Evidence of Love by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson

 

(pb; 1984: crime nonfiction)

From the back cover

“They were two suburban mothers who attended the same church, went to the same parties, looked after each other’s kids. In the small-town Texas world they shared, liefe seemed peaceful and pleasant. Yet underneath the surface, pretty blonde Candy Montgomery and schoolteacher Betty Gore were simmering with unspoken frustrations, unanswered needs. And one hot summer day it would all explode in the laundry room of Betty Gore’s home─as the concrete walls rang with the blows and screams of an ax striking forty-one terrible times.

“Here is the incredible true story of the murder trial that made headlines across the country. . . the unthinkable crime that ripped away the serene façade of a quiet Texas community to show the passions and jealousies that boiled underneath. You will come to know the world of Candy Montgomery and her friend Betty Gore and you will wonder how such a monstrous thing could happen.”

 

Review

Evidence is an excellent, detailed-with-a-hint-of-mystery true crime book that is an immediately reader-immersive work. Bloom and Atkinson provide just enough─a lot of─background about those who experienced Evidence’s events as well as background on the places and institutions where they happened. This is an intense, fact-driven, steadily paced, and occasionally grisly-but-non-exploitative read, one of the more emotionally involving books I’ve read recently, and easily one of the best true crime books I’ve read in a long time. I can see why Bloom (a.k.a. Joe Bob Briggs) and Atkinson are award-winning journalists. 

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The resulting television movie, A Killing in a Small Town, aired on CBS on May 22, 1990. Stephen Gyllenhaal directed it, from a teleplay by Cynthia Cidre.

Barbara Hershey played Candy Morrison. Brian Dennehy  (First Blood, 1982) played Ed Reivers. John Terry played Stan Blankenship. Richard Gilliland played Dale Morrison. Lee Garlington (Cobra and Psycho III, both 1986) played Peggy Blankenship.

Hal Holbrook played Dr. Beardsley. Matthew Posey (Mr. Brooks, 2007) played Norman Billings. James Monroe Black, billed as James Black, played Dr. Giles. Dennis Letts (A Perfect World, 1993) played Chief McAlester. Marco Parella (A Perfect World, 1993) played Rick Slocum.

The Omen by David Seltzer

 

(pb; 1976: movie tie-in book. First book in The Omen pentalogy.)

From the back cover

“A young nursemaid dies for the sake of little Damien. . .

“A priest is speared to death for revealing the horrifying truth about the birth of Damien. . .

“In a peaceful zoo, animals rend themselves to bits in a death frenzy caused by the sight of Damien. . .

“For a world-renown diplomat and his wife, ‘accident’ follows ‘accident,’ from Rome to London to Jerusalem, as they are stalked by a terror they cannot understand, a terror that centers on their son Damien. . . and his ominous hidden birth mark. . .”

 

Review

Seltzer’s movie tie-in book (from his own script) for The Omen (1976) is an above-average work for the genre. Seltzer fleshes out the melodramatic, B-flick structure of the movie’s paranoid and creepy storyline by providing backstories for several characters in the book version (e.g., Edgardo Emilio Tassone, shown as Father Brennan in the film version). Not only that, more Biblical-based background is provided─most of it made up by Seltzer. This, like the expanded characterizations, is effective, further suspending reader disbelief regarding Omen’s over-the-top events, overall tone, and characters. It helps that Seltzer couches Omen’s events in a way that it’s possible that the satanic conspiracy might be a cultic delusion─at least up to certain points (thank film director Richard Donner for insisting that the script, upon which the book is based, be written this way).

Omen, for its genre, is an excellent, B-flick entertaining potboiler of a satanic conspiracy thriller with over-the-top notions and characters, elements that were reflected in the blockbuster, wildly silly and fun film.

Those who read the book and compare it to the movie may also note name changes to the some of the characters (e.g., Chessa, the book-version/suicidal nanny, is called Holly in the film, named after the actress who played her, Holly Palance─IMDb, in its listing of her character, simply calls her “Nanny”).

Followed by four book sequels, the first of which is another movie tie-in, Damien—Omen II by Joseph Howard.

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The film was released stateside on June 25, 1976. Richard Donner directed the film, from David Seltzer’s screenplay.

Gregory Peck played Robert Thorn (book version: Jeremy Thorn). Lee Remick played Katherine Thorn. Harvey Stephens played Damien Thorn.

Holly Palance played Holly/Nanny (book version: Chessa Whyte). Billie Whitelaw played Mrs. Blaylock/Sister Teresa/B’aalock. Martin Benson played Father Spiletto.

David Warner played Keith Jennings (book version: Haber Jennings). An uncredited Leo McKern played Carl Bugenhagen.

Patrick Troughton played Father Brennan (book version: Edgardo Emilio Tassone). Anthony Nicholls played Dr. Becker. Robert Rietty played Monk.Tommy Duggan played Priest. 

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A remake was released stateside on June 6, 2006 (get it?). Directed by John Moore, IMDb attributes its source material to David Seltzer’s 1976 screenplay.

Liev Schreiber played Robert Thorn. Julia Stiles played Katherine Thorn. Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick played Damien Thorn (ages four to five).

Giovanni Lombardo Radice played Father Spiletto. David Thewlis played Keith Jennings. Pete Postlethwaite played Father Brennan. Michael Gambon played Bugenhagen.

Mia Farrow played Mrs. Baylock. Harvey Stephens, who played Damien in the original film, played "Tabloid Reporter #3."

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The television show Damien aired on A&E on March 7, 2016. On May 20th of the same year, A&E cancelled it after one season.

Damien, ignoring the storylines of Damien: Omen II (1978) and The Final Conflict (1981), reimagined Damien Thorne as a thirty-year-old war photographer who─after years of not being aware of his satanic destiny─is confronted by it during a photo shoot. This drawn-out, angsty, cultists-grooming-Damien-for-hellish-majesty show had Damien (played by Bradley James) resisting the insanity of the situation, though he was slowly succumbing to it.

Other actors in the show included: Megalyn Echikunwoke (as Simone Baptiste); Omid Abtahi (as Amani Golkar); Barbara Hershey (as Ann Rutledge); Robin Weigert (as Sister Greta Fraueva); and Scott Wilson (as John Lyons).