Forgotten Villains: Poltergeist’s Reverend Henry Kane

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

“He is a man filled with a demon lost in the dimension that surrounds our world. He thinks our world and his are the same. He knows your greatest strength is your love and he hates you for that. He has been trying to pull this family apart and he will continue to try. If he succeeds he will possess Carol Anne and destroy your spirit.”

If you say Poltergeist to the younger generation today they will look at you like you had two heads. But despite emcouraging them to go watch the Poltergeist movies (well the forst two anyway), they are missing out on one of movie history’s most terrifying and iconic villains ever.

Reverned Henry Kane is the human guise of the Beast and intent on claiming Carol Anne as his own like in the first movie. Having been brought up in a religious household, priests popping in at all hours was nothing new to us. It did mean however that we would never get to see the end of whatever episode of Charlie’s Angels or Starsky and Hutch we were watching at the time because there was no Skyplus or internet streaming sites. A priest’s arrival to your home commanded an unpoken respect and certain degree of bowing before him as a man of God, not physically but inwardly. You were on your best behaviour, no cursing and all of your focus was on him as tea and biscuits were consumed even though you were itching to turn the television back on. Indeed the Church’s word was law at a certain part of history so thank God that power didn’t exist when Henry Kane came on the scene. Never has religion been more terrifying.

Played by the late Julian Beck, the impact Kane made is not to be underestimated. This is remarkable as Beck was actually terminally ill during filming so the fact he delivered so beautifully is to be applauded. There is something not right when you look at Kane. He is thin but seems like a kindly old reverend but all of this is offset by that sharklike smile of his. It is almost as if there are too many teeth for that head but given the Beast within, it is one of the few times I’ve felt uneasy by someone smiling. His whole demeanour is that of a kind, charming old man who just wants to preach the word of God but we as the audience know this is far from the truth. Even his clothes seem out of time. The first time we see him is when Carol Anne is sitting at the kitchen table drawing although she doesn’t know who he is or why she is drawing him. The drawing is as terrifying as the man himself. When Carol Anne first sees him at the mall no one else does as people walk right through him. He introduces himself but mom Diane (JoBeth Williams) intervenes. His voice is almost sing song with that southern drawl. But the most terrifying encounter is when Henry Kane arrives at the Freeling home. It is cinematic brilliance from the initial view of his shadow walking the sidewalk and quietly singing a hymn. Jt is hypnotic and his face is almost misshapen. Given Beck’s gaunt appearance and sunken eyes due to his stomach cancer, it adds so much to his perfomance ironically. It is rare to create such a chilling entrance especially in broad daylight and the sun is shining. Suddenly it begins to rain. Kane is focused on Carol Anne in the garden. He sings with every step but the little girl is mesmerised until dragged onto the proch by her mother. There Kane faces all four of the Freeling family. The dog runs away whining at his touch and his request to come ina nd speak to the family about God is refused by Steve. They will talk on the porch. Carol Anne feels ill and is taken into the house. The flicker of frustration on Kane’s face is quickly replaced by that shark smile.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/8WdoyVjYvIw

But this slow, creepy stroll is a prelude for the electric exchange between Kane and Steve Freeling (Expendables Craig T Nelson). It is a battle for the soul of Carol Anne between techniclally two fathers. There is a vampire element here as Kane cannot come in without being invited and his eyes bulge hynotically as he tries to get rid of the obstacle that is Steve. This is where Kane tries to manipulate Steve by preying on his fears for his family’s safety.

As the poltergeist activity has started up again, an Indian shaman named Taylor lives at the Freeling house using his abilities to keep them safe. Kane tries to discredit Taylor as a charlatan claiming the Reverned helps families in crisis against such men. As we learn later Kane is mesmerising, capable of influencing entire crowds to do his bidding without question. He gets into Steve’s head and his fears about not being man enough to protect his family strike home. At the same time his presence is triggering visions in Diane’s head of Kane smiling in a cavern while people die in despair around him. Kane is earnest, he is sincere and almost persuades Steve to let him inside the house but when Steve rejects his plea, the facade falls away. Kane shouts out that they are all going to die and in a plsit second becomes mild mannered again before leaving. As Steve watches both the rain and Kane disappear.

It is later revealed that beneath the Freeling’s old home is the actual chamber Diane sees in her visions and it is filled with bodies including Kane’s. He was head of an apocalyptic cult that believed the end of days were coming and led his followers to this place and sealed them in under the guise of the promised land. But when the day came and went of the supposed end of days, Kane kept them all there to die. He became the monster he is and controls all the souls of his followers. Carol Anne was one of those souls that died that day but she escaped and now he wants her back.

Since he cannot persude Steve, he deides to control him. Steve gets drunk and swallows a worm that is possessed by Kane. Only Diane’s love for him breaks the hold forcing Steve to vomit up the worm which now has Kane’s face. it is grotesque to say the least as it goes down Steve’s throat and worse when vomited back up. Craig T Nelson brilliantly echoes Kane’s mannerisms especially when he begins to sing the same hymn Kane did earlier in the movie. It then becomes a tentacled monster which Steve defeats but another indicator just how powerful Kane really is. There is only one way to defeat him. As a family they must travel to the Other Side and fight Kane there with Taylor and psychic Tangina (from the first movie). Diane has rossed into the afterlife while still alive so she can move between them which explains her visions of Kane’s horror.

Returning to the scene of the first movie and their wrecked home, the Freelings travel across where Kane is a misshapen monster. Only by spearing him while on this side do they defeat him. Kane does not know love so is helpless against the power of a family and their love for each other.

But Kane would return in Poltergeist 3 when Carol Anne is being cared for in Chicago by relatives. This time Kane was played by Corey Burton in heavy makeup. But it wasn’t the same. While many think Poltergeist 3 without the Freelings was a mistake (which it was) Beck’s Kane was so unique and so frightening they could never hope to replicate it. Thye didn’t and the movie bombed. Perhaps a better course would have been to give Kane nother guise.

Julain Beck died on 14th September 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York before Poltergeist 2 was released. While the critics were not endeared by the sequel, there was no doubt that Beck’s role as Reverend Kane was nothing short of classic. He gave the character everything and if you wth the sne again where he tries to get into the Freeling house by manipulating Steve, his body language is reptilian as he shifts from nasty to nice. Kane will reign forever as the scariest of villains and singing hymns will never be the same again.

Book Excerpt: Zombie Blues Vegetarian Zombie

By and copyright of Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

“I got outside and realised I only had my hospital gown on which promptly fell off because it wasn’t tied at the back. I was naked…almost. When they do an operation like this, you’re fitted with a catheter. So there I am, naked as the day I was born with a big frigging catheter hanging between my legs. I am scundered, I thought to myself. I tried to remove it but my zombie fingers wouldn’t work. “

For far too long zombies have been seen as the monsters they are not so it’s time for a few changes! Welcome to Zombie Blues where you will discover what really goes on behind those dead eyes and shuffling walk. You will meet ten different zombies each with a story to tell. From Vegetarian Zombie to Kidney Trans[plant Zombie to The Zombie who would be King, you will reevaluate everything you thought you knew about the undead. You will finally get to hear their side of the story. What lies behind their tears and how did the apocalypse really begin? Enter if you dare because everything you knew about zombies is about to change.

VEGETARIAN ZOMBIE

Now don’t get a Save The Planet Zombie confused with a Vegetarian Zombie.

Save The Planet covers virtually everything; recycling, organic food, kill the plastic bag, you know the score. Me? I’m just a plain old vegetarian and people often get the two mixed up. I’ve no idea why but for some reason people think a vegetarian is all about saving the world and battling chemical trails in the sky etc.

Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I’m Lee Quan and I live in a little town outside Japan. I suppose the name gave it away somewhat but there you go. Now as I was saying, I’m as much for saving the planet as anyone else but I’m not handing pamphlets out to people or battling whaling ships. I still use plastic bags but dispose of them correctly. People with more valour and time than me defend. I just feed everyone.

I guess it kind of started with my grandmother who was an ace cook.

 She grew all her own stuff, rarely set foot in a supermarket unless she really, really needed to, bought spices etc from Mr Tsang’s store and never ever used anything artificial. She was a demon in the kitchen and woe betide anyone that got in her way or dared to offer advice on her recipes. She had a mouth on her like a machine gun only the language was much worse.

Even her most meagre looking dishes filled you up and her portions were generous. She was fiercely independent and her language would make Ramsey look like a choirboy but nobody could beat her cooking. MacDonald’s, KFC or the likes of the various pizza chains didn’t appeal. There was something about grandmother’s cooking that left you sated. No, actually it was more than that. Watching her cook was like seeing into her very soul. She poured every passionate fibrous part of her into every morsel. It was not a meal; it was a work of art that encompassed her as a person. To taste her food was to relish in years of culinary experience as sweet and succulent as the very foods she put together. There was nothing like it.

Now don’t think I’m a prude with food. I have tried the Big Mac and every other type of food you can think of but wasn’t fussed. I learned instead how to cook, as I said, from my grandmother and ended up opening my own restaurant.

Actually when I think about it, I didn’t just learn to cook from her. That statement reduces it to something standard and every day. No, she showed me how to think about the meal I was creating, how to focus on the benefits for the consumer. Putting together the ingredients was a formula that only a true lover of cuisine could see. Anyone can cook food but how many truly understood the nature and flow of it all? Do you think the people serving MacDonald’s really thought about the food or the impact on you? A meal should be part of your life experience, not fast or junk as is the norm these days. It should enrich you, inspire you just as she inspired me.

I went back to school and learned all about nutrition. Did you know how much hidden salt, sugar and saturated fat is in supposedly healthy food? I was horrified. Even my diabetic friend was advised by the in-house dietician on what to eat to help his blood sugars was shocked. Their healthy diet for him was riddled with hidden dangers especially to a diabetic. When I looked at what he was eating, I came up with a more natural alternative that not only helped his diabetes but you could literally see the change in his skin and appearance.

I now own a farm where we grow our own food stuffs. In fact, it’s a bigger version of grandmother’s allotment but the principles the same. Everything is natural with no additives and I love it. I feel so blessed to have learned so much from my grandmother and been able to put it into practice.

Twelve Weapons Book 1 by James Dwyer out now!

Presented by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

In the first Season of Birth, life was created without death and twelve immortals were born. They were the Weapons, and when the Seasons turned, from Birth to Growth, from Decay to Death, the world died and the Weapons remained.

In the second Season of Birth, the world was reborn and blessed with mortal life who worshipped the Weapons as gods, crafting the world to their glory. Each new Cycle saw more life born and reborn only to become subject to the Weapons’ will, only to be given a hopeless life under a Weapon’s rule. Hopeless, until one day a Human named Adelis uncovers the way to kill them.

Adelis is a mother who loves her son. Raised to value strength above all else, she raises her son, Ruke, to be strong enough to withstand the world. Adelis believes the meaning of life is to give your life meaning, and if she can kill just one immortal, it would give meaning to all.

Ruke is a son who seeks desperate freedom from his maniac of a mother. Together with Grin – a drunken hound who is made more from wine and steel than Meat – he will struggle to survive in a world filled with peril, made all the worse by a mother who goes actively searching for more.

And Caze, the most feared of all the Weapons, is a winged demon responsible for the deaths of billions. Tired of eternity, he yearns for a life of purpose and worth, and he believes he finds this worth when he uncovers the plans of the First Weapon to destroy all life. Caze sets out to stop this, to do something of meaning for once, and he will not fail.

After all, what could possibly stop an immortal Weapon?

Villains of the Time Warriors: Sandara Vendris

By and copyright of Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright Owen Quinn. Drawn by Stephen Mooney

They say there is nothing like a woman scorned and that every hero needs their very own Moriarty. For Xereban scientist Varran in the Time Warriors, his combines both these traits.

Sandara Vendris is a woman on a mission; to destroy Varran and everything he stands for by making Earth the new Xereba. Humanity would be servants to her cause as all Xerebans could finally stand proud on the soil of their new home instead of living in secret chained by the mundane rat race of humanity. She along with Varran, is the only original survivor from the day Xereba was destroyed in the temporal explosion.

Using the chameleon net technology aboard the Juggernaut she hid her true identity. Her shield was that of a man while she plotted her revenge on Varran. However their sudden arrival on Earth changed all that and she slipped into human society easily intent on using this new platform to fulfill her plans. Her first task was to establish a power base and seek out Xerebans that shared her view of the future. This began in Victorian London where she went under the guise of Dr Wainwright. Tere she continued her research into genetics by taking over an asylum and using the inmates some of which were children.

Humans are beneath her purview but she uses and manipulates them to suit her purposes. When she meets Michael and Tyran Sandara realises Varran is close and teams up with them to get close and kill him. However she soon discovers they are from the future. Familiar with his work in temporal mechanics, she realises that she cannot kill him now as the timelines would collapse. She steals some of his DNA to help her age slower so she can face him in a hundred years time. But dimensional beings called the Weavers form an alliance with her in a deal that will allow her to survive until she can take down Varran.

Vendris is behind the jellyfish mutants on Farron Island and the teenagers implanted with chips to enhance their mental abilities. In Tempest their timelines finally cross allowing her to make her move.

We discover she has been keeping tabs on Jacke, Michael and Tyran as they grew up and has built a secret base in the Australian outback called Area 52 with the fortune she has accumulated over the years from property investments back in Victorian London and beyond. In 1947 she learned of the alien crash in Roswell and struck a deal with American government to allow her to contact the surviving Greys. They form an alliance in which she believes they will help her alongside the Weavers to build a temporal machine that will help her bring back someone very important to her and the bane of Varran’s existence.

She believes she will not fail as Varran has no idea she or the group she has formed, the Family are waiting like predators in the shadows. The greatest enemy is the one you don’t know exists.

She is a master strategist hampered by her belief in her own superiority. As I said earlier she considers humans beneath her yet her right hand man is a human called simply Mr Ling. She rescued him from the streets as a boy when he saved her from being assassinated. Unable to believe it, she vowed to take him under her wing and he has remained loyal ever since. Such is their devotion to each other that Ling allows his pregnant girlfriend Sharon to sleep with Tyran’s brother Robert letting him believe their baby is actually his. With this viper secred in the nest, Sandara launches her attack on the families of the Time Warriors. This forces Varran to bring them all aboard the Juggernaut for safety including Sharon. She records and sends the elusive teleport frequency allowing Sandara to take control of the space station built by her former lover General Solos.

We learn that she and Varran met years ago at a conference but she passed herself off as a school teacher so as to not alert him to her connection with Solos, Varran’s enemy. He had been incorporating Varran’s temporal machinery into the Juggernaut systems against Varran’s wishes. This forced Varran underground to protect his work. However on the day he was about to send himself through time, Solos’ men broke in and a stray bullet set off the lethal temporal explosion. Sandara was already aboad the Juggernaut. With the new temporal manipulator she brings Solos back to reign as the Emperor and Empress of new Xereba.

No one knew she was pregnant with Solos’s child which she losf. Her grief fuels her hatred of Varran blaming him solely for the shattering of her dreams of family life. Little does she know the Greys have been plotting behind her back and are going to use the manipulator to open a dimensional rift and finish their original mission; to merge their world with Earth to prevent their species’ extinction. She and Varran discover that Solos has been infected by an alien parasite queen and if Xereba had not been destroyed every citizen would have fallen to the swarm.

But Varran has been aware of the Family’s existence and set his own trap, defeating her, the Greys and destroying Area 52 scattering the Family all across the planet. Ling is killed but when Sandara escapes she takes his hand. Such is her genius with cloning and genetics, Ling is restored to full health by The Return. This speaks volumes of the connection between the two that she will not let death take him from her.

We meet her, Ling and Sharon in The Return when Sharon contacts the Warriors to ask for their help. Sandara has no idea who she is and thinks she is the Mayor of the small town of Gaston in America. Wary of a trap, the Warriors are caught in a plot by an old enemy. This time, Varran lets her go as he is in no position to capture her.

When Jacke and Michael are thrown into a future where the secret existence of the Xerebans have been discovered and imprisoned in camps, they are captured by a resistance group led by Sandara. They must collaborate to put history back on track but the humans having stripped the crashed Juggernaut of all tech, have summoned an alien race with a vested interest in not only the Xerebans but humanity too.

There is no doubt Sandara is a woman that knows what she wants and will make a deal with the Devil in order to make things happen. But she is still out there and the Warriors will discover her tracks still echo loudly through history.

As always stay tuned.

Force Ghosts and Vader: The Mystery

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright Owen Quinn

I know there are probably other people that have noticed and written on this subject but I have to get my two cents in.

When recently watching Star Wars A New Hope, we get to the climatic fight between Vader and Kenobi aboard the Death Star. When Kenobi gives Vader that smartarse smirk and says “If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” it occurred to me that Vader has not one baldy notion of what he is talking about. Now as we know in hindsight Kenobi is a sneaky, lying old bollocks as witnessed in my article on his intentions for Luke: https://timewarriors.co.uk/2020/11/19/luke-skywalker-rebel-without-a-cause/

That, ‘I know something you don’t know’ look gets on my goat and I haven’t looked at my 12 inch Kenobi the same ever since. So when Vader cuts him down and the body vanishes, poor old Vader is left scratching his helmet in puzzlement as he prods the rags with his boot. I’m pretty sure those robes probably stank too after Tatooine’s weather. It’s not as if he had time to grab a shower or tin of Lynx before they blasted off in the Falcon. And I’m not even going to point our those rags included Kenobi’s underwear….I’ll leave that to your imagination.

So my little brain piped up and realised that Vader does not know about Force ghosts. If he did then he would have kept Kenobi alive. So how then does he become one at the end of Return of the Jedi and became his younger self. Now by Empire Strikes Back it is clear Vader knows about Luke and he is the baby daddy but surprisingly there is no canon detailing if he learned about Force ghosts and how to become one in the event of his death. I’m pretty sure this is a hole Disney would love to plug with a new series as it has it’s three fingers in every other plothole. I can’t say nothing and suddenly there’s a series about it.

Now, of course, it took an Irishman to discover how to come back from the afterlife. The big man himself, Liam Neeson, tells Yoda he has learned this great new party trick and can now visit whenever he wants. It is said literally as a throwaway line at the end of Revenge of the Sith but it has major repercussions for the Jedi. If you notice, there are no Sith Force ghosts at all. Maul is brought back by literal dark magic and Palpatine survives until Rise of Skywalker despite his death in Return of the Jedi. (Yes, we know it was a desperate ploy to save the trilogy Disney messed up with the Last Jedi but who am I to cast aspersions? *smirks smugly like Kenobi about to die in his dirty drawers*)

There is evidence in a non canon book Vader went searching for the knowledge of the Force ghosts but it doesn’t really stand. In fact, I discovered that there is no actual reason for Vader to turn up as a ghost in Return. He was probably more concerned with finding out who blew up the Death Star and how much child maintenance he would have to pay.

Now in the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi mini series or season one as it is now known, it was a sure thing Liam would turn up and teach Kenobi the secrets of becoming a Fore ghost. My only problem is you can’t float like a ghost would. You still have to walk and sit as seen when Luke pulls Kenobi up about his lying manipulation. Even as a ghost the bastard still twists it to suit himself. It’s obviously not heaven they are in. So in-between Liam coming back on Tatooine and that fateful fight on the Death Star, Kenobi had an ace over his former friend.

I would assume the Emperor didn’t know either or he would have told the Sith. He didn’t need cloning to survive. He could just return as a shimmering blue ghost and be a pain in the galaxy’s ass forever. This would indicate that only good guys can become a ghost to wander spying on everyone and spouting wisdom that they really should have taught others when they were alive. Even Yoda’s cane makes it to the afterlife but it was a loyal cane they said.

There are clearly rules as to who can cross between worlds so it could be and has been theorized that when Vader saved Luke and killed the Emperor, his soul was saved allowing him access to the afterlife. It is said that when he died, Kenobi met him on the other side with Yoda and helped him take his final step to becoming like them. This would also explain why he appeared as his younger self in the new edit as he was good as a young man. But then if your best friend cut your legs off and left you to burn alive, you wouldn’t be so forgiving either. I’d hunt the bastard down with my new longer legs too. My circle of buddies just read that and their blood drained audibly. Guys, you know me, gentle as a kitten……

But the older Anakin also became good when he saved his son and daughter from the Emperor so that’s why he appeared originally at the end of Jedi along with Yoda and Kenobi. Those two were good all their lives so their old age versions popped up. Come to think of it, Kenobi’s robes became ghosts and Anakin got new ones so are they they just visual representations of how their loved ones remembered them explaining the clothes and cane? So if this is true then either version of Anakin is valid as a ghost. Still, if I was Kenobi, I’d be asking Liam how I go about getting my younger face back.

So, that’s my meanderings of Force ghosts which might make me think, I really need to get out more, but then again; if I died without being sucked in by the Star Wars universe, things would be a lot more boring.

Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live new trailer

Presented by Owen Quinn author

video copyright AMC and photo copyright Owen Quinn

It’s getting closer until we find out what happened to Rick Grimes and will Michonne reunite with him? The teasers are coming in tantalising droplets. In a recent episode of Daryl Dixon, he speaks to Carol over the radio who tells him someone has come back but who? Static prevents him from hearing the name but in Fear the Walking Dead, Morgan left to find Rick. Surely that is not a coincidence ? Check out the new trailer below as February gets closer for The Ones Who Live.

Book Excerpt: Zombie Blues 2: Ice Queen Zombie

By and copyright of Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

More Zombies, more trouble. Welcome to book 2 of Zombie Blues who give us their view on the world and life from behind undead eyes. This time round meet Diabetic Zombie, Racist Zombie, the Ice Queen and why is there a zombie with no teeth?

Now available on Amazon

The state does not exist to provide scroungers and vagabonds an easy life while the rest of us work for our money.

No, my Mama always said I was destined for greater things than the half baked servants we employed. My Mama, Alexandria Benoit, a socialite in the highest of Parisian circles due to her father being the French ambassador for the United Nations for many years, always inspired me.

The reason people are servants and working subservient jobs is because they were far too lazy to get an education. Knowledge, she drummed into me, is the greatest passport in the world. There is no door that cannot be opened with education and she was right. With our familialnwealth, I studied every medical book I could find in her extensive library. If we did not have it in our library then Mama ordered it in.

There was never any question of me going to a boarding school nor a private one. I might be with people equal to my social status but there were deviants even in those circles. I could meet the wrong type of person and be led astray into habits that inflict the lower classes. Even girls like me can be sucked into that black hole.

To that end, Mama brought in a governess to tutor me, to guide me to the path I was to take. Her name was Madeline Graffon. She was a stern faced woman who melted in the presence of Mama. I took great pleasure in that because she was a hard teacher, forever pushing me to soak in the knowledge I needed. Resentment grew as I needed no encouragement to learn because my path was so clear; it was almost a waste of her time educating me. She had the waft of peaches about her which mildly irritated my senses but a deft squirt of a perfume soon put paid to that. I was a defiant student constantly challenging her teachings but by the end of it all, I had a knowledge second to none thanks to my absorption of her lessons.

However, the failings of the underclass wormed its way into our homestead.

One evening, I heard the most outrageous row between Mama and Papa. They were screaming at the top of their voices at each other. I grew frightened by it because it was alien to me. Etiquette and couth was paramount to Mama especially when facing the public in her role of socialite. We were France’s Kardashians long before it was fashionable.

I cowered in my room hugging my raggedy doll, Anna, when Papa knocked on my door. He entered and gave me a loving smile. His dark eyes glistened as he sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand gently. My Papa was a large man with a round face with dark whiskers forming a curt beard. His expression told me something was wrong. I had never seen him look like this before. I was afraid for probably the first time in my life as he spoke to me. I learned why he and Mama were shouting at each other. He told me he was going to live elsewhere but it didn’t mean that he didn’t love me any more. Mama and he had decided they needed time apart. I clung to him tightly begging him not to go. I recall to this day his embrace full of love and tenderness but there was something final about it. Even at that young age my instincts were good.

All I remember after that moment was the sound of doors closing. First my door then his bedroom door and finally the front door that shut with a funeralesque thud. I never even heard my mother cry her heart out that night. My father never came back after that and I assumed he just didn’t love me anymore. Mama told me so two months later over dinner confirming my suspicions. As Mama trained me, I showed no emotion in front of her. Inside was another matter entirely. From that night on I grew a shell around my feelings, vowing to never let anyone hurt me ever again.

Forgotten Villains: Darkman’s Robert G. Durant

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Now, let’s consider my points, one by one. One, I try not to let my anger get the better of me. Two, I don’t always succeed. Three… I’ve got seven more points.

The above is the speech Robert G Durant gives to Eddie Black as he uses his cigar cutter to take his fingers off one by one. Black had refused to sell his property to Durant so the gangster killed Black’s men in an unusual way. Moments earlier, Durant uses his goon’s one legged status to smuggle in a machine gun to kill Black’s men. He is the nemesis of Liam Neeson’s Darkman released in 1990. Durant is a mob boss into literally everything with no conscience or compassion. He is sadistic as the finger cutting scene shows.

When he attacks the lab of Liam Neeson’s Peyton Westlake seeking a document, the Belisarius Memorandum, Peyton is working on a synthetic skin for burns victims unaware he will be the first person to need use of it. But it’s imperfect and only stabilises in dark surroundings. Durant orders Peyton’s assistant Yakitito murdered then the scientist himself is burned beyond recognition. As a parting gesture Durant orders the lab assistant’s fingers cut off for himself. Like the Governor in the Walking Dead, Durant has a sick habit. He collects fingers and keeps them in a wooden display case.

Played by Larry Drake, Durant is buying up property for his illegal activities under RGD Corporation, and its subsidiary, the Intercity Land Development. He has secrets on everyone giving him control and multiple bases to dodge the authorities. Durant has an ally in the form of equally corrupt but not as evil, Louis Strack Jnr. Together they plan a City of the Future which will be totally under their control.

But it starts to unravel for Durant when Darkman duplicates one of Durant’s minions, Paulie. He goes on a mission to obtain cash for Durant but when both vanish, Durant storms to Paulie’s apartment where he finds Paulie asleep. Despite his protestations, Durant throws him out of the top flor window for stealing his money. Durant has no loyalty to even those who have served him well over the years. Unaware that he is being listened in to and played, Durant finds himself being arrested for robbing a convenience store and is caught when he says his name into the security camera while not wearing a mask. Darkman plans this so he can take Durant’s place in a money handover with one of his Japanese counterparts. They say they have no money trying to play him for a fool. Durant lights a cigar saying he better have the money by the time he finishes the cigar and thanks to a slick lawyer, Durant meets the other Durant with the money. They both fight and the minions have no idea who is the real Durant. One Durant floors the other, taking the case but his face begins to melt, giving him away.

Seeing the melting mask, Durant catches on who is behind the thefts. He attacks Darkman’s lab but he has it rigged and kills all his minions in one swoop. They then fight on a helicopter being pursued by a police chopper. Durant will let nothing get in his way and blows it out of the sky. Darkman manages to get on top of a truck and hooks the helicopter to it. Helpless Durant is caught in the massive explosion as the helicopter is pulled into a tunnel by the truck. However all great villains find a way back and Durant is no exception.

In The Return of Durant, Durant has survived the explosion and is now after full control of the drug trade. He was in a coma for 878 days and upon waking found his empire in ruins. Weapons make big money so Durant breaks out a specialist from an asylum, Dr Alfred Hathaway. Prior to Durant’s coma and Hathaway’s arrest, he was developing a brand new weapon unlike anything that has been seen before; a particle weapon called the Vigilante. Durant tries to force the Brinkmans to sell their warehouse to him but both refuse. Darkman is friends with the Brinkmans but his helping Laurie escape Durant reveals to Durant that Darkman is alive and ready to be taken down permanently.

Given their last meeting and the fact Darkman can duplicate anyone, Durant becomes ever more paranoid. The only thing that matters is to kill Darkman once and for all. The second movie is much more violent than the first reflecting the desperate thirst Durant has towards his foe. Virtually everyone is killed in the battle leaving Darkman to trap Durant in a car and kill him by setting off the car bomb. In his final moments Durant does a ‘Khan’ and curses Darkman.

Durant is by far one of the coldest and heartless foes ever to grace the big screen. Larry Drake doesn’t even sweat in the role; comfortable in taking out obstacles and those who have left him down. One mistake equals termination. He and Darkman are a rawer more animalistic duo than say Daredevil and Wilson Fisk, although there are parallels between them. Based in their cartoon roots, the Darkman movies are worth a catch up. You may never look at pink elephants the same ever again.

Time Warriors Shorts: Varran vs Racists

By and copyright of Owen Quinn 2023

Dracula Drive

“Y’all don’t look like you’re from round here. You from the big city?” grunted a raspy voice seemingly out of nowhere.

Turning on the dirt track, Jacke and Varran blinked at the overweight man in his dirty denim dungarees and murky bulging white T-shirt cradling a powerful looking black hunting rifle curiously. His thick brown leather boots with their scuffed surface, laced with mud, spoke of previous treks into the dense whispering forests surrounding them against a backtrack chirp of multiple birds that serenaded them. Standing here on this dirt track in the middle of Shaw’s Forest, made this sudden encounter feel a bit uncomfortable to him. He threw a ‘ready for action’ reassuring glance towards the equally cautious Jacke before Varran took in the men standing before them.

The man’s thickening jowls were showing minute white whiskers amid his red veined flaky skin on his weathered features, He was sweating despite the relative cool June morning. It was hard to judge what the day’s weather would bring from the stalemate sky.

In a second Varran’s sapphire eyes had scanned the man and his two comrades flanking him and Jacke in seconds. He and Jacke were dressed in jeans and shirts suitable for the time, Varran’s loose fitting jacket was tan and Jacke’s was dark navy, to suit the time and climate yet here they were being confronted for no reason by this trio of hunters who quite frankly could do with being put through a spin cycle in a washing machine or a sheep dip; twice. It was as if they carried the dirt of the woods in their probably alcohol tainted blood judging by the smell of their collective breaths. Varran nodded over-enthusiastically, rocking on the balls of his feet bringing a strange glance from Jacke.

“Yes, indeed Huckleberry, very astute,” he gushed. “We just had to see your lovely state for ourselves. Place names like Velvet Street and Zion make it sound like a cross between delicious, succulent, mouth watering cake and mystery central. Sure, how could we resist?” He smiled disarmingly.

“My name ain’t Huckleberry mister.”

The man’s reply was quietly threatening, his grey eyes fixed on this strange white man with the piercing sapphire eyes.   

“Apologies,” Varran offered in a humble tone looking at the burly man to his left, “You must be Huckleberry or is it Buck? Willy?”

The burly man with the thinning ginger hair tilted his head but said nothing. Varran pulled a face and pointed to the last man. “Huck or Buck?”

The last man, his scarred hands tightly cradling a sleek black hunting rifle in his hands with dirty ginger nails fell for the goading. He stared coldly at the stranger that had seemingly come out of nowhere invading their territory. Jacke couldn’t help but star at the large mole on his cheek. It has gross hair sprouting it like spider legs.

“It’s Bill, Jeff and Colton mister,” he said. “Are you deliberately trying to disrespect the three of us? Think we’re hillbillies? You shouldn’t be walking here cause you’re scaring the animals away.”

With that he shifted his footing casting a look at Jacke who held his stare. It disguised very little and spoke volumes.

“Are we trespassing on your land or is it something else bothering you? Why don’t you join us later for a pie. He’s the sucker for red velvet cake,” she smiled gesturing at Varran, Her suggestion seemed to make them uncomfortable. It suddenly struck her velvet cake may not have been invented yet.

“You need to be careful round these parts, “ Colton said, his creased T-shirt not quite as white as Jacke first thought upon seeing him.

“Why’s that?” Varran asked innocently brushing away a fly of some sort. He was selfishly enjoying their discomfort.

“You got to know your place round here or trouble will follow,” Bill said, his scarred hands tightening on his weapon. Jeff nodded.

“Maybe this is not the place for you especially your companion.”

Varran’s head snapped from the three men to Jacke and back again, eyes wide with innocent query.

“But we heard you have lovely food here in town,” he said gesturing with his hands. “Even if your blood sugars and cholesterol are in serious danger.” He forced a laugh that died in his throat as the three men stared at him totally unimpressed or amused or obviously not seeking to engage with either him or Jacke.

“It seems that these strangers won’t be dear friends we haven’t met yet,” Jacke remarked with a sigh. “Pity. We could use directions.”

Bill’s mouth tightened as he glared at Jacke who held his gaze.

“You’re black but then again I heard your kind aren’t that smart,” he chimed earning grins from his two friends.

With a startled gasp of surprise, Varran stepped back whirling round to look Jacke straight in the face.

“You’re black?” he gasped as if it her colour was a sudden revelation he had been blind to all this time.

Jacke put her hand to her face, her mouth agape. Gently Varran closed it for her.

“I never knew!” she feinted.

“When did it happen?” Varran asked worriedly.

Biting her lower lip in thought and putting her chin in her fingers as she stroked her chin and raised her eyes to the heavens as if looking to God himself for answers.

“I think when I was born but don’t quote me on that,” she replied.

“Oh I won’t but it demands further study,” Varran sympathised. “Did I ever tell you my secret; that I am colour blind?”

Putting her hands on her hips Jacke again feinted mock surprise. “Two revelations in one morning; guys, every day’s a learning day.”

The trio of hunters looked at Jacke and Varran uncertainly. How could the white haired one fail to notice the girl’s skin colour. Those weird eyes of his looked like they could see through anything.  Maybe these two had just escaped from somewhere or been locked in a barn for years and just recently got out. Whatever the story, they held on to their weapons a bit tighter than usual.

“What blind?” Bill asked, his brow furrowed with curiosity.

Whirling round, Varran stared at them nodding furiously while at the same time reaching into his inside pocket whipping out his hand unit.

Suddenly alarmed at the sight of the strange slim metallic device in the hands of what be an unstable person, Colton and Jeff cocked their weapons pointing them at Varran.

“Colour blindness, first discovered in 1794 by John Dalton. He and his brother suffered from it,” he explained quickly. “If only you knew your history as well as you know hunting,” There was a sudden wistful melancholy in his voice.

“Are you government mister? I ain’t ever seen a machine like that before,” Bill demanded taking a step back and jerking his rifle meaningfully at them.

Holding his hands up disarmingly so they could see his device clearly, the Xereban cocked his head with a reassuring grin. Oh gents, in seventy years or so you’d think this was a mere cellphone but you’d be sadly mistaken, he thought.

“No, I’m an inventor and this device helps me see what colour people are.” He paused. “I just wave it around your head like this.”

I can’t believe he’s doing the actions, Jacke thought, trying not to smile at her friend’s antics. She’d have to speak to Tyran and Michael; the older he’s getting the more of an extravert he’s becoming. But then again, when you don’t know if you’re immortal or not, you probably are inclined to take more risks. Is that behaviour a sort of attempt to see if he can push someone to kill him so the riddle could be answered once and for all or a subconscious reaction to recent events when he suffered a mini breakdown? I really need to have a chat with him and put my training to use, she thought. No point being a qualified psychologist if you accept sudden changes in a person without questioning it. 

“Do you want to hold it?” Varran pressed to the cautious trio holding it out to tense Bill then the others. None of them took up his offer.

“We’re white just like you Mister. Any fool can see that. We can eat wherever we like; we can do what we like,” Jeff spat watching Varran with every hunter instinct he had, his finger on the trigger.

“Let me show you!”

Varran moved almost like a dancer running the hand unit over Bill’s head first, the unit buzzing lightly. He would then studiously check the hand unit, move his fingers across the settings then check Bill again making small noises in his throat. Bill pulled back slightly as if an irritating hornet was ready to sting him.

With a sudden weary sigh, Varran frowned and turned the hand unit off. He licked his lips and eyed Bill like a naughty child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“I’m sorry Huckle- I mean Bill but I’m afraid that I have unsettling news for you.”

His face was set as steel, his voice hard as if trying to control his emotions.

“What?” demanded Bill.

“You’re not white,” Varran deadpanned.

“The hell I ain’t. I’m as white as you, you damned idiot!”

Shaking his head slowly and giving an indignant Bill a worried look, Varran sighed again holding up the hand unit for him to see. Bill saw an image of his face with weird veiny lines over his skin.

“Normal sunlight prevents you from seeing it but you’re yellow. I’m sorry but your liver is sick. There’s a build up of bilirubin in your blood. Bilirubin not so good for good old reliable Billy. It’s a sure solid indicator of heavy drinking. Have you thought of water only with milk; I would be if I were you as of now; isn’t life ironic at times?”

Jeff and Colton were both scanned next as Bill stood dumbfounded. They were clearly nervous at hearing Bill’s news, eyeing him to see if they could catch a tinge of his yellow skin. The mottled sunlight trickling through the trees obviously was shading it very well from them.

Varran walked round in a small circle, really milking their mutual anxiety much to Jacke’s amusement.

“Jeff, you’re blue, not sky blue, closer to lips blue, can’t breathe blue. Your cholesterol levels are high and arteries are finding it hard to pump blood and oxygen round your body.” He grabbed his right hand tightly and lifted it up for inspection. Noting the yellow and brown discolouring round the fingers, Varran made a triumphant little noise.

“You need to stop smoking now. Go for a run in the mornings or you’ll be dead in no time at all. One fine morning the sun will be shining brightly promising a brand new day and you’ll be clutching your arm as your heart explodes. Nasty way to go don’t you think?”

“No! My darlin’ Myrtle will be devastated!” he cried genuine anguish in his voice.

“Your wife?”

“No, my goat!”

“Say nothing,” Jacke muttered under her breath as Varran struggled with that piece of information.

He turned to Colton who was trembling at this point. His blue eyes were wide with a silent pleading.

“I don’t smoke or drink mister so I’m fine right? I’m not going to die like these two right?” His voice elevated in pitch like a choirboy in the hope that Varran would smile and tell him he was fine. “Right mister?”

“Off-white diarrhoea for you. It has been seeping through your pores for a long time now. You really need to drink more water and tons of fruit and porridge to really clean out that colon and bowels Colton. Otherwise you’ll spend your days in the outhouse 24/7 with neither a magazine or enough toilet roll to save you.”

Jacke grimaced. “Trust me, you really don’t want a burning ring as your last memory.”

Shocked by the startling news, the three hunters looked at each other. This was just going to be a squirrel hunt but now it had turned into ‘you have a short future’ day. Bill thought to himself he was going to give Doc Burton a mouthful when he saw him next, which was going to be sooner than planned. He wanted to see his three sons grow and teach them to carry on the carpentry business he ran.

Colton could see his wife, Karen, nag him when he told her. Seeing a dark future of nagging wife, he decided he’d change without telling her and become this hero in her eyes. She wouldn’t have anything to complain about with an Adonis for a husband. He pressed his left mob and swore to take this stranger’s advice. Now driven, he would give Karen the babies she wanted and he’d been avoiding. Memories of his dark childhood had haunted him for years but kept a wall between the two of them. No, things change as of today. 

“Maybe you guys can exercise together for encouragement and form a running club; go swimming in the creeks and lakes about here. You’ll soon see the benefits,” Jacke added.

Bill stared at his hands.

“But I’m as white as you are mister,” he said disbelievingly.

With a puzzled look at Jacke, Varran shook his head in disagreement.

“Sorry Bill but I’m off duck egg white, a sort of mottled grey in fact.”

“So we have black, duck egg grey, yellow, brown and blue,” Jacke mused. “Wow, every day really is a learning day.”

She jerked her head at Varran to take this opportunity to leave. They set off down the trail leaving the three hunters bewildered and with a lot to think about. They were holding their hands up to the sky to see the real colour of their skin as described by Varran.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Jacke muttered chuckling to herself.

Varran laughed too. “I hate racists.”

Suddenly he stopped and turned on his heel wincing as he did so. The boots he had worn for this trip to the 1930s, they were rubbing into the back of his heel.

“Excuse me sirs!” he called out to the trio of hunters. “Are we heading the right way to get to Dracula Drive? We’re looking for the Melonheads.”

Also available from Owen Quinn

The Time Warriors First Footsteps

The Time warriors The Voalox Horror

The Time Warriors Red Water

The Time Warriors Tempest

The Time Warriors Venom

The Time Warriors The Moon Once More & Other Storiesink this was a cellphone

The Time Warriors Spooklight & The Skull

The Time Warriors The Belbridge Mystery

Th Time Warriors: Only the Dead Get Off at Kymlinge & Other Stories

Zombie Blues

Zombie Blues 2

Zombie Blues 3

Get your copies today at www.amazon.co.uk        

                      About the author

Owen Quinn is a resident of Northern Ireland and has been a life long science fiction and horror fan. His desire to write for his favourite show Doctor Who at the age of fifteen led to the birth of the Time warriors series. He is the creator of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues books.

He is a regular attendee at conventions across the country and infamously fell and broke his shoulder at his first Walker Stalker convention. He still managed to keep his photo ops with both Chandler Riggs and Danai Gurira.

He is a keen photographer also has a secret desire to be the first Irish Doctor Who.