Frankenstein Book Series by Dean Koontz

Book and Movie Therapy

Dean Koontz is a New York Times best selling author and he decided to write his own version of Frankenstein in 5 separate books.  I read them all ravenously.  The first 3 were especially good.  At the time, I was so engrained in the old black and while movie versions that I didn’t really think I would be able to transition to a new science fiction aspect, but I did.

Book 1:  Prodigal Son (2005)

Before the first chapter, he starts out with FIRST… he wrote a 60 minute TV series pilot but during the planning of this endeavor things changed and Dean backed out.  They were changing his vision.  In addition, the first 2 books were co-written and Dean says he saw “another character flaw in himself:  I’m not able to collaborate.  I have sat alone at the keyboard for so many years that alone is the only way I…

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The End of Frankie Meets the Wolfman (1943)

Please enjoy and click on below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRJrVDogy4g

So when we left off in the castle, in the shadows, The Monster and Talbot were strapped on the tables, operation ready!  The Dr. was reading from Dr. Frankenstein’s journal, “…connect the minus to the minus…wait….I can’t destroy Frankenstein’s creation!”  The new Dr. got the creator BUZZ! and he decided to charge up the Monster to bring him back to life and he forgot his promise to poor miserable Talbot.  He steamed and sparked.  The monster had an evil smile upon his face and Elsa pulled a major switch!  People were thrown about and the “guys” burst free of their straps.  Talbot turned into the Wolfman again as the moon shined through the window and a monstrous fight between the two began.  The Dr. and Elsa escaped and watched from  afar as water was bursting through the castle and it crumbled to the ground.

Another Universal monster film ends!

Production Notes:

During the filming of the movie the gypsy was hurt when a coach/carriage ran over her foot, chipping a bone 😦

I’ve been away from my blog but I’m back people and I hope you enjoy the continuation of our Frankenstein adventures.  Much more to come!

if you want to watch Psycho it is on today, Sunday, on TMC (Turner Classic Movies)!! Don’t miss it!

Norman and His Mother

Norman’s a little messed up! What’s the deal with his mother? What’s really going on?

As I continue with the book Psycho by Robert Bloch, let’s delve into his “mother issues” and there are MANY!  After “mother” murdered Mr. Arbogast, Norman rolled the man into a rug and took him to the swamp and this time, it was very easy, “practice makes perfect”, he thought.  Mother was in her room while he was taking care of this.  Here are some of Norman’s crazy little thoughts regarding good old mom:

• He didn’t want mother around to make him feel like a little boy because he had a grown up man’s job to do (you know, the usual, just throwing a dead body into a swamp).
• He had to protect his mother, as well as himself (interesting thought), he was just watching out for her so that she wouldn’t get into any trouble.
• He had to move her out of the house so when the next round of visitor’s questions came, she couldn’t be found.  He had to protect her, it was all about her (supposedly).  He made up his mind and carried her to the famous fruit cellar (it will be famous later for many reasons).
• Mother protested and said, “What are you going to do? Bury me in the swamp too?”  Then she cackled in an evil way.  Mother was a sick dangerous psychotic he thought, and then she said that Norman didn’t love her anymore (what’s not to love?).
• He told her that if he didn’t love her and protect her like this, she’d be in the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane!  (Oh no, they’re both perfectly normal).
• As he closed the door he could hear her soft voice in the darkness say, “I suppose you’re right but I wouldn’t be there alone.”
• And as he ran up the steps he was sure he could hear her chuckling gently into the dark.  (She’s such a warm, loving mom don’t you think?)

But what is interesting about mother is this:  when Marion’s sister and Sam talk to the sheriff about wanting to talk to Norman’s mother, the sheriff tells them that Norman Bates has no mother…and he is sure of it.

What do you think is going on here? Is the book the same as the movie? Mother, Norman, insane asylum, fruit cellars, swamps?  Please leave your comments and we will see about that next time!

Norman

He’s a little messed up!

Filming the shower scene

Hitch had to get in the shower and show her what he wanted her to do because she wasn’t getting his vision correctly. Since it was a black and white movie (which I am a big fan of), they used chocolate syrup to represent the blood going down the drain when she was attacked!

Hitch on the set with Janet Leigh

“Let’s get this right bitch!”

Norman’s Side of the Story

So Norman started drinking and replaying the conversation with Marion in his head. He “became” his mother and he/she said, “If you bring her here, I’ll kill her! I’ll kill the bitch!” Hm…not a good sign. He decided to make use of his secret peephole that he had drilled into the wall years ago and began watching Marion undress. He imagined that his mother was there and he fell asleep, or should I say, blacked out. When he came to, he stole another look through the peephole and saw pinkish looking water. When he saw Marion, dead on the bathroom floor he cleaned up the mess, put her and all evidence into her car and sank it in the swamp. “Mother must be mad (as in crazy)!”

A few days later, Lila Crane and Sam Loomis (Marion’s sister and her boyfriend) became concerned and talked to the sheriff and a detective named Arbogast. He drove out to the Bate’s Motel and no one ever saw him again.

So what do you think happened to him? Does Norman have 2 personalities? Is he insane? Is his mother alive?
Let me know what you think! Until next time…

But back to the book…

Are you thinking this is all too bloody and graphic?  The movie is not, it’s all implied.  You won’t see any nudity or actual stabbings because Hitch carefully shot it from different angles.

But the book, however, is more graphic and I think I prefer that to take place in the book instead of on the screen in Hitchcock movies because he was so talented In creating suspense and horror in the viewer’s mind.

 Did you get the book yet? Psycho by Robert Bloch?  I got mine at Barnes and Noble.  Let me start and see if I can interest you.  The book begins at the Bate’s Motel (the movie begins with a very tame sexy scene with Marion, one of the main characters,  tame for the times, 1960, and the censors were all over it).  It then follows her to her office where she steals $40,000, packs her suitcase, and she heads out of town.  She takes a long drive which has many interesting twists and suspense in the movie which I will discuss when we get to the movie version.  Let’s get back to the book.

Marion Crane arrives at the motel and sits in her car thinking about the money she has stolen and is conflicted.  On page 28, she’s reflecting and thinks, “…she’s made her grave now and now she must lie in it.  Why did she think that?  It wasn’t a grave, it was a bed.”  A little prelude to what will occur later.  When she signs in at the motel, she uses an alias, Jane Wilson.  In the book she uses Marie Samuels (Sam in honor of her boyfriend).  Norman Bates operates the motel and he carries her suitcase inside.  In the book she leaves the money in an envelope in the car’s glove compartment.  In the movie, she brings it in with her and wraps it in a newspaper.  When she is shown to her room, she sees that it has a shower and wishes it was a tub.  Had it been a tub, things would have turned out differently don’t you think? 

She’s hungry and so they have sandwiches and talk.  Norman gets upset during this talk but he is comforted by his hobby, taxidermy.  He has a stuffed squirrel.  In the movie, he has many stuffed birds (birds are a running theme in the movie).  Norman is upset because he is telling Marion about his stern mother and she suggests she might be better off in an institution.  Norman thinks to himself on page 36, “They’d have locked me up in a minute if they knew the things I said and did, the way I carried on”.  A little clue there for what is to come.  What do you think he did to deserve that kind of thinking?

The last part of the book that I want to share with you today is probably the most horrific part.  Do you know what it is?  It’s a bit different and more shocking that the movie version.  Marion is showering and she eventually sees a shape coming towards her through the shower curtain.  Next she sees a knife and begins to scream but something cuts off her scream and…her…head!

Who do you think did this? The answer is not as simple as you may think.  Ready to get the book yet?

See if you can purchase the book or check it out of the library and read up to page 41 which is where I left off.  Please feel free to make comments and reflections and next time we’ll get Norman’s take on what happened or didn’t happen in the shower!

 

 

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“You must arrive on time to see MY film! No one will be allowed in after it begins! It’s for your own mental safety!”