There is something to be said about knowing the history of a place that you are about to visit. When the locals see that you care about their home, they may be willing to go a little out of their way to make sure that your trip is well worth the time. So many people love to go and visit places, but never truly understand what makes them destinations for so many. Make sure to know your facts when you are going somewhere, or else you are just known as the silly tourist that no locals like to see.

Patrick has the best weekend planned for himself and his friends as his father is trying to sell a hostel that never got off the ground. With the building abandoned and nobody really living on the island where it is located, it seems like the best place to go to get away from life and cause some mischief. His girlfriend Kiera, her friend Lynn, along with Craig and Aaron, are all ready to go and are even bringing some cameras to document how awesome the weekend is going to be. But seeing that the building is really on an island, the group is starting to question their choice as the rain has moved in and they are forced to take a rowboat out in the darkness.

Arriving at the building and seeing that there is no power, the group is prepared with their flashlights and candles in order to keep their night illuminated. After drinking for a while, the girls want to do something that is a little less boring than just sitting around and talking. Letting the group know a little about the island's history, with its awesome graveyard for sick people, Patrick also tells the group about what happened in the building a year ago, when the American owners tried to play off of the possible haunting on the island and failed miserably at selling their story when a guest went crazy and killed her husband and kids in the hostel. Thinking that he is full of it, nobody really wants to believe that ghosts could be lurking around the abandoned building, but when the idea to play a game comes into play to prove what Patrick is saying, their eyes are opened.

Setting up a homemade Ouija board, the group tries to contact the spirits before receiving a message that none of them understand. With the girls starting to feel uncomfortable about what is happening in front of them, Patrick tries to get the group to stay and say 'Goodbye', but the ghost on the other end will have nothing of the sort and tells them...'No.' Since it is just a game, nobody expects anything to come from it since there is no such thing as ghosts, but when Lynn sees a glass get pushed off of a table, she may be a little bit more open to what is happening around the building. After the first night draws to a close and nothing much happens, the group forgets about the Ouija session and moves on with their day. Finding the bar in the old building, the group decides to throw a party, and continues to have a good time, but it ends when Aaron is on refill duty, and he sees that there is someone else in the building that no one has seen before. With none of his friends believing him, the group is subjected to a torment that nobody expected to experience over the weekend and it may end up costing them their lives.

Every once in a while I get shocked by a movie, especially a found footage movie since they are not really one of my favorite ways to tell a story, but Invoked did a pretty good job. Needing to keep your eyes on the screen to make sure that you are not missing anything, the trip to the graveyard still has to be my favorite scene when the camera is being put down. With signs of a normal haunting in the hostel, flashlights dying is not something that should frighten you, but when you do not have another option for light, it really starts to get the heart pumping. I liked how the story flowed and am happy that the ghosts around the area only got a little bit of screen time when they were found, keeps it a little creepier in my opinion. When visiting an unfamiliar place, you need to keep your head on a swivel, especially if the history of the area says that the inhabitants are far from kind and willing to kill again. Stay Scared.

Moving to a new town is never easy for anybody. Having to pick up your life and take it somewhere you don’t know or fully understand the history of makes you feel a bit out of place. There is no way around this, all you can hope for is someone to show you around and let you know what the ropes are before you get into trouble. There are plenty of communities that welcome their outsiders with open arms and while most of us hope it is this way, it's not always the case, and the secrets that are kept from you can change your life forever.

After his mother has passed away and now that his sister has finally cleaned up her act, Todd thinks that the best move for his family is to be around each other once again. Packing up and moving to Amityville to be with his sister should be good for everyone, yet his daughter Hailey is not too keen on the idea. Arriving to see that they will be living in a massive house at the end of the cul-de-sac, Todd and his wife Jess are blown away by their new digs and are ready to get a jump start on their life once again.

Getting a tour of the house from Shae, Todd and the family see that she may not be all there, but cannot overlook the opportunities they have fallen into. With a new mechanical job lined up, Todd is ready to celebrate with Jess, but she has been shut off to his advances for some time and he is starting to get a little frustrated. While trying to find something to do in the small town, Hailey goes exploring on her dirt bike and finds a group of kids her age chilling at an abandoned cabin. Meeting Brett, she has found someone that she will be able to bond with, yet everyone else at the little party wants nothing to do with the outsider. Heading home, Hailey sees that there may be problems with these other kids but has no idea what they have planned for her and her family.

A month into living in their new home with no issues, everything suddenly begins to fall apart when Jess sees that all of her roses have died for no reason and Todd accidentally kills his manager in the shop. While Hailey is not affected by these strange actions, since she has locked herself away in the library to find out more about the house, she sees a change coming in Shae’s behavior and needs to find out what is wrong. As Brett gives her a little bit of insight on the house, it is not enough to make her want to leave just yet, but when she is able to find damning proof that there is something strange about the house, she knows that it is time to leave. But the kids around the town know better than to let anyone leave the house in Amityville and will do anything to keep the people inside so that the house can rob them of their final breaths.

Honestly, who would want to live in Amityville, I mean besides me since I have a fascination with ghosts and haunted houses. It just seems like every house out there has some sort of tangled past and wants to kill whomever moves in. I really liked Hailey in this movie, being kind of a tomboy, yet not wanting to be alone, she shows that we can have faith in our youth to save us when something is wrong, and she has a crossbow which is always helpful. The disturbing things that happen around the house are explained away in a snap but stay in the family’s mind as they start to get worse and even a little gross for my liking. Overall, not too bad of a movie, it covers more of the haunted house essentials than most do and even gives you a little scare when the spirts start to show themselves. Stay Scared.

Five Takeaways

1. When moving across the country, the only thing that you really need is a dirt bike in the truck.
2. Crossbows are an effective way to meet boys and are great protection against ghosts.
3. Haunted houses want to feed on the people living there and if they don’t eat, the town is forced to suffer.
4. High school girls are scary, I will just leave it at that.
5. Possessed aunts, are freaky, shoot, even non possessed aunts, no matter how sober they are...are freaky.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the film ‘Attack of the Unknown’.
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We truly live in an unprecedented time, storytelling wise. Because in the here and the now, anyone from anywhere can tell whatever story they have on their mind and that’s led to some incredible entertainment for fans everywhere, since streaming and broadcast and YouTube have delivered one tale after another, and it truly seems as though there is no end in sight to this onslaught of entertainment. But while it is wonderful to know that we can log onto any platform at any time and just binge whatever genre our heart desires, there is a slight downside that comes with the abundance of stories that are currently out there. In that, a lot of what we find, feels painfully familiar and understandably so.
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Because a great many storytellers are afraid of bucking the norm and telling a tale that is outlandish or wild, out of fear of being chided or ignored for trying something new. So, they stick with what is tried and true and while that definitely makes for some crowd-pleasing entertainment, it doesn’t wow us or take risks and that means it will likely be forgotten once we move onto the next item in our extensive queues. But thankfully, there are still filmmakers and storytellers out there willing to mix things up and try something new, in order to give us something special and unique, and it just so happens that the subject of today’s review, meets that particular criteria. For Attack of the Unknown is a film that takes you by surprise in several ways, starting with its fascinating plot. 

For at first glance, this seems like an everyday crime film. Since we are immediately plunged into an important drug sting, the kind that could make heroes of the LAPD Narcotics and SWAT officers involved. Because if they bring down the drug kingpin known as ‘Hades’, then they will have stopped one of the biggest monsters on the planet from peddling his illegal wares. And of course, they get the job done and are heroes for doing so and well, the familiar feel of this tale doesn’t end there. Because it isn’t long before they’re required to escort this incredible scumbag to the country jail so he can stand trial and such. Which really leads one to believe that his cohorts are going to bounce him from this secure van and the rest of the movie is going to be about our intrepid cops trying to keep a bad dude from getting loose.

But instead, this motion picture offers up one hell of a twist. For instead of a bunch of drug thugs causing trouble… our heroes have to face off with something far more terrifying; aliens. Yes, you read that right, aliens. Because out of the blue an alien invasion gets underway, the kind where the invaders are seemingly unstoppable because of thick and powerful armor and that completely transforms the narrative into a survival theme and well, this is honestly a brilliant storytelling decision when all is said and done. Simply because you don’t see this coming in the slightest, and while this might seem like the kind of twist that could lose an audience that is invested in a crime story, that is simply not the case. Because that kind of surprise instantly grabs hold of you and never lets go, because you have to know where this plot is going to take you.
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Which as it turns out, is to some supremely philosophical places. Because rather than turn into an all-out, brainless action and horror flick, this particular story works to examine the nature of morality and sacrifice and what it means to be a hero and those are concepts that you honestly don’t see in alien-themed sci-fi/horror flicks. But that’s precisely what we find here once our heroes get a chance to catch their breath and these discussions and musings help us to understand we are dealing with some genuine heroes in this tale, the kind that will do whatever it takes to save lives, and that makes the ending of this film quite powerful. Which is something that we won’t spoil here, so that you can properly enjoy it when you settle in to watch this fascinating motion picture. 

In the end however, this really is quite the wild ride. One that is filled to the brim with enough action to please fans that are hoping for a quality throwdown between mankind and these horrific creatures and speaking of the monsters, some serious credit needs to go to special effects artist; Vincent Guastini. Because his creations here are simply top notch and rather than create something we’ve seen before, these aliens feel well, alien, and that only helps to immerse the viewer into a quality story. One that genuinely offers more than the norm and that makes this movie an outright must see. Because you simply cannot go wrong with settling in to enjoy a fci-fi/horror flick that offers you plenty of action and adventure and blood and guts, and plenty to chew upon once it’s come to an end.

‘Attack of the Unknown’ is available on VOD today.

​Haunted houses can be cool to visit, but who would really want to live in one, I mean seriously? I know that I would if the ghosts were cool with me being there, but if they are more violent spirits and they want you gone, or worse, to kill you, it may not be a match made in heaven. With things moving around when you least expect it and televisions turning on in the middle of the night, living in a haunted house could be more stressful than you would like it to be. Just try to be friendly with the ghosts and if they accept you, well, then you have got it made, but if you piss them off by doing major remodeling in the house or if you try to antagonize them, then you might be screwing yourself over and you'll never have a good night’s sleep again.
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Moving to a house off campus, friends Zoe, Taryn, Niki, Michael and Scott are ready to live it up. Finding a very nice house that has a land lady that will live with them to help out with anything that they need in Dianna, the group is happy with their decision and loving it thus far. With a few strange things happening around the house during their tour, nobody in the group tells anyone else what they witnessed, since it seems like every day pranks to them, but the house seems to be happy with the new inhabitants and is coming back to life once again.

Knowing about the house and its secrets, Dianna knows that one member of the group is part of the family that lived there previously and needs to stay to reclaim her birthright. Keeping quiet about what her intentions really are, Dianna just goes about her business while the kids have no idea what the house has in store for them. As the events start to get stranger and Taryn finds Niki standing alone in the basement for no reason, she is starting to feel uncomfortable in the house and tells her brother Michael about what is happening, but as brothers and sisters usually do, Michael ignores her and goes back to living his life in the moment.  

But the knocking and strange sounds around the house are starting to get to Taryn and she is not able to take it much longer and tries to leave the house. When none of the cars in the driveway will start for her, she starts to see that things are much worse for her than she could have expected. Getting a little background on the house at dinner, being the Lizzie Borden house and all, Taryn remembers her childhood and watching her mother kill herself in the house for no reason. Knowing that it is all about her, Taryn is attacked by Dianna who seems to be possessed by something not of this world. Needing help in ending the house’s curse, she is able to convince Scott to do an exorcism on the older woman, but it may not be enough since the power in the house is greater than anyone will ever know.

This is one of those movies that makes you wonder if the Lizzie Borden house is really haunted and if spirits are capable of taking over your mind and body. With ghostly things happening right off the bat in this movie, it was easy to see that there was going to be a heck of a payoff when Lizzie was released back into the world, especially after the old Lizzy Borden song is being sung. I am still unsure of where the movie was trying to go with most of the storyline, it bounced around a bit too much for me and just made me more tired than anything. With a decent premise of a haunted house and possession, I am alright with how the movie played out, but as so many movies do, the ending just seemed to get away from the story tellers and left you longing for some sort of follow up.  Stay Scared.

Five Takeaways                                                     

1. When you see things moving on their own before moving in to a place, it might mean that said place is haunted.
2. Always listen to your siblings, why would they be trying to trick you?
3. Knocking on a door may not always be a prank, it could be a ghost, a polite ghost.
4. When your land lady starts to act crazy while possessed and tries to kill you, I am sure you can get out of paying the rent.
5. ‘Lizzie Borden had an axe. She gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done. She gave her father 41.’ I think this applies to tenants as well, at least the ones that don't believe.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 106 of ‘Servant’.
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The other day when we settled in to discuss the fifth episode of the AppleTV+ series, Servant, we took a moment to ponder upon whether or not the series was going to potentially kick its storytelling into overdrive in the back half of season one. After all, the first half of said season spent a lot of time establishing our main characters and what makes them tick and what has brought them to this difficult point in their lives. And while that is important to the overall quality of the story, at some point, the plot needs to get moving in the right direction and wrap up the mysteries of the Turner household and thankfully it would seem that the show is finally ready to make that happen, since an unexpected visitor at the Turner household changed the tone of this season.

As it turns out, this visitor was a blast from Leanne's past, and they arrived in Philadelphia in 'Rain', in the creepiest way imaginable. For she received a postcard in the mail that contained two chilling words; ‘Found You!’, and it wasn’t long before the person that sent that greeting showed up at her doorstep. And this mysterious man was clearly someone that was important to Leanne, since she was quick to acquiesce to his wishes and invite him inside, and even show him Jericho after he requested to see the baby and well, this definitely added an air of tension and danger to this tale. Because the audience didn’t have a clue who this man was, and that tension only intensified the instant that Dorothy came home from work.

Because this mystery man’s shoes were still inside the house. Implicating that he was still inside the house as well, and that’s when things got really interesting. For when Dorothy came face to face with the man, he identified himself as Leanne’s uncle, George, and dear George just so happened to be in town for the day and wanted to see his darling niece and bring her back home for other work. A statement that mortified Dorothy to no end since she wanted her darling nanny to stay far longer. And in order to keep Leanne under this roof, she went to extremes. Which means she asked George to stick around for dinner so everyone could talk this out. A decision that didn’t settle well with Sean, who was out for the night cooking for the Eagles, and he immediately called Julian to rush in and save the day, and it is a good thing that he did.

For Uncle George made things weird and uncomfortable at dinner and he even went so far as to disrespect baby Jericho in the middle of the night after Dorothy asked him to stay and rest, by putting the kid on the floor and sleeping in his crib. But thankfully Julian was there to keep an eye upon the grown man that sleeps in a baby’s bed, and the rest of the night ended without incident. But while all of that strange behavior should be cause for panic or worry, Dorothy saw it as nothing more than an opportunity to win over a stranger that she needed on her side in order to keep Leanne around, and eventually she got her wish, despite George’s misgivings about Leanne not coming home to help the ‘family.’ Which makes it sounds as though this creepy tale wraps up in a happy fashion, but alas… that closing shot, wherein George is just standing outside of Leanne’s window, waiting for heaven knows what, speaks volumes to the fact that trouble is waiting just around the corner.

Yet while this made for one creepy and unsettling tale, many viewers likely noticed that this particular tale didn’t offer up all that much in the way of direct answers or a hard push, in regard to what exactly is happening on this show or the plot and that is a correct observation. But what matters more here, is that something happened outside of general discussions about Leanne and sneaking about to uncover her secrets. Which is a step in the right direction, and the fact that it came about by way of someone who knows Leanne and is clearly disturbed, should only add to the intensity and eerie nature of this story. In the end however, this was a solid tale for certain. Because it plunged us into some genuinely uncomfortable and haunting moments and it resurrected a sense of terror, and now that the scares are back and Uncle George is in town, it should be interesting to see what other surprises await us as we close in on the season one finale. Until next time.  

One thing that never seems to sit right with doctors is the fact that they cannot save all of their patients. Even with a simple diagnosis or surgery, things can go wrong leaving them dumbfounded as to why everything did not go according to plan. Someone once said, ‘When it’s time to go, it’s time to go’ and that is something that many people will never accept, but there is a bit of truth hiding in it. Some people cannot be saved no matter what is done for them, but it is not a bad thing, it is just a part of life.
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Doctor Gordon Ramsay is waiting to be hanged for his crime of killing one of his patients when an unfamiliar visitor comes to see him. Doctor Joel Cadman knows that nothing that Ramsay did caused his patient to die and wants to offer him a chance to continue living, but it comes with a condition. Wanting Ramsay’s help in his research, Cadman can make him disappear from the world, but he must bring his all to the operating table. With no other option, Ramsay agrees and is given 'The Black Sleep' which makes him appear to be dead, but in reality, he is in suspended animation. 

Being delivered to Dr. Cadman, Ramsay is blown away that he is still alive after experiencing The Black Sleep. Getting his feet back under him, Ramsay hears a scream from inside the house and sees young Laurie running for her life from the grotesque Mungo who is trying to kill her. Calling the psycho man away, nurse Daphne has the power to keep him at bay and while Ramsay has no idea what he is in for, he quickly finds out that the brain is what Cadman is interested in. Being shown what different parts of the brain are responsible for, Cadman reveals he wants to map the entire human brain which has never been done before and he is well on his way to accomplishing his goal. Showing his methods to the younger doctor, Ramsay is frightened when he finds out that the dead people being experimented on are actually alive and under the influence of The Black Sleep. Losing the moral battle to the crazy doctor, Ramsay finds out what happens to the patients that never leave the house and with Laurie by his side, there may be only one way to escape.
 
I really love older horror movies for two reasons, one, the stories are so good and the morals in them withstand the test of time, two, well I have to say it, the women’s screams in these movies will haunt your dreams. One of the things that this movie does is pull in another story when you find out that Mungo is actually Dr. Monroe who was doing his own experiments on an island somewhere. As Cadman tries to work his magic, he changes the poor doctor into the monster he is today and while it is sad, you have a hard time feeling that what when he is trying to kill Laurie the entire movie. Getting to see all of the patients that Cadman experimented on is the most eye-opening moment of the movie, since there are many more than expected. Seeing what can happen when you go out of your way to better your life while destroying the lives of others, well, you might want to get a handle on that. Stay Scared.

Five Takeaways

1. If you're given an offer for more life with conditions, you might want to know what those conditions really are before you take it.
2. If you see a monster roaming the hallways at night, it is safer to stay in your room.
3. Gypsies are sneaky and if you ever need a body, they are the ones to talk to…as long as you have money.
4. When you are working with a doctor that destroys one of the greatest/craziest medical minds around, you are expendable.
5. When lying to the cops about knowing someone, make sure your friend leaves after the police do.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 105 of ‘Servant’.
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There was a time in the horror genre, where the monster or the villain remained shrouded in mystery. To the point where we would never know why the villain was motivated to commit such heinous acts or why the monster existed in the first place and for a long time, this made for effective storytelling within this genre. Because it preyed upon our fears of the unknown and helped to serve as an allegory for the fact that we really didn’t want to understand evil, but we were willing to accept its existence. But somewhere along the line, that all changed and suddenly we wanted to know more about what made a monster appear in this genre, and its motivations. Or why the villain was so hellbent on hurting people and it is a change that, frankly, helped to improve the genre. 
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For understanding evil added gravity and terror to the story in question since it gave its machinations depth and dimension and sometimes, this change even helps us to sympathize with the evil in question since we come to see that it cannot control its powers, its path and its destiny. And oddly enough, all of these elements wormed their way into the next episode of Servant. For ‘Cricket’ was a Leanne-centric tale, and well… having her take the spotlight for a change revealed quite a few things about this young and mysterious woman. Such as the fact that she will actually take a large amount of abuse from people that she admires. Because the Turner family actually treated her like hot garbage in this particular tale since deceit was used to manipulate her at every turn. 

Dorothy for instance, opted to send her out into the rain to get some fancy cake so she and Sean could have a little intimacy, something that was wholly unnecessary. And while the loving couple were running around town for a better part of this story, Julian set his plans to catch her in the act of something evil, in motion. Because he sent his PI into the house to have him rummage through her things while she was out walking Jericho, and he even went so far as to pay someone to befriend her in the hopes of having them, nudge her toward leaving the household for a better gig. All of which, wore on Leanne as the episode rolled along, and putting her under this kind of pressure definitely allowed for the audience to feel for her and it revealed that perhaps she is a being that is quite misunderstood, in regard to what she can do. 

Because as these pressures continued to bring her to an angry boil, we came to learn that she definitely harbors some kind of power when it comes to controlling the lives of others. Since her ire toward Dorothy and Sean resulted in physical and painful changes to their bodies, and to make matters more impressive, she also exhibited the ability to resurrect the dead when her sorrow and self-loathing managed to bring a cricket back to life and this was… quite the interesting episode when all is said and done. For it seems as though that Leanne may not be as evil as we truly think she is. Instead she may have abilities that she doesn’t understand in the slightest, which makes her equally as dangerous since fury and frustration can lead to trouble if she directs her unique power in a concentrated fashion at someone within the house.

If anything, what makes this episode so unique and so fascinating, is the sheer fact that everything here is handled in a low-key and slow burn manner. Because while we did indeed enjoy some level of reveal and understanding, it was nothing more than a tidbit. For Leanne’s true purpose still remains a mystery, as does Jericho's and that’s okay. Because it is clear that this series is slowly working toward something and all of these side vignettes, where we spend time with the characters, is designed to lay the foundation for the finale. And now that we have reached the halfway point of season one, it would not be surprising to see this story suddenly take a sharp turn toward its conclusion/point and it should be interesting to see what comes out of this particular tale and all of its uncomfortable and chilling discoveries. Until next time.   

​As people wait for the perfect job to come along, it is not unusual these days for people to move back home with their parents. Saving money and having some support to back them while trying to find out what is right for them, it is an easier way to live than having to beg on the streets to survive. Even though there can be a number of jobs out there, careers are a little bit more difficult to come across as companies are starting to find out that the internet game is killing their businesses. If the option is available, it is better to look for the right fit rather than jumping from job to job to make ends meet.

After completing his business MBA, Raymond has not been able to find the right job for himself and is forced to make a decision that he knows he will regret. Moving back home to live with a father who never has anything good to say about him and a mother that loves everything about him, Raymond only wants to fly under the radar. With his father’s old style views, Raymond knows that living in the house will be hell for him, but can tolerate it for a little while, especially if he is able to leave whenever he wants.

Donald, Raymond’s father has more problems than just his son coming home as his backyard is still a mess and the workers promised that it would be done soon. Trying to get everything completed in a timely manner, especially to get away from Donald, the lead of the team, Hector, is trying to explain why things are taking so long. Finding a box buried in the backyard, Hector and his team open it up to find a dead little girl inside. Not wanting to cause a commotion about it, Hector decides to have it buried once again and leave it, but something has been unleashed on the land. Seeing someone in the bushes, Hector tries to lure them out, but finds out that what the box contained was more than a dead body, it also harbored a curse that he has released on the property.

Throughout his childhood Raymond was always sensitive to and able to see ghosts, but after going off to school, it pretty much subsided. But now, being home again and changing his medication, the ghosts are coming back to him and he knows that something is not right. Running into his old friend Becca at the bar, Raymond comes clean about what he has been seeing around the house and fears that things are getting worse and needs to find out what the spirit wants before his parents are targeted. Even though Becca does not fully believe in the supernatural, she joins Raymond in his hunt for the truth and the two are able to find out about the shady history surrounding his parent’s home. Needing to find out what the ghost needs is a bit more difficult and after calling in a friend to help communicate with it, Raymond is targeted by his father to be sent to a mental institution, but Raymond will not give up, knowing that what he is doing is right for the ghost, along with his family.

On the whole, this is a really fun movie with a couple of seconds of fright, but that is alright. I cannot get over how well Becca and Raymond played off of each other during the entire movie as they never missed a beat. With the love that parents are supposed to give to their children, Raymond’s father never seems to let up on his son, even though Raymond is really solid in his own way. The story that follows Raymond’s father is a little bit more sinister in a way, since he is behind on payments and will not let his opinion go unheard, it makes for a character you simply love to hate and hate to love. I still do not know what is happening with Raymond’s mother throughout the movie, she is really an enigma and never lets her true feelings come out. But with plenty of laughs, a little bit of scares, a mystery that needs solving, and some great one liners, it is a horror movie that will leave a smile on your face, especially if you like happy endings. Stay Scared.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 104 of ‘Servant’.
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One particularly unsettling aspect of the human condition that storytelling doesn’t quite explore enough, is our capacity to rationalize and normalize bad behavior. Something that is likely due to the fact that it would make the characters seem a little too real in a format where escapism is supremely important. Which is why it is so refreshing when a story does take the time to show people doing everything, they can to make a rough situation normal, so they can satisfy their own unique needs. Simply because that helps to remind us that we are creatures that are sometimes fragile emotionally, and giving into the bad or the unhealthy, happens, because doing so provides us with peace and stability in that moment.
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If anything, this particularly uncomfortable part of the human condition is relevant to today’s discussion, simply because it was on full display in the next episode of Servant. For ‘Bear’ saw Sean Turner take the time to begin to rationalize and accept Leanne’s unsavory behavior, despite knowing full well that she was up to no good in his home. Because he came to discover that Leanne was beginning to bring Jericho into her room at night, and sleep with him and care for him as if she was his mother. Which definitely crossed a line that a nanny should not cross. But with Dorothy being so perky and happy these days, it seemed like a far better idea to just let sleeping dogs lie and allow for Leanne to do her thing, all so he could maintain a lovely status quo.

But his rationale for keeping a status quo, went beyond that particular line of reasoning. Because a little spy cam work in Leanne’s room left Sean wondering if Jericho was in fact… Leanne’s child. For a devout and young religious woman such as herself would likely be shunned by her family for having a baby out of wedlock, and making use of a family that recently lost their own child would indeed be the perfect way to raise her baby in a safe and simple and secretive manner and it was just stunning to see him come to this conclusion. Because it really does speak to how far Sean is willing to go to keep that sense of normalcy flowing in his house and judging from Leanne’s behavior later on in this tale, this is a poor and dangerous decision on Sean’s part.

Because Leanne is still harboring more secrets and is prone to odd behaviors. For she was quick to ignore anything Sean had to say about keeping little Jericho inside the house until the time is right, since she took him downtown, on her own, in order to watch Dorothy work. And of course, it was quite creepy to see her take the time to revisit an old news broadcast of Dorothy’s, one that just so happened to feature Leanne. Because this is behavior that quite frankly, speaks to an obsession with Mrs. Turner. The kind that is about as unhealthy as it gets, and it also speaks volumes to the fact that she chose the Turner household as her place of employment for reasons that go well beyond kindness or Sean’s theories and that’s horrifying for certain.

But while in many ways Sean’s actions here are quite frustrating, his poor decisions, do make sense. After all, he refuses to see Dorothy take a step back and slip back into a catatonic and isolated state. Plus, he doesn’t want to deal with the pain he’s carrying in his own heart, which allows for this kind of behavior to persist and quite frankly, this is a brilliant stroke of storytelling for certain. Because it puts a tough behavior that we all indulge in at some point or another in our lives, in the spotlight, and it does so in a frank and non-judgmental manner. But while it was nice to explore this, Sean and his wife will pay some kind of a price for their complacency down the line. For clearly Leanne is mentally unstable, and the longer she stays in the house, the harder it will be to remove her and stop her from whatever she has planned. Until next time.  

The world would be such a different place if we did not discover electricity. I mean first of all, we would not have television or the internet, and everything would be written by hand or on typewriters, I know, it sounds crazy, but that was how life was back in the day. But is there more to electricity than we really know? I only question that because some of the ghost stories that you hear about come from people watching static on television sets, or they receive strange phone calls from nowhere. There might be something more when it comes to what can be transmitted through our homes when it comes to getting power, but let’s just hope whatever it is has good intentions and not the evil kind like we see in the movies.

Jonathan Parker is a stand out on the football field as well as in the classroom, but it has not been easy for him. Being raised in a foster house by Police Lieutenant Don Parker and his wife, Jonathan’s driving force was always them and nothing else. But now that he is older, Jonathan is looking for something else and he has found just that in the smile of his biggest fan... his girlfriend Alison. Turning his eyes from the field for a moment too long, Jonathan knocks himself out and is sent home from practice, but with Alison by his side, he could not feel any better about the situation. 

During their walk home, Jonathan sees that he is on the street of his foster house and hears screams coming from upstairs. Getting inside and seeing his brother lying dead on the floor before making it upstairs to see his mother about to be murdered, Jonathan has had the strangest dream of his life, but it turns out to be reality. Getting a call from Don about the killing taking place at the house, Jonathan knows who the killer is and can help his foster father catch the maniac. But it will take some convincing since Don does not believe that Jonathan’s dreams are anything but just that, dreams. Knowing the killer's name, Horace Pinker, and where he works, Don gives his son the benefit of the doubt and seeing that Jonathan was right about his hunch, the killer is now on everyone’s watch list and must be found before he strikes again.

Tracking the killer one more time to another house, Jonathan is followed by the police and this time they catch Pinker, but not until after Jonathan’s love is killed. As Pinker is trying to escape his impending doom of facing the electric chair, he performs a dark arts spell that should protect him, but there is nothing that can keep him away from the chair. Seeing the witnesses that have shown up to watch him die, Pinker spots Jonathan and gives the boy a piece of his mind about being the boy’s father and how his revenge will come back to haunt him.  Having many volts being run through his body, Pinker does not die right away, but is found to be deceased when his body bursts into flames. But there is nothing that can keep the former cable man down as he has found a way to pass between other people’s bodies, using nothing more than his electric personality. Seeing that his new foe is not dead, Jonathan must find a way to prove to the police that Pinker is still on the streets and the killing will not stop until the dead man is finally brought to justice.

As far as eighties movies go, this one is just too much fun to pass up. With a theme song to go with it, you may never be able to get Shocker out of your mind. There always has to be a girl in a story like this, but when you catch a glimpse of what happened to her, you may be asking yourself why, oh why. I have to admit that Horace Pinker really steals the show and being just a mad man to start with is far from enough, but when he becomes anyone that he touches, well, that makes him a super powered baddie, and there seems to be no way of stopping him. Isn’t that always the way, true evil never dies, it only transforms into something stronger that can never be killed? The effects are fun as well, and yes, there is plenty of blood to keep the horror fans out there happy, but the electricity aspect of the story and the effects keep me wondering what would really happen if the black arts and electricity were mixed together... Stay Scared.

Five Takeaways

1. When you are having dreams about a killer, you might have more problems than you know.
2. When you name a killer and find that you are being credited with doing so in the newspaper, don’t ever leave your love home alone.
3. If you find someone electrocuting themselves before, they get in the chair, you might want to change the method of killing them, maybe lethal injection or something like that.
4. If your killer is able to move from body to body via touch, maybe see if you can put them into a harmless mouse or something that can be caged up.
5. When a killer is being transmitted through an electrical signal, maybe you should turn off all of the power in your house, they may not be able to recharge in a dead outlet.