Hey Internet, It’s William and here is what Eric Hyde and my haters wanted suppressed….

Ok, so, as you all know the new episode of my podcast An Awakening of Horror was pulled by both Facebook and Youtube because a certain person named Eric Hyde complained about it and said it was harassment focused on him. But here is the truth, horror fans. The truth is that Eric wanted to mute the fact that I proved him and his buddies wrong on a supposed wrong they accused me of. That being that I stole the idea for my short story Robert Diablo from a treatment the Soskas sisters wrote for a screenplay they had intended to do after American Mary. Well, the Soskas didn’t do their story, which was simply called Bob, after American Mary. Nope. They sold out to Vince McMann and all thoughts of Bob disappeared. Yep, They had See No Evil 2 that they were doing and they had bigger projects in their heads than the quirky tale of a morose person and their friend who was a demon from hell.

Honestly, I think they made a mistake doing American Mary over Bob. American Mary is humorless and negative, where Bob would have been a nice multi-layered dark comedy.

So, honestly when I thought about throwing together and writing a bunch of my old horror treatments I thought I’d take that idea I thought had merit and shouldn’t be wasted. So, I decided to develop it myself.

But here is the point, people. I did nothing wrong. In fact stuff like this happens all the time in the entertainment industry.

What Eric and his buddies want to ignore is that treatments and ideas can’t be copyrighted. Scripts and completed movies can, but not ideas.

Here is a prime example that you people may remember. It is the case of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5. Creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski, went to Paramount Studios to try and sell them the idea for Babylon 5. Paramount wasn’t interested, but a couple years later Paramount used Stracznski’s idea for Babylon 5 to create Deep Space Nine. Of course, just after Paramount launched Deep Space Nine Straczynski got the backing to develop and put Babylon 5 on TV. Well, there you have it. You have two TV series based on the same idea and no one is suing anybody. Also, we have two unique and individual series.

It is the same with Robert Diablo. I took the Soskas idea and developed it. I added a lot to it. In Bob the morose was not the heir to a billion dollar business. Also the morose character wasn’t being held in jail having been accused of a murder. Also, and more importantly my story is told from the perspective of the psychiatrist the family lawyer hires to evaluate the morose character and prove his friend Robert is a figment of his imagination. My story is only on the most basic level like the Soskas’ Bob and that’s it. I breathed life into it. I gave it substance.

And, to make a long explanation short (right) another thing that blows away the haters is that Robert Diablo is a book, not a screenplay. If eventually it does it won’t matter either because it will be a screenplay based on the story I developed, not the Soskas.

So, there you have it. This is the real truth that Eric Hyde didn’t want put out, but now it is.

It is the same with my work on the treatments for Star Trek II and III. The treatments don’t really matter. They are the beginning. It is the finished script and who writes that that matters. But Eric and the haters want to make mountains out of mole hills. No one really cares, except them so they can paint me in a negative light. Don’t believe the bullshit. These people lie so much they wouldn’t know the truth if it fell on them like a tone of bricks. Enough said on this….

Review: Land of Smiles, aka Thai-Sanity

Review: Land of Smiles, aka Thai-Sanity

By William Pattison

For my review this time a have a new film by Australian director Bradley Stryker, Land of Smiles.

The film centers on a girl named Abby (played by Alexandra Turshen). Abby has just gotten out of college and is ready to start her life. Her best friend, Jen (played by Jen L. Burry), wants to take Abby on vacation to purge her inhibitions, since Abby is a bit of the good girl type. Abby tells Jen she doesn’t want to go. This starts an argument. Abby tells Jen it has nothing to do with Abby’s boyfriend Brad. Jen walks off in a huff. Abby ends up going home to find Brad having sex with another girl. Abby shoots them both in the face with pepper spray. Then we see Abby on a plane alone to Thailand, not a good idea. Once she gets to Thailand Abby meets documentary filmmaker Ben (played by Keenan Henson) and his girl Jewel (played by Caitlin Cromwell, aka Caitlin Stryker). The threesome decide to travel around Thailand together because Ben has been all over the island and knows the best places. Then they add an Australian, Dale (played by Bradley Stryker) and Penny (played by Krista Donargo) It is around this time that Abby receives a video that is handed to her by a stranger. The video shows her friend Jen tied up and painted up in clown makeup. There is a man with her in a yellow jumpsuit and a disturbing clown mask. The man tells Abby that if she doesn’t play his game and do as he says that he will cut Jen to pieces with an electric saw. He tells Abby not to tell Ben or Jewel as well. Abby immediately goes to Ben and Jewel and shows them the video. Ben tells her not to worry because he figures it is Jen pulling a trick on Abby to help get her out of her shell. He backs this up by showing her a couple of videos of people pulling a similar trick. Abby doesn’t believe him and wants to get the police involved. Ben reminds Abby that the Thailand police are corrupt will only help if they are paid enough. He suggest she just go along with the game and that he is sure it’s all a big joke. The next day Abby is given another not from the clown masked man. He tells her that now that she has told Ben and Jewel they must play the game too and if any of them fail to go by the rules Jen will suffer. They decide not to tell Dale or Penny what’s going on, since they don’t want them involved. It is a little bit later that they find out this is all no joke when they find Penny, painted up in clown makeup, murdered in a motel covered in sheets with clown scrawl over them with blinking green, red, and blue Christmas lights as well. It is also soon after that they receive a finger in a package and a pendent Abby gave Jen. Now the game has become serious and the tension builds to the twist at the end.

I have to say that this is a very well done psychological horror film that also exploits the setting very well. You have an American tourist in a strange country where she can’t even count on the police for help. Bradley counters the incredible beauty if Thailand with it’s darker underbelly.

The actors give excellent performance, especially Alexandra Turshen and Keenan Henson as Ben. Bradley Stryker adds a lot to the film as Dale as well.

Of course, now we got the downside of the film. I honestly did not think the clown motif worked well with the setting. I know clowns have been the big thing the last few years with the clown sightings and attacks all over the globe. Also I understand that clown masks are the easiest thing to find, but I just don’t see clowns and Thailand as a good match. It all looked cheap to me and thrown in. The backgrounds in the videos of the clown who was supposedly keeping Jen in a secret place in Thailand didn’t match up with the rest of the film. Also, the big twist and reveal could have been done far better. I was less than impressed with the execution and it brought down a really good build up. Though I doubt Bradley Stryker is going to read this review, I hope he does a better job ending his next film.

Review: The Void

Man, I just finished watching The Void. I have to say I'm stunned. This is a beautifully ghastly horror film. It is Clive Barker meets H.P. Lovecraft. Excellent writing. Good character work. Great atmosphere. Tense as shit. This is the best horror film I've seen in years. This is my choice for best of the year. I doubt I'll find a film that will surpass this film. This film royally raised the bar on horror. You, got to see this. This is a grotesque masterpiece.....

Commentary: Horror Awards Season

Well, it's horror awards season. But the issue I have is that most horror awards are really based on social status rather than the real quality of the work. It is truly sad that people are awarded more based on who they are friends with or who they got drunk with at conventions rather than the virtue of the work. I've seen filmmakers who have spent years to craft fantastic horror films and they get completely ignored. And, I've seen great works of horror writing get ignored because these "horror awards" will lump novels, short stories, comics, and biographies into a single category and give one one award foall these. Sorry this is outrageous.

Honestly, the only awards I have any respect for are The Bram Stoker awards, and that is sad.