Stargate SG-1 (2001) – Ascension, and The Fifth Man

Carter (Amanda Tapping) is given some time off, after she’s rendered unconscious on a mission. She was inspecting a device that may or may nor be a weapon. But she and SG-1 do not come back alone, there is a mysterious entity that has attached itself to Carter. Ascension was written by Robert C. Cooper,…

Stargate SG-1 (2001) – Prodigy, and Entity

There’s a fun opener with O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Hammond (Don S. Davis) and the actual Air Force Chief of Staff at the time, Micheal E. Ryan. And then the story dives into a fun Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) story. Prodigy was written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie from a story by Mallozzi, Mullie,…

Incidents Around the House (2024) – Josh Malerman

Josh Malerman delivers a very creepy novel with Incidents Around the House. It’s a truly unnerving read as it takes the haunted house, demonic angle, but puts it on its head by telling it from the perspective of a little girl. There’s something in Bela’s closet and it’s started to come out and ask to…

Smile (2022) – Parker Finn

Paramount Pictures’ latest theatrical release is an unnerving look parable for what happens with trauma when we just simply grin and bear it, instead of speaking of it openly, freely and dealing with it when it happens. Doctor Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) works as a psychologist in the emergency department of a major hospital. She’s…

Fringe (2009) – Earthling, and Of Human Action

The case that cost Broyles (Lance Reddick) his marriage resurfaces in Earthling. Written by J.H. Wyman and Jeff Vlaming, this episode first debuted on 5 November, 2009. When a strange, crumbling body draws the attention of Fringe Division, Olivia (Anna Torv), Peter (Joshua Jackson), and Walter (John Noble), Broyce has information to share about a…

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – Wes Craven

Two years before he would perfect the meta meditation on horror films with Scream, director Wes Craven gave it a test-drive with the final film in the Nighmare on Elm Street series, revisiting an idea he’d wanted to incorporate into one of the earlier sequels of the franchise. The tenth anniversary of the original Nightmare…

The X-Files (1994/1995) – Excelsis Dei, and Aubrey

Excelsis Dei by Paul Brown plunges agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) into the still incredibly relevant exploration of a long term care facilities, and how those who live there are treated… done, of course, with The X-Files twist. This episode first aired on 16 December, 1994. It seems a nurse, Michelle Charters…

Star Trek: The Final Nexus (1988) – Gene DeWeese

DeWeese’s sequel to his earlier Trek novel, Chain of Attack, is my next adventure with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Much like his previous story, this tale takes place during the original five year mission, and expands nicely on the events that took place in Chain of Attack. I have only one real issue…

Toronto After Dark 2019: The Assent (2019) – Pearry Teo

There’s a Barker/Lovecraftian feel to the gritty dirtiness of this entry in the Toronto After Dark film festival. Couched in a house covered in unnerving art, and filled with troubling apparitions and visions there is an aggressive edge to The Assent in the way it is shot, and the way the story unfolds. Mostly. Halfway…