Everyone is Critic: “The Faculty”

Posted: October 13, 2025 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Commentary, Horror, Movie Review, Movies, Review | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, horror, Movie Review, The Faculty, Writing to be Read | 2 Comments

The Faculty is a 1998 science fiction/horror movie which I somehow missed until now. Reminiscent of horror classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the faculty and most of the student body at Herrington High School are being taken over by aliens, and it’s nearly impossible to tell who is still human. One group of industrious, survival-minded students has figured out what is happening, how to detect the aliens, and how to destroy them. Now they just have to find the head alien and destroy it before the whole school, and then the town, is taken over.

Although, not an original plot, it is fashioned after a classic. At least the aliens didn’t scream at each other whenever a human was detected. When the queen alien is revealed, I have to say I saw it coming, but they placed enough red herrings, so that I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain until the truth is unveiled.

Right to left: Elijah Wood (Casey), Clea Duvall (Stokely), Shawn Hatosy (Stan), Josh Hartnett (Zeke), and Laura Harris (Marybeth)

The special effects seem a bit primitive in this dawning age of technology, but for 1998, they’ve got a pretty cool queen alien monster. While some things, such as the method of beating the aliens, seemed a bit too convenient, horror movies, in general, are pretty formulaic, so perhaps that’s to be expected. At any rate, it held my attention, and I had to see how things turned out, which is basically the point, right?

The Faculty is everything a horror movie should be, using the aliens to keep our heroes boxed in, misdirection to keep viewers guessing, and plenty of tension to keep our attention. What more could you want from a horror movie?

About Kaye Lynne Booth

Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.

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This segment of “Everyone is a Critic” is sponsored by the Time Travel Adventure Series and WordCrafter Press.

When a Girl with a Guitar Meets a Man with a Gun, It’s Time to Travel

The Rock Star & The Outlaw: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Star-Outlaw-Time-Travel-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0CJBRRCN1/

The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Seeing Doubles: Coming in 2026

Everyone is a Critic: “Red Eye”

Posted: August 11, 2025 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Everyone is a Critic, Movie Review, Movies, Psychological Thriller, Thriller | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, Kaye Lynne Booth, Movie Review, Psychological Thriller, Red Eye, Writing to be Read | 4 Comments

Movie Cover: A woman looking out an airplane window with a man sitting behind her.
Text: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Directed by Wes Craven, Red Eye, Fear Takes Flight

I stumbled upon this movie on Pluto TV and thought I’d give it a try. I don’t know what I was expecting when I chose it. At the beginning, I thought I’d picked up a romance, when the protagonist, Lisa (Rachel McAdams), meets a man, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), at the airport and they have a drink together. This impression was reinforced for me when he ends up on the same Red Eye flight and he takes the seat next to hers. My mind was quickly changed when his true intentions are revealed and it becomes obvious that this story is actually a smashing psychological thriller.

Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy sitting at a bar chatting and smiling. — Scene from *Red Eye*

It is no coincidence that they met, or that they were on the same flight, for it turns out Jackson has been watching Lisa for quite some time, and his plans involve using her for his own dark purposes after making her his psychological hostage, threatening to do harm to someone she loves. It turns out Jackson is an international terrorist, making Lisa a vital part of his diabolical plan for a political assassination.

Jackson grasping Lisa's chin and holding her against a wall in confrontation. — Scene from *Red Eye*

Both the main characters play their parts convincingly and I was easily sucked in and swept away in this gripping thriller. Directed by Wes Craven, this movie exceeds the B list in both the writing of the story and in the performance of the actors. I was pleasantly surprised by my discovery of Red Eye and if you enjoy psychological thrillers, you will, too.

About Kaye Lynne Booth

Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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This post is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series and WordCrafter Press.

Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories: 20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Roost-Kaye-Lynne-Booth-ebook/dp/B0CL6FPLVJ

Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: 17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Garden-Where-Tales-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0DJNDQJD3

Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: Coming in October, 2025!

Everyone is a Critic: “The Island”

Posted: April 14, 2025 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Everyone is a Critic, Movie Review | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, Movie Review, The Island, Writing to be Read | 2 Comments

I passed up the 2005 film, The Island, many times because it created incongruencies in my mind. The title suggested to me, something along the lines of Castaway, or Robinson Caruso, or maybe Lord of the Flies, yet the cover image suggested a futuristic civilization, with nothing tropical about it. It is, in fact, a dystopian science fiction tale set in a futuristic world. Whatever you think the island in this story is, I promise you it is not.

In a world of survivors from a catastrophic event are given the hope of a paradise on the island, but only those selected in the lottery are granted the privilege of going. But we soon suspect that something is amiss when one survivor, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewen McGregor), has the intelligence to see that some things don’t quite add up, and the curiosity to question what they are being told. Just as he discovers the truth about who they all really are, and the truth about the island, his friend, Jordon Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), is chosen in the lottery, and Lincoln is forced to race to prevent her from going and escape with the knowledge he has discovered.

The rest of the movie takes on the pace of an action thriller as the powers that be try to recover them before they can tell the world what they know. And the action is really pretty good. The story was engaging and entertaining holding my interest all the way to the quite satisfying ending. I was glad that I finally decided to give it a try.

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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This post is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series and WordCrafter Press.

Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: Coming in October, 2025!

Everyone is a Critic: “Tale of Tales”

Posted: March 10, 2025 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Dark Fantasy, Everyone is a Critic, Fantasy, Film Review, Horror, Movie Review, Movies | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, Fairytales, Movie Review, Tale of Tales, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

Three kingdoms. Three horrific tales, braided into one tragically horrendous fairytale in the classic tradition, Tale of Tales is a skillfully crafted triple fairytale. Fairytales were used to frighten children into behaving themselves in days of past. They are supposed to strike fear in readers, or in this case, viewers, so the element of horror is no surprise here. Everyone knows fairytales are tales of tragedy and don’t always have a happy ending. Even when they do have a HEA, the characters must face gruesomely frightening trials to reach that point.

A King (John C. Riley) and Queen (Selma Hayak) of the kingdom of Longtrellis are barren and will stop at nothing to have a son. The Queen summons a necromancer to make her wish come true. Upon his instruction, the King slays the sea monster, but loses his life. None-the-less, she eats the sea monster’s heart and bears a son, Elias Christian Lees, with alabaster skin and hair. At the same time as the cook bears a son, Jonah (Jonah Lees), who looks enough like Elias to be his identical twin, and the two boys grow up to become fast friends who are inseparable. Enraged after the boys fool her, the Queen sends the cook and her son away, but the boys’ bond is stronger, and when her son, Elias, fears his friend is in trouble, he runs away to go to his aid. Desperate for the return of Elias, the Queen summons the necromancer once more. She will have her son back, but at what price?

The King of the kingdom of Strongcliff (Vincent Cassell) becomes lustful when he hears a beautiful voice and must have the singer as his wife. But the singer is one of two sisters, aged spinsters, Imma (Shirley Henderson) and Dora (Haley Carmichael), who fool the King and he unwittingly takes Dora to his bed under her insistence that it be in complete darkness. Enraged upon waking and discovering her true appearance, the King has his guards throw her from the cliffside castle window, but Dora survives and is found by a witch who suckles her, giving her back her youth. The King and his hunting party found the beautiful young woman (Stacy Martin) laying on the forest floor and he falls in love and makes Dora his Queen. But Imma is lonely and longs to have her sister back with her, threatening to reveal Dora’s secret. Dora turns Imma away, leaving her alone to suffer a tragic end.

The King of the kingdom of Highhills (Toby Jones) becomes fascinated with a flea and makes it a pet that grows to gargantuan proportions. When his daughter, Violet (Bebe Cave), wishes to be married, he develops a plan to make her happy without risking losing her by placing the fleas hide on his wall and promising her hand to any suiter who can guess the creature that it came from. But it leads to the loss of his daughter when an ogre (Guillaume Delaunay) guesses correctly by smell, and he is forced to give Violet to the ogre, who takes her to his cave in the side of a high cliff. She’s recued by a family of acrobats, but the ogre slays them all and Violet fools the ogre and slits his throat. She returns to the kingdom, to find her father ill, and presents him with the head of the husband that he chose for her.

Official Clip: https://images.app.goo.gl/pAFnUmGSwCHFgcXo6

The three kingdoms and their tales are brought together at Violet’s coronation, where representing Longtrellis, Elias is in attendance, as well as the King of Strongcliff and his new Queen. But the witch’s magic wears off and Dora loses her youthful appearance and sneaks away unnoticed.

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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, her the first three books in her kid’s book series, My Backyard Friends, her poetry collection, Small Wonders, and her writer’s resource, The D.I.Y. Author. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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This segment of “Everyone is a Critic” is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series and WordCrafter Press.

Everyone is a Critic: Anacondas

Posted: October 31, 2024 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Everyone is a Critic, Film Review, Horror, Movies, Review | Tags: Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Anacondas: Trail of Blood, Everyone is a Critic, horror, Kaye Lynne Booth, Movie Review, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

Four people carrying packs and a rifle in a jungle
Text: Anacondas, The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004)

Anaconda: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is predictable, following all the horror tropes, but it’s done well and I found it quite entertaining, with plenty of action. This movie is a stand alone sequel to the original Anaconda (1997) movie.

Bill Johnson is the boat captain, played by Johnny Messner, leading a group of scientists including Sam Rogers, played by KaDee Strickland, Dr. Jack Byron, played by Matthew Marsden, Dr. Ben Douglas, played by Nicholas Gonzalez, Intern Cole Burris, played by Eugene Byrd, and Gail Stern, played by Salli Richardson-Whitfield into the jungles of Borneo. In search the mythical black orchid, which can supposedly grant eternal life, which can only be accessed every seven years.

This film has all the elements you’d expect to find in a horror flick, including the greedy scientist who will go to any length to retrieve the precious flower, which is worth millions, who bribes the captain to take them into dangerous territory to save time. When their boat goes over a waterfall, the scientists land right in the middle of the territory where massive anacondas have been feeding on the legendary orchids for years, proving that the mythical powers of the flower are true, and they quickly find themselves fighting for their lives amoung the monstrous snakes.

An enormouse snake looking down from above with razor-sharp teeth.

I thought that surely the teeth in the enormous snakes’ mouths, were just special effects to make our monster snakes look more fierce, but nope. I looked it up and anacondas actually do have rows of razor sharp hook-like teeth, used to help secure their prey while they wrap around them before the squeeze, and also to guide the prey down the snake’s throat pushing it back. Exposing this fact elevates these snakes, in my mind, from slightly fakey special effects to truly scary monsters which our expedition members will have to be strong and cunning to overcome.

Anacondas: Trail of Blood (2009)

Three people running and aiming guns with the eyes of a huge snake in the backgroundwith orange glaring eyes.
Text: Anacondas, Trail of Blood

Anacondas: Trail of Blood is the forth movie in this franchise and a sequel to the third. There wasn’t as much money thrown at this msde for television movie as there was thrown into the first two cinematic movies and it shows.

In this movie, a genetically created baby anaconda is experimented on, cut in half and injected with a serum made from the blood orchid, cultivated by a scientist, who is killed by the snake he has created in the opeining scene. The serum not only has properties of longetivity, but also those of regeneration, creating a monster snake which is almost impossible to kill. Much of the action is running through the jungle to escape the monstrous beast.

The snake, itself is more fakey looking than the monster snakes seen in previous movies in the franchise, looking to me, as if it were made of cheap plastic.

An enormous snake with a mouthful of hooked, razor sharp teeth.

Also, I felt this movie had too many players to keep track of. We have a member of a science team, Amanda Hayes, played by Crystal Allen, who is out to stop the dastardly plan of their employer, Murdough, played by John Ryes-Davies, to harvest and create the serum for his own selfish purposes, and she aims to keep him from getting his hands on the research. It is her goal to destroy everything to do with the serum, as she sees the evil purposes the serum could be used for. She initially arrives with two cops, and a lone teen hiker joins their ranks.

Then we have a group of archelogists intent on excavating a recently discovered dig in the area and a group of mercenaries hired by Murdough to retrieve the serum and the research and eliminate Amanda. Quite frankly, the snake didn’t seem to care which group its victims were from, as a side effect of the serum is apparently an insatiable appetite and fierce aggressiveness. There are so many characters that I found it difficult to relate to any single one. Without some type of connection to make me care about these characters, I wasn’t as invested in the outcome as I might have been.

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

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This post is sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services

Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.

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Everyone is a Critic: The Woman in Black

Posted: October 31, 2024 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Everyone is a Critic, Film Review, Ghost Stories, Horror, Movies | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, Ghost Stories, Gothic Horror, Kaye Lynne Booth, Movie Review, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

The 2012 film The Woman in Black is the second adaption of a 1983 novel of the same title, by Susan Hill. This gothic supernatural horror is the best recent example I have seen of a good, old-fashioned ghost story.

In 1906, Attorney Arthur Kipps, played by Daniel Radcliffe, is called to the village of Crythin Gifford to collect the papers of the deceased owner of a place called Eel Marsh House, located on the other sid eof the marsh from the village. He recieves a strange reception from the villagers, and the village attorney is downright hostile, but Arthur is deteremined to see his task through.

During his stay at Eel Marsh House, strange things happen: unusual noises, a bolted door, toys that wind up on their own, a rocking chair that rocks by itself, and a woman dressed in black out on the marsh, as he uncovers the truth of local legend of a vengeful spirit which plagues the village, preying on their children for many decades. All who see her lose a child. He finds himself on a new mission, to reunite mother and child, in order to save his own son, who is enroute to join him.

The house has a really spooky feel, set in the foggy marsh which is only accessible during certain times of day due to periodical flooding by the tide. And the lady in black gives off a truly menacing feeling, as we learn how she lures the village children to their deaths.

While formulaic, as most horror films are, this was is very well-executed to make the beats fit together seamlessly as the story unfolds. It has a good plot with just enough special effects to make it believable and draw you into the story, and a surprising ending that isn’t what you’d expect. (No spoilers here.) There are still those scenes where you feel that the character is making the stupidest choice possible, because any sane person would turn tail and run, but if the characters didn’t do dumb things, there would be no story. But they managed to tell this story without all the blood and gore, which I found refreshing. Overall, I truly enjoyed this suspenseful gothic horror story. It’s been a while since I watched a movie which kept me on the edge of my seat.

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, her the first three books in her kid’s book series, My Backyard Friends, her poetry collection, Small Wonders, and her writer’s resource, The D.I.Y. Author. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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This post sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.

Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.

Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/

Everyone is a Crtic: The Mummy (2017)

Posted: October 31, 2024 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Action/Adventure, Everyone is a Critic, Film Review, Horror, Movies, Review | Tags: Action, Everyone is a Critic, horror, Movie Review, The Mummy (2017), Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

I’m always leary of remakes, especially of first movies which I really enjoyed. Such was the case with 2017 remake of The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise, Russell Crow and Annabelle Wallace. I loved the original 1999 take on this story, with Brandon Frasier and Rachel Weisz. As with any remake, it is impossible for me to judge the newer version without referring back to the original, especially if they are similar. So, let me just say right now that I didn’t find the humor of the first movie, which I enjoyed, in the 2017 remake, and although the stories are somewhat similar in that they both unearth a mummy and unleash a curse on mankind which must be stopped, the two are really nothing alike.

A cross between Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Mission Impossible, the 2017 movie is pretty much non-stop action. From tomb raiding to underwater adventures, Tom Cruise’s character, Nick Morton, doesn’t get a moments rest and the character of Jenny Hasley, played by Anabelle Wallace, is the classic damsel in distress. There are even parts where you have to question who the good guys really are, and nothing is clear cut.

What is an Egyptian princess doing buried in the middle of the Middle Eastern dessert, entombed for thousands of years? And what happens when her resting place is discovered and her slumber disturbed? The special effects are superb and the mummy, played by Sophia Boutella, is wicked. Imotep has got nothing on Princess Ahmanet as she unleashes her rage on the city of London. Apparently, Egyptian princesses awaken in a really bad mood.

The 2017 version of The Mummy is a great action movie with enough horror blended in to bring a mythological monster to life once more. I really enjoyed watching this film.

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

Author Kaye Lynne Booth sitting on a rock in an Aspen grove

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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can show your support with a small donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.

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Everyone is a Critic: Bone Tomahawk – Not for the faint of heart

Posted: September 23, 2024 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Everyone is a Critic, Film Review, Horror, Movies, Review | Tags: Bone Tomahawk, Everyone is a Critic, horror, Movie Review, Western, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

Movie Poster: Four men on horseback coming forward on the prarie landscape in the distance framed by a large moon on the horizon behind them, with skulls on the ground in the forefront and a hand hanging down from the top of the frame holding a tomahawk made from a jawbone.
Text: Bone Tomahawk, Starring Kurt Russell, Also starring Patrick Wilson, Mathew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Music by Jeff Herriot and S. Craig Zahler, etc...

They classified this 2015 Craig Zahler film as western horror-two genres you don’t see cross often. Although quite graphic, Bone Tomahawk has a slow, but necessary, build-up, which ends up telling a powerful but horrific story, with Kurt Russell as a strong lead character.

I admit, I grew up knowing Russell as a child actor, portraying roles in Disney films such as The Shaggy Dog and The Computer That Wore Tennis Shoes, and still to this day, I have a hard time buying into his tough guy roles like Snake Pliskin in Escape From New York or Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. But I must say that Russell, by the end of each of those movies, had become the character in my mind, and they were all characters I had come to like. In this film he portrays the tough small town Sheriff with a strong sense of morals, adding to the impact of the story through his portrayal.

The story builds slow, with an abduction serving as the inciting incident, sending the Sheriff and his compatriots into the desolate and wild landscape of the American frontier in pursuit, determined to bring the captives back or avenge them. The Sheriff and his elderly deputy are joined by a bounty hunter and theinjured husband of the abducted woman, and they all seem like unlikely companions, making for a adequate amount of tension and inner turmoil along the way as they strive to find and face an unknown enemy. What they find is worse than their darkest imaginings.

Kurt Russell as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, Patrick Wilson as Arthur O'Dwyer, Mathew Fox as bounty hunter John Brooder, and Richard Jenkins as Deputy Chicory with a storm brwing in the background.

The setting may be the western frontier, but there will be no doubt as to why Bone Tomahawk was given the horror classification. The monsters that must be battled are of the human variety, but they are horrific and brutal, none-the-less. The scenes are graphic and violent, and sure to touch a nerve.

The ending was unexpected, but I’m not providing any spoilers for this powerful movie.

For horror fans who are not squeemish, this movie tells a impactful tale that will touch you at the deepest levels of your own humanity.

About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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This post is sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.

Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.

Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/

At the Movies: Red Riding Hood

Posted: August 12, 2022 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Movie Review, Movies | Tags: At the Movies, Fairy Tales, Kaye Lynne Booth, Movie Review, Movies, Red Riding Hood, Werewolf, Writing to be Read | 3 Comments

I’ve been reading a lot of modern fairy tales lately, what with being on the Gilded Glass editorial team with a slush pile of over 600 submissions, and the two WordCrafter Press by invitation only anthologies to come out later this year which are fairy tale themed and are comprised of many of the stories that didn’t make GG, which I couldn’t quite let go of, Once Upon an Ever After and Refracted Reflections. So many modern fairy tales are simply retellings of age-old stories without adding anything new. So, when I saw the opportunity to watch a film rendition of Red Riding Hood (2011), I admit that I was a bit skeptical.

But this was no simple retelling of the classic fairy tale. This was more of a horror story, complete with a big bad werewolf, whose secret human identity allows him or her to hide among the residents of the medieval village and carry on daily activities undetected, killing innocent villagers by guise of night. It could be anyone. Anyone could be its next victim.

Mix in a young woman, Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), forced into a pre-arranged marriage with Henry (Max Irons), and the woodsman whom she truly loves, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), for a classic love triangle. When a werewolf hunting priest with a personal vendetta shows up on the scene, suspicion is thrown in all directions and no one is safe from accusations. It could be Valerie’s creepy old grandmother (Julie Christie) who lives alone in the woods. It could be the village priest (Lukas Haas). It could be either of the two men vying for Valerie’s heart; each suspicious of the other; both determined to protect her when the werewolf claims her as his own.

Red Riding Hood was well executed, with just the right amount of fairy tale feel to it, and for me, it was a surprise when the werewolf was finally revealed. (No spoilers here.) It kept me engaged throughout. If you like fairy tales with a twist, I recommend that you see this movie.

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Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing and a M.A. in Publishing, writing is more than a passion. It’s a way of life. She’s a multi-genre author, who finds inspiration from the nature around her, and her love of the old west, and other odd and quirky things which might surprise you.

She has short stories featured in the following anthologies: The Collapsar Directive (“If You’re Happy and You Know It”); Relationship Add Vice (“The Devil Made Her Do It”); Nightmareland (“The Haunting in Carol’s Woods”); Whispers of the Past (“The Woman in the Water”); Spirits of the West (“Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”); and Where Spirits Linger (“The People Upstairs”). Her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, and her short story collection, Last Call, are both available in both digital and print editions at most of your favorite book distributors.

When not writing, she keeps up her author’s blog, Writing to be Read, where she posts reflections on her own writing, author interviews and book reviews, along with writing tips and inspirational posts from fellow writers. In addition to creating her own very small publishing house in WordCrafter Press, she offers quality author services, such as editing, social media & book promotion, and online writing courses through WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services. As well as serving as judge for the Western Writers of America and sitting on the editorial team for Western State Colorado University and WordFire Press for the Gilded Glass anthology and editing Weird Tales: The Best of the Early Years 1926-27, under Kevin J. Anderson & Jonathan Maberry.

In her spare time, she is bird watching, or gardening, or just soaking up some of that Colorado sunshine.

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Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, as a sampling of her works just for joining.

Jeff’s Movie Reviews – Mortal Kombat (2021)

Posted: May 14, 2021 | Author: Jeff Bowles | Filed under: Commentary, Jeff's Movie Reviews, Movie Review, Movies, Opinion, Video Games | Tags: Jeff's Movie Reviews, Mortal Kombat, Movie Review, Movies, Video Games, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

Finish him!

by Jeff Bowles

Movies based on popular video games aren’t typically known for their excellence. Among gamers and industry vets, they aren’t even known to please longtime fans in any serious way. Just check out some of the more financially successful ventures into this difficult field, films like Warcraft, Detective Pikachu (which actually wasn’t all that bad), the Tomb Raider series, Prince of Persia, Monster Hunter, all six entries in the Resident Evil franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog….

The problem usually lies in a misunderstanding of what makes video games tick, the basic fact they’re more fun to play than watch. Also a certain greedy approach to cash cows that otherwise net billions annually. Interactive, choice-driven, challenging, often containing stories that work precisely because players feel totally immersed.

Games can and do look and smell like movies, but they aren’t the same thing. An enterprising filmmaker would be loath to adapt a video game beat-for-beat. What would be the point? The most common approach is to try and split the difference, to take a few popular franchise characters, perhaps mix them in with some new no-name placeholders, invent a plot that is similar but not identical to the original, and then race the whole thing through production, packaging, and release.

The new Mortal Kombat film is no different. It thinks it understands what longtime fans want, but in reality it’s just a hodgepodge of half-baked ideas and mishandled IP. Honestly, I don’t know if you’ve ever played a MK game in your life, but the series isn’t about story, not really. It’s about gore and hyperviolence, the kind of bloody entertainment that rewards complex finisher moves so brutal they have but one appropriate name: fatalities.

This latest stab at the franchise wants to include all the blood and death, not sugar coat things like the famously inadequate Mortal Kombat movies made in the mid-90s. Lots of people grew up with those films, and Warner Bros. is convinced an updated, adult-friendly retread will hit the spot. For the most part, it does not. The story is messy, the action is simultaneously choppy and too slow (not sure how they managed that one), and let’s not mince words, so many different characters get thrown at you, it’s entirely possible you’ll need a PH.D. in Kombat-ology to keep up.

I’m old enough to remember a time many moms and dads would refuse to let their kids play Mortal Kombat. Video games have only gotten increasingly more realistic since then. A gaming series that pushes the violence and willfully misspells the word ‘Kombat‘ is never going to yield an Academy Award winner. Kome on, all you Klassic Mortal Kombat Kompetitors! Why no Kostly retread of Street Fighter, or Kan we finally Konsider the genre Kompromised?

Skip this movie if you can. Go play the newest Mortal Kombat video game, lucky number eleven, which at least understands what fans show up to see. Blood, blood, and even more blood, gameplay that is tight and fierce, competitive tournaments that let you test yourself against other players, and a story that is serviceable at best.

Because the vast majority of MK players don’t care about story. That just goes without saying. Remove all the things that make the games immersive fun, and you’re left with a whole heap of meh.

Kill the Koncept, Warner Bros.. Kan’t tell you how Kreatively Konstipated this Kategory has beKome.

Jeff’s Movie Reviews gives the new Mortal Kombat movie a Five out of Ten.

Jeff Bowles is a science fiction and horror writer from the mountains of Colorado. The best of his outrageous and imaginative work can be found in God’s Body: Book One – The Fall, Godling and Other Paint Stories, Fear and Loathing in Las Cruces, and Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, the Threepenny Review, and Dark Moon Digest. Jeff earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Western State Colorado University. He currently lives in the high-altitude Pikes Peak region, where he dreams strange dreams and spends far too much time under the stars. Jeff’s new novel, Love/Madness/Demon, is available on Amazon now!

Check out Jeff Bowles Central on YouTube – Movies – Video Games – Music – So Much More!

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