The script itself was actually pretty interesting。 The supplemental stuff interested me less honestly。 I would have loved to see the movie or one of the tv shows work out。 Seemed fun。
Owen Townend，
The Otherwise is a composite of elements I don't know much about。 Prior to reading， I had no idea who The Fall or Mark E Smith were， I didn't realise that Graham Duff was the creator of the BBC TV series Ideal and I wasn't well-read in terms of Jacobites or Pendle Hill。What drew me to this book was the idea of 'a Horror Film That Never Was'。 I love adding to my weird film trivia knowledge and so dove straight in。 Of course， The Otherwise isn't just a screenplay， it is a collection of TV episode The Otherwise is a composite of elements I don't know much about。 Prior to reading， I had no idea who The Fall or Mark E Smith were， I didn't realise that Graham Duff was the creator of the BBC TV series Ideal and I wasn't well-read in terms of Jacobites or Pendle Hill。What drew me to this book was the idea of 'a Horror Film That Never Was'。 I love adding to my weird film trivia knowledge and so dove straight in。 Of course， The Otherwise isn't just a screenplay， it is a collection of TV episode premises， music essays and transcriptions of creative conversations。 While I can't say I'm now a keen fan of The Fall， I did find Smith's anecdotes and passion for macabre creativity appealing。Initially I didn't feel up to reading a commemorative book about a talent I hadn't come across， but Smith and Duff won me over with their passion for weird storytelling in the style of The Twilight Zone。 If I'm honest， The Otherwise screenplay seemed doomed never to be picked up by a film studio。 It seemed much too short， more televisual than cinematic and skimped on resolving the bizarre concepts it juggled。 Not only this， I didn't see how the title related to the plot， aside from being eye-catching。 I much preferred the episode pitches Smith and Duff created for The Inexplicable， a TV series with some rather unique one-shot premises。 The Death of Standards struck me as being particularly intriguing， exploring violent hypocrisy as a form of demonic manipulation。 Indeed a lot of the ideas and characters featured in The Inexplicable pages were sifted and re-appropriated into The Otherwise script though in a way I wasn't as impressed by。Duff's essays on key songs from The Fall's back catalogue made for entertaining academic texts and his transcribed conversations with Smith really showed the joy their collaboration brought to both men。 As such， I'm sure this book would be a lovely way for fans of Smith to say goodbye。 I enjoyed the insights it shared but I still read these entirely without context。Despite these grumbles， I found The Otherwise a poignant read with a lot of craft and dark humour。 I recommend it to those who love The Fall and the creative process of Mark E Smith。 。。。more
