News

TNT’s “The Alienist” Offers Gruesome Murder, Excellent Acting, & More in First Three Episodes

Published

6 years ago

February 5, 2018

Caleb Carr’s novel, The Alienist, has been described as Silence of the Lambs meets Sherlock Holmes, and it isn’t hard to see why. The murders inside its covers are some of the most brutal I’ve ever read, and its killer could easily give Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill a run for their money.

The story blends fiction with history including the role of Theodore Roosevelt long before his years as President, when he served as a police commissioner trying to exorcise the corruption from the New York Police Department.

It also takes into account the history of psychiatric practice in the 19th century including the term “alienist” itself. It was believed that a man or woman who suffered from mental illness was alienated from their nature and therefore the doctors who treated them were called alienists.

In other words, there were a lot of layers to this story and adaptation was going to be a tough needle to thread…

So, when I settled in for the first episode of TNT’s adaptation of the best-selling book, I wondered just how they’d go about dealing with its particular brand of violence and the melding of historic fact and fiction. They did it, in a word, masterfully.

The Alienist centers on a series of murders in New York City in 1896. The victims, young and impoverished boys barely into their teenage years who have been pulled into a life of sex work, are largely faceless, and their murders raise little alarm among the city’s police force, and even less among society at large despite the details of their deaths.

Their eyes have been removed, you see. Their genitalia has been cut off and stuffed into the mouth, one hand removed, and a series of cuts across their torsos have left them almost disemboweled.

Enter Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, an alienist with a reputation for being a renegade among his fellows, who believes that by using what they learn from the murders, they can create a portrait of who this murderer is. It was an idea unheard of in the late 1800s, and it sets in motion a chain of events you have to see to believe.

Daniel Bruhl brings Kreizler to life with a measured skill. Every gesture and expression is exact and planned, never giving away more than what he wants the audience to know.

In his hands, Kreizler is more than the title character. He is a skilled man with a mind ahead of his time whose every win and loss is monumentally personal to him.

Luke Evans plays John Moore, an illustrator for the New York Times who moves almost casually between high society and the slums of New York. In the novel, Moore is the voice of the narrator and Evans perfectly portrays the man’s uncertainty in a world where his profession is being made obsolete with the advent of the camera.

Rounding out the leads, Dakota Fanning plays Sara Howard, an ambitious young woman who wants to be New York’s first female detective and who is already making inroads to that position by being the first woman to ever work, in any capacity, in the NYPD. Fanning’s considerable acting talents are on full display proving that she’s made the move from child actress to adulthood with alacrity.

Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, and Daniel Bruhl in TNT’s The Alienist

Special mention should also be given to Douglas Smith and Matthew Shear who play Detective Sergeants Marcus and Lucius Isaacson, a pair of young, sibling detectives eager to embrace new schools of thought in forensics. The Isaacsons bring much needed humor and exuberance to the series that helps to necessarily ease the tension in certain scenes.

Writer Hossein Amini and director Jakob Verbruggen along with an excellent production crew have re-created 19th century New York on location in modern day Budapest down to the finest details, and a special nod must be given to costume designer Michael Kaplan who clothes the characters in authentic materials and textures.

In their capable hands, New York is a living breathing character of its own that is equal parts decadence and filth-covered poverty.

Verbruggen has managed, in each of the first three episodes, to methodically build a tension that is palpable as new clues and murders reveal more about the man behind them while simultaneously offering the audience a growing list of suspects.

“The Alienist” airs Monday nights on TNT (check local listings for times), and it’s a perfect fit for horror fans who love a good mystery with a brutal serial killer as its villain.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

10 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

12 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

Published

14 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

**Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes**

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.