The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

  HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2025 by F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack, off-the-grid fixer of problems and pivotal figure in a cosmic battle between good and evil, gets mixed up in a conflict between rival psychics that leads to more nefarious doings, such as child sacrifices and evidence that the Otherness is beginning to penetrate our reality.  While I am enjoying this series overall, I often find myself wishing that the books were better.  "The Ritual" (German) This long novel is bloated with filler material. I suppose Wilson should be commended for diversifying his cast of characters, but the slangy hip hop dialect he uses sounds like exactly what it is—an old man’s idea of what urban youth sound like.  F. Paul Wilson A passable entry but definitely a step down from the previous entry in the series. "Blood Pool" (Russian) "Jack the Hitman: The Secret of the Haunted House" (Japanese)

HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2025 Writer/Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Stars: Haruhiko Kato, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Shinji Takeda, Jun Fubuki, Shun Sugata, Sho Aikawa, Koji Yakusho The internet becomes the medium of expression for an afterlife of lonely ghosts, spreading a plague of suicide and despair that threatens to depopulate the world.  This film follows a pair of young Japanese (Kumiko Aso and Haruhiko Kato) in Tokyo as they deal with these apocalyptic events.  Kiyoshi Kurosawa's eerie film, made in the early days of online social networking, suggests that our technology may isolate us more effectively than it brings us together.  After all, people speak of "hanging out" in a chat room or online forum, when in reality they have neither left their house nor met another person face to face.  Although this theme has relevance everywhere, it may have struck a bit closer to home in Japan, which has seen the social phenomenon of the "hikikomori...

HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2025 Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: Mike Ploog  Buck Cowan, a writer who is researching a piece about “the new interest in the occult,” informs Jack Russell that his stepfather has sold the family’s European castle to a mysterious man called Blackgar, who has transported it to and rebuilt it on an island off the Monterey coast. Russell heads for the island, where he hopes to find the mystic tome known as the Darkhold, but the elements don’t cooperate. Nevertheless, he gets there, if not in the manner he intended. Things seem pretty suspicious. Jack makes an ally. Escaping from confinement, Jack continues his investigation into Blackgar’s activities. Continuing his search, he discovers the Darkhold…but too late. Really though, how could someone with his affliction lose track of the time? Garth, one of Blackgar’s men, finds him, but doesn’t seem to find it strange that a semi-human creature might be running about the premises. The reason for that soon becomes clear. A...

HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2025 Director: Ishiro Honda Writer: Yukiko Takayama Stars: Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai, Akihiko Hirata, Katsumasa Uchida, Goro Mutsumi, Tadao Nakamaru, Shin Roppongi, Yasuko Agawa Aliens from the Third Planet of the Black Hole (or something like that) hatch a plot to transform Tokyo into some kind of alien super-city with the aid of a giant robot and a living dinosaur.  Naturally, only Godzilla can save the day.  I loved these movies when I was a kid and I still want to love them now for their nostalgia value, but I just can't get past how clunky, repetitive, and, well...dull this one is.  Nevertheless, I can still get a thrill from the iconic image of Godzilla stomping through Tokyo, the classic score is great, and there are a few moments of goofy charm that deliver the experience I was hoping for.

  HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2025 Writer / Director: Jason Howden Stars: Milo Cawthorne, James Joshua Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Sam Berkley, Daniel Cresswell, Delaney Tabron, Stephen Ure, Colin Moy Two metalheads (Milo Cawthorne and James Blake) in a dull New Zealand town discover and perform a song that summons a demon and kicks off a zombie apocalypse.  This movie gets off to a great start with sympathetic, well-drawn characters and an offbeat viewpoint that recognizes the absurdity of metal without losing any affection for it.  Once the carnage begins, it becomes increasingly one-dimensional and self-consciously jokey while still benefiting from great energy.  First-time director Jason Lei Howden, who won backing for this project in a contest, shows a lot of promise.