"It Came From Beneath the Sea," directed by Robert Gordon

Movie, 1955

Enjoyable hokum with a terrifying radiation powered and enlarged octopus terrifying US nuclear submarines and the Californian Bay Area. While the special effects aren't entirely cringeworthy, they do lead to some unintentionally funny moments, as tentacles flail all over the place. Just as false are the occasional nods towards gender equality, with Faith Domergue's character showing great pluck, but then falling for the brutish navy man and screaming at the octopus. Perfectly good fun, but by no means a classic.

"The Borderlands", directed by Elliot Goldner

Movie, 2013

Blair Witch influenced film about three Vatican-employed paranormal investigators sent to a desolate church and the home of a slightly deranged priest. A slow build-up means we learn a good deal about two of the main protagonists, although the characterisations - particularly Gray - aren't wholly engaging or likable. There are some effective set pieces, with the unseen flashes of activity and sound design particularly good, though the film plods in between, always promising more than it delivers. The found footage isn't as tiresome as it might have been. Not without some strong points, but overall, this isn't an essential film.

"The Beast Within," by Emile Zola

Novel, 1890

Melodrama set on and around the French railway line from Le Havre to Paris. A book both old fashioned, in its narrative approach, but also modern, in terms of the themes of technology and intense, dysfunctional psychology and some warped crimes and derring-do. And a cracking read - the details firmly set up the social and physical surroundings, but the action is relentless. Some barbed comments on the justice and political systems are also thrown into a book whose pace - like the trains and characters - whisks the reader along and grips them at the some time. 

"Ice", by Anna Kavan

Novel, 1967

Hypnotic novel about the struggle between three characters and an ecological catastrophe threatening to disrupt the pursuit between them. This is an episodic novel where themes and actions are repeated, echoed and emphasised, particularly as the main protagonist sees the woman he's chasing flee ever increasingly away from him. Some great writing and it pays to read this one slowly, with the tension and the ever elusive nature of the pursuit building and building as the book progresses. Not an easy read, but memorable and, in places, pretty disturbing.