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.