Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory
The Book: It’s dark. It’s really dark.
Frank is a very troubled young man. Living an isolated existence on a Scottish island with only his father for company, his life is an endless cycle of pagan ritual and animal sacrifice.
His older brother, Eric, has escaped from an insane asylum and is on the way home.
Oh yeah, and, by the by (cos that’s how it’s revealed in the book), Frank has previously murdered three children. In case you're interested.
The Movie: Only M. Night Shyamalan could deliver the book’s final plot twist with enough gravity and clout.
Because, although Frank has lived his whole life believing that he has been disfigured as a result of a penis-devouring dog (not a euphemism), he finds out that he’s actually a girl, and that his father has been feeding him testosterone as a sort of experiment.
Cheers dad.
The whole film is shot within a small window of the colour spectrum (blue and darker blue). It’s a psychological horror, with a healthy dose of gore and apocalyptic dread.
Sample Dialogue:
Frank: “That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage I was going through.”
Next: Thief Of Time
Comments
minorityreport
Jul 16th 2009, 11:19
Interesting feature, but just one thing with regard to Thief Of Time: Death isn't Susan's father, he's her grandfather.
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crowbar990
Jul 16th 2009, 12:50
thanks total film, had heard of d wasp factory from a friend, had been planning on reading it, now youve saved me the bother by giving away the ending to fill up another useless top ten to flesh out your website, this site and your mag are going downhill at a rate of knots.
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Ostrich
Jul 16th 2009, 13:33
How about Necroscope? Centres around a young boy called Harry who can speak to the dead. Written waaaaaaay before Harry Potter, for adults, and very good.
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lpatterson
Jul 16th 2009, 15:23
Oops, good spot, minorityreport! Sorry about giving it away crowbar990, but we gave a synopsis for all the others. We'll be sure to put a spoiler alert on next time.
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Catchphrase
Jul 16th 2009, 16:38
I've been saying The Wind Singer would make an awesome film for ages now, THANKYOU for agreeing with me. I hope, if someone ever decides to make it a film, that it actually works :(
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somewhatfrail
Jul 16th 2009, 22:07
Absolutely YES to The Wasp Factory. It was the book that got me into Iain Banks' work and I haven't looked back since. His sci-fi would make some cracking cinema as well, in my opinon, either Consider Phlebas or Look To Windward.
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Mrmotion
Jul 17th 2009, 19:09
Oh good- another pointless article to flesh out the website. When it's not horrible speculation and 'what ifs' its terrible film reviews. Get back to delivering news on upcoming films!
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booradley
Aug 4th 2009, 1:31
Franny & Zooey should be a wonderful film but lotsa luck getting salinger to sign off on it.
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thedicewoman
Mar 28th 2011, 13:24
SECONDED. crowbar990 Jul 16th 2009, 12:50 thanks total film, had heard of d wasp factory from a friend, had been planning on reading it, now youve saved me the bother by giving away the ending to fill up another useless top ten to flesh out your website, this site and your mag are going downhill at a rate of knots. Read more: Film features: 10 Great Books That Could Be Movies | TotalFilm.com
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