Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: The residents of Chipping Cleghorn are amused by an announcement in the morning paper advertising a murder later that day at the Little Paddocks estate owned by Letty Blacklock and go to her house believing it is either a game or a prank. They are less amused, however, when someone turns off the lights at the advertised time and fires a revolver, striking Miss Blacklock in the ear before either accidentally or purposely killing himself. Local police, baffled by the motive, turn to Jane Marple and, with her insight, come to a terrifying conclusion. The dead man was nothing more than a ruse and one of the people closest to Miss Blacklock is trying to kill her. Review: Several years ago, I made reading all of Agatha Christie's mysteries one of my goals. However, I ended up taking a break from that after reading the first Miss Marple books and realizing I wasn't as big of a fan of her as I was of Christie's other detectives.  Since it had been a while, I decided to ...

Synopsis: Passengers and crew onboard a late-night train between London and Eastborough break down in a remote forested area and soon after, the driver disappears while assessing the damage. Despite pleas from the train security guard, Joe Griffin, the passengers insist on walking rather than waiting for rescue, only to discover they are being hunted by a pack of werewolves. Who's in it? The movie stars Elliot Cowan, Rosie Day, Calvin Dean, Sam Gittins and Sean Pertwee . Review: We had a lazy day yesterday. Well, my wife did at least- I actually did a few chores. This allowed us to find time to watch some movies throughout the day and, after getting a bit bored with the films we've seen before, I convinced her to continue our train-themed horror movie weekend with Howl . Of the three train-themed horror movies we watched, this one was arguably my favorite. I think the thing I liked best about this film was, from basically the time the train stopped onward, it was a legitimat...

Synopsis: After discovering the frozen remains of what he believes to be the missing link, Sir Alexander Saxton transports his discovery onboard the Trans-Siberian Express, drawing curiosity from his rival and fellow passenger Doctor Wells. The men soon learn Saxton's find is both not dead and able to use its glowing eyes to kill people by stealing their memories, forcing them to team up to stop it. Who's in it? The movie stars Christopher Lee , Peter Cushing , Telly Savalas , Silvia Tortosa, Alberto de Mendoza and Julio Peña. Review: My wife and I had talked about going out last night, but we (mostly her) decided it was too cold and ended up staying home and watching a movie instead. Sticking with the train-based horror theme I started the night before with Terror Train , we ended up watching Horror Express . Unfortunately, while I had relatively high hopes for this movie because of the Lee/Cushing pairing, it was a bit of a disappointment. The movie's premise wasn'...

Synopsis: Three years after reluctantly assisting in a fraternity prank that sent a pledge to a mental hospital, a graduating Alana Maxwell joins her classmates at a New Years Eve costume party held on a train. What she doesn't know is one of the guests has murderous intentions. Who's in it? The movie stars Jamie Lee Curtis , Ben Johnson, David Copperfield, Hart Bochner and Derek McKinnon. Review: My wife has an almost child-like obsession with trains, and we both love horror films so, when I came across Terror Train last night, I decided to add it to the top of my list and watch it right away. Unfortunately, while this movie seemed to have quite a bit of potential, it did fall a bit short in my opinion. The overall premise isn't a bad one. The train provided a great setting, both because it was a confined space and because it was moving, making it much more difficult for the intended victims to escape. The costume party was a nice added touch as well because it both mad...

Synopsis: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, women's professional wrestling gained new attention with the promotion Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling  (GLOW). This documentary discusses the rise and fall of that promotion through interviews with the women that were involved. Who's in it? The documentary includes interviews with Emily Dole, Dee Booher, and Angelina Altishin  Review: I was in the mood for a documentary earlier today and, even though I had seen Glow: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling before, about a decade ago, I decided to watch it again. My opinion of it was the same as it was the first time I watched it - it was well worth my time. I remember watching some episodes of GLOW when I was in junior high and high school. However, because it was aired late at night and not on a consistent day/time, it wasn't something I watched as often as I probably would have preferred. This documentary did a good job both reviving the memories of what I did see and f...

Even though I like watching television, I rarely watch a show when it first airs. This is because networks have very short leashes and I have no interest in getting invested in a series only to see a cancellation after only a few episodes. To be fair, there are plenty of series out there that probably shouldn't have even gotten to a first season but there are also just as many that were cancelled out of impatience despite plenty of shows taking more than one season to find their audience ( M*A*S*H comes to mind). Here are four I personally think should have been given more than one season. Forever (2014) I love a good mystery and this Ioan Gruffudd -led series about a doctor who, much like a video game character, respawns whenever he is killed, had plenty of them. Why couldn't he die? How old was he? Why did he always respawn near water? Throw in the fact it was also a crime drama, and you have a series that, if given more time, could have gone down a number of different road...