Alden Bell's "The Reapers Are the Angels," the movie

Now showing at My Book, the Movie: The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell.

The entry begins:

The Reapers Are the Angels has a lot to do with American landscapes. So it’s worth noting that, for me, the cinematography would be as essential an element as the actors. The earth itself is a major character—and much of the story could be told simply through still shots of the post-apocalyptic devastation of the American South. Terrence Malick, for example, tells the most significant parts of his stories through visual images that make dialogue seem almost redundant. While Reapers is definitely driven by an action-heavy plot, I always love the contrast between moments of movement or violence and the moments of quiet stillness in between.

Let’s start with the director. Because I see Reapers as more of a Southern Gothic than a zombie novel, my ideal director for the film would be David Gordon Green—a masterful Malick-inspired filmmaker responsible for such achingly lovely movies as All the Real Girls and George Washington. I understand that one of his future projects will be a remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria, which I’m dying to see because I think Green knows exactly how to balance lyrical beauty with morbid strangeness.

Temple, our heroine, is a tough, pragmatic, zombie-killing fifteen year old girl. It’s easy to picture...[read on]

Learn more about Alden Bell's work Joshua Gaylord's website.

Alden Bell is a pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord, whose first novel, Hummingbirds, was released in Fall 2009. He teaches at a New York City prep school and is an adjunct professor at The New School.

The Page 69 Test: Hummingbirds.

Writers Read: Alden Bell.

The Page 69 Test: The Reapers Are the Angels.

My Book, the Movie: The Reapers Are the Angels.

--Marshal Zeringue