Book and Movie Reviews by Michael McCarty
Some like it hot ……
I was in high school when Stephen King’s Firestarter was published in 1980. At that point, I had read all of his previous books (except one): Carrie, ‘Salems Lot, The Shining, and The Dead Zone. I also read his short story collection Night Shift. The only book I hadn’t read was The Stand, which I wouldn’t read until the summer I graduated high school.
I wrote a blog about this period in my life … here is the link:
When my mom was alive, she read the blog and said, “It was well written. I didn’t know about any of this. But I do remember you borrowing the lawn mower.”
Anyway, at that time in my life, I was really into Stephen King, and I still am. I was reading everything that King wrote, and Firestarter was no exception.
I remember, a couple of things when I first received the novel. I thought the original cover, with the green eyes in the fire blaze was creepy and cool at the same time. But I was more excited when I opened the book and I read the dedication:
“In memory of Shirley Jackson, who never needed to raise her voice.”
I loved it. I had just read Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery,” that summer and it had a big impact on me. In fact, the sci-fi novel Apocalypse America, that I co-wrote, had a chapter called “City of Two-Thousand Sins: Las Vegas,” which was very much inspired by Ms. Jackson’s story.
On the next page, Stephen King used a Ray Bradbury quote:
“It was a pleasure to burn” – Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
I had just read Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 that summer and it blew me away. Little did I know that decades later, I’d interview Mr. Bradbury for my book Modern Mythmakers.
I dove right into Firestarter and wasn’t let down …
In high school, I wrote and published a review of Firestarter in my Junior Achievement paper, JA Alive (remember that newspaper, Steve Frances and Cheryl Hulting???), which was a supplemental publication for the Quad-City Times.
Here is a reprint of that review. Please be kind, I was very young when I wrote it:
(My original hardcover book of Firestarter, a gift from mom and dad for Christmas)
“Looking at books”
by Michael McCarty
Stephen King’s new novel Firestarter is hot, hot and hot!!! The book begins with the evil government organization called Department of Scientific Intelligence (DSI), which is simply known as “The Shop.”
In 1969, The Shop did some bizarre drug experiments at Harrison State College in Ohio. Andy McGee and 13 other students were given a placebo or the real drug, which was called “Lot Six,” (with side effects of nightmare hallucinations.) Let’s just say things went terribly wrong with the experiment…..
Andy met another student, a young lady named Vicky Tomlinson also at these experiments. They fall in love, get married and two years later Charlie is born.
Charlie is no ordinary baby. She has inherited pyrokinetic powers — a fire starter, the ability to start fires by just using her mind. At the age of two, her teddy bear goes up in smoke.
The Shop wants Charlie at all costs. They send two of their best agents: Al Steinowitz and Orv Jamieson on the case. The chase of Andy and Charlie from New York City to the backwoods of Vermont is so suspenseful that it breathless at times.
((Spoiler Alert:
And when Andy and Charlie get caught by The Shop the real terror begins.))
If you like the movie The Fury or Stephen King’s such as other novels Carrie or The Dead Zone, you will love Firestarter, like I said at the beginning this book is hot, hot and hot!”
The 1984 and 2022 movie posters back to back
Firestarter (1984)
The first movie, based on the novel.
I would probably give it *** 1/2 stars out of 5.
Directed by Mark Lester, screenplay by Stanley Mann, and music by Tangerine Dream. It was released by Universal City Studios/Dino De Laurentis films and is 115 minutes long.
The cast includes:
Drew Barrymore as Charlie, David Keith as her dad, Andy, Heather Locklear as her mom, Vicky, Martin Sheen (who was also in The Dead Zone (1983)) as Captain Hollister, George C. Scott as John Rainbird, Art Carney and Louise Fletcher as Mr. & Mrs. Manders, and Freddie Jones as Dr. Joseph Wanless.
The script was okay. The director didn’t catch the book’s spark on film. And the funny thing is that this was one of King’s most visual stories at the time. The cast was great, especially Drew Barrymore. This was one of her best early films, along with E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982). The pyrotechnic and other special effects were pretty good at the time.
Overall, I felt at the time, and still feel today, that if the film was about 10% better, it would have been a hundred percent more effective.
Firestarter (2022)
The second movie based on the novel.
I would probably give it *** stars out of 5.
Directed by Keith Thomas, screenplay by Scott Teems, music by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter (John’s son) and Carpenter collaborator Daniel Davies. It’s a Blumhouse Production/Weed Road Picture/Boulderlight Picture/Angry Adam Picture, distributed by Universal, and it’s 94 minutes long.
The cast includes:
Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie, Zac Efron as her dad, Andy, Sydney Lemmon as Vicky, Gloria Reuben as Captain Hollister, Michael Greyeyes as John Rainbird, and Kurtwood Smith as Dr. Joseph Wanless.
I could do a cheap shot and say smoke gets in your eyes with Firestarter, but the movie never sparks the heart.
I loved the original, despite its flaws, and, of course, I am a big, big, big fan of the novel. But this remake was well made and enjoyable … and there are a lot worse remakes of King’s work than this.
With this remake, the direction and script were disjointed and lacked fluidity.
The cast is a good cast again. George C. Scott had the role of Rainbird in the original film, but this time a Native American (Michael Greyeyes) was cast as the Native American, Rainbird, from the book. I didn’t like Gloria Reuben as Captain Hollister because I thought she was one-dimensional and flat; I would have rather seen Kurtwood Smith play the role.
Some of my favorite quotes in the new movie are:
“I’m not special. I’m a monster.”
and “Liar, liar …. pants on fire.”
They might have been in the original too, but I am not sure. I haven’t seen the original in a long time.
I really loved the soundtrack by John Carpenter and his son Cody along with collaborator Daniel Davies. Ironically, John Carpenter was going to originally direct the movie in the 1980s, but ultimately passed on the project — but ended up directing Christine (1983) instead.
Rent it at Redbox, or stream it. I’d recommend it. Have even more fun by watching both films!
I interviewed John Carpenter for my book MODERN MYTHMAKERS (and the sequel MORE MODERN MYTHMAKERS is going to be published in June 2022)….
MODERN MYTHMAKERS by Michael McCarty
It includes in-depth interviews with Forrest J. Ackerman; C. Dean Andersson; Adrienne Barbeau; Ray Bradbury; Ramsey Campbell; John Carpenter; Dan Curtis; Elvira; Rusty Fischer; Neil Gaiman; Mick Garris; Laurell K. Hamilton; George Clayton Johnson; Jack Ketchum; Dean Koontz; Herschell Gordon Lewis; Thomas Ligotti; Bentley Little; Graham Masterton; Richard Matheson; Joe McKinney; Christopher Moore; Night of the Living Dead Crew: John Russo, Kyra Schon, & Russ Streiner; William F. Nolan; Ingrid Pitt; Linnea Quigley; Fred Olen Ray; John Saul; David Snell; Darce Stoker; Peter Straub; Whitley Strieber; Timothy Zahn;
Foreword by Alan Dean Foster
Afterword by The Amazing Kreskin
If you’re interested in books on writing, the horror genre, science fiction, famous authors, or even becoming a full time author, this book is a must-have.
More Modern Mythmakers is the sequel to 2015’s Modern Mythmakers by Michael McCarty, published by Crystal Lake Publishing.
Come Explore the Dark Depths: https://getbook.at/MoreMythmakers
https://getbook.at/MoreMythmakers
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