Editorials
“Castle Rock”: How the Best Stephen King Adaptation Could Be One That Isn’t Really a Stephen King Adaptation
Stephen King is a state of mind. The author has written nearly 60 novels, a half-dozen non-fiction books and hundreds of short stories. In doing so, he’s built his own multiverse, one that dates back to 1974’s Carrie all the way to this summer’s The Outsider. That’s a rich well to draw from, and Castle Rock – the new Hulu series from Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason – is wise to not limit itself to an adaptation of just one of those texts. Instead we get a show inspired by Stephen King’s entire world – and that just might make it the best possible onscreen version of a Stephen King story.
The series takes place in King’s fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, with at least one character recognizable from his works in Alan Pangborn (Scott Glenn), Castle Rock’s former sheriff, whom Constant Readers will remember from The Dark Half, Four Past Midnight’s “The Sun Dog,” Needful Things and casual mentions in Bag of Bones and Gerald’s Game. But many of the other characters peopling this world are new to us: Melanie Lynskey’s Molly Strand, André Holland’s Henry Deaver, Terry O’Quinn’s Dale Lacy, Sissy Spacek’s Ruth Deaver and Jane Levy’s Jackie all seem like archetypal King characters (the psychic, the tortured but good-hearted attorney, the warden with a dark secret, the grieving widow, the smart-ass neighbor), but they can’t claim any specific King book as their origin.
Castle Rock –“Severance” – Episode 101 — Henry Deaver, a death-row attorney, confronts his dark past when an anonymous call lures him back to his hometown of Castle Rock, Maine. Ruth Deaver (Sissy Spacek) and Henry Deaver (Andre Holland), shown. (Photo by: Patrick Harbron/Hulu)
And we’re given an extra-dose of Kingism through the casting of actors we know from other King adaptations: Spacek made her name as Carrie White in Brian De Palma’s Carrie, while Castle Rock’s Bill Skarsgard gained fans as Pennywise in last year’s It. King diehards might even remember that Lynskey starred, early in her career, as Rachel Wheaton in the 2002 King miniseries Rose Red. With a population of recognizable faces playing familiar characters, Castle Rock managed to put us in a King frame of mind by the time we saw the first trailer.
With every adaptation of a beloved property, there’s risk of disappointment. Favorite characters don’t look or act or sound the way they do in our minds. Budgetary constraints test the limits of our imagination. Runtime constraints make plot omissions necessary. Arguably the best Stephen King adaptation, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, famously left the author cold. Inarguably the worst Stephen King adaptation, Nikolaj Arcel’s The Dark Tower, disappointed generations of fans who had been waiting for a version of King’s fantasy epic to hit the small or big screen for decades. Even those adaptations that land squarely in the middle of this scale – for instance, Hulu’s last King attempt, 11.22.63, based on a later and thus less iconic King novel – are primed to piss off somebody. (This particular somebody, for instance. I was never going to give the miniseries a shot the moment they announced James Franco as Jake Epping, because James Franco is not my Jake Epping.) You can’t make everybody happy with a King adaptation, because everyone loves something different about his work.
Therein lies the wisdom of Castle Rock’s loosey-goosey approach: we get the atmosphere of a King story – the quaint yet ominous small-town spookiness, the depths and heights of humanity challenged by a supernatural crisis of some sort, not to mention the easter eggs pointing to Cujo, The Shining, Dolores Claiborne and more in every episode – but none of the baggage that comes with adapting someone’s favorite book. Fan biases are diminished, expectations are moderate, minds are open. We’re able to enjoy Castle Rock as its own thing, instead of a lesser version of something we love. It’s the perfect solution for Constant Readers with very strong opinions about their favorite writer. We can enjoy all of the best parts of a Stephen King book without growing irate when a favorite passage is cut for time – or when, as just a for-instance, a director decides that what Dark Tower fans need to see most after thirty-five years of waiting is The Man in Black in a damn apron.
Of course, there could be a dark side to the open-endedness of Castle Rock’s game plan. The series shares a producer with LOST in J.J. Abrams, and there’s every chance that the compelling mystery that’s been developed in the four episodes I’ve seen will peter out in an unsatisfying conclusion. But at least it’ll be given that chance. Fans aren’t closing their minds to the possibility of this series based solely on a casting decision that doesn’t suit their pre-conceived ideas. We’re ready to love Castle Rock, and the first four episodes don’t disappoint.
Castle Rock — “Severance” — Episode 101 — Henry Deaver, a death-row attorney, confronts his dark past when an anonymous call lures him back to his hometown of Castle Rock, Maine. Bill Skarsgard, shown. (Photo by: Patrick Harbron/Hulu)
Editorials
‘Bloodstone: Subspecies II’ Revisited: A Bigger, Bolder Follow-Up to Full Moon’s Vampire Cult Classic
Horror sequels are a peculiar thing. In most cases, follow-ups to scary movies tend to retread the same formula with different victims and more over-the-top scares. This is because audiences tend to be more interested in the antagonists of these pictures than anything else, with even main characters becoming disposable when the time comes to produce a sequel.
That’s why some of the most memorable horror sequels are the ones that actually manage to hold onto interesting survivors from previous films while also pushing the story forward instead of having the same thing happen again to a different group of people. From Scream 2 to Dream Warriors (and arguably even The Exorcist III: Legion), there are quite a few of these innovative sequels to go around.
However, if there’s one franchise that deserves more attention when discussing bigger and better continuations that make the most of episodic filmmaking, it has to be Ted Nicolaou’s Subspecies.
The Full Moon classic spawned an indie horror icon, but bizarre sequel Bloodstone: Subspecies II is even more beloved than its predecessor.
Building a Bigger Vampire Saga
While the film itself takes place almost immediately after the events of the first movie, Bloodstone only entered production a couple of years after the release of the original as both Charles Band and Nicolaou weighed the pros and cons of returning to Romania to continue the series. In an effort to maximize efficiency, the team decided to invest in a trilogy where parts II and III, now fully written by Nicolaou, would be filmed simultaneously over the course of a single grueling shoot.
Much like the first Subspecies, Bloodstone’s low budget meant that the filmmakers once again had to cut corners and re-use as many of their resources as possible. Thankfully, the process was much easier this time around as Nicolaou, with the help of Romanian cinematographer Vlad Paunescu and his wife Oana, became more acquainted with local customs and made new friends. Shooting abroad still came with its own unique set of challenges due to a lack of translators and the occasional safety concerns, but the crew managed to make things work by filming things guerrilla-style and setting up shop in abandoned caves and real medieval ruins.
The director’s newfound contacts, coupled with the relative success of the first movie, meant that he was basically given free rein over an assortment of shooting locations usually considered off-limits for indie horror. That’s why Bloodstone features insanely ambitious lighting and effects work even during scenes shot in the middle of a bustling Bucharest. The filmmakers went so far as to project Radu’s Nosferatu-like shadows over local monuments as if he were a Romanian boogeyman, an idea that was actually encouraged by local cinephiles.
In fact, many of the more elaborate scenes here had originally been planned for the first movie before being discarded due to the lack of available resources. It was only with the support of Romanian fans and filmmakers that Bloodstone was able to give Radu a chance to be even more menacing the second time around.
Michelle’s Transformation Takes Center Stage
However, when it came to the American part of the crew, not everyone was able or willing to return for another round of Romanian adventuring. That’s why Radu’s human-loving half-brother Stefan (Michael Watson) is unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of the film while the role of Michelle had to be recast. Denice Duff took over for Laura Mae Tate, with the character now being joined by her sister, Rebecca, played by Melanie Shatner (yes, that Shatner).
In the finished film, we follow Michelle as she awakens to her new life as a vampire and discovers that Radu has murdered her lover. Struggling with grief and her newfound bloodlust, Michelle contacts her sister overseas, with Rebecca soon travelling to Romania on an ill-advised rescue mission. Meanwhile, Radu (Anders Hove) reaches out to his undead Mummy (Pamela Gordon, underneath heavy layers of impressive makeup effects) and promises to deliver her the coveted Bloodstone artifact while also making Michelle his eternal consort.
Revisiting the movie, I was impressed with how introspective this story is when compared to the original. The sequel assumes that you’re already familiar with the previously established characters, so the story wastes no time in exploring the immediate aftermath of the previous film’s events. From Michelle’s reluctant transformation into a creature of the night to Radu’s obvious mommy issues, Nicolaou is way more interested in pushing these characters into new and uncharted territory rather than recycling existing plot points.
Practical Effects and Gothic Atmosphere Still Impress
Yet, much like the first film, it’s Romania itself that makes the movie worth watching. The ruins of Castle Vladislav are even more majestic now, and visiting the moody streets of Bucharest with its surprisingly punk-rock nightlife made for a nice change of pace when compared to the original film’s quiet village setting. Once again, the abundance of interesting locations makes the movie feel much more expensive than it really is, with the filmmakers surrounding our characters with a living, breathing environment that would be impossible to recreate in a studio.
The increased freedom also allowed Nicolaou to flex his filmmaking muscles and tackle more ambitious blocking/composition in the sequel. The low budget and tropey script mean that the visuals don’t always work, but it’s consistently clear that this neo-expressionist style could only come from a passionate team attempting to pay homage to the shadowy horror classics of yesteryear. If the retro atmosphere isn’t enough for you, there’s enough practical gore here to satisfy even the most demanding of horror hounds!
Radu himself is also far more interesting now that Hove is more comfortable working alongside an international crew, with the actor having gone on record explaining that, while he spent more time drinking vodka than working while shooting the first movie, the sequel was a much more creatively satisfying experience for everyone involved. The character’s relationship with his abusive Mummy is also a highlight of the expanded mythology, especially since the practical effects that bring her to life are just as freaky now as they were back in ’93.
My only real gripe with the horror elements of the picture comes from the glaring absence of the diminutive stop-motion minions from the first film, though I guess the surprisingly entertaining addition of Professor Popescu (Michael Denish) and his archeological antics mostly make up for that.
Bloodstone: Subspecies II is obviously the middle chapter of a trilogy, with the ending feeling a lot less definitive than its predecessor as several plot threads are left to dangle in the wind, but I appreciate how the flick explores new ground while remaining faithful to nearly all the ideas that made the original such a good time. While I don’t think it’s as big of an improvement over the first movie as some fans make it out to be, Bloodstone is definitely worth revisiting if you’re a fan of old-fashioned vampire yarns.
Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion to this initial trilogy, Bloodlust: Subspecies III!
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