I'm running a promotion on my two latest short stories. From today until Halloween, it will be free! Be sure to get them while they're hot.

In Brine and Blood, we follow a private investigator on the trail of a missing persons. During his investigation he stumbles into an occult ritual. Can he do what's necessary to stop the world from drowning in darkness, brine, and blood?

In All Aboard, a small Utah town wakes to find a set of train tracks have mysteriously appeared overnight. Some of the townsfolk begin to disappear while others find that they can't leave the edges of the city. Things heat up when the remaining people begin to get tickets for an incoming train. Where is it taking them, and why were they chosen?

Click HERE for Brine and Blood.

Click HERE for All Aboard.

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I recently saw the movie, Happy Death Day. I went in with pretty low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. The story plays out much like the movie, Groundhog Day (in fact there is a nice little nod to Groundhog Day near the end of the show), where the main character relives the same day over and over. However, in this tale, the main character is killed at the end of the day by a masked assailant. Each time she dies, she wakes up in the same manner. This review will be spoiler free.

Right off the bat, the protagonist is pained in a certain light, showing the viewers that she's a shallow person with very little going for her other than good looks. She doesn't care about anyone other than herself, is mean to her roommate, and is trying to hoop up with the married professor. What's neat about this setup, is that we don't know who the killer could be, because 10 minutes in we've established half-a-dozen possible killers with motive.

The plot of the movie is that she needs to survive the night and find out who her killer is before it is too late because she doesn't have unlimited lives. Each day she wakes a little weaker implying that at some point, she'll cease to exist.

This movie has decent acting, and a well written story. Buried within the main arch is a sub-plot about the main character's relationship with her father that's both touching and heartbreaking...not something I expected to see in a slasher flick. The other nice part of this film, is it isn't gory. Not that I mind gore, but from the looks of the trailer I thought I was getting into a typical slasher movie in the same vein as Scream or I Know What you Did Last Tuesday When you Were at the Summer Cabin in the Woods. Most of the death scenes are implied, cutting away just as you would expect to see blood spraying from an artery. Plus, there is a lot of humor woven throughout the film. It livens it up when necessary, keeping the story moving along.

This film isn't without it's flaws. First and foremost, there was a weird gun scene that happened (TWICE) that really bugged me. There is a point where she gets a hold of the security guard's gun and empties it in three shots. Earlier, there was another scene where the gun was fired three times and then it was empty. The gun looked like a Berretta 92 which is capable of holding way more than three shots. So...what the hell over? 

Second, there were a lot of times that the killer was knocked down or stunned. Every time this occurred I heard Shang Tsung's voice from Mortal Kombat yelling, FINISH HIM! Instead, she runs around like a damned lunatic trying to figure out some way to freedom.  

Third, the school's mascot is the Baycock Babies. A baby. Really? I guess they needed a reason for the killer to be running around in this creepy baby mask, but come on...that is one of the most horrible mascots I've ever heard of.

Finally, I thought the killer's motive was pretty weak. I rolled my eyes during the explanation. It seemed a little forced, but whatever. All in all the flaws were minor and I walked away enjoying this movie quite a bit. If you get a chance to see it, I recommend you do so. I give this movie 3.5 repeated days out of five.