Posts Tagged ‘Road to Perdition Movie’

Mommy Has Her Day & San Diego Looms

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025

It’s nice, even rewarding, to see the two Mommy movies we made here in Muscatine, Iowa, back in 1994, get renewed attention. Mommy’s Day came out in 1996, so we’re coming up on its 25h anniversary. Mommy celebrated her 25th anniversary last year.

What prompts me to discuss this is a nice review by Tony Baranek of Mommy (and another by Henry Kujawa of Mommy’s Day that just popped up. Tony’s Facebook page is dedicated to Sci-Fi and Horror Movie Playground: 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and Beyond.

Here’s Tony’s review:

Mommy (1995) – Do you remember that 1950s movie, The Bad Seed, where Patty McCormack played the psychopathic killer kid? Man, she was nasty.

I mean, when Rhoda Penmark was electrocuted by the lightning bolt at the end, I cheered.

(NOTE FROM M.A.C.: Rhoda lives in the original William March novel and in the Maxwell Anderson play from March’s book.)

But I’ll tell you what. Rhoda Penmark is a sweetheart compared to Mrs. Sterling, a psychopathic killer mom.

Yes, indeed. Patty McCormack is all grown up – and she’s scarier than ever!

This horror thriller is about a 12-year-old girl named Jessica Ann (Rachel Lemieux), whose overbearing mom goes off the deep end when she didn’t win Student of the Year award for the third straight time.

Just for acting like a spoiled and entitled mom, Mrs. Sterling is an embarrassment to the human race. But she doubles down on her ugliness because she claims that the boy who won it only did so because he’s Mexican. Yep, she’s entitled – and racist, too.

Mrs. Sterling confronts the teacher while she’s decorating her classroom. She demands that she change her decision on the award before it gets presented. The teacher sternly says no.

Moments later, crazy Mrs. Sterling pulls the teacher off of a ladder she is standing on, and she suffers a fatal injury. She tells the police, though, that the teacher was already dead when she arrived at the classroom.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Sterling, a persistent investigator named Lt. March (Jason Miller), has his doubts. And as the walls begin to close in on Mrs. Sterling, bad things happen to those who cross her.

This is a really well-done film. Max Allan Collins, in his directing debut, added a nice touch to the story by having Jessica Ann narrate the events as they happened. Rachel Lemieux, 11 years old at the time and in her acting debut, did a fantastic job portraying Jessica Ann. As an added bonus, scream queen Brinke Stevens is ultra-likeable as Mrs. Sterling’s caring sister.

As for Patty McCormack as Mrs. Sterling…man, oh man. Being a killer made her scary enough, but she was an absolute nightmare mom. Her declarations of love for her daughter – but only if she does exactly what mommy tells her to – are incredibly unnerving.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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A mini-review from Henry Kujawa of the sequel, Mommy’s Day, appeared almost simultaneously.

Here’s what Henry had to say.

After all these years, I still haven’t seen The Bad Seed.

However, the other year, I got Mommy and Mommy’s Day on DVD. I think I “liked” the first one less the 2nd time I saw it (decades after I first saw it). But I was shocked as JUST HOW MUCH I loved the sequel.

I kept wondering… “HOW THE HELL is this even gonna work?” Then I started watching…STILL wondering…and then…

OH man. Maybe 15 minutes in, I was HOOKED. I think I had a huge smile on my face all the way thru to the end. It still makes me smile, even laugh, just thinking about it.

If only more “2nd” films managed to be that good.

* * *

If you haven’t seen either Mommy before, you can get it at Amazon for a good price. It comes with Mommy’s Day and lots of special features.

Incidentally, Paula Sands – who is Vivian Borne in Death by Fruitcake – appears in a major secondary role in Mommy’s Day.

Interesting, the sequel to last year’s horror hit Megan – which seemed to have some Bad Seed/Mommy echoes – looks to have followed the Mommy’s Day model with its sequel, Megan 2.0. I have not seen the sequel but eventually will. The complaint is that Megan is turned into a hero(ine) in the second film.

Doing a sequel, particularly to a horror film (and Mommy is that, at least marginally), provides two options – repeat the first movie or do something different. While audiences like the familiarity of a sequel that merely goes through the first film’s paces, doing something different (or the same-but-different) is far more appealing to a filmmaker (or author, for that matter). And smart audience members.

The current Jurassic World: Rebirth is a good example of just repeating what’s gone before and hoping audiences just go along for the ride. On opening weekend, filmmgoers seemed to – it did very well at the box office.

But it’s a fairly terrible movie. Predictable and with bone-headed characters who do dumb, dumb things. It starts with the premise that everybody is bored with dinosaurs by now – an idiotic premise, and anyway, in this movie it’s the characters we’re bored with (stock figures) and the dinosaurs that make it marginally watchable. It has about 17 minutes of terrific dinosaur footage, but even they are a disappointment, because they only devour the cannon-fodder characters and of course (SPOILER ALERT but not really) the evil corporate bad guy.

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Here’s a nice advance look at the 4K Blu-ray of The Two Jakes, which features a commentary by me and my pal Heath Holland. The commentary gives me the opportunity to defend this much maligned sequel (actually coda) to Chinatown with Jack Nicholson back as Jake Gittes.

Here’s where you can see Road to Perdition free.

And, yes, yet again an article about movies you didn’t know derived from “comic books” has reared its head. I prefer “graphic novel,” when it comes to Road to Perdition. Plus, these endless write-ups on the subject of movies-from-comics is a bit wearying.

On the other hand, I’m grateful for the attention.

* * *

I am still doing a segment on Robert Meyer Burnett’s weekly YouTube show, Let’s Get Physical Media. This week I discuss, among other things, the terrific movie Sinners, which I am pleased to say seems heavily influenced by Road to Perdition (more the movie than the book). And, yes, I am aware there are no vampires in Road to Perdition. An oversight on my part.

If you go the San Diego Comic Con, Rob Burnett will be interviewing me:

FRIDAY
“Spotlight on Max Allan Collins”
4:00 – 5:00
Room 28DE

This will be a career interview (all Special Guests get those). Not sure yet when my autograph sessions will be, but I will be promoting the new Johnny Dynamite collection, with a banger of a new Terry Beatty cover. The book is expected to be on sale at the con, though the timing is tight – stay tuned. It’s one of the Collins/Beatty team’s best, I think.

There are no vampires in Johnny Dynamite, but there are plenty of zombies.

By the way, this is almost certainly my last comic convention appearance, at San Diego or anywhere. I will do some occasional appearances at film festivals, promoting Death By Fruitcake and other indie endeavors of mine.

M.A.C.

True Noir for Christmas! Also Quarry News

Tuesday, December 17th, 2024

Do you know what you want for Christmas?

In case you’re confused, go to truenoir.co and order True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak right now – the First Act (episodes 1, 2 and 3) drops on December 20! In fact, go there and buy True Noir even if you aren’t confused.

True Noir banner

For those of you who’ve been with me for years – some since the publication of True Detective (the specific source of True Noir) – will understand how thrilled I am to have Nate Heller, beautifully portrayed by Michael Rosenbaum of Smallville fame, brought to life in Robert Meyer Burnett’s incredible nearly seven-hour immersive audio drama from my nearly 400-page script.

(Has anyone besides me noticed that actors who play Superman and Lex Luther respectively – Tyler Hoechlin and Michael Rosenbaum – have appeared in M.A.C. productions?)

It’s been quite a trip returning to this novel to adapt it after so many years. True Detective was written in 1981 and ‘82, published in 1983, and won the Best Private Eye Novel “Shamus” award in 1984, presented by the Private Eye Writers of America. It represented several years of research by myself and my research associate George Hagenauer. And I think it’s fair to say that True Detective is the novel most important in (and to) my career.

What? You think that’s Road to Perdition? Well, Road to Perdition is a spin-off of the Nathan Heller novels, particularly the first two (True Crime being the other one). I was asked by DC Comics in early 1994 if I’d develop a series essentially in the Nate Heller universe but new, something that would be specifically for DC. That’s what Road to Perdition came to be. It required some fancy footwork in my novel Road to Purgatory to keep Nate Heller from running into Michael O’Sullivan, lemme tell ya.

Road to Perdition, of course, was the project that lifted me from the doldrums of the aftermath of my then-current firing from writing the Dick Tracy comic strip (for 15 years). Another result of reacting to that firing was a novella I wrote called “A Wreath for Marley,” which became a modest but heart-felt film in 2023 called Blue Christmas. You can buy it on Blu-ray or DVD in time for Christmas right now from Amazon and a bunch of other places, including Diabolik and Hamilton Books – it’s on sale for about eighteen bucks (and you can rent it on Amazon Prime for under two bucks).

And if you saw and liked Blue Christmas, don’t be shy about leaving a review at Amazon. Right now there’s only one.

Blue Christmas banner toast

Speaking of Blue Christmas, one of its two headline stars, Alisabeth Von Presley, presented her annual Christmas show at the Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids last Friday (Dec. 13), and Barb and I were in attendance. Alisabeth, a phenomenal performer, put on a fantastic show. She’s truly a Midwestern superstar and I hope to do more movies with her (she’s also in Death By Fruitcake), if she’s interested (and if Barb lets me out of the house).

I will share a few photos here from the Von Presley Christmas show (Christmas in the Key of Pink) which will give you a sense of the spectacle she mounted for a full house at a classic old theater. Alisabeth, of course, appeared on American Idol and American Song Contest (she debuted several new songs at the show).

Christmas in the Key of Pink
Christmas in the Key of Pink
Christmas in the Key of Pink

In other news, I’ve been reminded by a number of readers that 2026 will mark fifty years of Quarry novels. Under its original title The Broker, the novel Quarry was first published in 1976. I had planned to write a Nate Heller novel in 2025 for publication in 2026, but we – editor Charles Ardai and I – have decided to do a 50th Anniversary Quarry novel to be published in 2026 (in addition to Return of the Maltese Falcon, which will appear in January 2026).

So the next Nate Heller, God willin’ and the crick don’t rise, will be a 2026 project and a 2027 publication. I may go ahead and write the Heller this coming year, since at my age putting things off isn’t the best idea.

I’m just starting to noodle with the idea for this special Quarry, and I’m leaning toward another one that has him older, and nearly my age. I really did enjoy writing Quarry’s Blood and Quarry’s Return. He doesn’t seem to be any less lethal past 70.

As for making any more of my indie movies, I have two ideas (one already scripted), but it’s complicated by money matters and by Barb’s unwillingness to participate (she has grandkids to spoil). The idea of making a movie without Barb at my side is a painful one, and perhaps impractical, because she has been an indispensable part of every movie I’ve made. The “money” factor I mentioned has to do with whether Blue Christmas and Death By Fruitcake are successful enough to justify continuing on this quirky cinematic path.

A few bigger-time movie projects are perking, but frankly that kind of thing only comes to fruition rarely.

* * *

Here’s an interesting write-up on my Mike Hammer graphic novel, The Night I Died.

And a nice look at Road to Perdition the movie.

This is a look at Paradox Press and how that now-defunct DC imprint published Road to Perdition and other noir-ish graphic novels.

Happy holidays, everyone!

M.A.C.

Spillane Doc (and Encore for Murder) Pre-Order

Tuesday, November 28th, 2023
Mike Hammer's Mickey Spillane expanded version cover

The new, expanded version of my 1999 documentary, Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane, is available now for pre-order at Amazon. It ships on December 12.

This Blu-ray disc includes as a Bonus Feature Mickey Spillane’s Encore for Murder, the Golden Age Radio-style play with Gary Sandy as Mike Hammer, a 90-minute offering. (The doc is 61 minutes, so the Bonus Feature is half an hour longer than the main feature!) As you may know, Gary performed in Encore at Owensboro, Kentucky, and later in Clearwater, Florida. This presentation, about a year ago, was in my home town of Muscatine, Iowa, with Gary appearing with a particularly strong area cast. Many of these cast members are in my film Blue Christmas, currently in post-production.

Encore for Murder DVD cover

Encore for Murder will be available separately as a DVD, also on Dec. 12. It too can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

* * *

Editor Chad Bishop and I have completed the edit of Blue Christmas with the exception of the opening credits sequence, which requires Second Unit photography and editing of stock footage. We have been waiting for snow to do the exterior shots and we have some today, so that may yet happen.

Chad and I met on the production of Encore for Murder and about a year ago began planning Blue Christmas. We thought we had a good shot at a $50,000 grant, but it fell through. We did a crowd-funding effort, in which some of you generously contributed, and raised around $7000 – hardly enough to mount a feature film (the operative term is “Yikes!) but neither Chad nor I nor Director of Photography Phil Dingeldein (my longtime collaborator) took any up-front pay. We share ownership of the final product.

I rewrote the script to utilize a single set and was able to secure the Black Box theater at Muscatine Community College, thanks to their generosity to a former student there (and teacher).

I am very pleased thus far. My underpaid cast was terrific, with Rob Merritt making a perfect Richard Stone (the Heller-ish private eye at the center of this Maltese Falcon/A Christmas Carol mash-up).

Barb swore up and down that she was not going to participate in my return to indie filmmaking; but of course she did. Son Nate did also, filling in on boom operator duties and even running camera at times. I admit pushing the “let’s put on a show” thing past the breaking point. I am pretty sure it was what sent me back into a-fib by the end of the week-long (double “Yikes!”) shooting schedule.

Already I’m very proud of this one.

Stay tuned.

* * *

I continue to need your help with the new Nate Heller novel, Too Many Bullets. And the previous one, The Big Bundle, could use a boost, too.

The accidental collision of these two titles being (essentially) published in the same year has damaged them badly. Unusual for any Heller, neither book had turned up on any year’s end “Best Of” lists – it’s as if they don’t exist at all. As I’ve mentioned before, not one of the trades (Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, Booklist) reviewed Too Many Bullets – and in the past they have covered every single Heller novel, including The Big Bundle. But because it appeared as though I had published two Heller novels in the same year, the second of those (yes, Too Many Bullets) got ignored.

In reality, The Big Bundle was published in 2022, but was held up in a dock strike till several months into 2023. That made it collide with the already scheduled Too Many Bullets.

What can you do to help?

Well, as my late friend Paul Thomas used to say (quoting his father), “If you’re looking for sympathy, it’s in the dictionary between ‘shit’ and ‘syphilis.’”

What you can do is buy and read Too Many Bullets, in which Heller reveals what really happened in the RFK murder case, and then (IMPORTANT) review it at Amazon, Goodreads, and elsewhere. In other words, get the word out. Reader reviews have been pretty much excellent, except for the occasional “I’ve been reading him for years but he sucks now” school of thought.

Otherwise, without your help, I can guarantee you that Too Many Bullets will be the last Heller novel.

Too Many Bullets cover
Hardcover:
E-Book: Kobo Google Play
Digital Audiobook: Kobo Google Play
Too Many Bullets cover
Hardcover:
Paperback (coming Dec. 12):
E-Book: Kobo Google Play
Digital Audiobook:
Audio MP3 CD:
* * *

Road to Perdition is one of fifteen mystery comics that a recommended here.

And Paul Newman’s wonderful performance in the film version of Perdition is discussed here.

M.A.C.

Dispatch From the Bunker

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019

The audio book of Scarface and the Untouchable, I am pleased to report, is up for a Voice Arts Award, thanks in no small part to narrator Stefan Rudnicki…assisted by two other narrators, A. Brad Schwartz and Max Allan Collins, under Stefan’s direction.

For those of you attending Bouchercon, look to see Barb and me there, Friday through Sunday. The con begins on Thursday, but that’s Halloween, and my four year-old grandson will be in costume, seeking candy, which I do not intend to miss.

Next week I’ll give you the breakdown on our panels and signings (Barb and I each have a panel appearance).

I have been very much burrowed in on the next Mike Hammer novel, Masquerade for Murder. It will be out next March. This is the second Hammer I’ve written from a Spillane synopsis, with only two scraps of Mickey’s prose to work into the book (including the opening, however). That’s an intimidating prospect, but I think it came out well.

The novel takes place in the late ‘80s and is a follow-up (not a sequel) to Mickey’s The Killing Man. Like the preceding Spillane/Collins Hammer novel, Murder, My Love, the synopsis may have been written by Mickey as a proposed TV episode for the Stacy Keach series. This means I had fleshing out to do, and I hope I’ve done Mike and the Mick justice.

I am working with a new editor at Titan, Andrew Sumner, who knows Hammer well – he was the skilled interviewer for one-on-one interviews with me at the last two San Diego Comic Cons. Andrew knows American pop culture inside out, and this is good news for me and the series. I will, very soon, be preparing a proposal for three more Hammer novels – two of which have considerably more Spillane material to work from.

The 75th anniversary of Mike Hammer looms in 2022, and we are already planning for it. With luck, the long-promised Collins/James Traylor biography of Spillane will be part of that. There will be a role for Hard Case Crime in the mix, too, and possibly even another graphic novel, this one based on a classic Spillane yarn.

For Masquerade for Murder, I spent a lot of time with The Killing Man, assembling typical Spillane phrases, settings and passages for reference and inspiration. I try to incorporate a Spillane feel, particularly in descriptions of weather and NYC locations; but I stop short of writing pastiche – I am less concerned with imitating Mickey’s style and more concerned with getting Hammer’s character down.

It’s somewhat challenging positioning each novel in the canon in proper context. Hammer was a shifting character – shifting with Mickey’s own age and attitudes – and I want each book to reflect where the writer and his character were when Mickey wrote the material I am working from. The last two have been later Hammer – specifically, late 1980s. Next time, assuming I land another three-book contract, I will be writing a story set around 1954. I look forward to that, because it’s the younger, rougher and tougher and more psychotic Hammer that many of us know and love.

I also have gone over the galley proofs of the new Heller, Do No Harm, also out in March (as is Girl Can’t Help It!) (yikes)! It was written a while ago and I was pleased to view it from a distance – and pleased to find I liked it very much.

I hope you’ll agree.

You didn’t have anything else to do next March but read three books by me, did you? You can take April off and dive back in, in May for Antiques Fire Sale.

* * *

Here’s a nice, extensive look at Ms. Tree.

Wild Dog has his own Wikipedia entry now – a good one.

One of our best contemporary crime fiction critics and historians, J. Kingston Pierce, has included The Titanic Murders in a fun look at disaster mysteries.

The late, great Paul Newman is lauded in this write-up about the film of Road to Perdition.

And finally, that man Jeff Pierce is back with a fine piece about the subject of last week’s update, actor Robert Forster.

M.A.C.