October Challenge: Army of Darkness (1992)

Army of Darkness (1992)

I debated doing this one too.  But it was a first time viewing for my kids, so I thought that made it ok.

I would say I forgot how much fun this one is, but I have seen it so many times now I have it memorized.
Great, fun. Some sorta-scary bits and a generally a great horror-comedy.

Puts me in the mood to see the new Evil Dead.













Tally: Watched 29, New 20

What are you watching?

October Challenge: The Vampire Lovers (1970)

The Vampire Lovers (1970) & Lust for a Vampire (1971)

I debated on whether or not to do this one.  Obviously I have seen this movie many times given the postings I have made about it and the effects it has had on my game.  In fact it is second only to Dracula in terms of how much I have read and seen this.

I decided to sit down and watch it again, this time while listening to the audio commentary  since I had seen so many Carmilla-based movies this year.

Back in June of 2011 I mentioned how this movie is like a perfect storm for topics here at the Other Side.
Based on the original novel, it is Hammer, has Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, Kata O'Mara, Pippa Steele and Madeline Smith, there is even a Faux Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson as Dracula looking exactly like he will look in Hammer's "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires").

The movie is actually fairly close to the book.  Enough that if you read the book and see the movie you will notice more of similarities rather than the differences.

The movie should be familiar ground to any horror fan by now.  Young girl Emma makes a new friend, Carmilla, soon after another one of her friends dies.  Soon Emma begins to weaken and only do the men of the tale suspect that Carmilla may be to blame.  Vampire hunt follows.  This movie though somehow makes due with this simple story really.  I am giving it the benefit of the doubt of having been based on the work that created this kind of story; but the movie holds up rather well.  Even under repeated viewings I have not grown tired of it.

Now here there is no doubt that Carmilla is supposed to be evil.  She casually uses and tosses away Mdme. Perrodot (Kate O'Mara) and she did kill Laura (Pippa Steele) but yet to me there is something underneath all of this.  Carmilla is still a tragic figure.  She was damned, but maybe the least of the damned.  Not as much as in the novella, but it is there.

Now taken as part of the Hammer Karnstien Trilogy, this is obviously the best of the lot.  The others are good bloody fun, but there is a much better story here.  Also the characterization of Carmilla is much more nuanced here.  I also think that is due to a better story and better acting ability by Ingrid Pitt.  Again I am publicly calling for a new Carmilla movie.  I know that Styia is coming out next year, and it looks good, but I think I want a period piece again.

Also I feel I should comment on the poster.  WTF?  I am not sure what movie that poster is for but none of that happened in the movie.

I also decided to rewatch Lust for a Vampire (1971), the second movie of the Karnstien Trilogy.

It had been a long time since I had seen this one. I forgot about the overt Satanism, but it was Hammer in 71 so that is no surprise.  Mind you I don't mind that, it works for Dracula, but Carmilla?  I am not quite seeing it.  Now to be fair I DO see it for the Karnstiens as a family.  Let's be honest though, this is the least of this movies problems.

Once again we get a near-Christopher Lee as an almost-Dracula. Heck they actually used Chris' famous red eyes from Scars of Dracula.  This time he is in charge of the Satanic ritual that brings Carmilla/Mircalla back from the dead 40 years (1830, prime time for GoA) after the first movie.  Gone is the hair "color a rich very dark brown", Carmilla is now a blonde.  Maybe it was the peasant girl she ate.  BTW the Peasant Girl in this movie was the first vampire killed in TVL and one of the first "witches" burned in "ToE".

 The movie though goes downhill, story wise from here.  We get the involvement an author, Richard Lestrange (who's family will later go on to support the Dark Lord) who gets a job at a local girl's finishing school where Carmilla is now a student. It's an oldie but a goodie and I have used it myself.
The rest follows the well worn paths of Hammer lore.  People die, some people think there is a vampire, others don't. Compared with Vampire Lovers this one feels like the cast was still standing around after the last movie stopped so they decided to do another one.

With TVL and the book Carmilla, you felt that Carmilla was a victim of her circumstance as much as she was the villain. Here you don't get any of that nuance. In fact Carmilla is more interested in Lestrange than her roomate!  What is up with that?

This was not one of Hammer's better films.  What gets me the most is that there are a lot of good elements to this movie and some great ideas, just strung together rather poorly.


In a related movie I have seen, but not reviewed the related "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter". That was an enjoyable film. (Not counting it for this Challenge)


Tally: Watched 28, New 20

Given the influence of this film, here is a links sections to other posts here.

• The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 1
• The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 2
• The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 3, with Ghosts of Albion stats for Carmilla/Mircalla
• A Willow/Tara RPG adventure that borrows from Carmilla

Movies

• Ingrid Pitt as another Infamous Vampire in Hammer's Countess Dracula
• Vampyres
• Vampyr
• Blood and Roses
• Twins of Evil

Carmilla, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (off site links)

• Gutenberg e-Text
• Librivox audio-book

What are you watching?

Furious Friday!!

I have a lot going on today!  So let's get to it.

First a reminders about the MONSTROUS MONDAY Blogfest on Monday.
If you are participating you need to have your  image and link back here by Monday 12:01 AM CST.
I will be checking and sending out emails over the weekend.  You can still sign up after that time.

If you are not participating, then please stop by and see my post and visit all the sites.  If you are a gamer there will be a lot of great monsters for your use.  If you are not a gamer but are here as an author or horror fan then maybe there will be something here to influence you!

I am still in the middle of the WICKED AFTER DARK Blogfest.  Please visit these sites to win something cool.  Every site is giving away something, usually a book, but I have seen all sorts of things.

I am giving away a PDF copy of The Witch!  Go to my sign-up page for a chance to win!  I opened up some more options for you to get some entries.

So not only can you win some cool prizes and visit some site outside the normal OSR Blog Realms, but you can win a copy of the Witch for your self!

If you don't want to enter you can still purchase a copy of the Witch on your own.  It is on sale now for $5.00 at DriveThruRPG / RPGNow.  A little bit later today or this weekend I am going to go into some of the history of this project.

DriveThru is in the Halloween mood as well, so don't forget their Halloween sales. Look for the pumpkin to get your own Halloween treat!

Finally I am still participating in the October Challenge.  I have seen a bunch of horror films at will be talking about them every night.

October Challenge: Blood and Roses (1960)

Blood and Roses (1960)

Blood and Roses, or Et mourir de plaisir, is one of those movies I have know about for years and I have always wanted to see.  Well I found it on Amazon Instant Video and thought this was a good of time as any.

After dealing with The Twins of Evil earlier in this challenge I have to admit my hopes for this one were low.
Well this one certainly has it's moments, even if it is a touch slow.  I was thinking if it were redone today the narration would have been dropped.

This movie takes place in the modern day and plays a little like a sequel to the Vampire Lovers, with Twins of Evil as a prequel.  This one though introduces a male lover for Carmilla/Millarca which will have any long time reader to this blog scratching their head like me.

The movie though is good.  The lesbianism is as underplayed as the vampirism.  This easily could be about a girl going crazy because the man she loves is marrying someone else.  It is only at the end is their a supernatural (maybe) twist.

I now think I have seen all the film adaptations of Carmilla, but it is possible that one is still out there.



Tally: Watched 26, New 20

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Prometheus (2012)

Prometheus (2012)

Well. I had high hopes for this one.  I know, me, you and everyone else.  But I had hoped that against all hope that the bad reviews were because people just didn't understand it.

Boy was I wrong.

Now it's not that this is a bad movie.  It just has so many plot holes and there are too many answered questions. It is also no where near the suck-fest that was Alien: Resurrection, but it was also no Alien either.

The acting is good. The pacing is a bit slow in the beginning, but I think that is on purpose to set the last acts.

There are some nice thrills in the Engineer's base.  Still have no idea what they were all running from in the holo-recording.  The creatures were interesting of course.

I noticed a lot of nods to the first two Alien movies.  And because I had heard about it, little nods to Blade Runner as well.

There are some scary moments. I mean they won't rank up there with Alien.  Though this movie did make me want to re-watch Alien.

Tally: Watched 24, New 19

What are you watching?

October Challenge: The Raven (2012)

The Raven (2012)

John Cusack stars as Edgar Allen Poe in the last few days of his life in the murder mystery with horror elements.   It's not exactly horror, but it has it's moments.

Of course this is a completely fictionalized account of Poe's last days and a murderer that is using his poems and stories to act out some grisly murders.  There are some issues with the movie from a historical perspective; the first that jumped out at me was a newspaper talking about a "Serial Killer" a term that was still 130 years away from being invented.

There are twists and turns and Cusack is great.  The movie did feel slow in some spots, but overall I rather enjoyed it.  I am not 100% sure it was horror though.








Tally: Watched 22, New 17

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Children of the Corn (2009)

Children of the Corn (2009)

Caught this on the Sci-Fi channel recently.  I have not watched the Sci-Fi (or SyFy) is years, but I'll get to that.

This is a remake of the original 1984 film (which I enjoyed) and the Stephen King short story (which I also enjoyed).  If anything this movie does cleave closer to the original story than the 84 movie did.  There are no overt demons and in some ways that almost makes the movie creepier.

This movie though has it's own problems.  Despite the issues with the first movie this one will always come up short compared to it.  There is no "He's waiting for you Malachi!" moment here.
The other is that our protagonists are completely unlikable. Don't get me wrong, Kandyse McClure is very easy on the eyes, but her character is so annoying.  In fact the only character you can related to in this is Malachi's pregnant girlfriend.

I give it a plus for adhering better to the source material but many minuses for poor execution.  My wife, who grew up in the country, though has a deeper issue with it.  She loved the first, but wants to know why city people are so afraid of the country.  I didn't have a good answer for her.

In other concerns, WYF happened to the SciFi Channel??

Once upon time you catch a decent enough movie (to be fair CotC was not bad, just not great) and some good sci-fi or horror related TV shows.  Now it is all "reality" based ghost hunters, terrible movies and Wrestling??


Tally: Watched 21, New 16

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

This is one of my favorite movies about Witchcraft.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

Instead of talking about it, here it is.



I wanted to rewatch this one because, well I like it and to get me geared up for the release of my Witch books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4xan

Tally: Watched 20, New 15

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Le Frisson des Vampires (1971)

Le Frisson des Vampires (1971)

Oh. Jean Rollin, you tempt me so.  I enjoyed Fascination and was hoping for something similar here.

I did get something similar here, but this one was not quite as good as Fascination.
Also known as "The Shiver of the Vampires" or "Thrill of the Vampire" this movie features plenty of blood, nudity, lesbian overtones and implied incest. So everything you would expect from a Jean Rollin film.
The film follows the familiar ground of two young lovers coming upon a castle, in this case the castle of the young bride's cousins.  They hear the cousins are dead but go up to the castle anyway.  Here they encounter two servant girls that tell them their Masters will be along soon.  The cousins appear and oddly no one seems shocked.  But then again no one was shocked either at the supposed human sacrifice either.
Isla, the bride, is targeted by a vampire, Isolde that must have been the one that also converted her cousins (who were also former Vampire hunters).  The two servant girls spend most of their time naked or nearly so, oh and they are also lovers.

The movie itself has a lot of issues.  Consitent plot is only the minor one.  Frankly I found myself not really caring for these characters really at all.  Plus the story was a bit dull to be honest. The cinematography was odd with the constant spinning around, but the sets were very cool. Together it did give you the feeling of being somewhere else or even somewhen else.

Plus I was distracted on how much Sandra Julien (Isla) looks like Lily Cole.

Still though. I do enjoy a vampire flick.
You can see scenes from the movie over at this Jean Rollin blog.
http://requiemforjeanrollin.blogspot.com/2009/12/jean-rollin-thrill-of-vampires.html

Tally: Watched 19, New 15

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Red Lights (2012)

Red Lights (2012)

This one is a bit hard to classify.  It is certainly a thriller and has horror elements.  Plus just when you think it is all figured out, it gets turned on it's head.
I will say this though. It was a good flick and kept me interested till very end.  The cast is great,  Cillian Murphy is fantastic and Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro are equally good as opponents.  My surprise was Elizabeth Olsen, the "other" Olsen sister.  She is quite good as well.  Though I'll admit I didn't quite buy relationship between Murphy's character and hers.  Oh well.

The movie itself deals with a couple of paranormal investigators (Murphy and Weaver) and their attempts to disprove various claims of the supernatural. This eventually leads them into a confrontation with DeNiro's character a Yuri Gellar type coming out of retirement for another show.

I don't want to ruin the movie for you, except to say that it starts out as a paranormal movie (ala Paranormal Activity) turns into something else, and then again.

The question here is not is this a good movie (it is) it's whether or not it can be classified as horror.  I was ready to say no till I got to the very end and then changed my mind.  Your mileage may vary of course.

I think that since I am couple of movies ahead right now I will call it horror and pick up a couple of extra ones.  There has to be something from the 70s I haven't seen yet.


Tally: Watched 18, New 14

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October Challenge: Twins of Evil (1971)

Twins of Evil (1971)

My love for Hammer films is well known and well documented.  I am also a huge fan of the Carmilla story.  So it really seems like a no-brainier that I had already seen all the movies in the Karnstien Trilogy. Except that I haven't.

This movie works a little a prequel to The Vampire Lovers. This time we have a Count Karnstein.  I like the story itself is not a bad one.  Afterall the Karnsteins were supposed to be a family of evil, this current Count helps fill in some of those gaps.  We get a guest appearance from Mircalla who turns our count into a monster.  There are other call backs to the first movie in how the vampires can still move about during the day, but their shrouds they need in death are now gone.

Let's be honest here.  There was really only one (er..two) reasons why this movie was made.  Mary and Madeleine Collinson.  The former Playmates, and the first twins to appear in Playboy, where here not for their acting ability (they were over dubbed in fact) but for their ability to appear in the movie nude. Mind you this is usually a good enough reason for me, but I did want some more.

Peter Cushing is back, but not as the same or related character, but as a witch-hunting zealot and uncle of the twins.  In fact he plays a rather unlikable character.  In truth his character kills more people than the Count does either before or after his vampiric transformation.

The plot seemed a bit confused and it isn't due to my lack of sleep here.  I think some bits were cut out of the version I saw on TV via some channel/cable service called Impact.   Pity really.  I had great hopes for this one.
This one put my wife into a deep sleep and she is just about ready to ban me from watching anymore Hammer films.  I did point out that the Woman in Black was also Hammer.

Tally: Watched 17, New 13

What are you watching?

October Challenge: I am Legend

I am Legend

One of the things that I love doing (but irritates my wife) is watching multiple versions of the same movie.  This year I choose the various incarnations of Richard Matheson's "I am Legend".  I had read the book years ago back in grad school and I recalled seeing "The Omega Man" (which I ad always thought the Police song was based on).  Well the new I Am Legend was on so I figured what the heck.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Vincent Price stars as the Robert Neville character, Robert Morgan.  The interesting thing about this movie is that Matheson worked on the script, but decided that he didn't like it.   The vampires in this version are more of the classical, "Hammer" vampires.  Affected by mirrors, sunlight and garlic.  This premise though is the same as in the book.  Neville/Morgan spending his day killing vampires.  As far as the movie adaptions go, this one is the closest to the book, though there are still some differences.  The name it the first obvious one.  Plus while the vampires are closer to the book, they are more like zombies here in the movie. They are fast and more vampire like in the book.  The feel of the movie is closer to the book as well.
Vincent Price of course is always a joy to see in the movies and frankly it would not be Halloween without him.
This movie was also an influence on George Romero for his zombie movie Night of the Living Dead.

The Omega Man (1971)
I remember seeing this one years ago.  At the time I thought it was a little stupid and slow.  It took a lot a liberties with the book and the vampires now were suddenly a thinly disguised racial tension metaphor.
Rewatching it now a lot fo that still holds true, but it is also a fun horror/action movie.
So what was going on in the 70s? Cause there is a lot of fear in this movie.  Not horror movie fear, but fear of the world written into the movie.  Chemical waefare, race riots, all sorts of things to scare you.
Now I like Heston in this, even if his Robert Neville is getting further away from the book.
The movie has a similar ending to the book, but not really the same impact.
This movie is notable for one of the first interracial kisses between Charleston Heston and Rosalind Cash.

I Am Legend (2007)
Will Smith is now Dr. Robert Neville in this version that tries to use more science.  In this case the vampires are altered humans from a genetically re-engineered measles virus.  In this movie Neville is the last man here, but maybe not the last man anywhere
It is a passable version.  Will Smith is fun actor and he is good in this role.  The movie though in the translation seems to have lost something since the 60s and 70s.

I Am Omega (2007)
I am not even sure what to say about this one. I will be honest, I like The Asylum. Their "Mockbusters" are often a lot of fun  But this one fell far from the mark.  It only shares surface similarities with the other movies and book; only enough to make it any generic Post Apocalypse movie really.  I suppose you can admire their cheek of it all.

This Tally: Watched 4, New 2. Best: Last Man on Earth
Tally: Watched 16, New 12

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Dark Shadows (2012)

Dark Shadows (2012)

I was eagerly anticipating the new Dark Shadows from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.  Well tonight, thanks once again to the magic of OnDemand I was finally able to catch it.

Well. I liked it, but not as much as I wanted to to like it.  Depp is brilliant as always and Helena Bonham Carter is there too, this time with an American accent (loved it).  Chloë Grace Moretz is here as well and way under used.  Same as Michelle Michelle Pfeiffer.

If you don't know the background to Dark Shadows, over watched the old show, then there are some things that will be lost on you, but the film was still fun. Eva Green was surprisingly good as Angelique.  But the movie lacked a real conflict and climax.  I felt like they were trying to cram as much from the series as they could into a two hour movie.

The movie was fun, but it is really stretching the definition of horror for this.  I am including it because I was such a fan of the original series.


Tally: Watched 12, New 10

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Fascination (1979)

Fascination (1979)

You can't blog about horror movies and not do a Jean Rollin movie. I am likely to do more than 1 thanks to the combined magic of the new Redemption collection on Blu-Ray and Amazon Instant Video.

So what do we have here.  Well We have some high society types drinking ox blood in a butchery.  This shifts to a scene of a bunch of thieves and their double cross.  Long story short our double crosser escapes to a house where two servant girls, Franca Maï (Elizabeth) and Rollin mainstay Brigitte Lahaie  (Eva).  They toy with the thief (Mark) a bit. Mess around with each other some, and generally and alternately try to keep him or send him away.

Soon more women show up and it obvious that they are toying with this man and they plan to drink his blood or have sex with him.  Maybe in that order.

The film is very visually appealing and has that dream-like quality I always see in Euro-sleeze/erotics/horror.  There is plenty of exposed female flesh and plenty of blood and a lot of death.

The scene with Lahaie and the scythe is a classic one.

I don't want to ruin the ending of this in case there is anyone out there reading this blog who hasn't seen this (I am guess there is one or two).  But it is an unexpected twist.

The script is somewhat weak and the movie won't win any awards, but the cinematography is great.  Again, very languid, almost surreal really.

I am planning on checking out some more.

Tally: Watched 11, New 9

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Vampyr (1932)

Vampyr (1932)

This is one of those movies I have known about forever but never had the chance to see. Well now I can say I have seen it.

Vampry is loosely based on  J. Sheridan Le Fanu's short stories in "Through a Glass Darkly" including the most famous one, Carmilla. The movie, while slow, is full of atmosphere and is generally very creepy.  The whole thing seems like some sort of weird dreamscape than anything else.
There are many scenes in this film that are quite famous really.  The one legged guard with his independent shadow, the look of pure terror on the face Allan Grey (Julian West  aka producer Nicolas de Gunzburg) and the scene where he put into a coffin. One of my favorites are where the skulls all turn to watch the vampire enter a room. It worked just as good here as it did 80 years later in Doctor Who.   I am going to need to use that sometime.

There is a lot here that reminds me of Nosferatu, not just the black & white or the fact that they are both German cinema, but something in the tone.  These vampires are death and pestilence. I like have the vampire has the ghosts of convicted murderers in it's service (well, at least in the book that Allan is given).

The tale is nothing we have not seen before. Vampire attacking humans and feeding off of them.  But in 1932 this was all still new ground.    The interesting twist in this movie is the doctor character is actually in league with the vampire.

I am glad I finally got to see this.


Tally: Watched 10, New 8

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

The vampires and the lycans are back in the 4th installment of the horror/action franchise.
I felt this was one of the weakest of the movies, picking up more or less where movie 2 left off.

Selene is back and so is her hybrid vampire/werewolf boyfriend.  Only now their war has spilled out and everyone knows about them.  The Vampires are almost extinct and the lycans are all ready there.

Great for a bit of dumb fun and there is a surprise in this one.










Tally: Watched 9, New 7

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October Challenge:Season of the Witch (1972)

Season of the Witch (1972)

I never knew this little gem existed till last month and I knew I needed to add it to my queue of movies.  It features direction by Zombie Master George Romero and the title song sung by Donovan (ok his song Season of the Witch was used in it) and a bunch of pretty much unknowns.

The movie is slow and typical Occult 70s fare, but still fun.

Joan is unsatisfied in her life and marriage and turns to Witchcraft to spice things up.
It's not horror so much as it is occult thriller-ish.

Still though not a bad flick and certainly has a great 70s vibe about it.







Tally: Watched 8, New 6

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Blade (1998)

Blade (1998)

So my son wanted to watch a horror movie, but he is not a fan of horror films.  But he does like action and Marvel.  So we decided on Blade.

I have seen this one before and it is stupid fun.  Vampires killing each other. Ancient vampire gods. Good times.
Blade is one of the few Marvel characters I still like.  Maybe because he created by Marv Wolfman who would also be responsible for the New Teen Titans.

A couple of points of interest.
This is one of the very first "Cinematic Marvel Universe" movies, though I am not sure if it fits into it proper.

Udo Kier is in this as the head of the vampire council. I think you can do a horror movie fest just on movies he was in.   I might have to do that sometime.




Tally: Watched 7, New 5

What are you watching?

October Challenge: The Omen (2006)

The Omen (2006)

Generally speaking remakes of horror movies are not very good.  Every so often you get one that is better than the original.  The Omen (2006) is not really any better, but it looks better and it is certainly better acted.
The original Omen I watched as a kid and it was goofy fun with the Anti-Christ.  But a lot of the movie was very stiff.  The new Omen is a better movie, even if the story is exactly the same (give or take).

Famously released on 06-06-06, I remember the ads for this one well.  Fitting for my 6th movie.
The best I can say about this is that I like Julia Stiles a lot better in this one.  Pete Postlethwaite did a good job as Brennan and did (I'll admit) a better job than Patrick Troughton who I have said before was the best actor in the Original Omen.

If you know the original story you know this one.  Thankfully we were spared the sequels that followed.

Tally: Watched 6, New 5

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October Challenge: Solomon Kane (2009)

Solomon Kane (2009)

Pity poor Robert E. Howard.  Considered one of the best of the pulp writers of the age, the movies made from his works, Conan and Solomon Kane, have languished.  In the case of Conan, three movies across two franchises and not a one is considered true to the character.  Then there is Solomon Kane.  His movie is out in theaters now despite being filmed over three years ago.

Now I have just started reading some Solomon Kane, so I will say this.  The movie is brutal but it holds close to the books at least as far as I can tell.

While this could have descended into the pits of hell know only as "made for the SciFi channel" this is actually a very good movie.  James Purefoy is almost Hugh Jackman like in his portrayal of Kane.

The build up to the end is slow, but it starts with a very bloody fight, so it does pull you right in.

While it could be classified as horror, dark fantasy might be a better term for it.


Tally: Watched 5, New 4

What are you watching?