"30 Days of Night", directed David Slade

Movie, 2007

Edgy vampire horror set in Arctic Alaska, in which a Neil Tennant lookalike leads a gang of vampires against a small town's dogs, its police station and then anything else living. There are some decent concepts within this set up, but the film never fully makes the leap from a series of set pieces in which evil usually triumphs over good and various characters crack under pressure. While the vampire characters are pretty menacing, they're not fully convincing and speak in a funny, made-up language. Entertaining if you can stand the gore.

"Watchmen", directed Zack Snyder

Movie, 2009

Clever but disjointed alternative history film, which probably needs some previous knowledge of the characters to appreciate exactly what's going on. This is a super hero film where the superheroes are anything but, and are being picked off by forces unknown. This pathos and the lack of over-CGI'd sequences and crashing soundtrack work in the film's favour, although the muttered dialogue (especially from Rorschach) and the cod-spiritual transportation scenes in Mars don't do as much for the movie as they do, presumably, for the comic series.

"Whirlpool", directed Otto Preminger

Movie, 1949

Tightly plotted film which seems to have been given a slightly Hollywood plot (the leading characters suffer, although would probably have come off a lot worse in 'real life'). This is a tense, atmospheric journey with a wonderful study of a main protagonist hell-bent on doing no good. Granted, there are times when the plot stretches any true suspension of disbelief and the climax is, possibly, a little snappy, but nonetheless, this is an effective and affecting film which nibbles uneasily at the psyche. You'd struggle to call it a classic, although it is pretty classy.

Trailer

"Head", directed Bob Rafelson

Movie, 1968

A patchy film; the acting is patchy (though far from disastrous), the set pieces patch -running from goofy-smart satire to psychedelic nonsense - and most notably the music, which is never outright bad, ranges from the slightly dull to the ridiculously good. To say this is a product of its time is an understatement. Head presents viewers with a disjointed watch which can feel like an ordeal at times. Good fun though, with some wonderful ideas mixed in with all the arch and daft concepts which miss as much as they hit.

Trailer

"Stoner," by John Williams

Novel, 1965

A dreary, drearily-principled life story told in a conventional start to finish kind of way, about a solid but unremarkable University of Missouri academic. From such unpromising source material, Williams turns in an absolute page-turning gem, with which any disaffected 'average man' will surely empathise. A real achievement in which a tragic set of characters slide into old age and obscurity gain, if not heroic, then an almost mythical quality.

"A Suspension of Mercy", by Patricia Highsmith

Novel, 1965

Nail-biting suspense of little subtlety but huge impact, in which a net and circumstances draw ever tighter round a pretty unhinged, psychotic central protagonist. This is real page-turning stuff and a study in a few disintegrating personalities, where the readers' view is continually shifted around by some deceptively read-a-long writing skirting over some pretty seismic motivations and actions. This is a novel which is relentless and which at any point, could have jumped off in a number of different directions.

"Hangman's Holiday", by Dorothy L Sayers

Short stories, 1933

Stories concerning themselves more with the thoughts than the deeds on the part of Lord Peter Wimsey and the even more excellently named Montagu Egg. These stories are entertaining for the most part, although details which demand close attention - times of events and Monty Egg's Salesman's Handbook prominently feature, often derail the pace and the reader's attention. While the plots are slight, they're smart enough and show a bygone, more innocent
world.