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A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World.
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks makingHorror Movie, a notorious, disturbing art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions—demons of the past be damned.
But at what cost?
Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful feat of storytelling genius that builds inexorably to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.
3.5
Reviewer: Merissa Hatch
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: 3-4 stars out of 5 good narrator, not great execution, not terrible.
Review: The book was in good condition. I read it in a day for a readathon. Nowhere near as good as “Cabin at the End of the World” or “A Head Full of Ghosts.” In fact, I would not even call this horror. Nothing scary in it. No gore till the end and it was barely any. It was not even unsettling to me like his others. It felt more like a drama than anything. But even that might give it too much credit. If it were not meant to be horroresk, I would have liked it more, but since I was expecting to be unsettled, it was a bit of let down.As for the plot, it was engaging. I was not bored or anything. Just maybe don’t go into it expecting to be too terribly unsettled and you will probably enjoy it. It was definitely a bit of a mind bender, so expect a mind-bending(ish) drama and you will probably like it.PRO: I did like how extremely unreliable the main character is. He would say one second a thing happened one way, then later in the book, it happened a different way. Paul Tremblay is known for his good unreliable narrators, and that is what you will get in this book. In fact, the thin kid may be my favorite unreliable narrator of his so far.CON: The plot was a bit slow. Not really very unsettling. Nothing really creepy till the last 2-3 pages.WHO IS IT FOR? Beginner horror readers or people who get creeped out by or enjoy super unreliable narratirs. If Tremblay is an automatic for you, this probably will not be your favorite of his nor your least favorite.OVERALL: I give it 3-4 stars out of 5. I can’t really decide. I liked the unreliable narrator, but not the execution of the overall story.
Reviewer: Sean Flynn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Artist as Manipulator
Review: This is the second of Paul Tremblay’s novels I’ve read (the other being The Cabin at the End of the World, which I also five-starred), and after talking with Constance — my wife and steadfast reading companion — about his other novels that she’s read (Survivor Song and Head Full of Ghosts), I’m coming to the understanding that ambiguity is Tremblay’s raison d’art. He forces us to come away from his novels retrospectively, weighing all that has transpired and hopefully forming some semblance of truth.Apparently, this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea judging from the few one-star ratings Horror Movie’s so far received. Although, I’d be willing to wager that Tremblay’s purposeful ambiguities aren’t so much the problem as it is lazy reading, seeing as many one-starrers rhetorically ask for clarity on details that were actually made quite clear in the novel. But that’s neither here nor there.With Horror Movie, though, ambiguity seems to be the motif, and it works unnervingly well. The story is a type of personal memoir in the form of an audiobook, in which the unnamed narrator relates the events surrounding the production of a low-budget indie film thirty years prior titled “Horror Movie”. Because a number of questionable events took place on set, culminating in a tragedy that sent the narrator and others to court, the film was never finished. However, fifteen years later, three completed scenes and the screenplay were uploaded to various horror websites, sparking a niche fan-following as rumors of a “cursed” movie began circulating through filmdom. Fifteen years after that, Horror Movie’s fanbase has grown so large that big-budget production companies are interested in creating a reboot, and they want the narrator to reprise his role in the film as The Thin Kid, for which he has become famous in a very “e-list” kind of way. Interspersed between these two timelines (what happened during the original project and today’s big-budget production) are chunks of the original (maybe) screenplay, which the narrator uses as a springboard into his retelling of past events.Horror Movie’s narrator is just as unreliable as any penned by the likes of Poe, Gene Wolfe, or Chuck Palahniuk. His story is filled with disclaimers assuaging us that he is telling it as he remembers (memory itself being notoriously unreliable), although we can also suspect that he probably remembers things a lot more clearly than he lets on. Sometimes, he’ll lead us to believe that events happened one way, only to present a completely different explanation later on. If there’s anything we can be sure of, this guy is the consummate showman, eliciting our sympathies on the way in and inciting revulsion on the way out — all, we imagine, with a knowing smirk on his face.The effect is actually quite disconcerting. I set Horror Movie aside after finishing it and just sat in silence for several minutes, trying to evaluate a story that I had just read but entirely unsure as to which story I had just read. It drew me into thoughts of “the artist as manipulator”, which encompassed not only the narrator of the novel, but also Tremblay’s role as writer. Indeed, there is a moment in the accompanying screenplay that steps out of form and lasts for several pages in which the screenwriter explains, in excruciating detail, the effects on the viewer of an overlong, five-minute shot of a darkened doorway. It’s a moment when the screenwriter knows she’s breaking the rules and reveling in it, and one can easily imagine Tremblay experiencing the same as his narrator weaves one misdirection after another.He (Tremblay, the narrator, take your pick) demonstrates time and again that the artist, once he has his audience in his clutches, can get away with anything. Which is a truly frightening idea, considering how Horror Movie ends.That is, of course, if the narrator was telling us the truth, or simply selling us on his next performance.But as far as Tremblay is concerned, I’m sold on whatever else he’s going to pull out of his sleeve.
Reviewer: Kelly Gunderman
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good Read, Just Nothing Like I Was Expecting
Review: Paul Tremblay is an incredibly gifted author with a true talent for writing thrillers, horror, and the unexpected. I enjoyed some of his other work, and I was super excited to jump into Horror Story because the whole âcursed found footageâ category of horror. Iâm the kind of person who will read absolutely anything they can find of this kind of story, so I definitely wasnât missing a book written by someone with such a talent for capturing an audience and leaving them on the edge of their seat.âA movie is a collection of beautiful lies that somehow add up to being the truth, or a truth.âI went into this without knowing too much about it, other than it had the âcursed found footageâ tagline in the description. Once I saw that, I honestly didnât read too much into the rest of the synopsis, and I also kind of preordered it super early so I forgot all about it until it arrived at my front door.So when I picked this up, with its amazing smooth black cover with a cool VHS tape, and the bright red stained pages (which was a super cool addition to the book, making it feel more atmospheric), I was excited.Horror Movie begins with our main character, who is the only surviving cast member of the original Horror Movie project, meeting with folks in Hollywood about doing a reboot of that movie â despite everything that happened during the original filming. But what exactly did happen, and what was the original Horror Movie about â and why did it have such a cult following?âWe canât know what he is thinking. We canât know what anyone else is thinking, even when they tell us.âFollowing are chapters alternating between the past where the original movie was filmed (including the screenplay, broken up into bits and pieces throughout the chapters), and moments in the present where they discuss the specifics of rebooting the film.I wonât say any more about it. If I do, I will spoil parts of the book that are better read and experienced through reading.Just be aware that it might not be what you are expecting, and it is a total âwhat the actual hellâ moment of a novel.When I started reading, I admit I was inturrupted a few times so it took me a while to get into the story. Once I finally did get into it, and once I finally understood the overall layout and was able to focus on the story and the screenplay, I had a much easier time reading the book. Itâs not that itâs a terribly difficult book to read or anything, itâs not. The story was really awesome and I found myself pulled into it.I absolutely adored some of the characters and how well the author had fleshed them out. I feel like a lot of time was put into developing them and I enjoyed reading their stories, both past and present. Character development is typically one of my favorite aspects to any novel, so this was quite a treat.One problem I had? I liked the screenplay part of the book, the original screenplay that they filmed in the story (the part that took place back in the 1990s) so much more than the story that was being told in the present. I loved the past chapters that told the story and how the characters all worked together to bring the movie to life. I did, however, think that the present day chapters were kind of confusing and sort of didnât flow right with the rest of the novel.First off, the present day chapters toward the ending kind of let me down because I ended up with more questions than not. I wish I could say that some of those questions had gotten answered, but I was unable to find any answers after finishing the book. I wonât go into detail about the things Iâm still unsure about, but it did leave me feeling frustrated.Another thing that bothered me about Horror Movie is that, well, it felt kind of devoid of any actual horror. Iâm not saying I want like, super paranormal slasher happy time or anything, but it didnât feel scary. It felt more like a literary fiction or a timid thriller than a horror. Nothing actually scary happened, and I was not left on the edge of my seat.Would I pick up another Paul Tremblay book? Definitely. Iâd rush to preorder any of his books like I have in the past. This one just wasnât my favorite horror novel that Iâve read lately.I heard the audiobook features a full cast and is absolutely amazing, taking the reading experience to a whole other level. I might just have to pick that up at some point, because it sounds like thatâs the way to go if you are considering this book.
Reviewer: Hieronymus
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: on the Golem story, minus any clear indication of motive. Suitably meta, perfectly pitched for a Netflix film. Sorry, movie.
Reviewer: Stephen Howard
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: First off, I really enjoyed Horror Movie and found, like with most good books, I accelerated from halfway because I needed to know how it ended. But I also found it tricky to rate. Not in a good/bad way, in a 4/5 star way (which ainât bad, right?). In that now classic Tremblay way, thereâs ambiguity surrounding certain elements of the story and Iâve come away from the story on uncertain ground.Structurally, Horror Movie is magnificent. Its working parts and interwoven timelines, with the screenplay story-within-a-story spliced in, are so effective in layering mysteries and offering questions that propel you through the story. The screenplay elements works so well because the movie itself is a great little story that sounds, if made, like a scary film! It could have fallen flat if not, so kudos.The characters, especially the main trio of the Thin Kid, Valentina, and Cleo, all bring something, their motives and drive to complete their movie seemingly varied and somewhat mysterious, too.Overall, this is a really great read. Itâs a book thatâs going to stick in my head and keep me puzzling for a while. Whatâs stopped me from marking it as 5 stars is, funnily enough, something Iâm not quite sure of, a strange sense that the bookâs a out of reach, maybe, or somehow insubstantial. But thereâs every chance in a weekâs time I edit this review and bump it up to 5 stars. Itâs that kind of book.
Reviewer: Victoria Saunders
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Then…high hopes for a scary read.Now…most of my horror needs met, but then, I’m picky. Maybe too picky.Seems to be written in that clunky manner all the new novels are written. Made for Gen Z I’ll presume.5 stars for the originality.
Reviewer: Jakob Jubert
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The main character comes off as an aimless beta cuck who will do anything he is told. The plot of the movie itself has some good moments like the scene of Karson in the dining room and how that part of the screenplay is written is excellent. However, besides this scene, the book is not really scary.But the rest of the movie is quite bleh.I find the book the night of the slasher did a better job at exploring the role of the slasher and had better dialogue.
Reviewer: Jon A. Crowcroft
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: a bit too meta for its own good – more scream than scary movie, but also I prefer the final girl support group if you want a great horror read with some neat twists…mind you, this is very well written and characterised!
