Lilja's Library

by Hans-Ake Lilja

  As I always say when I review “Dollar Babies”, if you get the chance to see one, take it. And that is true for this one as well.

  ****

  Night Surf

  Written For the Book

  Night Surf is a “Dollar Baby” in which some of the survivors from Captain Trips (the super flu from The Stand) head for an isolated cabin. They all think they are immune because they have had the Hong Kong flu and think all they need to do is wait for the worst to pass.

  It doesn’t take long, though, until they start getting sick, and what happens in Night Surf really shows how people can react in pressing situations.

  While Night Surf is very nicely shot, its cast, unfortunately, doesn’t live up to the expectations created by the look and feel of the movie. They do an OK job, but in order to do director Peter Sullivan’s shooting justice they would have needed to do better. As a “Dollar Baby” they do fine though.

  It’s impossible not to think of the TV version of The Stand when you see Night Surf, and I have to admit that Sullivan has done a very good job in getting the look and feel of his “Dollar Baby” the same as that TV series.

  Lilja’s last words on Night Surf

  Even though the cast doesn’t deliver one hundred percent, I think Night Surf should be included in future DVD versions of The Stand as extra material. It’s a nice complement to the TV series.

  ****

  Stephen King’s Gotham Café

  Written For the Book

  Stephen King’s Gotham Café is probably one of the most professional “Dollar Babies” that has been done. It even has a voice cameo by King himself and a cameo by Mick Garris, who plays Father Callahan.

  Stephen King’s Gotham Café is also one of the “Dollar Babies” that has the most special effects in it. There is one scene where a person gets his cheek cut open with a knife, and another where one person has his guts cut open. The first scene is pretty well done, while the second leaves quite a bit to wish for. The intestines look more like old sausage than anything else…

  The actors in Stephen King’s Gotham Café are amateurs, but a bit better than the ones we usually see in “Dollar Babies”. The only one I don’t like is Julie Sands, who plays Diane Davis. She overacts the part and she gets too loud and is not very believable. She would have benefited from not making the character so snotty.

  All in all, though, it’s a very good “Dollar Baby”, and the fact that King lent his voice for a cameo might give this one a little better chance to actually be released to the general public. Keep your fingers crossed.

  Lilja’s final words about Stephen King’s Gotham Café

  I especially like Cullen Douglas as Guy the waiter. He does an excellent job being totally insane. Don’t miss it if you get the chance.

  ****

  Sorry, Right Number

  Written For the Book

  There was an official version of Sorry, Right Number done back in 1987 that was based on a script done by King himself, and while this one probably isn’t based on the same script, it’s very similar to King’s version. There are some changes, especially at the end when Kate calls herself, but it’s still quite similar, which is a good thing. The feeling from King’s version is present, as it should be.

  Brian Berkowitz’s version isn’t as good as King’s version, but I think that has a lot to do with the fact that Berkowitz had a lot less money than they had when they did King’s version. That, and Darrin Stevensen…

  It’s not that Darrin isn’t that good of an actor, but the real problem is that from time to time he looks like he is about to start laughing. When he doesn’t he is OK, but sometimes he looks like he is enjoying himself too much. The rest of the cast, which is pretty much just Barbara Weetman as Kate, does a pretty good job. They are pretty believable, even if you can tell they aren’t professional actors…or at least, I guess they’re not.

  Brian has also made the “Dollar Baby,” The Secret Transit Codes of America’s Highways, and I think he did a better job on Sorry, Right Number. Here more of King’s feeling is present and he hasn’t cut corners; he is including everything, even though some of it is slightly changed.

  Lilja’s final words about Sorry, Right Number

  Brian’s version of Sorry, Right Number is a good “Dollar Baby”, but it still lacks that little extra that it would need to stand out. Check it out though, if you get the chance.

  ****

  Srajenie

  Written For the Book

  Srajenie, or The Battle, the English translation of the title, is based on King’s story Battleground. This is the only Russian “Dollar Baby” that I am aware of and it’s also one of the better “Dollar Babies” out there.

  Srajenie was done back in 1986 and is totally animated. It’s good to see that even though it’s more than twenty years old it still works very well. The animations are a bit rough, but in this case that is just how they should be. There is very little dialogue in the movie, but that is really no problem. There isn’t that much dialogue demanded to get the story moving.

  As I said, I really like Srajenie. The combination of the rough animation, the non-speaking and the way the characters have been animated is so well done. It’s very effective, and the fact that you really can see what the character is feeling, despite the rough animations, makes it even more interesting.

  I must also comment on the fact that it’s very fascinating to know that this movie was made over twenty years ago. How on Earth did director M. Titov manage to learn about the “Dollar Babies”? How did he even know they existed? Very impressive!

  As you probably know already, Battleground is about a hit man who, after killing the president of a toy factory, finds a package from the very same factory. It contains a box of toy soldiers that come to life. In their eagerness to get revenge for their murdered boss, they come at him with guns, bombs and all kinds of nasty things. At first the hit man is able to defend himself, but as time goes and they just keep coming it gets harder and harder for him to keep it up.

  The ending is really scary…

  Lilja’s final words about Srajenie

  This is definitely one of those “Dollar Babies” that you just have to see if you get the chance. It’s so well done and a pure joy to watch.

  ****

  Llamadas

  Written For the Book

  Llamadas is an Argentinean “Dollar Baby” version of Sorry, Right Number that is actually quite OK. Personally I like the fact that there are non-U.S. “Dollar Babies” even though they are harder to fully understand. As often is the case with movies done in a language that you don’t understand, it’s hard to really appreciate it fully.

  However, when/if you know a story quite well you can still get a rather good feeling for the movie. That feeling, when it comes to Llamadas, is pretty good. They have changed a bit of the story and also shortened it a bit, but the essence of King’s story is there and it seems to work.

  This version is, as I said, a bit shorter than the original and while I can understand why that is, I really don’t like it. It also seems they have made some changes concerning Bill. He is still a writer, but here he dies in the kitchen and there seems to be no mention of his movie airing on TV.

  So, even if it has the right feeling, there’s also the feeling that something has gotten lost in the translation.

  It’s also very interesting to see an adaptation of Sorry, Right Number since it was originally a script and not a story. In my eyes, that would mean that it should be easier to adapt than a regular story…

  Lilja’s final words about Llamadas

  In order to fully enjoy this one you need to understand Spanish. If not, it helps if you know the story it’s based on very well. If you don’t understand Spanish you will get a bit lost, but please don’t let that stop you from seeing it if you get the chance.

  ****

  Suppr.

  Written For the Book

  As you probably know by now, there have been some n
on-U.S. “Dollar Babies” made, and you also probably know that most of them are French or Spanish. Suppr. is a French version of The Word Processor of the Gods, directed by Nicolas Heurtel.

  I’m not sure what Nicolas was thinking when he did it, but it seems he just took part of King’s story and then added his own ideas to it, which really didn’t fit the story all that well. I would say it’s more inspired by King’s story than based on it.

  One funny thing with Suppr., though, is that Nicolas has included a great deal of King references that you can look for if you see this movie. In the credits Castle Rock is mentioned, we see Christine in front of “Le bazaar des rêves” (which means Needful Things in French). There are also a lot of King books on the author’s shelves. So, keep looking for those when/if you see this Baby.

  The problem though, as I have said, is that it’s more confusing than it’s good, and some of it is surely because I don’t speak French, but also because they have changed it too much. Unfortunately, this had the effect that King’s presence isn’t felt much in it and for that, I really didn’t like it that much.

  Lilja’s final words about Suppr.

  Suppr. is another non-U.S. “Baby” that suffers for the fact that it’s in a language I don’t understand and that Nicolas didn’t stick with King’s story enough.

  ****

  Night of the Living Dead

  Written For the Book

  A dramatization of Night of the Living Dead on CD, is that possible? Well, it has been done. Simon & Schuster audio has released a dramatized version of George Romero’s zombie movie and I have listened to it.

  It’s short, no more than an hour, but it’s actually very effective. It’s a mix of drama and narration, where the narration helps the story move forward in the passages that aren’t possible to dramatize. And it actually works.

  The story follows the movie very well even though some parts of it have been shortened and cut, but that is only natural when you turn a movie into a radio-type drama.

  Why someone even got the idea to turn a zombie movie into a dramatized audio version is beyond me, but I must say I’m really happy they did it. It actually works very well, and they have put the time and energy into it that it demands to work properly. As it is now it’s almost like hearing the movie, with a narrator mixed in.

  What’s also good about the audio is that it actually sounds old. It sounds like the original movie looks. It sounds like it’s in black and white.

  Lilja’s final words about Night of the Living Dead

  I will admit that when I got this audio I was very skeptical and thought to myself, “Man, they do anything to make a buck now…,” but I have to eat those words because the dramatization of Night of the Living Dead is very well done and has earned its place in the bookcase, right beside the movie.

  The only mistake they did was that they let young Karen speak. Everyone knows a zombie can’t speak…

  ****

  The Mist (The Script)

  Written For the Book

  The Mist had been in the works for a very long time, but it was finally being turned into a feature film. I was fortunate enough to get to take a look at the script in advance of the release.

  The script is very true to the story. Some small things have been changed, but what has been changed is nothing worth being upset about. Darabont has done a very good job in translating King’s story to the script, and while I can’t speak for the finished movie, the script has a very King-ish feeling to it.

  As always it’s hard to judge a movie by the script, but after reading the script and also different reports from the set, I’m willing to bet this one is going to be good.

  Most of you are familiar with the story, but for those of you who aren’t, it’s a story about some people who get trapped in a grocery store when a very bad mist roles in. Pretty soon they start to notice that there is something moving in the mist, something very bad.

  The Mist was first published in Skeleton Crew and has been the subject of different movie rumors for more than five years. When I read the script I actually already knew who was going to play the different characters. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not, but either way it was impossible to ignore while reading the script.

  The only potential problem as I see it is how they use the special effects for the movie. Reports from the set say they are handling it very well, so while I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, it is still a threat to the finished movie. If they succeed in making the special effects believable I can’t see any way they can go wrong with this one. It has King’s story, a script by Darabont and direction by Darabont. What could go wrong? Nothing, if you ask me. Darabont has proven time and again that he is capable of making very good Stephen King movies. I’m convinced that he will again.

  Lilja’s last words about The Mist (The Script)

  I read this script in early March of 2007, and as an effort on Darabont’s part to keep the ending a secret, I didn’t get the last pages (no one did as far as I know). That means I don’t know the ending while I write this, but I hope that, by the time you read this, the movie will be out and I will be right in my prediction of it being a success.

  ****

  Black House (The Script)

  Written For the Book

  Let me start by saying that Black House is a very hard book to turn into a movie. Why? Well, for one thing, it’s the second book in a series of three. Also, because it has very strong connections to The Dark Tower, I’m not sure that people who haven’t read those books will get all of that, and The Talisman is about to be shot with what I guess is an entirely different cast. So, this movie has a lot going against it, but still, I’d like to see it be made…

  Richard Chizmar and John Schaech have produced a good script. They have kept The Dark Tower stuff to a minimum, and the same goes for the connections to The Talisman. And even if I usually want as much from the book in the movie as possible, I think that theirs is the right approach in this case. We get hints that Jack has a past that is important, but it isn’t required knowledge here. It works a lot better than I feared before I read it.

  One thing that I’d like to point out, though, is that I got the same feeling when I read the script as I did when I read the book—the same good feeling. All of the main characters are there, and I can’t wait to see who they will cast as Burny. He is one nasty fellow.

  Another obstacle they have to overcome is the need for special effects, which the script requires. You have the Black House itself, you have the jumps between our world and the Territories and you have the bee and the crow. As all of you who have read the book know, a bee and a crow play a rather important part in the story.

  Part of the script also sounds very hard to transform for the screen. The hardest being the scenes from inside the Black House. They will be hard to do, and they will also need to be exactly right or they will look fake and not good at all.

  So, the filmmakers have a very hard and difficult task ahead of themselves, but this script is definitely a good start. I’m not one hundred percent convinced it’s possible to get this movie made in the right way, but I’m definitely looking forward to them trying. The script does what’s expected; now it’s just the rest…

  Lilja’s final words about Black House (The Script)

  It’s a good thing that Jack has grown up between The Talisman and Black House…that way they don’t need to work around the fact that he probably won’t be played by the same actor. Speedy, though, is an entirely different matter…

  Oh, and this version of the script is dated 2005, so when/if the movie is done it may differ somewhat, but I hope most of it stays intact.

  ****

  From a Buick 8 (The Script)

  Written For the Book

  I have just finished the script for From a Buick 8. This is one is dated May 1, 2005, so if/when the movie is actually done it may be different from this version of the script.

  This script is written by Richar
d Chizmar and John Schaech, and I think they have done a very good job. In some parts the script feels very much like The Green Mile. Not the plot so much, but the feeling…and that is very good.

  From a Buick 8 is the story about a Buick that turns out to be everything but a Buick; it’s some sort of portal to another dimension or world, and it’s been impounded by the police, and Officer Wilcox takes a special interest in it.

  Chizmar and Schaech have been able to maintain the feeling that the characters are telling the story to young Ned, Wilcox’s son, and I’m very glad that they kept it that way and didn’t try to make a movie that just told the story, beginning to end. I think this may be the cause of the good feeling I have about the script.

  The one thing that can ruin this movie once it’s made is the use of special effects. As you know (if you have read the book) there are some very tricky special effects, and if those are executed poorly this movie will be ruined. In other words, the special effects team on this one will have a hard task at hand.

  But, if the special effects are done right this one might just be a huge success. The lead character, Sandy, should be played by someone like Tom Hanks. Someone likable. And if Hanks isn’t free, maybe someone totally unknown. Either way, it’s a very important role that needs to be cast right.

  The only thing that I would think about cutting (if it were up to me) is part of the last page where Sandy gets picked up by his date. That part is just a little too cheesy for me. Otherwise, it’s a very nice and likable story that would transform well to the screen…if done right.

  Lilja’s final words about From a Buick 8 (The Script)