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.