silently I sat down in front of a nice place setting. Angelo got out my mom’s special dishes—the ones she used when company came over for dinner. I guess he must have thought that seeing my mom’s dishes would put me in a better mood. I smiled sadly as I thought about my family.

“Angelo I can’t believe this,” I said as I ran my finger around the edge of the plate. “I really thought that healing my mom was going to go smoothly. What did I do that was so wrong?” I couldn’t look at Angelo’s beautiful face, feeling that I was to blame for what happened.
Angelo stopped, then turned to face me. “How about healing a fallen angel that is consumed with the darkness?” he answered, barely holding back his anger.
“I thought that I was supposed to heal her,” I replied. “I had no idea that my mother was going to go psycho.”

“Well she did.”

“Angelo, I really don’t believe that. I spoke to my mother. It was my mother. She wasn’t in a dark place. The light surfaced from within me. You were not there, but it was real,” I said to him as a tear formed in the corner of my eye. Angelo knelt down in front of me. He placed both hands on my knees and looked directly into my eyes.

“Syd, I know that it was real. You don’t have to convince me of it. A part of your mother is still in her, but she did succumb to the darkness—you saw it. That is what the darkness does,” he said. I bowed my head with despair. “Please don’t blame yourself,” he continued. “You were only doing what you felt was right. As your Guardian I should’ve explained it to you,” Angelo said serenely.

“Sydney, we must find her before the Council does. All the angel vamps have on their minds is locating Pandora’s Box and unleashing the fury within it.” I looked up at him with concern as he spoke. “We have to stop them and we need help to do it.”

We both knew we needed to summon The Great Seven, also known as the archangels. They were the head of the angel hierarchy. They protected me with their celestial wards and gave me the power to heal—the power I had used so unsuccessfully on my mother. It was a gift and an honor to be able to heal sickness and pain, to be able to bring someone out of the darkness and into the light. After receiving the gift, I had healed the captives at Kalaston, and I thought the archangels had wanted me to heal my mother next—but I must have been wrong.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Betrayal-Chronicles-Celestial-Book-ebook/dp/B00PBAPBHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420401089&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+betrayal+by+lataeya+lane

http://www.amazon.com/Swept-into-Darkness-Chronicles-Celestial-ebook/dp/B008AN2IJK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420401028&sr=8-1&keywords=Swept+into+the+Darkness

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23443937-dark-betrayal

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