Movie Review - Killer Assistant

Killer Assistant

2016

The Cast

Love is eternal.

Suzanna Austin (Zucker) is a successful magazine editor.  Used to working by herself, her boss, Janet McAlper (Baron) assigns her an assistant, David (Eaton), after noticing how stressed she's been getting.  David appears too good to be true and as time progresses Suzanne begins to believe he's got an ulterior motive...

I really liked this story for its characterisations.  Tilson and Wakefield have created a well structured and ingenious tome.  Suzanne is a strong career-minded woman, who can be relied upon to get the magazine out... but not to be a great mother or wife, as she spends most of her time at work.  Then when David's character enters the story we get to see how the stress of her work and family life help her to become suspicious and paranoid.  This starts off small but builds up fast, to the point she's worrying about her own sanity.  Add the element of her family getting to know David and actually trusting him, into the mix, and this keeps the story interesting... at times, actually engrossing.

The good thing is, both the lead actor and actress are great in their performances and bring their characters to life; giving the film and story strength.

Though Boyle does add a couple of nice shots the filming is pretty standard, which is okay when you have a good cast and an even better storyline.  However, it would have only strengthened the movie to make it more engaging for the audience.  Thank God, he's better at manipulating the pace.  Boyle is good at building the tension and atmosphere from a simmer to a full boil.  This starts right at the beginning with the "Years Earlier" scene up to the climax.  He also throws in a couple of peaks along the way, giving the audience a rollercoaster ride.

I'd recommend this to all Mystery Lovers and Armchair Detectives worldwide.

I give this mysterious soul-mate a 6 out of 10.

The Trailer

Story - Flash Fiction - The Room

By Stephen A Abell

Copyright: 3rd May 2017

Number Of Words: 300

He loved this website.

Since his best friend gave him the address he'd visited every day.  From all the available girls, Lil’Daisy was his favourite.  She was twenty-something though wore her hair in two pigtails and along with her soft sweet voice this gave her the glamour of being younger.  No doubt that’s what the punters wanted… but not him.  Her vivid blue eyes were the attraction, he envisioned diving into them to float and drift for hours.

His hands were sweating… his heart palpitating… as he typed one word and one punctuation into the message box and hit send... and it felt as though he were having a heart attack - Private?

Yes - flashed the reply in the chat box - Private 500 tokens.  True Private 1000 tokens.

He typed in - 1000 - in the token box and hit the mouse button.  The gift was underway.

Thirty seconds later, he alone was drinking in her beauty.  She lifted the tablet and asked the screen, “Do you want to spin the wheel of chance?  It decides what we do… or do you have something special in mind?”

Anything would be good; he just wanted to be with her for a little while.

- Spin

The wheel on the tablet whirled; the options were a blur.

As the wheel slowed he noticed only two choices…  a shiver ran down his back.

LIVE

DIE

What the hell?

The wheel slowed… slowed… stopped.

DIE

Before he could type anything, Lil’Daisy brought a knife up to her throat and in one graceful movement, she sliced deep, severing the jugular.

Transfixed, he watched as blood jetted in wild arcs from the wound and her life drowned in her eyes of blue.

The screen went blank then a notice filled the sudden void.  

This Model Is No Longer Available!

Afterword:

I am a member of the wonderful writer's website writing.com - WdC to the enlightened. If you are a writer of any style, be it, poetry, stories, essays, etc. then I would highly recommend the site.

After being away from WdC for a few years I dared to venture back and try my hand and a few contests to see if I could unblock my writer's mind and imagination. I love the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge as it really makes you work to produce something of substance. The judge sets the prompt, which is usually three random words - in the case of the above story they were Notice; Daisy; Wheel. Then all I had to do was write a story - with a beginning, a middle, and an ending in three-hundred words or less.

That last bit is the kicker as it's so short a word limit I always overshoot the target. Though this is the other reason I love the contest as it makes you reread the story and edit out elements of the story, all the while you're trying to keep the context, the flow, and the power of the tale. It's a wonderful skill to learn.

This story was in the back of my mind after reading about the "Blue Whale" game that is supposedly going on with teens, where they are dared to keep hurting themselves until their last dare where they are commanded to commit suicide. I just couldn't believe that teens would fall for this but maybe their lives are so bad this way out seems like a good thing. Anyway, that story kicked off the idea for the above story, which I hoped you enjoyed.