Duel
Greetings, ‘Duel’ is a movie from 1971 that is among the very earliest directorial efforts in Steven Spielberg’s lengthy and distinguished career. It is his second feature film with his first being ‘Firelight’ which he directed while he was only 17 years old. ‘Duel’ was a made for television movie that was based on a screenplay by Richard Mattheson, a familiar name to many ‘The Twilight Zone’ fans and the writer behind ‘I am Legend’ and ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’. The picture has a considerably limited cast due to the nature of its plot but stars Dennis Weaver as the protagonist David Mann, a largely unseen Carey Loftin as the murderous truck driver and a brief performance from Jacqueline Scott as Mrs Mann. The music was composed by Billy Goldenberg who worked on American television shows including ‘Kojak’ and ‘Colombo’ as well as Rod Serling’s other horror anthology series, ‘Night Gallery’.
The plot begins with David, a family man and travelling salesperson, driving through the dusty Mojave Desert for a business meeting. He is enjoying his own company and listening to the radio when he gets stuck behind a dirty fuel tanker. After patiently following the slow truck for a little while, David decides he should overtake the vehicle in order to make his meeting in good time. He does so and thinks nothing of it until a few moments later when the truck suddenly ramps up speed and is in front of him again. David is disgruntled by the rude display and manages to successfully overtake the vehicle once more. This irritates the truck driver who blares his horn incessantly much to the smug satisfaction of David who leaves the other driver far behind. Soon after David pulls into a nearby petrol station to top up his car and is a little unnerved when the aggressive trucker drives into the same place.
David takes the opportunity to phone his wife. The conversation is brief but it reveals she is frustrated as she claims that David failed to stand up for her during a party the previous night. It isn’t long before David is back on the road again after he refuses an offer from the station attendant to have his radiator hose replaced. Much to David’s annoyance, the truck has returned and plants itself firmly in front of him. David swerves his car on both sides of the road to overtake but the tanker blocks the path forward as well as his vision. While David becomes increasingly agitated with the situation, he believes the unpleasant ordeal has come to an end when the driver waves him forward. David begins to overtake but is deeply alarmed when he is facing oncoming traffic. He spins the car back just in time and his agitation turns to fear when he realises the nightmare is only getting started.
The simple premise of ‘Duel’, a deadly cat and mouse chase fuelled by road rage, had always been interesting to me which is why it had been on my watch list for quite some time. I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint when I finally got around to seeing it. The movie manages to create a pretty tense atmosphere that slowly builds up to the climactic scene. A lot of this is due to techniques that were later reused by Spielberg a few years later in ‘Jaws’ such as keeping the antagonist as obscured as possible. The dialogue is fairly minimal since David is alone in his car for a lot of the film but the script gives viewers a good idea of his personality, especially when he begins to understand the predicament he is in and starts having a nervous breakdown. If you are looking for something a bit different to watch, then this may just be the one for you.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=7/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
Hello. I'm Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is no. Now our story begins on a Friday morning in a little town called Springfield...
Leonard Nimoy
The Simpsons
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Greetings, ‘Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)’ is a British television programme that was created by Dennis Spooner, produced by ITC Entertainment and was first aired from 1969 to 1970. It lasted for one season and contains 26 episodes. The now defunct ITC Entertainment made numerous cult TV shows during its run including ‘The Prisoner’, which I reviewed numerous years ago, and had a reputation for producing shows centring on private eyes and spies. The subject of this blog update is one of the former but has an interesting twist that makes it stand out from other detective shows. Those hoping for a more standard sleuthing experience are going to be disappointed as this is a fairly kooky programme that doesn’t follow that formula. The cast consists of a main trio of Mike Pratt, the recently passed Kenneth Cope and the last surviving member Annette Andre. The music was composed by Edwin Astley who worked on a number of other ITC shows including Rodger Moore’s ‘The Saint’.
The plot begins with London based private investigators Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, along with Marty’s wife and secretary named Jeannie, being hired for a job. They are employed by a Mrs Fay Sorrensen to spy on her husband whom she suspects is being unfaithful. It is a typical day for the duo and Randall is able to provide her with numerous photographs showing her husband, John, in compromising situations with other women. Fay, who has a heart condition, plans to divorce her husband with the evidence in her hands. In doing so, she will remove John’s access to his business assets in the steel company he works at as her father had founded the company and she is a major shareholder in it. Aware of her plans, John calls up a firm that arranges hit jobs and he requests that his wife be discreetly murdered. The following day, Marty arrives by himself at the Sorrenson residence to speak to Fay and her solicitor while Jeff is conducting other business elsewhere.
The meeting doesn’t take place as Fay, while taking a bath in the next room, is electrocuted by the assassin. The murder is committed by a cable that was threaded through a hole in the wall and attached to a van parked outside their home. Marty barges into the bathroom when he hears Fay’s screams but the murder weapon has been retracted into the van before he can see it. With his business at the Sorrenson’s abruptly concluded, Marty speaks to some children who were loitering on the street and they tell him about the cable they had seen. The interaction is watched by John who was hoping to blame Fay’s death on her weak heart. He decides to order Marty’s murder as well to keep his tracks covered. Not long after Marty is killed by a hitman who hits him with a car at high speed. This isn’t the end of his partnership with Randall however for Marty comes back from the grave as an apparition in a sharp white suit.
I very much like the campy, unserious tone the series has and am fond of its vintage 1960s charm. The premise always stuck out to me as a neat idea and it does make good use of its concept. While the ghostly form of Marty can influence the world around him, he is in restricted in what he can do to ensure there is some way to build up tension. For instance, only Randall can see and hear Marty but episodes do write around that when needed by having Marty appear to drunkards, psychics and people who have been hypnotised. That comes in handy as Jeff and Jeannie often end up being kidnapped and need to be rescued by outsiders. The series was remade by the BBC in 2000 with comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in the titular roles. I’m not sure if I’ll be checking that out anytime soon as I thoroughly enjoyed the original and it would be difficult envisioning them as these characters.
Plot=8/10
Characters=9/10
Special Effects=7/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own!
Number Six
The Prisoner
Happy New Year: 2024 Review!
Greetings, welcome to the last blog update of 2024! This will be a memorable year for me as I had an enjoyable holiday cruise near the start of it, I finally become a permanent member of staff in the middle and got the keys to a house of my own by the end of it. Of course, 2024 will always be significant after the passing of my old companion Treacle and I’d like to say thanks for your nice comments about her in my previous update. As always, I have thought over my personal picks of entertainment from the last 12 months and I’ve listed them below. Feel free to write your own highlights in the comments that you particularly enjoyed this year as those are always interesting to read over.
Television Show of the Year: Archer
A popular animated comedy series that ran from 2009 all the way to 2023, ‘Archer’ follows the adventures of the titular hero Sterling Archer, who is a charismatic and narcissistic spy, as he jets all across the globe in daring missions. I believe the show deserves to be recognised for the numerous years it kept me entertained although it unarguably became a little stale and repetitive towards the end of its run. The jokes may have been all too easy to foresee after a while and catchphrases became overused but ‘Archer’ finished strong and wasn’t afraid to dedicate whole seasons to trying something different by delving into different genres.
Book of the Year: A Confederacy of Dunces
John Kennedy Toole’s ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ is regarded as an American literary classic and the enduring allure around it is partially due to the late author being unappreciated during his time. Even though I think the book dragged on for too long for my liking, I understand why people enjoyed it so much and especially why notable comedians hold it in such high regard. The main character of Ignatius J. Reilly is very unique and his attitude is amusing, particularly as the reader is introduced to him. There is a lot of comedy to be had with the sloppy Ignatius with his obsessive hatred for the modern world and his admiration for the medieval ways.
Game of the Year: Phasmophobia
‘Phasmophobia’ is a co-operative game from 2020 in which players work together to investigate a haunted location and towards the goal of correctly determining which type of spirit they are hunting. A single player or a team of players do this by collecting numerous pieces of evidence that will be applicable to only one type of ghost and they must avoid being killed in the process lest they lose the match as well as their hard earned equipment. A well-crafted, atmospheric and terrifying game in its early stages, this became a very popular title upon its release and dominated the Steam rankings for some time.
Film of the Year: The Holdovers
Funny, touching and bound to be a celebrated Christmas classic in the years to come, 2023’s ‘The Holdovers’ is a throwback to the early 1970s and is set in an all-male boarding school in a wintry New England. It follows Paul Hunham, a classics teacher who is equally disliked by both his lacklustre students and his academic peers, as he is forced to look after a small number of pupils who are unable to return home for Christmas. This number of holdovers dwindles down to just one boy called Angus and the plot slowly humanizes Hunham as his relationship with the student and cafeteria manager, Mary, blossoms.
That is all for 2024! I’ll be back to blogging again in 2025 and I’m currently on schedule to reach the 400th blog update which should be published on the site towards the end of the year. Additionally, I’ll be ramping up my literary efforts on Write Wise after a more relaxed year this time around and I already have the some of the stories in mind that I want to write over the next several months. I also intend to be indulging in more books and playing more video games next year as that is something I haven’t done as much as I would have liked to in previous years. Have a happy New Year and I hope 2025 proves to be a great one for you!
Quote of the Day
Here's something I bet you didn't know. Your uniform, festive as it is, is historically inaccurate. Saint Nicholas of Myra was actually a fourth-century Greek Bishop from what is now Turkey. So, uh, a robe and sandals would be closer to the mark. Yeah, but I guess that would be impractical given the weather and all the silly but lucrative mythology about Santa and elves and reindeer and chimneys and whatnot.
Paul Hunham
The Holdovers
Merry Christmas 2024!
Greetings, Christmas Eve is here and I’d like to wish you all the best for tomorrow as per my usual tradition. Before I do, I have a personal update that I felt was only right to note on the blogs. Treacle, my ginger and white cat of 14 years, was put to sleep yesterday after a sudden and unexpected illness with no possibility of a recovery. I find it hard to believe she has passed on as she seemed as bright and affectionate as ever only a few days ago.
She first arrived at my doorstep way back in 2010 and I have a very prominent memory of sitting bored stiff at my desk in Lurgan College watching the clock tick down impatiently as I wanted to go home and play with the cute new kitten that had turned up the day before. She always liked to play and be made a fuss of even in her older years but she would be sure to let you know, in the blink of an eye, when she had had enough by scratching or biting after a verbal warning. In fact, one much more serious attack split my lip and I had to be stitched up by hospital staff. We made up very shortly after then with me being extra cautious of her for a day or two.
She was as sweet as she was fiery and would often purr loudly as she climbed in my bed when I was trying to change the sheets. She liked hiding underneath them and the bed would have to be made around her. When visiting my parent’s house, I would always go and greet Treacle first as she lounged about on sofas and was often taking a nap in sunny rays. Even hours after she passed, I kept expecting to see her looking in the house or hearing her tip tapping her way around. With Treacle’s passing, the Murray household is without a feline friend for the first time in decades as there has always been a cat in the house for as long as I have lived. She will be dearly missed by myself and the rest of the family.
While my Christmas will have a lingering feeling that something is amiss this year, I hope you have a great day tomorrow and get whatever is on your lists. I will wrap up the year with one more blog update on 31st December but until then have a very merry Christmas!
Quote of the Day
Merry Christmas? Bah. Humbug!
Ebenezer Scrooge
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Phasmophobia
Greetings, ‘Phasmophobia’ is a 4 player co-operative horror game that launched in 2020 although a brave single player is also able to play solo if they so wish. It was created by Kinetic Games who are a small independent video games studio based in the United Kingdom. They do not appear to have produced anything else of note according to their website and associated wikis nor does there seem to be any other upcoming projects unrelated to this game. As can be gleamed from the name of the game, it focuses around phantoms. The player is a ghost hunter and is tasked with determining which type of spirit is haunting a location during an investigation and to avoid being killed by the apparition in the process. ‘Phasmophobia’ became a very popular game around its launch due to numerous Twitch users and Youtubers streaming their terrified reactions, causing it to be the best selling game on Steam in October and November of 2020.
As of December 2024, there are 24 ghost types that the players have to whittle down to just one by collecting 3 categories of evidence on default mode. The difficulty can be increased which lowers the amount of evidence in the game and therefore makes identification even harder. While certain types of ghosts may share some of the same evidence with others, only one will have a specific combination of the 3 traits. The evidence is gathered through using various ghost hunting items. For instance, an Electromagnetic Field Reader will reveal if a ghost is in a nearby area by flashing over a range of readings while a ghost writing book can be written in by various spirits provided the player isn’t present during the action. Players can also make use of their headsets to speak to other players via an in game radio and with the ghost directly when using a spirit box.
A photo camera is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in the game as the player can take pictures of paranormal instances including dirty water in a sink, otherworldly prints in salt and photographic proof of the phantom itself. Other items, such as a crucifixes, can impact the match in other ways including delaying hunting. Hunting is when a ghost is capable of killing players who are unable to escape the house. All players enter the level with a 100% sanity rating but this can be dragged down in various ways such as using cursed items, which can help track down the target, or by a lack of light in the room. A lower level of sanity means that spirits are more likely to perform numerous actions including engaging in hunting. Sanity is monitored in the starting location of the van which is a secure zone and serves as the focal point for reviewing equipment including live video camera feed.
There are 13 maps at present which consists of 8 small maps, 3 intermediate and 2 large ones. They cover various locations including residential houses, farmhouses, a school and a psychiatric hospital. I generally found the smaller and medium maps to be the most enjoyable as the bigger maps can be so extensive that it is hard to find just the ghost never mind the evidence it leaves behind. While more maps may be added in the future, it is interesting to note that a previous one known as ‘The Asylum’ was removed by Kinetic Games. The first few rounds of playing ‘Phasmophobia’ was a great experience as everything was so fresh and unknown with a genuinely creepy atmosphere having been built up. After playing it for a while, the mechanics become obvious and the fear it managed to initially induce is very much lessened. Saying that, I still have a soft spot for ‘Phasmophobia’ and I consider it to be one of the best co-operative games I’ve ever played.
Plot=6/10
Characters=5/10
Graphics=8/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
When I was young, folks used to talk about you. Said as how you knew things. Said if a man had been wronged, he could come to you and you'd call upon this thing in that man's name, and that man, he'd be avenged.
Ed Harley
Pumpkinhead
The Quiz Part 16
Greetings, welcome back to another iteration of the annual quiz which has returned for its 16th year. As hard as it is to believe the quiz has been a yearly tradition for this long, I’m also finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that it is also exactly one month to Christmas Day. As part of the run up to the festive season, I’ve come up with 10 questions to test your knowledge on a wide range of subjects. Last year Mark and Jordan tied in first place with 8 points while Aaron scored 6 but he could pull of an upset and come first again like he last did in 2019. So have a crack at it but don’t forget to avoid the spoilers below and put your score in the comments. Best of luck!
1. Which American entertainment personality created and narrated the seminal TV show ‘The Twilight Zone’ and later went on to do the same for another horror anthology show called ‘Night Gallery’ in the 1970s?
2. Who said this? – “Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.”
3. Which United States President was the first person to hold two non-consecutive terms in the Oval Office from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897?
4. Place these generations of games consoles in order of their North American release dates – A. Xbox 360 B. PlayStation 1 C. Nintendo Game Cube D. Atari 2600 E. Dreamcast
5. In the 1957 Science Fiction film ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’, the protagonist Robert Scott Carey battles against what type of creepy-crawly in the climactic conclusion?
6. In the card game of Uno, what happens if a player sets down a card that contains a circle with a slanted line running through it?
7. Name the character.
8. Unscramble the letters to reveal an actress - DAREUY PRENUHB
9. Which iconic comedic duo are referenced throughout the ‘Imposter Series’ as a statue outside of McMenamin’s Movie Theatre (Saoirse), when Eamon Quayle mockingly refers to their bowler hats (The Curse) and with one of their movies playing in the Picture House (Sinner’s Paradise)?
10. The Conservative and Unionist Party lost the 2024 UK general election in a major electoral blow but for how many years had they been the governing party of Great Britain until they were ousted from power?
Spoilers!
1. Rod Serling
2. Grand Moff Whiluff Tarkin
3. Grover Cleveland
4. D. Atari 2600 (1977) B. PlayStation 1 (1995) E. Dreamcast (1999) C. Nintendo Game Cube (2001) A. Xbox 360 (2005)
5. A spider
6. The next player is forced to skip their turn
7. Gabriel Van Helsing
8. Audrey Hepburn
9. Laurel and Hardy
10. 14 years
Quote of the Day
They wouldn't put me on a pedestal, so I'm laying 'em on a slab!
Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin
Batman Returns
