
I am the author of three books on film and pop culture: Hick Flicks: The Rise and Fall of Redneck Cinema, If You Like The Terminator, and Stephen King Films FAQ. I have been a freelance writer for more than two decades, including stints as a film critic for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and television reviewing for The Onion's AV Club. My debut novel Charlesgate Confidential was called "terrific" by Stephen King and named one of the top 10 crime novels of 2018. My 70's set thriller Lowdown Road will be published in July 2023 by Hard Case Crime, I live in Austin, Texas with my wife Robin and our pets Sully and Chloe.
1946: A group of criminals pulls off the heist of the century, stealing a dozen priceless works of art from a Boston museum. Some of the thieves are captured, some are killed—but the loot is never found.Forty years later, a college student finds himself on the trail of the missing art—and the multi-million-dollar reward.But three decades after that, the art is still missing, and as his classmates return to Boston’s notorious Charlesgate Hotel for their big 25th reunion, dead bodies keep turning up. Will the stolen masterpieces be located at last?A breathtakingly clever, twist-filled narrative that moves from 1946 to 1986 to 2014 and back again—and is steeped in Boston lore, including three unforgettable seasons of Red Sox baseball—Charlesgate Confidential establishes Scott Von Doviak as a storyteller of the first order, and will leave you guessing until the final page.
Join a road trip across 1970s America as two cousins make the heist of their lives and must avoid the cops and criminals hot on their tails.It’s the summer of ’74…Richard Nixon has resigned from office, CB radios are the hot new thing, and in the great state of Texas two cousins hatch a plan to drive $1 million worth of stolen weed to Idaho, where some lunatic is gearing up to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered motorcycle. But with a vengeful sheriff on their tail and the revered and feared marijuana kingpin of Central Texas out to get his stash back, Chuck and Dean are in for the ride of their lives – if they can make it out alive…
Over the past four decades, the Stephen King movie has become a genre unto itself. The prolific writer's works have spawned well over 100 adaptations for both the big and small screen, ranging from modern classics of horror (Carrie, The Shining) to Oscar-nominated fare (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) to unapologetic, B-movie schlock (the King-directed Maximum Overdrive). The filmmakers to put their stamp on King's material include acclaimed auteurs Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, and Brian De Palma; masters of horror Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, and George Romero; and popular mainstream directors Rob Reiner, Frank Darabont, and Lawrence Kasdan.Author Scott Von Doviak provides background information, analysis, and trivia regarding the various films and television productions, including “Bloodlines” sections on related works and “Deep Cuts” sections collecting additional odd facts and ephemera. All you ever wanted to know about the king of horror onscreen can be found here.
While the pimps and players of blaxploitation movies dominated inner-city theaters, good old boys with muscle under their hoods and moonshine in their trunks roared onto drive-in screens throughout rural America. The popularity of these "hick flicks" grew throughout the '70s, and they attained mass acceptance with the 1977 release of Smokey and the Bandit. It marked the heyday of these regional favorites, but within a few short years, changing economic realities within the movie business and the collapse of the drive-in market would effectively spell the end of the so-called hixploitation genre. This comprehensive study of the hixploitation genre is the first of its kind. Chapters are divided into three major topics. Part One deals with "good ol' boys," from redneck sheriffs, to moonshiners, to honky-tonk heroes and beyond. Part Two explores road movies, featuring back-road racers, truckers and everything in between. Part Three, "In the Woods," covers movies about all manner of beasts--some of them human--populating the swamps and woodlands of rural America. Film stills are included, and an afterword examines both the decline and metamorphosis of the genre. A filmography, bibliography and index accompany the text.
by Scott Von Doviak
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
(If You Like). The Terminator began life as a low-budget B movie seemingly destined for a short run at malls and drive-ins before blossoming into a billion-dollar franchise that launched the careers of director James Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger. The original 1984 film not only spawned three sequels, a weekly television series, and countless novels, comic books, and videogames, it also redefined the science fiction genre with its blend of high tech and film noir. Here is the first book to explore the spectacular array of films, television shows, and other works that helped inspire The Terminator , as well as those that have drawn inspiration from it. If You Like The Terminator ... delves into the history of science-fiction cinema, from its earliest days to the golden age of the 1950s and beyond, encountering killer robots, time travelers and postapocalyptic wastelands along the way. This turbo-charged journey through time also reviews the improbable career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, revisits the action heroes of the 1980s, and reevaluates the films of James Cameron, before touching down in the computer-dominated realm of today's science fiction cinema and projecting the future of the Terminator franchise. From Metropolis to The Matrix , from Frankenstein to RoboCop , from H. G. Wells and Harlan Ellison to Roger Corman and Roland Emmerich, you'll find them all here in If You Like The Terminator .
Over the past four decades, the Stephen King movie has become a genre unto itself. The prolific writer's works have spawned well over 100 adaptations for both the big and small screen, ranging from modern classics of horror (Carrie, The Shining) to Oscar-nominated fare (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) to unapologetic, B-movie schlock (the King-directed Maximum Overdrive). The filmmakers to put their stamp on King's material include acclaimed auteurs Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, and Brian De Palma; masters of horror Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, and George Romero; and popular mainstream directors Rob Reiner, Frank Darabont, and Lawrence Kasdan.Stephen King Films FAQ is the most comprehensive overview of this body of work to date, encompassing well-known hits as well as forgotten obscurities, critical darlings and reviled flops, films that influenced King as well as those that have followed in his footsteps, upcoming and unmade projects, and selected works in other media (including comic books, radio dramas, and the infamous Carrie musical).Author Scott Von Doviak provides background information, analysis, and trivia regarding the various films and television productions, including “Bloodlines” sections on related works and “Deep Cuts” sections collecting additional odd facts and ephemera. All you ever wanted to know about the king of horror onscreen can be found here.