A short story, by me.

it was a quiet day in my town, as usual. Nothing much was happening around the centre, everybody was just enjoying their Saturday, a day free of work and school. I had different things on my mind... Darker things. A few nights ago me and a few pals on our way home from the cinema had been jumped by a few travellers. We got on with it, or so my friends did. You might consider this a relatively small event to get as flustered as i am over it, but It's a regular occurrence my town, and i was fucking sick of it. For years, teenagers in my town had been bullied, abused, beaten up and terrorised by the travellers that come here every summer. everyone was sick of them. Especially certain ringleaders. a certain Steven Hatcher had taken quite the disliking to my group of friends, for no particular reason at all. Today things would change. I would send a message. 

I took some money from my fathers wallet, told my parents i was heading over to a friends house. I got my coat, walked outside and lit up a cigarette. It was quite a chilly morning out, but the cigarette gave me a sense of false warmth. It was slightly misty out with a small wind, but it wasn't wet. Perfect for what i had in mind. The traveller park is located by the beach, a good half an hour walk away from my house. I wasn't in a rush anyway, nobody would be going anywhere this early in the morning. My parents are used to me going for walks in the early hours, so they didn't find it strange when i left the house at 7:30. I cut through the abandoned factories on to the old wastelands. 

As i walked through, taking in my surroundings and enjoying the fresh breeze against the side of my face, i reconsidered and reconsidered what i was about to do. Should I do it? Could i do it? Would i do it? These were all examples of questions running through my head. But I had to be firm with myself. It's now or never. Now, or leave yourself be pushed over by a minority of people that don't even belong here. But once word gets out of what happened, there will be a big change. The only drawback is nobody can know it was me. I'll have to be content with knowing myself that I did the right thing. 

I headed into the caravan park. I saw just the man id been looking for, about 100 metres ahead in the distance. He seemed to be carrying crates or something. 'Hey, Steven.' 'What the fuck do you want', he replied. 'I understand we have our differences, but i was wondering if we could go for a quick walk, to maybe sort them out.. You see, i have a few things i need to tell you', I said. 'You better be fucking quick about it buddy'. 

We headed along the beach. I wanted to stall a bit, until we got to an area where nobody could see.  Perfect. 'So, why the fuck exactly have you dragged me out here?'. 'I know we have a lot of differences...me and you...even on a bigger scale, us town people and you. But why exactly do you hate us so much? Why do you people continue to come here, why do you people continue to terrorise us townsfolk, steal from our shops, even create a menacing atmosphere for tourists. Why?' 'You people have everything. Do you know what it's like to be looked down upon by society? To have 90% of people that haven't even spoken to you take a disliking to you based on an image that a small group of us project?', He told me. In truth, i agreed with a lot of the points he had made. But I wasn't prepared to leave myself be pushed over by a sweet talking traveller. 'it's time for things to change around here, Steven'. 'What the fuck do you mean by that?', he asked me sharply, with a slight hint of aggression in his voice. 

He didn't even have time to react. I had the knife drawn out of my coat sleeve and the menacingly sharp blade into his stomach before he could even look up. I pulled the knife out sharply, and plunged it in to his neck. The killing hit. I had planned this for ages. Everything was going perfectly, just as i had planned. He crumbled to his knees, and stared up at me with a pained expression on his face. I just smirked to myself. I checked his pulse. Nothing. Definitely dead. I had never felt so exhilarated in my life. Now was the time i needed to act fast, though.

I slit open his hoodie and t shirt and pulled them off. I put them in a plastic bin bag and left them aside for the time being. I had picked this spot because of the grass dunes a few metres ahead. I dragged his surprisingly light body to the dunes. Or maybe he wasn't light, maybe my adrenaline was through the roof from the act i had just committed. I dragged him to the spot i had picked out days previously and retrieved the supplies i had hidden in a gorse bush, away from prying eyes. A bottle of white spirits, a roll of duct tape, bin bags and rope. The first step was to make him unrecognisable. I poured the white spirits on to his face, in to his mouth and nose, around his eyes. I flicked my lighter and ignited the chemicals. While the fire took care of that, i went and did the same to his bloody clothes. At this point i had to wait a bit for his body to cool down. I checked the time. 8:25. I was running as planned. I had a very small window of time to complete everything i needed to do, and make my alibi withstand. Once i had done that, i tied his arms and legs together with the length of rope, and pulled him into a bag. I had to use a few bags to completely cover him, but i tied them together with rope. I now had a decision to make. Roll him off the cliff several metres up, where he would hit the savagely sharp rocks below and possibly drift out with the tide, or hide his body and leave it decompose in the old army barracks behind me. I chose the latter.

I dragged his body in, along with all my supplies, and hid them in a corner. With the rest of my white spirits i burned my gloves, my hat, the rest of the rope and the duct tape. Job almost done. Nobody else had been around at the caravan park to see us leaving together, at least i was fairly sure of that. This was one of my weak spots though. I couldn't be fully sure if somebody saw me or didn't see me. There was no way of me knowing for sure, which meant i had to think of an alibi. That's where Greg came in, one of my peers that was also jumped a few nights ago. He was just as sick of those people as i was. He'd cover for me. I decided to walk the other way in to town anyway, the long way. From there i went to the bag i had hidden by a line of trees, and changed out of my bloody clothes. I asked Greg to vouch for the fact i was at his house at the time of the murder, if it came to questioning. My mother could also back this claim up, as i told her i was heading to my friends house.

Now was the waiting part. Waiting for news to break that Steven was missing. Waiting for news of the discovery of his mutilated body to be found. Waiting for news of suspects. Everything. But I'd just have to wait. I started to make my way home. No need to rush, just a leisurely stroll. I lit up another cigarette, with a back up lighter of course. My other lighter was thrown into the ocean. As i was making my way up the hill, i passed my friend Killian. 'What are you doing out this early?', he asked me. 'Went for a stroll out the beach buddy, that's it'. 'Fair enough bud, catch you later'. Yeah... A stroll. I made my way home. Breakfast time. Even teenage killers devoid of a conscience and remorse enjoy wheetos, right?

Fast forward about 24 hours. I was feeling quite nervous, which isn't normal for me. I'm usually the type to stay cool and collected in all situations, but the magnitude of the act i had committed had me on edge. I guess it was to be expected though. Who kills a man and goes on 100% normal? Not a lot of people, thats for sure. only now is there talks about a missing traveller boy in Youghal. To be completely honest, I'm surprised news hadn't broken earlier than now. 

48 hours later. They've only notified the police now? Is this a regular occurrence in the travelling community, for a 16 year old boy to go missing out of the blue with absolutely no contact with anyone? Christ... Like the good citizen/nosy murderer i am, I volunteered to help out in the search party. Nothing too obvious, i was among hundreds of other's volunteering. We live in a relatively small town. Everybody knows everyone. I seem to be less on edge than i was, but i was feeling extremely panicky. I racked my brains, trying to think of any form of evidence I could have left. It's too late for that now, though.

72 hours later. Police are beginning to take the high possibility of foul play seriously now. Only about 50 hours too late, but I'm not gonna be the one to complain. The police only began to comb the beach/surrounding areas today. I think they were trying to hold that area off for as long as possible, considering how large it is. 

80 hours later. Police found a few things at the beach, nothing of major concern. Or so i thought. They found a shoe on the waters edge, which obviously brought suspicion and the need for testing. But more importantly, they found my broken lighter at the bottom of the cliff. With my fingerprints on it. I'd used that lighter for months, I don't constantly walk around with latex gloves on. This was a relatively critical mistake id made... I hadn't thought of such a small thing.. They'd definitely swab the lighter for fingerprints and bring people in for questioning. Time for me to begin going over in my head, my alibi, the answers I'd have for all the typical police questions, and working on my ability to stay calm in the interview and not show any typical signs of a liar.

96 hours. Police began to bring people in for questioning. Mostly white males ages 18-40. You know, your typical killer demographic. The police also released a sketch of somebody 'seen in the area where Steven Hatcher was last seen'. They also said they were focusing on searching for his body. Also, police brought in 5 people for questioning based on the evidence they found in the beach area. I was one of those 5 people. They didn't tell me any details. They outlined small points. Asked me when I was out the beach. Why.. Who was i with.. The typical police questions. They told me there's a very small possibility so far that I could be the murderer. At this point i was beginning to have serious doubts about my carefulness at the crime scene, and i began replaying everything in my head, scouring my brain to think of anything i could have done that would expose me. 

5 days since i murdered Steven Hatcher. 5 days later, whats left of the body is found in a room in the old army barracks, by an innocent volunteer. As disfigured, decomposed and mutilated as it was, there was no doubt in anyone's mind it was Steven. A crime of this nature was unheard of in a rural irish town like mine. After news broke of just how grisly the crime scene was, People were afraid to leave their houses. People stopped talking to their neighbours, and stayed in home for long periods of time. Travellers left town, and parents were refusing to send their children to school. Not the type of ruckus i was intending to create, but what can you  do. I was brought in for questioning again, in relation to the lighter found near the newly discovered crime scene. I tried to keep my cool as they grilled me with questions, a lot more detailed this time. They definitely had reason to suspect me. It was hard not to crack under the overwhelming pressure of the whole thing. But I wouldn't have committed such a heinous crime without being prepared to accept the full consequences. 

The Grey - Film Review.

The Grey, 9/10, 2012. Liam Neeson the gritty action hero. How unbelievable that at nearly 60 years old, an actor can redefine his career and become more bankable. Neeson has somehow re-channeled the seriousness he brought to dramatic roles into creating utterly convincing heroes in decent (at best) thrillers. But that's not "The Grey." "The Grey" earns marks far above decent, and Neeson's performance makes it better. I know, the calendar clearly reads January, but that's a matter of maximizing box-office potential in this case. Writer/director Joe Carnahan ("The A-Team") has turned a new leaf in this harrowing wilderness survival thriller, a film as dedicated to exploring the true extent of the human will to live as much as shocking its audience with menacing wolf attacks. Neeson leads the pack in all manner of ways. Paid to protect oil workers from nature's dangers (especially wolves), Neeson's character Ottway turns out to be a group of drillers' best chance for survival when their plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness near a wolf den. He's far from a boy scout, however, and he's emotionally wounded by the fact that his wife has left him. Most of the early indicators in the film give you the sense that Neeson will do his usual solemn-faced hero routine that he executes to perfection, but the way the film unfolds (not in terms of plot, but in terms of the quality of the storytelling) asks him to go beyond that. He definitely responds. When looked at in its most fundamental form, "The Grey" could be considered just another film in which a group of imperiled people die one at a time en route to finding safety. Carnahan, however, slows down that pace so that we can absorb the extent of the danger and imagine ourselves in it. When death does occur, it's visually striking, jaw-dropping and/or thought-provoking as compared to standard efforts at the genre that involve only jump-scare deaths or death by character stupidity. It's also not just a film about people being hunted by wolves in the wilderness. There's no bloody man vs. wolf climactic battle, unlike what the trailers would have you believe, so film fans prone to take misleading marketing out on the film itself, be prepared. "The Grey" is much more of a suspenseful drama with high-adrenaline scenes lurking around every corner. The action is also more frenetic and gripping. Rather than shooting the action scenes in a traditional sense, he wants the viewer to feel as if they are experiencing them along with the characters. If a character falls from a tree top and hits 20 branches on the way down, that's exactly what the camera's doing. This maximizes the intensity of every major sequence. As for the wolves, they're horrifying, yet never painted as the bad guys. They're just part of nature. "The Grey" gives its audience the rare gift of genre-film entertainment with some serious food for thought and an ample dose of emotion. Carnahan's choices on how to tell the story, along with an ending not typical of genre films, only make it all the stronger. Both he and Neeson display the true nature of their strengths. Hopefully we've seen only the beginning of Carnahan's potential, and that nature is kind enough to Neeson to let him continue challenging the norm for the standard heroic performance.

The Experiment: Film Review

The Experiment (2010) Film Review, 3/10 I haven't seen Das Experiment, the original German film, but I'd read up on the Stanford Prison Experiment and was very intrigued as to how that premise could be transfered to the screen. This film, unfortunately, is surprisingly badly executed. The first few minutes aren't all that bad, and Scheuring presents an interesting basis: exploring the darker side of human nature and just how high up the evolutionary chain we are. The idea is to pit some people into a barely controlled prison simulation where one group takes the role of guards and the other one plays the prisoners. In the actual experiment, the first day was more or less uneventful and then the situation spiraled out of control. The guards, either taking on their roles stereotypically or for some other reason, started to abuse their power, and the experiment had to be cancelled before the planned end date. However, what this film does is turn what was potentially a great storyline into a clash between the overwhelmed prisoners and the almost cartoonishly cruel guards. The whole purpose of the film is lost when the "guards" are written out as intrinsically violent and mostly flat-out insane. The characters are unrealistic and, perhaps in an attempt to simplify the plot, mind- numbingly clichéd. In fact, the amount of sane people involved in this "experiment" is five at most... out of twenty-six. The film goes downhill from the moment the filmmakers decide to try to amp up the suspense, and the ending is almost incredibly stupid. The film doesn't even achieve the "so-bad-it's-entertaining" status because, despite the fact that it tries to put forth a serious issue, it is so overly simplified that it ends up insulting the viewer's intelligence. The only reason this has a three instead of a one is because the camerawork is quite good at times and both Brody and Whitaker do the best they can with their crappy characters in this badly written plot. unfortunately, it's not nearly enough to save it.

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Eminem-Relapse: Refill-Review

Eminem - Relapse Refill, 8.5/10, December 21, 2009, Aftermath, Interscope Eminem. He's baaaaaaack. While Relapse itself (which I will review separately sometime soon) received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike, I loved it. I found it to be better than Encore and The Eminem Show, and one of his strongest albums yet. There were original plans to release a relapse 2, but instead we got 8 new tracks in the form of Relapse: Refill. And it rocks. First track is Forever, a 6 minute supergroup song featuring Drake, Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Eminem also delivers the strongest verse on this track. We move on to Hell Breaks Loose, a fast paced duet with Dr Dre. You can tell they enjoy working with each other, finishing each others lines and jumping into the middle of verses, it\'s not the strongest track on the album but good all the same. Next we have Buffalo Bill, an intriguing song I\'m not even sure how to describe. Not what you\'d always expect from Eminem, but he raps in his trademark accent and talks about cutting up bodies. We move on to Elevator, with Eminem talking about how he never expected to become so famous. This is probably the most accessible song on the album, and one of my favourites. Taking My Ball is Eminem rapping in a very strong accent, sometimes it feels slightly excessive but this song is very good. Music Box is a strange song with Em talking about a music box playing his favourite song while he puts his daughter to sleep. Final song is Drop The Bomb On Em, a song with a catchy, very Dr Dre-ish beat. This album is very good, and a step up from the already good relapse.

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers: Single - Review

9.7/10. Tyler, The Creator. Loved by many, hated by an equal amount. I personally love the man, and OFWGKTA as a whole. I figured the first Odd Future review I write should be the big hit of the group, Tylers Yonkers. If you haven't seen the video I recommend you stop reading and watch it right now, it's pretty amazing. The song begins with an eerie beat as Tyler's trademark deepened voice growls 'Um, Wolf Haley, Golf Wang', and Tyler begins with 'I'm a f-ckin' walking paradox, no I'm not', a line that sets the tone for the whole song, unbelievably complex lyrics full of hidden meanings and paradoxes contradicting each other. That's pretty impressive. Yonkers has no chorus, just the so called Wolf Haley repeating 'Um, Wolf Haley, Um, Golf Wang' a few times. Second verse begins with Tyler making stabs at Jesus ('Jesus called he said he's sick of the disses, I told him to quit bitch this isn't a f-cking hotline'), referencing the Virginia Tech and Columbine massacres in the same line as rapping about going home to watch cartoon Adventure Time. The song then takes a turn for the eerie-er (is that a word?) when his voice gets deeper, the beat changes, and he talks about crashing that airplane that B.o.B is in (A reference to his hit 'Airplanes' featuring Hayley Williams, who is mentioned in the previous line) and stabbing Bruno Mars in his 'Goddamn Oesophagus' and not stopping 'till the cops come in'. At 3 minutes 5 seconds long your left wanting more, but thankfully the album version has an extra verse. In my opinion, video of the year, in the running for song of the year. Monumental, yet unbelievably chilling. Odd Future are going to take over the world.