shadorealm

Mystery and Imagination: Dracula (1968)

Well worth a look if the opportunity arises

I don't want to oversell it. It looks like it was made for about the same budget as one of the Patrick Troughton DR WHO serials of that era. (In 1 scene you can clearly see a 'wall' vibrating.) And Denholm Elliott is certainly no Chris Lee. Then again who is. But he does a credible job and the production still has a lot to recommend it. And this is 1968. So remember the terrain. Hammer isn't exactly cranking out new classics at this point. Chris Lee's Dracula "HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE". On this side of the Atlantic, we had Barnabas Collins and that was about it as far as vampires go. And despite very severe limitations, this TV adaptation gets a lot right. Its clearly the template for the BBC's more ambitious Dracula with Louis Jourdan almost 10 years later, even tho guided by a different director. Lucy Westenra in 1977 is virtually a clone of Lucy Weston here. Dr. Seward also foreshadows Jonathan Harker in Langella's 1979 version, both coming off as jealous, ineffectual, limp dishrag suitors. The forced condensation of characters and locales in 1968 also leads to a few imaginative and effective surprises I wont spoil here, that aren't from Stoker yet keep to the spirit of the piece. In particular, the Brides and vampire Lucy are right on the mark. Neither the Max Factor femme fatales of HAMMER or the zombies of COUNT YORGA, they practically drip with infection, yet remain compelling creatures. Susan George as a seriously conflicted Lucy does a great job, vividly conjuring the world of Dracula, where passion and desire are boundless but compassion is dead. This rarely seen Dracula is preserved on the MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION DVD set of surviving episodes from this BBC series of the 60s and early 70s. Black and white. Not preserved quite as well as some of the later color stories in the set but quite watchable.

Laid to Rest (2009)

Retro Slasher Done with Flair

This one will be a winner for gore hounds and those who'll enjoy a return to the slasher films of the 80s, with the masked killer given a hi tech sheen and a glossy 21st century do-over. Extra bonus points for the characters being adults, not hi school kids, and the actors actually being, uh, actors, not models (or Paris Hilton) or runner ups on TV talent shows or girlfriends of last year's thuggish rap sensation. Bobbi Sue Luther is the wife of the the writer/director, Robert Hall, in her first lead role, in only his 2nd feature, which all sounds like a recipe for disaster, but works out just fine. My fave moment - near the end of a very long nite, the killer has his back to a geeky kid from a 7-11 trying to get tough with him, and we see him sigh wearily and shake his head before he turns and offs him in 2 seconds. You never see Jason complain about being tired at the end of a tough nite at Crystal Lake. Plus you get to see Richard Lynch for 2 min, older but acting as degenerate as ever. To those wags who will opine (and they will) that some plot contrivances make no sense (it seems to be about 500 miles to the nearest town, and no one in this sparsely populated landscape - except the maniac -has a cell phone) you're watching the wrong kind of movie for your tastes.

As one character improvises in a blooper 'Theres this really dangerous guy. He's chasing us. Soon he'll be appearing in many sequels and in a line of collectible action figures."

Dead of Night (1977)

Pretty Much For Die Hard Curtis/Matheson Fans Only

I wondered why I had no memory of this whatsoever, despite being a big fan of Dan Curtis in his pre-WINDS OF WAR, gone-Hollywood days. I retained vivid memories of TRILOGY OF TERROR, NIGHTSTALKER, etc long before their resurrection on home video and DVD. I even remember Patty Duke turning into a really big spider in front of poor Tony Franciosa in the ridiculous CURSE OF THE BLACK WIDOW. Now I know why. Two of the three stories are very weak tea indeed. Odd considering this was made 2 years after TRILOGY. Worth a mention only for the 3rd and longest segment, 'Bobbie'. I never knew the same Richard Matheson segment in TRILOGY OF TERROR 2 was a remake and DEAD is the original. Joan Hackett, looking like a cross between Karen Black and Barbara Parkins, is older here than Lysette Anthony in TT2, and frankly does a better job with the part, introducing a subtle ick factor in her interactions with 'Bobbie' thats nowhere to be found in Lysette's version, and suggests just why the kid despises her so much.

Also included on the disk is a failed pilot for a Dan Curtis TV series about psychic investigators. It plays exactly like a visit to Collinwood on an extremely slow nite. The feeling of deja vu is only enhanced by the DS music, very familiar camera set-ups, the presence of Thayer David (always welcome), and for all I know the sets from the Old House re-dressed with fresh trappings from the thrift shop.

Fritt vilt (2006)

Well Worth a Look

New on R1 DVD. Sequel recently released to theatres in EU. Even a casual reader will easily find 2 major memes about this in its reviews - 1. "Hey this is great! Sure is lots of snow in Norway!" 2. "Nothing new here. Sure is lots of snow tho!" Actually both are on the mark. It probably has been over-hyped a bit, especially in Scandinavia. Understandable local pride. The basic isolated-teens-stalked-by-unknown-maniac script has been frozen in aspic for over 2 decades, at least since Jason Voorhees 3rd or 4th romp thru Camp Crystal Lake. Yet I found myself paying considerably more attention to this than usual. I realized about half-way thru, its primarily because the movie is populated by real actors, or at least by young people who can act. I liked the characters and cared what happened to them, because I know people who look and act like them. As opposed to at least 80 percent of similar fare of recent vintage here in the US of A, which has become a junky dumping ground for - 1. Trust fund babies with no discernible wit or talent taking a week off from partying/rehab/custody hearings/jail. ("Hey acting isn't so hard!") 2. Models who just know they deserve to be movie stars. 3. Pole dancers. 4. Girlfriends of A list rap stars. 5. C list rap artists. 6. Special appearances by former B movie actors/hit TV series stars fresh from detox for the 5th time and eager to tell OK! magazine they're on the comeback trail. All of the above playing 'characters' that are only to be found in bad horror movies, episodes of WHO WANTS TO DEGRADE THEMSELVES FOR A MILLION, or sitting in judgement on American Idol. What a revelation! Good acting makes a real difference, even in B genre pictures.

Blood Scarab (2008)

Monique Parent Gives Don Glut Vampire Series an Upgrade to First Class

Well worth a look, if you go in with the right expectations, even if you haven't cared in the past for Don Glut's favored sub-genre - 'The Parade of Young Models with Big Boobs'.

• Monique Parent looks and is perfect as a feline and slinky vampire. Whatever she wants to come back for the next episode in this series, Don Glut will be wise to give it to her. She clearly knows exactly what this job is about and delivers 110 percent. She could easily initiate a whole new sub-genre - 'Hot Vampire MILF'.

• Also doing his job well is Del Howison, the proprietor of Dark Delicacies Bookstore, in the continuing misadventures of the much put upon 'Renfield', a mash-up of Dwight Frye with Willie Loomis from Dark Shadows. He's even given a nice story arc this time. But, in between keeping all the rooms in the castle dust free, Renfield's main job is to signal the audience this is a comedy, and not to expect something else. The comedy is an essential ingredient in this formula. If your lead character is a riff on an historical figure who was a sadistic mass murderer, playing it deadpan is a whole different category of movie.

• The music, much of it by Lucan Wolf, also adds significantly to the enterprise and the feeling its a 'real' movie this time.

Its not all great.

-'Dracula' is pretty terrible. Even though he's only in the first 15 min he still sets up the wrong tone for the rest. Why didn't Glut just bring back Arthur Roberts from his last vampire opus and call him 'Dracula'? He was fine as Ruthven. They had it nearly right in the very first one with William Smith. At least he could convey a weary gravitas just standing in front of the camera. With Tony Clay, they may be trying to do a riff on 'Count Frankenhausen' from a couple of fondly remembered Mexican movies (The Bloody Vampire, etc) dubbed by K Gordon Murray. (They even replicate the glowing eye effect from the Mexican movies.) But to say they fall a wee bit short is putting it mildly.

• Silicone implants in the Egypt of the Pharaohs. I guess this was another lost art of the ancients. But an inevitable part of any Don Glut production. To be fair, some of these short scenes look to be ported over from earlier movies.

Still, the pluses far outweigh the minuses, if you go into it with the right attitude. Remember, its a comedy. If you prefer the sickly aroma of the real Countess Bathory, try 'Hostel II'. Myself, after a hard day I'd prefer this for distraction.