Review: NBC's Dracula (Ep. 1)

I have to give credit to the universe - it has a sense of humor! After all, just two months ago I said that "to a certain extent" a Dracula story is a Dracula story and that they're all fairly equivalent and "just variations of the same formula."

Well, yesterday NBC aired the first episode in their Dracula 10-episode mini-series. And let me tell you, it takes the formula, shoves it on a pike, and then dresses it up in lace and ribbons and names it Sally. Or something. In other words, NBC's Dracula is absolutely insane. And... I think it may be a lot of fun.

Review: Vassalord (2013)

We take a break this countdown to talk about the strangest piece of vampire media I probably have ever come across. Would you guess it's from Japan?

5. Wir sind die Nacht (2010)

Imagine a vampire movie with a combination of aesthetics like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mean Girls, and maybe The Transporter. The stunningly gorgeous and confusing result would likely be the German film Wir sind die Nacht, translated in English as We Are the Night.

6. Near Dark (1987)

Have you ever procrastinated on watching a movie and then realized that you have no idea why you were putting it off? That was my experience with Near Dark. I had heard that the film was "pretty great" for ages, but the concept of roaming white-trash vampires (which is the way someone had pitched it to me) made me bristle at watching it. I think I imagined this:

From Pop-Periscope
And now you can't unsee Honey Boo Boo as Claudia. You're welcome. 

But the film turned out to be fun, clever, and a whole lot more.

7. Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

Wait... what...? This is insane. I... I... I actually liked this movie? Behold the power of low expectations!

 If you take Vampire in Brooklyn for what it is (essentially a horror-comedy remake of Blacula for a new era) it's actually quite clever and enjoyable. I have to admit: I never would have guessed that Eddie Murphy as a vampire could be sexy or scary, and somehow he manages to be both.

9. Cronos (1993) and 8. Thirst (2009)

For the next part of the countdown, I feel like I have to talk about two films together. The films themselves are fairly different, but their contexts are strangely similar. They are both non-American "foreign" films. They both have titles consisting of only a single word. They are both intriguing and bizarre. And both are "pretty good" films by otherwise well known and visionary directors.

 

10. Blacula (1972)

I did not plan on reviewing the most notorious blaxploitation vampire film during the same week as the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the march on Washington... but, well, I guess here we are. This is Blacula.