The Movie: "Barfly" by Charles Bukowski

 

(pb; 1987, 2006: screenplay)

Review

Bukowski’s character-driven, sometimes (suitably) booze-setting-chaotic screenplay maintains the warm, fisticuffs-brave tone of Bukowski’s other written work, a successful, charming genre-transitional effort that paid off with a truly independent, frak-Hollywood film with stellar, lots-o’-heart and distinctive characters. Worth seeking out, excellent.

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The resulting film, directed by Barbet Schroeder, was released stateside on October 16, 1987.

Mickey Rourke played Henry Chinaski, Bukowski’s fictionalized self. Faye Dunaway played Wanda Wilcox. J.C.Quinn played Jim, daytime bartender for the Golden Horn Bar. Frank Stallone played Eddie, the Golden Horn’s nighttime bartender.

Sandy Martin played Janice, one of the Golden Horn’s barflies. Roberta Bassin played Lilly, another Golden Horn barfly. Gloria LeRoy, billed as Gloria Leroy, played Grandma Moses, an elderly oral-sex-leaning prostitute. Pruitt Taylor Vince played Joe. Book and screenplay author Charles Bukowski played an uncredited Bar Patron.

Alice Krige played Tully, a publisher. Jack Nance played Tully’s “Detective”.  

A Prayer for the Dying by Jack Higgins

 

(pb; 1973)

From the back cover

“Fallon was the best you could get with a gun in his hand. His track record went back a long and shady way.

“This time the bidding came from Dandy Jack Meehan, an underworld baron with a thin varnish of respectability. Not exactly the type you’d want to meet in a dark alley.

“The job Dandy Jack wanted doing was up North, but when Fallon got there he soon found himself changing sides—which put him in opposition to Meehan, a place where life expectancy suddenly gets very short indeed.”

 

Review

Prayer is an excellent, grip-you-from-the-get-go thriller with great, unique and memorable characters, character- and morality-based gravitas and action, as well a potent blend of omnipresent themes, e.g., regret, religion, imperialism, overall morality, etc., that—along with Higgins’s superbly sketched characters, clever-twists, and cut-to-it writing, lift this above the usual thriller. It might not go anywhere you don’t expect at times, but it’s so well-written and character-true that a certain inevitability is a virtue here. Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film was released in released in the UK on May 13, 1987. Its stateside release happened on September 11, 1987. Prayer director Mike Hodges, along with one of its co-stars, Mickey Rourke, forswore the studio’s theatrical cut of the film. Screenwriters: Edmund Ward and Martin Lynch. (Studio: The Samuel Goldwyn Company, which trimmed Prayer so it would play less like a drama with occasional violence, and more like an action movie for American audiences. Mike Hodges’s director's cut is said to exist, but it has not been released.)

Angel Heart by Alan Parker

 

(1986; unpublished screenplay for the 1987 film)

Review

Parker’s unpublished screenplay for the 1987 film which he directed is as gritty, darkly sly, occasionally grisly and pulpy as its source material, William Hjortsberg’s 1978 pulp novel Falling Angel. Parker’s screenplay is vivid in its engaging-all-senses writing, one of the better screenplays I’ve read. It distills Hjortsberg’s increasingly sinister, walls-closing-in-on-Harry-Angel claustrophobia into a palpable and effective cinematic work, one that is reflected in the resulting film that mixes horror and noir. 

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The film was released stateside on March 6, 1987. As mentioned above, Alan Parker directed the film from his screenplay.

Mickey Rourke played Harry Angel. Robert DeNiro played Louis Cyphre. Lisa Bonet played Evageline Proudfoot. Charlotte Rampling played Margaret Krusemark.

Stocker Fontelieu played Ethan Krusemark. Brownie McGhee played Toots Sweet. Michael Higgins played Dr. Fowler. Charles Gordone played Spider Simpson. Dann Florek played Herman Winesapp.

Pruitt Taylor Vince played Det. Deimos. Eliot Keener played Det. Sterne.

Fade to Black by Ron Renauld

(pb; 1980: movie tie-in novel)

From the back cover

“Sensitive Eric Binford strikes back a lie the only way he knows how─he reenacts in character his favorite and most terrifying movie murders.”

Review

Fade is a lean, engaging and swift-paced thriller, with quick-sketch characters and a deep love for 1940s—1960s cinema. This is a fun, based-on-a-B-movie book, one worth owning.

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Its cinematic counterpart of the same name was released stateside on October 14, 1980. Vernon Zimmerman scripted and directed the film.

Dennis Christopher played Eric Binford. Tim Thomerson played Dr. Jerry Moriarty. Eve Brent, billed as Eve Brent Ashe, played Stella Binford. Linda Kerridge played Marilyn O’Connor. Marcy Barkin played Stacy. 

Mickey Rourke played Richie.  Peter Horton played Joey. Norman Burton, billed as Normann Burton, played Marty Berger. John Steadman played Sam.

Morgan Paull played Gary Bially. James Luisi played Capt. M.L. Gallagher. 

Jack's Return Home (a.k.a. Get Carter) by Ted Lewis

(pb; 1970: first book in the Jack Carter trilogy)

From the back cover

"Doncaster, and Jack Carter is home for a funeral - his brother's. Frank's car was found at the bottom of a cliff, with him inside. Jack thinks that Frank's death is suspicious, so he decides to talk to a few people. Frank was a mild man and did as he was told, but Jack's not a bit like that."


Review

Return is a nasty, violent and excellent revenge–mystery tale that raises the bar in the crime genre. Carter is amoral, reckless and unrelenting in his quest to solve the mystery of his estranged brother’s death, meaning everyone around him feels the fire of his rage. Carter’s rampage through his hometown is a sometimes chatty journey, one that is memorable, not for sensitive, PC-minded readers. Fans of the twenty-four-book Parker series by Richard Stark, a.k.a. Donald E. Westlake, might enjoy this.

Followed by Jack Carter's Law.

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The first film version, titled Get Carter, was released in the UK on March 10, 1971. It was released stateside on March 17, 1971. Mike Hodges directed and scripted the film.

Michael Caine played Jack Carter. Petra Markham played Doreen Carter.

Ian Hendry played Eric Paice. Britt Ekland played Anna. John Osborne played Cyril Kinnear. Tony Beckley played Peter the Dutchman. George Sewell played Con McCarty.

Geraldine Moffat, billed as Geraldine Moffatt, played Glenda. Dorothy White played Margaret. Rosemarie Dunham played Edna. Alun Armstrong played Keith. Bryan Mosley played Cliff Brumby. 

Glynn Edwards played Albert Swift. Bernard Hepton played Thorpe. Terence Rigby played Gerald Fletcher.

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The American remake, also titled  Get Carter, was released stateside on October 6, 2000. Stephen Kay directed the film, from a screenplay by Dave McKenna.

Sylvester Stallone played Jack Carter. Rachel Leigh Cook played Doreen. Miranda Richardson played Gloria. Rhona Mitra played Geraldine. 

John C. McGinley played Con McCarty. Alan Cumming played Jeremy Kinnear. Michael Caine, who played the lead role in the original film, played Cliff Brumby. Mickey Rourke played Cyrus Paice.

John Cassini played Thorpey. Mark Boone Junior, billed as Mark Boone Jr., played Jim Davis. An uncredited Gretchen Mol  played Audrey. An uncredited Tom Sizemore provided the voice of Les Fletcher. An uncredited Frank Stallone, brother of Sylvester, played "Man at Funeral".

Kiss-Off the Devil: 9 Short Stories by Terrance Aldon Shaw

(pb; 2015: erotic story anthology)

From the back cover

"The truth isn’t always 'nice,' and those who would dig down to the roots of human folly should expect to get their hands at least a little dirty.

"This collection transports readers to the realm of the forbidden, probing the dark, seldom-explored reaches of illicit desire and obsession where opposites attract and lust burns on any fuel it can find. Ranging in mood from the comically macabre title story, to the poignant realism of  'All the Things They Never Got to Say'. . . and 'Another Detour (Alternate Timeline),' these tales challenge our comfort zones and scandalize the earnest little angels sitting on our shoulders, while inviting their opposite numbers to come out and play.

"If the stories in this book were made into movies they would no doubt be rated somewhere between R and NC-17. Not so much for graphic content (though there is a fair amount of that) as for “adult situations.”


Overall review

Kiss-Off is a superb, memorable, vivid, entertaining, erotic and taboo-bursting story collection, one worth owning – if you are a mature, non-PC reader, not put off by works that are fearless, sensual and provocative.

Stories

"All the Things They Never Got to Say”: Cinematic-vivid tale about three foster siblings whose cruel adoptive mother drives them to tender and dark extremes. Excellent, erotic work that integrates close-to-taboo topics with Bible-based abuse. This is one of my favorite reads in this collection.

“Birthday Girl”: A fickle and cruel young woman with a sleazy, alcoholic family tries to sexually “play” her her godfather, with dangerous results.

“Muse in the Neon Twilight”: Good read about a young woman (Julia) who finds she has a strange attraction to her boyfriend’s long-winded and freak-minded professor.

“A Girl From White City”: During a game of Truth or Dare, a young woman (Danni) tells her fellow players about her first interracial affair. What sets this work apart from other tales of this setup/ilk is Shaw’s brief-but-effective exploration of the inconsistencies of the human mind and desire.

“Kiss-Off the Devil”: Excellent, plot-twisty work about a disgraced teacher with a penchant for adolescent girls, a sexy Tinkerbell (who seems to be of legal age), and her ex-boyfriend. This story is a hybrid genre piece that is often funny, always dark and un-PC, fearless in its just perversity. This is one of my favorite entries in this anthology.

 “All the Surveys”: A physically unattractive and pervy-erudite educator speaks about his divorce, Wild Orchid (film, 1989) and sex in this eighteen-page “interview,” where the female interviewer remains unheard. This first-person point-of-view story read like an intentional, alternate version of “Kiss-Off the Devil” in certain parts.

 “Becoming Roxanne”: Seventeen year-old Lois works her first escort gig with her best friend (Tegan). Their clients: the savvy, sexy Mr. Silverman and a grotesque, brusque Russian named Bruno. “Roxanne,” like other tales in this collection, is un-PC. It embraces sex and its professionals, without being cliché and cheap; this is an outstanding read, as long as you do not require romance and are not put off by smart, adolescent-themed desire.

“The Why in Everything”: Chatty work about familial mortality, socially inappropriate urges, human nature and the thematic layers of the 1989 film Dead Calm. Excellent, unsettling and wise story.

“Detour (Alternate Timeline)”: Two of the characters from “The Why in Everything” – siblings Dave and Traci – are shown in a variable take of events. This, like its co-dependent tale, is full of unsettling conversations about familial matters, the differences between lust and love, the underying BDSM themes of John Norman’s “The Chronicles of Gor” series, and how people – with their surprising layers – change over time. Excellent, provocative, standout stuff.

Dark Secret Love: A Story of Submission, by Alison Tyler

(pb; 2013: erotic novel - first entry in the Story of Submission series)


From the back cover:

"Dark Secret Love is a modern-day Story of O, a 9 1/2 Weeks-style journey fueled by lust, longing and the search for true love.  Inspired by her own BDSM exploits and private diaries, Alison Tyler draws on twenty-five years of penning sultry stories to create a scorchingly hot work of fiction, a memoir-inspired novel with reality at its core.  A luscious and literary experience of authenticity.  Dark Secret Love is a romance for readers who desire sweetness edged with danger and a kinky fairy tale with a happily-ever-after ending."


Review:

Romantic, edutaining (educating and entertaining), nuanced and hard to set down, Dark is an excellent novel that has characters that are not only interesting but matter (beyond the cuffs and the floggings), whose emotional journeys will likely haunt this reader.

Alison Tyler is one of the best working erotica writers today.  Check out - buy - her work wherever you may see it, so that you might not only be entertained but learn from it (whether it be for her writing style or her characters' intriguing carnality).

Followed by The Delicious Torment: A Story of Submission.

The Animal Factory by Edward Bunker

(pb; 1977)

From the back cover

"The Animal Factory goes deep into San Quentin, a world of violence and paranoia, where territory and status are ever-changing and possibly fatal commodities. Ron Decker is a newbie, a drug dealer whose shot at a short two-year stint in the can is threatened from inside and outside. He's got to keep a spotless record or it's ten to life. But at San Quentin, no man can steer clear of the Brotherhoods, the race wars, the relentlessness. It soon becomes clear that some inmates are more equal than others; Earl Copen is one of them, an old-timer who has learned not just to survive but to thrive behind bars. Not much can surprise him -- but the bond he forms with Ron startles them both; it's a true education of a felon."


Review

The Animal Factory is an immediately immersive, character-intriguing and waste-no-words novel that's simultaneously a caveat and a pulp read (inherent, given its subject matter).

This, for me, is a perfect novel. All the delicate plot and character elements work together to form a raw-truth, hard-to-lay-down read that should appeal to those who've read prison writing before, as well as those who haven't.

Worth owning, this. Landmark, informative work.

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The resulting film was released stateside on January 24, 2000.

Steve Buscemi produced and directed the film, from a script by book author/co-producer Edward Bunker and John Steppling.

Willem Dafoe played Earl Copen. Edward Furlong played Ron Decker. Danny Trejo played Vito. Mark Boone Jr. played Paul Adams. Seymor Cassel played Lt. Seeman. Mickey Rourke played Jan the Actress.

Tom Arnold played Buck Rowan. John Heard played James Decker. Chris Bauer played Bad Eye. Michael Buscemi, Steve Buscemi's brother, played Mr. Herell.

Book author Edward Bunker played Buzzard. Director Steve Buscemi played A.R. Hosspack. Independent filmmaker and actor Larry Fessenden, billed as Larry Fesenden, played Benny. Independent filmmaker, producer and actor Sal Mazzotta played Florizzi.

Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg

(pb; 1978) 

 From the back cover

 "Louis Cyphre had a fiendish smile and flaunted some bizarre fetishes. So what. The fat price Cyphre was paying for a routine missing-persons assignment convinced Harry Angel to shake off his customary shivers about Cyphre's weird ways. "But Harry's pay turned to blood as each of his leads dissolved into a dizzying nightmare of black magic and gory murders. And the more he sought the terrifying shadow of the long lost Johnny Favorite, the closer he came to chasing his own." 

Review

Set in 1959, Falling Angel is an original, über clever, supernaturally flavored private dick novel. It's tightly characterized and written, oozy and often bloody with neo-noir-esque shadows and characters who are cursed, but don't know it yet. Falling Angel has one minor flaw. Hjortsberg, perhaps too clever for his own good, tips his hand a bit early on the final revelations of the book, at least for this (sometimes) sharp-eyed reader. Despite this minor flaw, pulp and horror aficionados should check out this landmark crossover work.  Followed by Angel's Inferno.

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The resulting film, retitled Angel Heart, graced stateside screens on March 6, 1987. Mickey Rourke played Harry Angel. Robert DeNiro played Louis Cyphre. Lisa Bonet played Evangeline Proudfoot. Charlotte Rampling played Margaret Krusemark. Stocker Fontelieu played Ethan Krusemark. Brownie McGhee played Toots Sweet. Michael Higgins played Dr. Fowler. Charles Gordone played Spider Simpson. Dann Florek played Herman Winesapp. Pruitt Taylor Vince played Det. Deimos. Eliot Keener played Det. Sterne. Alan Parker scripted and directed the film.