Review: Universal's Dracula (1931) and Dracula Untold (2014)

I recently had a good friend visit Seattle, so we went sightseeing and ended up at the EMP Museum. There we saw the currently running horror instillation "Can't Look Away," which examines our fascination with the horror genre.

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The entire exhibit was fascinating, but it made me especially reflect on the influence of the Universal monster films; our images of Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's creature are all so thoroughly shaped by these movies.

Universal was also one of the first companies to create a "shared universe." As the science-fiction site io9 reflects: "The original Universal Monsters series (1931-1945) featured the first crossover between established characters in movie history with Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943), and eventually threw Dracula into the mix in House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945)."

Now, 83 years later, Universal is trying to make a new monster movie shared universe, and they're bringing back all of their classics... but for a new audience. One that is used to superheroes and vampires that sparkle. Out of morbid curiosity, I pulled out my anniversary copy of Universal's 1931 Dracula and decided to compare it to my screening of Universal's recent attempt to launch a new monster movie series, Dracula Untold.

So, is the original classic as good as we remember? And is the new Dracula the start of Unversal's return to monster movie greatness... or just horrifying?

The Ultimate Twilight Rundown, Part 3: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) and Part 2 (2012)

What's scarier on Halloween than a slasher movie where a crazed lunatic tries to kill a group of teenagers? How about a movie that seems like it's trying to kill a whole genre?

This, I'm sorry to say, is THE ULTIMATE TWILIGHT RUNDOWN, PART 3 - 

The Ultimate Twilight Rundown, Part 2: New Moon (2009) and Eclipse (2010)

So it's fall here in the Pacific Northwest and the weather has changed. As one of my friends put it, Seattle currently has perfect "traipsing through the fog in a top hat and scarf, looking for Cockney prostitutes to vivisect" weather.

This creepy, Gothic feel actually makes me appreciate even more what Catherine Hardwicke did with the original Twilight movie. Which just makes these next films just so... so... so much worse.

The Ultimate Twilight Rundown, Part 1: Twilight (2008)

The success of Twilight really doesn't shock me. After all, in many ways, the formula is an old one.

Gothic literature of the 18th and 19th centuries was mostly read by female audiences, and the more popular and romantic examples included plots which featured vulnerable heroines (weeping, suffering, and fainting at the slightest shoe drop) who encountered supernatural elements and mysteries and who, after the defeat of some horrible foe, often ended up married to a wealthy lord (perhaps previously disguised). Common tropes of a Gothic novel included a mysterious and suspenseful tone, elements of the supernatural, omens or visions or prophesies, a lonely and suffering heroine, melodramatic reactions and emotions (especially those related to love or suffering), lovers parted, and often one lover's uncertainty about the reciprocalness of the other's love. While some of the most famous and memorable Gothic novels, like Frankenstein, deviated from the standard tropes, the Twilight series can actually be seen as a revival of a type.

But is that a good thing? And does that mean any of the films are actually worth watching? Well, grab your smelling salts and hold on tight: I watched all five movies so that you don't have to. 

This is the Great Twilight Run-Down - PART 1, the original Twilight movie.

The sparkles are coming...

If anyone is wondering why Fangtastic Films hasn't had a review in a while, that would be because I just finished a 1500 mile move from sunny Arizona to the much more vampire-friendly Washington state. It's been a lot of work and boxes are still being unpacked, but I thought I would take a moment to tell you all that a series of reviews are in the works. Namely, reviews of a film series, based on a book series, that is about a protagonist who meets vampires after moving from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington State.

Yes, I've referenced it and teased it before. And I've watched bad teen monster movie after bad teen monster movie, so I feel I'm a bit inoculated. Well... maybe. But either way, it's coming: The Ultimate Twilight Movie Rundown.

Yet another vampire Mean Girls reference... God help me.

Full disclosure, I've never read the Twilight novels. However, I know what I would consider "far too much" about them and have a sense of each book's plot because I work with teenagers and I feel it's important to know these things. Like being able to joke about Katy Perry lyrics. It's a bit of a curse.

So stay tuned, dust off your "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" flags, and wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it.

~ LK

Review: The Wisdom of Crocodiles (1998)

The Wisdom of Crocodiles is a film that was doomed to not do well in the United States. This UK film (titled Immortality for American audiences) grossed only $21 thousand during its entire US theater run. In comparison, Blade and John Carpenter's Vampires, which both came out in the same year, grossed $17 million and $9 million in just the US respectively. Yes, in 1998, a philosophical independent film starring a then-nearly-unknown Jude Law was really not going to appeal to an audience used to Hollywood-style action or horror. But, in the era of more thoughtful vampire films like Byzantium and Only Lovers Left Alive, how does the film hold up now?

Review: Vampire Academy (2014)

The main thing to know about Vampire Academy is that it is basically Mean Girls. With vampires. And less humor.

Review: Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

If you had asked me a month ago what I thought the "golden age" of great vampire stories was, I would have said the early 1990s. Back then, there was a wealth of authentically interesting vampire novels, a popular role-playing game, and films that focused on vampire history and class, like Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula film and, of course, Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire. It was also the start of Joss Whedon's popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, which balanced teen issues and humor with the same reverence for candlelit history that was popular in Interview.

The 1990s was what got me "into" vampires personally, and an era which I was sad to see "die" with the rise of Hot Topic and the neon and pleather clad vampires in the late-1990s and early-2000s, followed by the rise of Twilight and what seemed like the end of anyone taking vampire films seriously. Ever since, vampire films have often borrowed from other genres (science fiction, comedies, or zombie movies) to stay relevant. As of recently, the age of just good, seriously approached vampire stories seemed like it was in the past.

And then I watched Byzantium, which was haunting and lovely and ultimately much more emotionally compelling than Jordan's earlier Interview. And I could have dismissed that as a single film and not (perhaps) a shift in the vampire genre if I also didn't get the chance to watch Jim Jarmush's Only Lovers Left Alive this past weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, are we in for a vampire art renaissance?

Review: My Best Friend is a Vampire (1987)

Teen monster movies have a troubled history. From Twilight, to Blood & Chocolate, to Teen Wolf, to I was a Teenage Werewolf, making teenagers the main audience for a supernatural film is usually a recipe for awfulness. Is that same true of the 1980's comedy My Best Friend is a Vampire? Let's find out!

Review: Byzantium (2012)

Go watch Byzantium. Right now. If you have any love for vampire movies at all, go watch Byzantium. I mean it. I'm not even sure you need to hear why it is amazing; trust me, it just is. Go watch it. As soon as possible.

Okay, okay, fine, if you want more than that, below are my top 5 reasons why this film is amazing and more than worth your time.

Top Werewolf Movies for a Full Moon

So today is Friday the 13th, but it is also something else: the appearance of the rare Honey Moon.  The full moon appeared extra large and in a honey-colored hue at midnight, something which will not happen again until June 2098. In North America, it is apparently also called a Strawberry Moon because of strawberry harvest season, and it gained a reddish hue in the morning light. Or is it red because blood was spilled the night before...? [cue Universal Monster movie theme]

Image from 'Dog Soldiers'

While the full moon will be waning tonight, the magic of the time may still be in the air... a perfect time to break out a werewolf movie and cuddle up with a meaty pizza and a good beer. So, after a whole season of werewolf movies both good and bad, here are my top 5 werewolf movie recommendations for this Friday the 13th/Honey Moon celebration night:

1. The Howling (1981) - Can't go wrong with this creepy and original classic
2. The Wolf Man (1941) - The original Universal monster movie
3. An American Werewolf in London (1981) - John Landis' amazing dark comedy
4. Dog Soldiers (2002) - a Scottish suspense movie that feels like a classic zombie movie, but with a werewolf twist
5. The Wolfman (2010) - The Universal remake of the classic film that goes a step beyond the original. A great addition to the werewolf canon

Enjoy your evening, and stay "lucky" everybody! Stop by later this weekend for a return to your regularly scheduled Fangtastic Films' vampire movie reviews.

~ LK

Werewolf Winter: The Wolfman (2010)

And so we end our werewolf season where we began: with a Universal Pictures film titled The Wolfman. I have to admit that I didn't know what to expect with this film. While Universal Pictures gave us some of the most iconic werewolf films of all time, this 2010 near-remake of the classic was famous for being plagued with production issues, delays, and conflicts over scoring. One critic famously called the movie a consideration for one of the "worst movies of the decade."

That said, lead actor Benicio Del Toro has grown up as a fanboy for the original film (literally; he collects memorabilia), they used the same make-up artist from An American Werewolf in London, and with a cast including Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving, it seemed difficult to believe that this film could be all that terrible. I mean, it couldn't be as bad as Blood & Chocolate or, god forbid, The Howling III...... could it?

Am I in a bad movie...?

Werewolf Winter: Blood & Chocolate (2007)

Here is a scene I imagine must have happened around 2007:

MOVIE EXECUTIVE: That Twilight book is huge right now, and they're coming out with a movie soon. Teen girls are swooning! These supernatural romances are so hot. Is there another teen supernatural book that we can make into a highly profitable film?

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Well, there's this book called Blood & Chocolate...

MOVIE EXEC: Does it have a human and a supernatural creature falling in love?

PRODUCTION MAN: Yes.

MOVIE EXEC: Does it have a love triangle?

PRODUCTION MAN: Yes, absolutely.

MOVIE EXEC: Do the human and the supernatural creature run off together, surviving the disapproval of both their worlds, you know just like Romeo and Juliet?

PRODUCTION MAN: Uh, well, no. Not exactly.

MOVIE EXEC: Oh no! We'll have to change that - teens love that forbidden love stuff! Well, does it at least have a message that the main female is only important as an object of male affection?

PRODUCTION MAN: Actually no! She learns to accept herself first, before she-

MOVIE EXEC: No no no! That's no good! No good at all! Call the script writer- we're gonna' need some changes!

Werewolf Winter: Kibakichi (2004)

Oh Japan, I don't even think I can be surprised by you anymore. You've given the world cyborg-priest half-vampire vampire hunters, so why not a roaming samurai werewolf who fights demons? This is Kibakichi.

Werewolf Winter: Dog Soldiers (2002)

"We in it shall be remembered, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers - for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." - Shakespeare, Henry V

While it is usually a good idea not to judge a book by its cover or title, the same is not often said of movies. However, if I had followed that rule, I would likely not have watched the deceptively titled and cheesily packaged 2002 Scottish movie Dog Soldiers. And that would have been quite a loss indeed.

Werewolf Winter: Cursed (2005)

So, it's 90 degrees F where I live and no longer resembling winter in the slightest... but we still have a handful of werewolf movies to go! And so we press on.

This next film stars a plethora of people who would someday be mildly famous. From the guy from Dawson's Creek who is not Dawson, to Peter from Heroes (who we've seen in supernatural movies before), to no-really-I'm-not-Mark-Zuckerberg, to Smallville's Lex Luthor, to Wednesday Addams - this is Cursed.
 

Werewolf Winter: Ginger Snaps (2000)

So Winter has officially ended and Spring is here, but the werewolf movies continue. After all, I still have to get through the 2000s! Which brings us to the first and most famous werewolf movie of the 2000-era: Ginger Snaps.
 

Werewolf Winter: The Wolves of Kromer (1998)

So far we have seen werewolves as symbolic of human aggression, female sexuality, and teenagers going through puberty. And now, with The Wolves of Kromer, we now have a film where wolves are symbolic of gay men in the 1990s.

Very subtle symbolism...

Werewolf Winter: Wolf (1994)

Jack Nicholson is one of those actors who is excellent at playing himself. When he was The Joker in Batman, he played Jack Nicholson in clown make-up. When he was a mental patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, he was Jack Nicholson in a beanie and five o'clock shadow. And in Wolf, Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson as a werewolf.

Werewolf Winter: An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

An American Werewolf in Paris is essentially the film equivalent of a Candwich.

A Candwich at first glance may resemble what you actually want (a decent sandwich) but when you open up it's bizarre packaging you soon you discover a horror of hot dog buns and processed awful that in no way resembles what it is trying to emulate. That, my friends, is this "film." I have seen a lot of movies this Werewolf Winter. Some have been shockingly good, some have been laughably terrible. But no movie thus far has made me feel actually offended at its existence like An American Werewolf in Paris.

Werewolf Winter: Bad Moon (1996)

Have you ever sat down to watch a live-action kids' film (like, say, Disney's Air Bud) only to wish that it was more R-rated? Or have you ever watched a gory horror film and just hoped beyond hope that someone would spend a lot of time focusing on the relationship between a child and his family's dog? No? Neither of those? Well someone clearly thought there was a market out there for such an INSANE meshing of tone and theme; that is the only explanation possible for Bad Moon.

Werewolf Winter: Full Eclipse (1993)

When I was near the end of my summer vampire movie countdown, I mentioned over and over again that original and unique ideas went a long way when it came to me liking a movie. Adding interesting genre twists is clearly so much better than repeating the same old tired story of Dracula. But... are there some ideas so stupid that they break this rule? Are there some ideas so god-awfully ridiculous that they never should have made it past the pitch room? Yes, and the proof is the movie Full Eclipse.

Werewolf Winter: The Howling III - The Marsupials (1987)

The Howling III is not just a film; it is an experience. You do not merely watch this movie; you are assaulted by it. You do not just share it with friends; you inflict it upon them. The amount of absurdity, bizarre choices, stilted acting, and ridiculous dialogue is almost enough to break a person, mind and soul.

Werewolf Winter: Steven King's Silver Bullet (1985)

It was a full moon last night - the perfect time to relax with a beer and a werewolf movie. Today we look at Silver Bullet. This is a werewolf story from the mind of horror legend Stephen King, so it only makes sense that we should play Stephen-King-story-cliché bingo!

Werewolf Winter: MTV's Teen Wolf (2011)

So far, the attempt to connect werewolves and teens has been fairly disastrous. Characters have often lacked arcs, and story plots have often lacked much sense.

But then Twilight came out in 2008, followed by a resurgence in the teen vampire genre which included hit teen shows like The Vampire Diaries on the CW. Since many fangirls were on Team Jacob as opposed to Team Edward, it makes sense that someone would jump on the attempt to make yet another teen-based werewolf project. That "someone" was MTV, and the result is the Teen Wolf television series, which keeps many of the same names as the original 1985 movie, but bares very little resemblance otherwise. Let's check out the pilot episode and see how this Teen Wolf stacks up to it's namesake.

Slightly different tone... and chest reveal.

Werewolf Winter: Teen Wolf (1985)

So we move from a complicated metaphor about female sexuality to a muddled metaphor for male puberty. Yes, we have returned to the Teen-Monster genre, previously encountered in I Was a Teenage Werewolf. I already expressed my annoyance and boredom with that film, but how does the rather similarly named Teen Wolf compare?

Werewolf Winter BONUS: Beer!

So, you want to have a nice, relaxing night with werewolf movies and a good beer. Well, what better beer to thematically drink than ones named WEREWOLF? But wait... can it be? Yes, there are actually two beers by that name! One is a British red ale from Newcastle and the other is a Lithuanian beer from brewery Rinkuškiai Alaus Darykloje.

 So, which ale is better for your consumption? As your trusty vampire and werewolf movie reviewer, I decided to "selflessly" take this task upon myself to find out!

Werewolf Winter: The Company of Wolves (1984)

So, thus far, we've seen werewolves act as a symbol for man's animistic instinct, as well as the war between goodness and sin. However, isn't it about time that werewolves were used as a complicated metaphor for female sexuality?