A Next Generation Reunion on "Picard"

Star Trek: Picard is one of several Trek spinoffs currently streaming on the Paramount+ network. Now entering its third season, the series has been an enjoyable, but sometimes uneven, ride in the past. In each of its first two years, the show started off with strong concepts and ideas, but often veered into secondary story lines that were not as interesting as the main plotline, losing focus on character development and the overall arc in the process. For its final season, the series is giving long-time fans a gift; a reunion of the The Next Generation era crew in a compelling story featuring all the hallmarks of classic Trek: great characters, humor, action, a dangerous villain, and fantastic visual effects and music.

Spoilers ahead: The story begins as an about to retire Admiral Picard receives a distress call from his old friend Dr. Beverly Crusher, who he hasn't spoken to or seen in many years. It turns out Beverly's in danger, and needs Picard's help. She advises him not to trust anyone, especially Starfleet. Picard reaches out to his friend and former first officer, Will Riker. The two men come up with an under the radar plan to locate Beverly, and offer assistance. Along the way, they'll run into familiar faces like Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine, who's now the first officer aboard an upgraded version of Riker's old command, the Titan, and a new threat in the person of a bounty hunter named Vadic, who's hunting Beverly and her son, Jack. That's right, Trek fans, Beverly has another son aside from Wesley. But why is Vadic after them, and who's Jack's father?

I've seen three episodes thus far, and this season of Picard feels like a heartfelt valentine for Trek fans, featuring the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast in an exciting tale that will serve as a proper farewell for these beloved actors, a much better sendoff than the uneven Star Trek: Nemesis, the last film to feature these characters. In fact, the final season of Picard looks to be a sort of epic, ten hour Next Generation movie, featuring a mix of familiar characters and intriguing new faces, as well as some surprising plot twists and turns, and a starbase full of Trek easter eggs for longtime fans. Just wait until you see Michael Dorn as an older Worf, who first shows up in episode 2. He also gets some great lines in episode 3, which is well-directed by Jonathan Frakes, aka Will Riker.

Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes appear to be having a ball together, and Jeri Ryan offers excellent support in her role as Seven. Todd Stashwick steals every scene he's in as Liam Shaw, a by the book Starfleet captain who's a thorn in Picard's side, and Amanda Plummer is magnificently evil as Vadic, the mysterious villain of the story. There are some powerful and emotionally resonant scenes between Stewart and Gates McFadden's Beverly in the third episode, and some sharp moments of conflict between Stewart and Frakes. I can't wait to see what happens next on this last (?) voyage of The Next Generation crew. Star Trek: Picard has rebounded in it's final season to become one of the best Trek series currently airing, along with the excellent Strange New Worlds. Here's the trailer for Picard, Season 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw0pg11OzCQ.

We Sold Our Souls: Heavy Metal Horror

Grady Hendrix has penned some of the best horror novels of the last ten years, including Horrorstor, My Best Friend's Exorcism and the clever slasher film inspired thriller, The Final Girl Support Group. His work contains scares, chills, humor, strong characters, and an in-depth knowledge of horror films, books and TV shows, which manifests itself in the pop culture meta references inserted throughout his fantastic work. I recently completed We Sold Our Souls (2018), the heavy metal-infused tale of the rise and downfall of Dürt Würk, an up and coming metal band that implodes as the group is on the verge of achieving widespread fame.

Dürt Würk's lead singer, Terry Hunt, embarks on a successful career as a solo artist, leaving the rest of the band in ruins, both personally and professionally. Years later, Kris Pulaski, the band's former guitarist, who's barely eking out a living in dead end jobs, begins to suspect something terrible occured on the evening the band broke up. She embarks on a cross country road trip to discover the truth of what happened on their last night together, and confront Terry, now on a mega-sized tour as the iconic heavy metal artist Koffin.

Kris will learn a lot more than she bargained for, reuniting with some of her band mates, and meeting new friends and allies along the way. It's a frightening odyssey that features secrets, lies, dark entities, and conspiracy theories. The novel is drenched in a whole lot of heavy metal music, including the lyrics to some of Dürt Würk's music, which are peppered throughout the story. By the time Kris discovers the truth about the terrifying night Dürt Würk broke up, she'll learn as much about the dark places inside herself as the monstrous evil that's behind Terry's heavy metal success. 

We Sold Our Souls is a compelling, fast-paced read which will resonate with horror fans and heavy metal devotees. There are a lot of knowing, insider references to a number of beloved bands, including Pantera, Slayer, and AC/DC, that will delight dyed in the wool metal-heads. The dark forces featured in the novel will appeal to classic horror fans, especially those with an interest in otherworldly, Lovecraftian terrors. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and never feel like caricatures. If you're looking for an edgy, intriguing metal-themed horror novel, check out We Sold Our Souls. And if you like the book, dive into some of Grady Hendrix's other fine work.

Retro Thriller: The Man They Could Not Hang

Boris Karloff is well-known, and much beloved by, several generations of fans for his iconic portrayals of the Frankenstein Monster and The Mummy, and as the narrator of the classic animated holiday special How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Karloff was a versatile performer who played a variety of roles on the big and small screen, as well as on stage, but he's perhaps best remembered for his horror and thriller films. Between 1935 and 1942, Karloff, a prolific actor, made six films for Columbia Pictures, several of which feature him as a doctor or scientist who makes a revolutionary discovery, only to have his brilliant and groundbreaking work misunderstood by the authorities and the public, leading to terrible consequences.

The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) stars Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard, who is experimenting with a procedure that could resucictate the dead. This will allow doctors to perform difficult surgeries that couldn't be done with the patient alive. Savaard's idea is that the patient's life could be temporarily ended, and they could then be revived after the life-threatening surgeries are completed. When a medical student actually dies as a result of the authorities interfering with a test of his procedure, Savaard is put on trial for murder. He's convicted, and sentenced to hang. When Savaard's assistant Lang visits him in prison, the doctor signs a release allowing his body to be released for use in experiments after his death. Savaard, who's vowed that retribution will be visited upon those who convicted him, is hanged, and dies. Or does he?

In the weeks following Savaard's death, some of the jurors from his trial die under mysterious circumstances. Several remaining members of the jury receive a mysterious invitation to a gathering at Savaard's home, which ostensibly comes from the judge who presided at the trial. But when everyone arrives at the house, it turns out a now revived Savaard plans to visit a deadly revenge upon those who voted in favor of his death. Can any of them escape Savaard's wrath? The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) is a fascinating thriller, well directed by Nick Grinde, who also helmed two other entries in Karloff's "mad scientist" cycle for Columbia, The Man With Nine Lives (1940) and Before I Hang (1940). Karloff is excellent in the film, bringing a great deal of depth to his role as Savaard. The supporting cast, including Lorna Gray, Don Beddoe and Roger Pryor, are also quite good.

The "revenge" elements of the plot anticipate later films such as the Vincent Price vehicle The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and the medical aspects of the story are quite forward thinking. Karloff would play variations of this role in several more films for Columbia, ultimately spoofing this type of character in the final entry in the cycle, The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942), which also features Peter Lorre. Karloff is often quite underrated as an actor, and he managed to raise the profile of B films like this with his always terrific work. The Man They Could Not Hang is an entertaining thriller, with some fine cinematography by Benjamin Kline, that's highly recommended for fans of classic thrillers. Here's a look at a trailer for the Eureka Films (Region B encoded) release of Karloff's Columbia films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppSb01QNBRE.