lurtz6

Ok, so two weeks ago I was at my local library, browsing through the New shelf, when the title "Midnight Movie" jumped out at me. As soon as I saw the words "Tobe Hooper," I immediately got the book.

This is Hooper's first Novel, and is portrayed througha series of First-person segments, blog posts, emails, and interviews. The basic plot (SPOILER ALERT) goes like this:

Tobe Hooper, the legendary horror director, is contacted to host a screening of his very first film, made when he was 16 with some friends, called Destiny Express. The footage was recently found, so Hooper heads over to the showing in Texas.

The movie turns out to be a crappy but gruesome zombie film, and some people act strange when it is being shown. However everyone seems fine afterwords. Through a series of Emails and blogs, we learn that the people who attended the showing are having things happening to them, like developing an STD called the "Blue Spew," becoming raging Maniacs, and slowly turning into zombies.

These effects spread across the nation, prompting a typical zombie movie government crack-down situation. Hooper, realizing that Destiny Express was the focal pint of all of this, sets out with some other survivors to remake the films, in an attempt to reverse the plaques that will soon consume the world...

For a first Novel, Tobe Hooper has done an admirable job. There are some negatives, however. A main character early in the novel basically disappears half-way through, and every so often, the writing kinda sucks. The ending is HILARIOUS, after the fireworks are over, and some of the comment left me laughing out loud.

Having said that, there are actual disturbing parts of this book, such as the description of the STD that is shown via blog post. Overall though, there isn't much scary. It's not a popcorn book either, it's odd, much like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in it's bleak, simplistic brutality, this book is the same way.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Midnight Movie, and for all of you horror fans out there (like everyone who will ever read this) this is a great novel. I hope Mr. Hooper will continue on with his writing, as it could be very good. As it is, this is a "B" book.

Rating: 8/10 In the horror genre of books, this is a low standout.