Archive for the ‘Review’ Category

Snake: One Month Since Publication

Posted: July 10, 2014 in Novel, Progress Report, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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snake

How far would you go for love and revenge?

I swear, unless there’s a review, this’ll be the last post I write about Snake for a while. I know by now some of you are so sick of hearing about it you want to strangle me, but hey, I’d be remiss in my job as an author if I didn’t do my fair share of advertising for my books. And the one month milestone is pretty big.

For those of you who aren’t aware, Snake is my second published novel, and my third published book overall. It follows a young man whose girlfriend is kidnapped by mafioso after she overhears something she shouldn’t. In order to get her back, this young man becomes the Snake, a serial killer who takes his cue from techniques used by the Russian mafia, and starts hunting down members of the family who kidnapped his girlfriend in order to find her. He will go to any lengths to get her back, including becoming a worse monster than the ones he is hunting.

I’m very happy with how this book’s been doing during its first month. I’ve had plenty of people checking it out, including two people from England and Germany who downloaded e-books within the past week (first time that I can remember having someone from outside of North America checking out my work). And I even got my first review on Snake, from fellow author and good friend Angela Misri. Here’s what she had to say on Snake in her four-star review:

Rami Ungar makes a promise to (the reader) in all his writings: he WILL scare you, and if he does “his job is done.” Snake will scare you. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so this should give you some idea of my tolerance level for gore, death and mayhem – I was scared. Rami takes you into places you would never have believed possible, and manages to pull his hero (and eventually his heroine) out of them against all odds. If you like to be scared. If you LOVE to be scared. You should read this book.

Considering that I’m a huge fan of Stephen King and I got favorably compared to him, this is probably one of my favorite reviews of all time. And I hope it leads to more people giving it a chance and checking it out.

If you’d like to get a copy of Snake, you can follow this link to Amazon and check it out (though I will be uploading it onto other sites soon). And if you like or hate it after reading it, please don’t hesitate to write a review and let me know what you think. I love feedback, positive or negative, so if you have some for me, please don’t hesitate to share it with me.

You can also check out the page for Snake here for excerpts and more information, if you wish.

That’s all for now. I’ve got a few things to take care of this morning before work, so I’m going to get on that. Have a great day, my Followers of Fear.

Review: Deliver Us From Evil

Posted: July 6, 2014 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Even when I hear bad tings about a film, I’ll go just to get my own opinion. Sometimes I agree with the critics, sometimes I don’t. In this case, I’ll have to agree with the critics.

Based on a book by Ralph Sarchie, which in itself is based on things that actually happened to him while with the NYPD, Deliver Us From Evil follows a hard-nosed Bronx cop who finds himself caught in a conspiracy involving demonic forces that have possessed a soldier and are unleashing hell upon New York. Teaming up with a strange priest and questioning his own doubts and beliefs, our hero (played by Eric Bana) races against time to stop any more victims from dying, including his own family.

I thought the film had a strong start. We’re in Iraq, we see some really freaky stuff occur in a cave, and then we switch to some horrific stuff happening in Bronx, including a baby in a dumpster and a very abusive husband. Later on though, things kind of drag out. There are jumps here and there, but a terrifying atmosphere is lacking. To make up for this, the film tries to deliver blood, possessed people acting crazy and animals making scary sounds, but it just doesn’t make things scary enough.

The high point of the film is definitely the final exorcism, which has plenty of weird effects, some emotional struggles, and even a little humor. Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez (the priest Mendoza) are great in the roles, but they can’t make the rest of the film enjoyable. Even the mystery to be solved in this story doesn’t keep it from seeming to drag on. And the way the film ends, all in a little bow, seems almost too sugary-sweet. Plus there’s a detail from the exorcism scene involving Father Mendoza that isn’t resolved, and I wish they would’ve done that.

In any case, this movie might’ve done better as a book–oh wait, it already is. Never mind. I’m giving Deliver Us From Evil a 2.6 out of 5.

The good thing about this film is that I got some great recommendations for some other films. The theater I go to has these specials before the movie where staff from the theater interview local celebrities about film, and I got some great recommendations for films I’ll have to check out. Not a bad evening, if you ask me.

4 Horror Films That Can Teach You About The Horror Genre Itself

Posted: July 5, 2014 in Reflections, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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This is a post I’ve been wanting to write for a while, but I had to find time (and enough films) to actually settle down and write an article worthy of this subject.

If you’ve seen movies like Scream or Cabin in the Woods, you realize they are not just really good scary movies, but they’re also great commentary on the horror genre itself. Scream was basically saying that, rather than restricting the creativity of film directors, the conventions of horror films, especially slashers, gave them considerable freedom to work with and explore new areas of fear, as well as being a sort of examination of slashers themselves. Cabin in the Woods gave you the impression that horror filmmakers were somewhat like slaves in the entertainment industry, having to abide by certain rules in order to please audiences or be ruined (occasionally that’s true).

These horror films below have their own lessons to teach on the genre, and I’ll try my best to convey them here (and possibly convince you, dear reader, to go and see them for yourself). Whether it’s on unique ways to tell a story, reinventing a familiar story, or even just finding a way to insert some philosophical musings into your movie, these movies all have something to share on the genre.

Urban Legend

The slashers that come after the classics of the eighties and the early nineties come in three categories: really bad sequels, movies that try to copy the classics and fail disastrously, and the ones that go above and beyond, often finding ways to redefine the slasher genre while they do it. Urban Legend is definitely part of the third category, and it shows how the slasher genre can change itself despite some critics’ claims of  “same story, different killer/kids/location/motive”. In this case, a killer begins attacking students and faculty at a remote college campus, but kills them in ways that mirror popular urban legends. Who is the killer, why are they killing like this, and what does all this have to do with one young student and her connection with the original victim? The answers will not only shock you, but it’ll make you appreciate adaptable slashers and those urban legends you all heard as kids and teens in new ways.

Devil

You know how in most horror films the audience knows there’s a supernatural explanation for why freaky stuff is happening and the characters in the film are looking for a rational explanation? In this movie, it’s different: you suspect there’s a supernatural explanation, but at the same time you look for ways it could be rationally explained. In this film based off an M. Night Shyamalan story, five people get stuck in an elevator and are murdered under mysterious circumstances while trapped inside. Who is the killer? Why are they killing? Is it a bizarre murder plot? A psychopath at work? Or maybe, as one security guard believes, it’s a mystical meeting between the damned and the Devil himself. A terrifying film, just watching how the filmmakers portray the unfolding events and make us wonder exactly what is happening is enough to give you some ideas on how to switch up your own stories. Or give you nightmares. That’s always a possibility.

Pulse

Known as Kairo in Japan, this supernatural horror film is as deeply philosophical as it is terrifying. In this movie, spirits manage to find a way into our world through the Internet, and start killing the living, though why they kill the living isn’t always clear. The movie follows several different people, particularly a young woman who is among the first to notice what is happening, and a college student who finds himself delving into the mysterious ghosts with a computer science co-ed he knows. The film besides being scary, offers great insight into our strange, modern world, which can be full of connections and isolating all at once, and why ghosts would want to return to this world in the first place. There’s an American remake of this film, but it loses some of its philosophical/psychological bite in favor of special effects and some more Western horror conventions. It’s not bad, but it’s not as good as the original. Anyway, check out both if you can. They’re both interesting takes on our Internet-obsessed society, if you ask me.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Our last entry is not even true horror, but horror-comedy and mockumentary. Behind the Mask follows a group of students filming a documentary in a world where famous killers like Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kreuger, and Michael Myers are as real as you or I. The subject of their documentary is a man named Leslie Vernon, a would-be killer who is in training to become a famous killer himself and is preparing for his own night of carnage.  The film switches between documentary-style footage and the more traditional horror-movie footage, breaking down the conventions of the slasher genre as well as their philosophical and Freudian psychological meanings (particularly the role of the “survival girl” motif in these films). Not only is it a great story that examines, pokes fun of, and psychoanalyzes the slasher sub-genre, it also depicts a very doomed romance that is stll rather beautiful and lovely in a weird way. Whether or not you like horror, this is definitely not a film to be missed, because what you can learn from it is great.

Have you seen any of these films? What were your thoughts on them?

What are some great horror films you think can teach people about the genre itself? What is great about them?

Snake: The First Review!

Posted: July 2, 2014 in Novel, Progress Report, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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snake

I’m going to be perfectly honest: I nearly jumped out of my chair when I saw Snake had its first review. The only reason I didn’t was because my computer was in my lap and it’s not even six months old yet. It’d be a pain in the butt to get it fixed because of some well-deserved excitement.

Anyway, back on point: Snake received its first review, from fellow author and dear friend Angela Misri, who helped with the editing and sprucing up of Snake prior to publication. She named her review If you LOVE to be scared, you should read this book, and gave Snake four stars out of five. Here’s what she had to say:

Rami Ungar makes a promise to (the reader) in all his writings: he WILL scare you, and if he does “his job is done.” Snake will scare you. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so this should give you some idea of my tolerance level for gore, death and mayhem – I was scared. Rami takes you into places you would never have believed possible, and manages to pull his hero (and eventually his heroine) out of them against all odds. If you like to be scared. If you LOVE to be scared. You should read this book.

Okay, any review with me and Stephen King, and even being scarier than him, makes it onto my list of favorite reviews of all time. And I’m glad you found it terrifying, Angela. There were times I wanted to hold back on how terrifying to make the story, and I’m glad I didn’t. And I’m glad you gave Snake such a strong recommendation. Coming from you, it is a really huge compliment.

If you would like to read Snake after reading that review, you can check it out on Amazon, both in paperback and in e-book (which until the 7th is on sale for $1.99, so now’s a great time to get it). If you do decide to get Snake and end up reading it, please let me know in a comment or in a review on Amazon what you think. Good or bad, I love feedback, and I would love to hear yours.

And while you’re at it, you should also check out Angela’s book Jewel of the Thames, which I’ve reviewed here. It’s a great mystery in the style of Sherlock Holmes (in more ways than one), and great for mystery lovers. Check out her blog for details, which I’ve left a link to above.

That’s all for now, I’m off to get some more writing done before the evening’s done. Have a good night, my Followers of Fear.

The Quiet Game: The 10th Review

Posted: June 30, 2014 in Progress Report, Review, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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tqg cover

Ten reviews. I’ve never gotten ten reviews on a single book before. I only have three right now, but still, this is a major milestone that I’ve been hoping would happen for a long time. And today it finally happened.

The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones was my first book, a collection of short stories I wrote and assembled while still working on the final draft of Reborn City. By far it’s also my bestselling book, which doesn’t surprise me considering that it’s my oldest book and I’m still very early in my writing career. It’s taken nearly a year for it to get to ten reviews, but I’m so glad that it finally did. This one comes from reader kimberly brouillard, who named her review liked this book a lot and gave The Quiet Game four stars out of five, bringing the book’s average to a 4.3 out of 5. Here’s what she had to say:

All of the stories were really diverse and fun to read. I also enjoyed the authors blurbs about each stories origination and development. Keep up the good work!

Thank you kimberly, I’m glad you enjoyed the book. And I’ve got two more if you want to read either of those, one sci-fi and one thriller. I’m also very glad to you and all those who provide feedback on my work. It’s very touching and it means a lot to me, because it shows where I’m doing well and where I could stand to improve. And this early in my career, I’m sure there’s spaces and places to improve.

If you would like to read The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, you can find it on Amazon and on Smashwords. And if you do decide to get a copy and read it, please let me know what you think in a comment or in a review. I love feedback, positive or negative, so I’ll be happy to get yours.

That’s all for tonight. I’m tired, so I’m going to get read for bed and do a little reading. Goodnight, my Followers of Fear. Have some pleasant nightmares.

Review: I Am a Ghost

Posted: June 19, 2014 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Two words: awesomely freaky!

Ever since I heard of this film and saw the trailer for it, I’ve been dying to get my hands on it. I mean, it’s won a lot of awards, and just watching the trailer you can tell it’s a truly terrifying movie. I’ve seen it a couple of times, and I still jump every time they do those creepy notes. (If you were unable to watch the trailer for any reason, please click here)

If you thought that was terrifying, you can see why I wanted to get this movie. Sadly, it was really hard for me to get my hands on, so I only got it tonight by downloading it off of Amazon. Suffice it to say, it was money well spent.

I Am a Ghost follows Emily, a woman in a 19th-century white dress living in a house with a strange mix of Victorian and early 20th century furniture. Slowly, you see her act out certain activities over and over. Each time, it’s a little different, a little stranger, a little freakier. And then comes in Sylvia, a psychic whom we don’t see. She is only accessible to Emily and to the viewer as a disembodied voice, a medium hired by the family who owns Emily’s house to help her move on. (We don’t see the family either, but if we did, I’d say it’s a couple of cheery kids who break into tears when freaky stuff happens, a wife who’s opened herself up to the paranormal because it threatens her family, and a father who’s reluctant to admit his house is haunted, let alone that they need a medium). From there, it is a strange, deeply psychological story that keeps you glued to the screen from strange start to terrifyingly freaky finish.

H.P. Mendoza, the writer, director, and cameraman of this film, weaves a very fascinating story, showing Emily’s chores and life through different angles as she repeats them in a dream over and over again, and then finding new ways to make them even freakier. Slowly but surely, you will find yourself drawn in like a fish on a reel, and as the film moves towards the end, we become shocked with more and more information on Emily’s life and death, which ultimately leads to an ending that will leave you terrified to the core.

Anna Ishida, the actress who plays Emily, gives a wonderful performance as a ghost stuck in time (or floating in time, considering that she’s comfortable in a house with furniture and technology from several eras, wears a 19th-century dress, and speaks like she’s from modern times). You find yourself unable to look away from her as she becomes slowly aware of why she’s been unable to move on and on how to get out. It became quite easy to identify with her early on. And Jeannie Barronga, who voices Sylvia, makes a great counselor, with a kind, maternal voice that makes you want to get on the red couch.

The script is well-written, and H.P. Mendoza has earned the comparisons to Hitchcock and Kubrick (though I have no idea who Bergman is), mixing suspense and avant-garde filming techniques in perfect harmony. And he found a gem in his make-up artist Diana Tenes, who did a wonderful job with a certain character near the end of the movie (I won’t spoil it, but I’m still reeling from what she did near the climax of the film with a certain creepy character). I’m sure in years to come, I Am a Ghost will receive plenty more awards, and a lot of analysis and interpretations, not just from filmmakers, but from academics and philosophers and filmophiles everywhere (in fact, there’s already a few on the website, but don’t read them till after you’ve seen the movie). I’d certainly love to read some of those analyses, if they ever make it into a published essay.

All in all, I Am a Ghost is a wonderful, terrifying tour de force, and well worth the time for any true fan of horror. I’m rating it a 4.5 out of 5. The only flaw, in my opinion, is that it wasn’t a little bit longer. I certainly wouldn’t have minded the movie being a little longer than it was. But the rest is just great, and I think H.P. Mendoza did an awesome job creating it. He’s definitely a director I wouldn’t mind letting adapt one of my stories or collaborate on a film together. And I don’t say that about a lot of directors.

Reborn City: Review #6

Posted: June 12, 2014 in Novel, Review, Writing
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Reborn City

This just in folks, Reborn City just got a new review on Amazon! This one comes from my mother, whose review I’ve been waiting to hear for some time. Now, I know what you’re thinking: his mother? It’s obviously a good review! Well, this is my mother. She can actually be a bit critical of my work if she thinks it isn’t up to snuff. I’m glad to say this time though she really liked this one. This review, which she gave 5 stars, goes like this:

This book was amazing. I really loved the story line, and especially the social lines of a post war society looking for answers. I did think that the “gang speak” was sometimes difficult to manuver [sic], but a fantastic story, all in all.

Thanks, Ima. I’m sorry you had a hard time with the gangster speak, though. I was hoping to make things a bit more authentic with the gang speak, but not everyone enjoyed it. Luckily the new edition I uploaded recently has a lot of grammar corrections and less gang speak, so it should be easier reading from now on.

If you are interested in reading RC, you can check it out on Amazon and on Smashwords. Currently the e-book is $1.99 until Saturday, so now’s the time to get it at a really good discount. And if you decide to read it, please let me know what you think when you’re done. Positive or negative, I love feedback (though I usually tend to get the former rather than the latter. Not sure if people are being nice or if they really like the stories sometimes).

Until next time, my Followers of Fear!

Review: Maleficent

Posted: May 30, 2014 in Review
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For my first review upon returning from Europe, I’d like to do Maleficent, a retelling of the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty. And like its predecessor, Maleficent has some storytelling problems. Emphasis on the “telling” in “storytelling”: during the course of the movie more is left to narration in this film than to actually showing us the exact events as they happen. So we basically skip over several of the formative events in Maleficent’s early life, and in King Stefan’s early life as well. The result is that we really don’t get to know the characters very well, We just see Maleficent go from sweet girl to young woman to angry witch, all in the course of maybe half an hour. We also don’t get to see Stefan’s development either, which would’ve made his character easier to understand and relate to.

And this is only the tip of the problems with the story here. I don’t want to go into great detail, but let’s just say the writing and the lack of characterization leave much to be desired, with huge plot holes and characters that are as two-dimensional as paper cut-outs and as unrelateable as them too. I know Disney made this film mostly to catch in on the trend of retelling old fairy tales for a new, modern audience (explaining why Once Upon a Time is heading into its fourth season and why Disney is doing retellings of Cinderella and a Cruella DeVil movie and Alice Through The Looking Glass, among others), but it wouldn’t have destroyed te studio to add maybe another forty to fifty minutes to a ninety-seven minute film and fill out those characters and plug up the plot holes.

Overall, I give Maleficent a 1.6 out of 5. Not even its good moments (few and far-between) are enough to redeem this film. Not even Angelina Jolie can fix it, and she’s an amazing actress! I really can’t wait to see how the guys at How It Should Have Ended decide to fix this film up. Because like I said, it’s not a very good film.

Reborn City: Six Months Since Publication

Posted: May 1, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Review, Writing
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Reborn City

It’s been exactly six months since Reborn City was released. I can’t believe how long it’s been since RC first came out. I’ve sold some copies, gotten five reviews, and I managed to get to the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Not bad for a first book.

For those of you who don’t know much about RC, the novel is the first in a trilogy. It tells the story of Zahara Bakur, a Muslim teenager living in a world that has emerged from the ashes of a third world war. The society she lives in is made up mostly of small nations and independent city-states, some of which are plagued with Islamaphobia due to the role certain terrorist groups played in the war. This includes Reborn City, where Zahara lives, and this hatred gets her parents killed. Soon afterwards, she is forced to join an interracial street gang, the Hydras, in order to repay one of the leaders, Rip, for saving her life. However things get worse after that: the leaders in the Hydras all have very strange powers, and there is a rumor it’s connected to the corporation that rules over Reborn City, the Parthenon Company. The decisions she and her new friends make will impact not only her life, but the lives of so many others.

And apparently people have enjoyed reading it. Check out some of these reviews:

This is not a genre I typically delve into, but I took this book on vacation and couldn’t put it down. The plot had me turning pages at quite the clip. The characters were unique and interesting and the imagery had me creating my own visual of what Rami’s interpretation of the future looked like. For first time novelist, Rami Ungar, this was an outstanding showing of talent and commitment to his passion of writing. Looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

Michele Kurland

Gangland violence, superhero-like enhancements, a futuristic setting, and social commentary that stems from a semi-post-apocalyptic theme. And then there’s a story where people come together as a family to deal with mutual loss and tragedy. What’s not to like?

Matthew Williams, author of Whiskey Delta and Papa Zulu

As a reader who does not read books in this genre, I must admit that I could not put down the book. I attribute this to the talent of the author. I am looking forward to reading the next books published by Ungar. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy action with features of supernatural powers and sci-fi.

Enji

And for the six-month anniversary, I’ve done some really awesome things. For one thing, I’ve uploaded a second edition, free of any editing or technical problems with the book (I hope). Secondly, I’ve put RC‘s ebook on sale. From today, May 1st, to May 31st, RC’s ebook will be available for $0.99. That’s two dollars lower than usual. Afterwards from June 1st to June 14th, RC will be available for $1.99.  So right now is the best time to get the e-book and see for yourself whether or not you like Zahara and the Hydras.

I wish I could say that the print paperback is also on sale. Regrettably though, Amazon controls that, not me. But you can still get the physical book for $8.80, which is a very good price for a book.

So if you decide to check out Reborn City, you can find it on Amazon and on Smashwords. If you’d like to read a bit of it before you do, you can read some of it by checking out this excerpt. And if you do decide to read RC, please let me know what you think. Write a review or leave a comment. Positive or negative, I really don’t care. I just want your feedback.

That’s all for now. I hope you all enjoy reading RC and I hope to do some editing on the sequel, Video Rage, this summer when I get back from Europe. Have a wonderful day, my Followers of Fear!

Review: “Jewel of the Thames” by Angela Misri

Posted: April 26, 2014 in Novel, Review, Writing
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I was very excited to read Angela’s first book (you should read my interview with her back in late March) and I’m sorry it took me so long to get through it. Now that I have, I have to say I had a lot of fun reading the first book of the Portia Adams adventures.

Jewel of the Thames is three stories (or “casebooks”) in one book, each detailing a different case young Portia Adams, a young woman with an inquisitive eye and a thirst for knowledge who moves to London from Toronto upon inheriting a very notorious property from some very distinguished ancestors. When she gets to London with her guardian Irene Jones and moves into 221B Baker Street (yes, you read that address right), she soon finds herself getting into some very interesting mysteries, each one more thrilling than the last, and all will have you scratching your head till the last page. Of course, the most interesting mystery will turn out to be Portia’s ancestry, and its resolution at the end of the book will leave you stunned. Or at least it did me, and I had an inkling on how the story would end.

I only had a few critiques on the story. One is that a couple of moments in the story, Angela uses more telling than she does showing. That’s not a huge problem, but I thought a little more showing would make the scenes a bit more real to me. Also, I would’ve liked to see more delving into the lives and personalities of the other characters, even those that only showed up for one or two pages. Portia’s the most developed of all the characters, and I’d like to know more about Constable Brian Dawes, or about Sergeant Michaels and Mr. Archer, or even that snooty girl from Portia’s class at Somerville (I’d love to see her mentioned in a sequel! Imagine if they became friends).

All in all, JotT is a wonderful book for mystery readers looking for an exciting new read and especially for fans of Sherlock Holmes stories, earning a 4.5 out of 5 from yours truly. I can’t wait to read the sequel.

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