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...?