Questions for you all. Favorite 70s Sci-Fi

Work has me busy today writing faculty training guidelines.  But that doesn't mean I am not active on my projects.

I have a question for you all today.

What is your favorite 70's science fiction or science fantasy movie (or TV show)?

I am looking for obscure stuff here and the weirder the better.

Now by 70s I do mean 1970 to 1979.  BUT I will take movies as early as 1967 or late as 1983.

A few of mine are:
2001 A Space Odyssey (1968)
Star Wars (1977)
Alien (1979)
Logan's Run (1976)
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) (computers were the new demons!)

I also want to extend my personal thanks and a shout out to the Space: 1970 blog.
Christopher Miller really has a great blog and I have spent hours reading it over.

Let me know what you like and why.

Kickstart Your Weekend: The Dwarves of Demrel

The Dwarves of Demrel is an independent fantasy film and exactly the sort of thing that Kickstarter should be about.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/257801402/the-dwarves-of-demrel

From the site:  "In this steampunk fantasy adventure, a collapse imprisons three dwarven miners who must now work collectively to combat starvation, despair, and a mysterious creature."

Honestly I think it looks rather cool.

They have met their goal, but that could still use more funding for those stretch goals.

Check out their page on FB as well for more information.
https://www.facebook.com/dwarvesofdemrel?_rdr

Should be a lot of fun.

A to Z of Vampires: Wurdalak

Off to Russia again today to visit the family preying Wurdalak!  The wurdalak was popularized by the film, Black Sabbath (from which the famous band gets their name!).  I covered this movie in my last October Horror Movie marathon and stated it up for Ghosts of Albion.

Once again going with OSRIC format today.

Wurdalak (Vampire)
(turned as type 11)
Frequency: Very Rare
No Encountered: 1
Size: Man-sized
Move: 120 ft
Armor Class: -2
Hit Dice: 9+1
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite) + Blood Drain
Damage: 1d6+5/1d6+5/1d4+Blood Drain
Special Attacks: Per Vampire; Blood Drain
Special Defenses: Per Vampire
Magic Resistance: 25%
Lair Probability: 100% (home 50%, grave 50%)
Intelligence: Exceptional
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 9/4,240 + 13/hp

A wurdalak is created by a family curse.  Typically one laid down by a powerful witch on an entire line. When a member dies they will return as a wurdalak to feed on members of their own family.  Sometimes a wurdalak will also spontaneously arise when a member of the family disgraces their family name or when a member (typically a daughter) goes against the wishes of a recently deceased member (such as her father or uncle).

Once risen the wurdalak will return to their home to prey on the family members. It needs blood lke most other vampires and drains it at the rate of 3 Constitution points per attack.  A wurdalak can make up to three attacks this way per night.  Family members drained by a wurdalak become wurdalak themselves.  Non-family members drained by a wurdalak become ghouls.

It is wrong to assume to that because a person is not part of the wurdalak's family that they are safe.  The wurdalak will kill anyone in their way or whom they perceive as a threat.

The wurdalak has the following spell-like powers; charm person (3/day), cause fear (3/day), knock, spider climb (at will), and gaseous form (at will).  Once per it's "life" it can cast bestow curse as if they were a 9th level witch.  Typically this curse is bestowed near their death.

In combat the wurdalak will attack with claws and a bite. If it bites a victim in combat it can drain 1 point of Con. The other drain attack is for sleeping victims.  The wurdalak is very strong with a Strength of 22.

The wurdalak can cast shadows and reflect in mirrors.  They are not active at sundown like other types of vampires, but wait till 10:00 pm exactly.  To kill the wurdalak one must use a dagger that has been in the monster's family for at least three generations.  Sunlight reduces it to 0 hp, it will become gaseous and return to their coffins.   A sleeping wurdalak has an AC of 10.

Wurdalaks do not shape-shift into animals.

A to Z of Vampires: Nosferatu

So it has been asked a few times on this challenge "Are there any ugly vampires?" Germany responds with a resounding "Ja!"
I give you the Nosferatu!

The "Nosferat" originally came from Central and Eastern Europe and described a beautiful vampire that was more akin to the Moroi.  That all changed in 1922 when F. W. Murnau released his unauthorized version of Dracula on film called "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" or "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror".

Vampires had entered the cinema and the world was never quite the same.

The Nosferatu, Count Orlock played Max Schreck, was nothing like the vampires of today.  He was ugly, had long rat-like teeth, was bald with pointed ears; in short he looked like the walking dead. He spread plague and death. Women did not fawn and swoon over him, they were horrified and repulsed.

So effective was this film that you can still see elements of it in modern day vampire films.  Everything from the look of Radu in "Subspecies" to how shadows move in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and countless others.  The movie was remade in 1979 with Klaus Kinski in the title role and 2000s "Shadow of the Vampire" starring John Malkovich as Murnau and Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck.

In games the Nosferatu has taken on an unlife of it's own.  It is one of the more iconic clans of the Vampire: The Masquerade game and it was one of the first vampire sub-species in Ravenloft.

Nosferatu
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Hit Dice: 9d8+9** (50 hp)
No. of Attacks: claw/claw/bite
Damage: 1d6+4/1d6+4/1d4+1 + CON drain
Special:  Constitution Drain, Cause Fear, Summon Plague, Summon Rats
Movement: 30’
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: F10
Morale: 11
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
XP: 7,200

The Nosferatu is a subtype of the vampire. It is turned like a vampire and has all the same strengths and weaknesses.
Though the Nosferatu has a few additional abilities.
The Nosferatu looks pale, and withered. He also has almost rat or bat like look to him. His fingers and ears are elongated.  A Nosferatu can never pass of anything other than the walking corpse he is.
Nosferatu can not turn into wolves or bats like other vampires, but instead can become a swarm of rats.  Each rat of the swarm is part of a collective mind, so killing one will not destroy the creature. In fact even if all are destroyed save one the creature will reform.
Additionally Nosferatu can summon 10d100 (10-1000) normal rats to his aid or 2d20 (2-40) plague stricken rats (save vs. disease).
Like some vampires the Nosferatu can be held in place by a line of salt.  A ring of salt around the Nosferatu will trap it.
Nosferatu are more sensitive to sunlight and will die with even the briefest exposure (1 round). They are effected by a Light spell as if it were Continual Light.  Their vision in darkness is 180' and they see as well in complete darkness as humans can in twilight.
Nosferatu gorge themselves preferring not to waste time with luring prey. Once they attach themselves to a victim they will drain them on blood (Constitution points) till they are dead.  A Nosferatu concentrating on feed (ie not in combat) can drain 3 points of Con per turn.  In combat situations they can only drain 1d4+1 HP of blood per round, but they do not find this satisfying.
Nosferatu are all very strong (Strength = 18) despite their thin, corpse-like visages.

Seventh Son Movie, or as I call it "The Mother Malkin Movie"

New movie out tonight that I have been waiting a while for.

 Seventh Son stars Julianne Moore as the witch Mother Malkin.

Oh. I suppose there are other characters in it too. And they are supposed to be the "heroes" or something...but seriously casting Julianne Moore as a witch? She has to be the star of this movie right?

Ok, all kidding aside.  Seventh Son is based on the book The Last Apprentice (Revenge of the Witch) by Joseph Delaney.  I read it last month for my Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge.

From the trailers the movie is going to part from the book in a number of ways.  From the reviews I have peeked at it looks like it is getting panned.  But I am still going to watch it.

Plus it has Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore together again; the first time since the Big Lebowski.
I do have to say that casting Jeff Bridges in the roll of the Spook is spot on.  Pretty much exactly who I would have picked too.

So kinda getting panned. Deviates from a good book.  

Zatannurday: Updates

Lots going on these couple of weeks.


February will be Harley Quinn month at DC Comics.  Here is the Harley inspired cover for Justice League Dark from none other than  Joe Quinones.

In movie news we have two items.

First off the draft of Justice League Dark was turned in.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/26/7298213/guillermo-del-toro-has-finished-the-script-for-dc-comics-justice

And, although it's not DC, Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as Doctor Strange.

Looking forward to both of these.

October Movie Challenge: Feast of Flesh (2007)

October Movie Challenge: Feast of Flesh (2007)

In my defense I want to say up front that I thought this was going to be better.
The title is fine and my research said it was a bit like Bordello of Blood only featuring Elizabeth Bathory AND Carmilla.  I mean really. How can I say no?

I was so horribly wrong.

I think I am prepared to say that this was the WORST vampire movie I have seen this entire challenge.  Though Mama Dracula might give it a run for it's money.

The story focuses on a "high class" brothel known as Bathory House.  A couple gets a ticket to go from a poker game.  Of course they are looking for a little threesome fun and instead they get eaten (and not in the way they wanted). Anyway I guess there is a prohibition against the vampires from hunting townfolk so the local vampire hunters come in and beat the vampire-hookers up a little.
Both sides fight.  There is also a plot about a woman that is a local, but leaving town, getting brought into the brothel.  The vampires thought she was coming to town, not leaving it.  Her boyfriend wants her back...you know the drill.

I will give the movie one credit. The ending is not what I expected it to be.  Bathory is killed and the townie girl becomes the new Madame.  The boyfriend and all the hunters are killed.

The acting is terrible, including and especially Director, Writer and head Vampire Killer Sheridan, aka Mike Watt.  What was up with that accent? He was supposed to be Dutch, but it sounded like Irish that learned from a book on tape.  Anyway.  It's not good.

I toyed with the idea of a vampire brothel in my games before.  Mayfairs is a brothel in my games run by two vampire lovers, Miriam and Fran and founded by a Street Fae, Dirty Nellie.  I now have a list of things NOT to do with it.

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Tally so far:  36 Total Watched / 24 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Queen of the Damned (2002)

October Movie Challenge: Queen of the Damned (2002)

In what can be best described as an "Attack of Opportunity" I caught Queen of the Damned on TV yesterday.

Since I have been watching a number of "Vampire Queen" like movies lately this seemed appropriate.

Again, while I don't like the movie as part of the larger Anne Rice Universe, the movie is kind of fun.   I think the tried too hard to take two books "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned" and make them into one movie.

Though to be fair, there is lot in both books that could have been cut or least edited down to size.

It is interesting though that I can recall exactly where I was when had heard that Aaliyah had been killed.  I had never really given her a second thought prior to that.  Watching her performance here again some 12 years after her death I am struck that how she physically embodied Akasha.  I can't tell if she would have been a good actress or not, it is just a shame we never got to find out.

Stuart Townsend makes for a decent enough Lestat.  Or at least the heterosexual Lestat.  Tom Cruise probably did Gay Lestat better.

I have tried to stat up an Akasha like figure in many games before, but I usually end up disappointed in the results.  In this movie and the book she really is less of a character and more of a plot device. Maharet (and Mekare, who is not even in the movie) are easier to do since they have more developed characters.

This is a re-watch.  I reviewed this one back in 2010.

Tally so far:  33 Total Watched / 21 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Twins of Evil (1971)

October Movie Challenge: Twins of Evil (1971)

I watched this one back in 2012 and lamented at the time that many of the scenes seemed cut. So I picked up the Blu-Ray hoping that the "deleted scenes" were included this time.

Not so much.

There is a deleted scene; Where Anton is playing his new song to the girls school.  Glad it was deleted.

There is however a very interesting documentary on the making of the Hammer Karnstein that might be worth the price of this disc alone.

The Blu Ray itself looks fantastic.  Much better than the version I watched in 2012.

It still has it's 87 minute running time I have read there are some scenes that were filmed and never made it to the theatrical release and others that were cut afterwards.

Plus, given the recent death of Madeleine Collinson (the evil Twin Frieda) I wanted to watch this one again.

I am still hoping for a restored edition, but not holding my breath.

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Tally so far:  31 Total Watched / 20 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Nosferatu (1979)

I am not sure how to classify this one really.  I thought I saw it years ago, but once I started watching it again I was less sure.  By the end I was really unsure.  Some scenes were familiar, others I remember really differently.

This movie of course is a remake of the classic 1922 Nosferatu.  Remake is somewhat of an inadequate word.  This is a re-visioning of Dracula from the 1922 source.

Klaus Kinski was one of the greatest actors to grace the screen. A strange man by all accounts, but also a brilliant actor and quite brilliant in this role.  Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker is also quite fantastic and undoubtedly the hero of this movie outshining both Johnathan Harker and Van Helsing both..

Nosferatu (either version) gets it right where Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) gets it wrong. Vampires are monsters and they carry plague, disease and death.  Dracula is a bringer of death.

Like the Hamilton Deane play and the 1979 Dracula movie reverse the names and roles of Mina and Lucy.  Unlike the Deane play and the original novel nearly everyone dies.

Watching this movie is treat for the eyes. Like the 1922 Nosferatu the cinematography is a marvel to behold.

I am calling this one as a re-watch.

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Tally so far:  30 Total Watched / 20 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Vampire's Night Orgy (1973)

October Movie Challenge: Vampire's Night Orgy (1973)

Well after last night's suck fest (eh eh) tonight's movie was a pleasant surprise.  While searching for more Bathory movies this one came up.  I had never heard of this one before and really did not know what to expect, but the title was not giving a lot of faith.
But I have discovered that there is a certain charm to Spanish Horror of the 1970s and this one did not disappoint.

A group of travelers looking for work end up stranded in a remote village. They arrive at night and no one is around. They soon discover that everyone was at the cemetery where they stood vigil over the grave of a recently deceased towns person.   In truth they are all vampire spawn controlled by the local countess (played by Helga Liné) who plans to feed of these new comers.

In what has to be the creepiest scene in the movie the Mayor informs some of the towns-folk that the countess will provide them with the meat the new-comers need to eat.  So the villagers take to chopping up others to provide them with the meat they need.

Our hero is not like some of the virtuous found in most horror movies.  He is a lone American and something of a Peeping Tom. He finds a hole in the wall that separates him from the our heroine.

All in all there is some very creepy scenes and elements in this movie and it makes actually quite fun to watch.  I could have done with out Violet's death though.

The DVD I have is presented in a very odd format. It looks like a letter box transfer from a VHS.  The image is not very sharp but still pretty clean.
I will admit I am not a big fan of the soundtrack, but it is the 70s so that is to be expected really.  A little too experimental jazz/Jean-Luc Ponty for my taste.

It dawns on my that this would make for a great adventure.  The PCs come to a town and all the villagers are acting weird. They fear the count living up in the castle. Turns out they are all the vampires and the Count is the only human for miles and he/she is the only keeping them from spreading out into the world.

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Tally so far:  29 Total Watched / 20 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

October Movie Challenge: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

We had gone to see the new Dracula movie about a week and half ago (well 10 days) and my wife and I wanted to re-watch Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1992.  Plus there had been some other movies I saw this challenge that made me want to go back and see this one.

I wanted to wait till I picked it up on Blu Ray.  I had watched the DVD a couple years back (four years) and it just didn't hold up on my HD TV.   The Blu Ray looked really nice.  It was a direct transfer, so no enhancements that I could see and I swear I noticed things in this that I didn't remember from seeing it in the theaters or on the VHS or DVD versions I have, which is cool.

I was hoping for more value added material though. There is a collection of deleted scenes, which I don't recall seeing on my DVD. There are some documentaries, which I do remember seeing.

There is something else.  I know people said this then and I ignored it, but really the acting is just not that good.  Ryder and Reeves are so horribly miscast as to be a joke really.  I like both actors, but this is kind of stupid really.  Anthony Hopkins is great, too bad he isn't really playing Van Helsing here. Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes and Billy Campbell are great in their roles as Lucy's suitors.  Sadie Frost in her first roll (if I recall right) was great as Lucy; but I don't really recall her being this lascivious in the book (it has been 3 years since I have read it last and all the Lucys blur).
Gary Oldman though gives a great performance (though sometimes coming close to being over the top) as Dracula.  Oldman is fantastic in everything he is in really to say he is good in a roll is like complaining about Nick Cage only having one character he plays in every single movie.  Tom Waits of course was an unexpected treat as Renfield.  Maybe one of the best Renfields ever in fact.

The sets, the costumes and the effects are still visually stunning 20+ years later.

I just wish we could drop this whole "Dracula and his immortal beloved" story idea.  Dracula picked Mina because she was there. She was Harker's wife and because he is an evil bastard (Dracula, not Harker) he decided to make her his bride.  We never hear stories about his three brides being his loves.  Come to think of it. We HAVEN'T ever heard of his three brides.  Do they even have names?

Ok new rule.  If there is a movie dealing with Dracula and his "murdered/suicided/dead and now reincarnated bride" then it immediately looses 1 star in my mental ranking system.  I'll give this movie a pass even though it is not the first and it is the most egregious of the error.
Remember the real-life Dracula actually murdered one of his own wives when he caught her lying to him.  So he is not the romantic ideal movies are making him out to be.
Harker is no saint either, but the book was very clear that they loved each other.

You can read what I said about this movie in 2010.
Overall I think I am a little harder on the cast now than then, but my main points remain.

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Tally so far:  27 Total Watched / 18 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Embrace of the Vampire (1995, 2013)

October Movie Challenge: Embrace of the Vampire (1995, 2013)

1995 Film
Like so many others I tuned in to watch Alyssa Milano's turn as a good girl gone bad (in the movies and real life) for this 1995 movie.  A couple of things struck me nearly 20 years later.
Alyssa Milano ended up to become a much better actress.  I make no apologies for my love of Charmed. But while she was not great in this, she got a lot better.
Martin Kemp is not a great actor. In fact in this he comes off more like a poor man's Nick Cage in "Kiss of the Vampire" only not as crazy.
In some cases, vampires can shoot electricity out of their hands.
The story is thin, at best.  But that is not why anyone watches this.

2013 Film
Given all of this, my expectations for the "remake" were very low. I have to admit I was very surprised.
For starters the story is different.  The characters are the same, more or less.

In both cases Charlotte is a pure, virginal character that is sought after by a vampire.  In the first movie she was the "reincarnation" of the vampire's love (gah) in the new movie she is the descendant of the vampire who killed and turned the vampire in the tale.  She is described as a Dhampir, so she has the original vampire's blood in her veins.  If the vampire in the movie and drain her he becomes human again.

The 2013 movie keeps you guessing, sort of, on who the vampire is and you are uncertain whether or not the things Charlotte is seeing/doing are real or not.

In the end I actually enjoyed this new movie much more than the original.
Yes. All the reasons you wanted to watch the 1995 movie, minus Alyssa Milano, are still here.  In fact I have heard this movie described as "Black Swan with Vampires and Fencing".  That is not too far off.

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Tally so far:  26 Total Watched / 18 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Vampire 1960s

The 60s were an interesting time for horror, and not one I get into a lot.  The 60s was almost always about science delving into forbidden areas.  Where the 50s gave us giant monsters and arguably the dawn of Sci-Fi cinema and the 70s a ton of occult-influenced movies, it is easy to see the 60s a coming together of these ideas.  Science tries to explain, defeat, or ever create the monsters of old.

Atom Age Vampire (1960)
Ah the 60s and all things scary had to be about atomic energy.
Actually there are no vampires in this one. Just a crazy doctor and his "atomic" cure for skin disfigurement.  I guess the vampire bit comes from the plot that he has to kill young women to keep his patient and now love interest alive...or at least looking normal.
Pretty dull. I actually paused to watch an episode of "Adventure Time" ("Simon and Marcy") in the middle of it.  Marcelline is a much better vampire anyway.

The Bloody Vampire (1962)
"Whip those horses for Satan's sake!"  
There are some interesting bits here.  The mandagora root growing underneath a hanging victim and the horse and coach moving completely silent.  In this one the descendants of Count Cagliostro are sorcery using vampire hunters.  Actually for the time this is movie is quite good and considered to be one of the best Mexican horror movies made.  Very creepy and gothic.  The characters are actually quite engaging. Much, much better than I expected it to be.
I'd love to try a game of a family of vampire hunters and vampires dealing deadly attacks to each other over the century.
There is a great review here and I mostly concur with it.
http://www.coolasscinema.com/2009/03/bloody-vampire-1962-review.html

Nightmare Castle (1965)
Another Italian gothic horror with sci-fi leanings.  This one though also features the queen of 60s horror Barbara Steele playing sisters.  Much more open brutality than you see in later movies.  Steele's character is beaten, tied up, tortured with acid and even electrocuted.   Not sure if this is really a vampire movie or not.  Sure the maid needs fresh blood and there are some ghosts.
Despite the lack of vampire in the traditional sense this made for a good flick.

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Tally so far:  24 Total Watched / 17 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Blade Trilogy (1998, 2002, 2004)

I have been sharing my horror movie watching with my son this time around.  We watched the first Blade movie and he enjoyed it so much we watched the other two as well.

I have seen all three of these, but they were his first time views.

Blade is very much a comic book vampire which really is the precursor to the modern supernatural vampire.   Blade is strong, fast and hunts bad guys. Basically he is like Spider-man with some weaknesses.

Blade (1998) was one of the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.  I did rather like the idea of the summoning a vampire "Blood God".  Seems to work well really.  I am less pleased with the idea of "turned" vs. "born" vampires. But it is something that comes up so often media these days that I am (to quote Blade himself) "trying to ice-skate uphill".  Wesley Snipes will never be considered an A-list actor, but he is a decent enough one for this and he does action well.

Blade II (2002) was also enjoyable if for nothing else Ron Perlman.  But the new type of vampire reminded me at the time and again now of something you would see out of a video game.  Though I do give them credit for actually making them more scary looking.

Blade Trinity (2004) deals with Dracula aka Drake.  Dracula was a huge deal in the Blade comics, here I am not so sure I recognize him as the same Count Dracula, but that is part of the point the film makers wanted to make.   I watched the original ending in the theaters and the unrated DVD ending now.  I had forgotten their were different till I started reading more online.
While fun this was my least favorite of the three.  Though Park Posey almost made up for it.

Blade 
For Ghosts of Albion or Buffy/Angel
Motivation: To kill vampires
Creature Type: Half-Vampire/Daywalker

Attributes 
Strength 9
Dexterity 9
Constitution 8
Intelligence 4
Perception 5
Willpower 8

Acrobatics 9, Art 1, Computers 1, Crime 7, Driving 4, Getting Medieval 8, Gun Fu 8, Influence 2, Knowledge 4, Kung Fu 9, Languages 4 (English, Japanese, Russian, Romanian), Notice 6, Occultism 7

Life Points: 149
Drama Points: 10

Special Abilities: Contacts 4, Hard to Kill 8 (2 levels part of Vampire Quality), Fast Reaction Time, Immunity to Sunlight,  Increased Life Points 5,  Natural Toughness, Nerves of Steel, Restricted Diet (blood or his serum), Situation Awareness, Vampire

Combat
Name Score Damage Notes
Bite 18 34 Must grapple first; no defense action
Dodge 18
Grapple 20 — Resisted by dodge
Punch 18 24 Bash
Sword 17 42 Slash
Deflect 15 — Magic defense action; deflects spells 45º


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Tally so far:  15 Total Watched / 11 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Dracula Untold (2014)

It's nice to see a movie in the theaters for the challenge every so often.
Dracula Untold is the "untold" story of how Vlad Dracula Tepes became a vampire.

I am not going to say a lot on this to be honest.  I don't want to spoil anyone.  But I will say there is more "300" and "Lord of the Rings" in this than in Bram Stoker's classic.

Still, it was a very fun movie and I am looking forward to talking about more soon.

We took the kids to see it and they really enjoyed it.  Now I will need to have them watch one of the classic Dracula movies.

I'll pick this up on BluRay.











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Tally so far:  12 Total Watched / 11 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Return of Count Yorga (1971) & The Deathmaster (1972)

Return of Count Yorga brings back Robert Quarry as Count Yorga and Roger Perry as a different character.  Brudah, the maybe-a-werewolf servant of Yorga is also back.  No real explanation is give as to why or how Yorga and Brudah are back.  Mariette Hartley stars and even Craig T. Nelson has a small role.

If anything this is a better movie than the first Count Yorga.  The story is more original, not just a copy of Dracula, though I guess it is similar to Dracula's Guest.
Plus the horror element is heightened.

The Deathmaster is a Yorga sequel in all but name really.  Robert Quarry now has a beard and he is playing a vampire named Khorda, but the shtick is the same. So are most of the make-up effects.  Khorda now takes control over a group of hippies to turn them into his death cult.
The movie is slower than Return, but it does feature a nasty death scene where leeches are thrown onto a vampire and they kill him.

Interestingly enough. The posters for Count Yorga and Return of Count Yorga refer to the Count as "the Deathmaster" and then next year he was in "The Deathmaster".

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Tally so far:  11 Total Watched / 10 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Alucard (2008)

Well...I can say this for this low-budget film.  It makes a valiant attempt to retell Dracula in a modern setting.
It also kept much of the original novel and tropes.  There are some interesting tibbits here too. The use of old fashion phones and typewriters was interesting. In fact the old 90s laptop Harker uses on his trip looked more dated than Mina's typewriter.

All the characters are here. Moreso than any other version of Dracula I have seen; yes even Bram Stoker's Dracula. There are some scenes that obviously influences by that movie, but nothing that also could not be derived from the book.  I do like that they cast an Indiana actor as Holmwood.

The acting is not great, but I did notice that many of actors appeared together in other films from the same company.  The editing is also a little off and the special effects are weak at best.

Interestingly enough while we only get glimpses of various female nudity we are "treated" to a full frontal of Dracula/Alucard.  The cover of the video it just one of the vampire brides.

I will admit. I thought the fight scene at the end was amusing. It wasn't supposed to be though.

At 2 hours and 36 mins the movie really drags on.  Yes the book is long, but I think they could have tightened it up a bit.

If at all possible avoid the song at the end.

A for effort, but a solid C- for execution.

Of course now I wonder why vampires only use permutations of their own name. Dracula = Alucard/a, Carmilla, Mircalla, and so on.  I used to say it was vanity, but maybe there is something more to it. Something to think about.
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Tally so far:  7 Total Watched / 6 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Alucarda (1978)

Alucarda is described as being one of the bloodiest movies ever.  Well...maybe for 1978 sure.  It has its fair share of blood, nudity and screaming.

The story is kind of like Carmilla, but not. It's kinda alluding to Dracula, but doesn't. And it kinda has vampires, but doesn't.  The movie is almost a lot of things, but never quite it's own thing.

Alucarda, and their pronunciation of it makes her name sound unique and interesting, is an orphan who may be the daughter of Lucy Westerna.  She begins a fascination with another orphan Justine (certainly a nod to de Sade I am sure).  They spend their time at the Catholic run orphanage running around in the woods.  Soon they meet up with a band of unsavory gypsies and everything goes to hell.  Quite literally.
Next up is a trippy scene of nudity, blood and implied satanic marriage. Oh and a satanic orgy.

The movie had a lot of potential but it never quite lived up to it.


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Tally so far:  6 Total Watched / 5 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Female Vampire / Erotikill (1973)

Another Jess Franco / Lina Romay collaboration, although this is actually their first one.  In this she plays Countess Irina Karlstien (I think it was supposed to be Karnstien, of Carmilla fame) as a mute vampire that can only survive if she kills her lovers at the moment of orgasm.

The unedited "Female Vampire" version is more or less porn.  The edited "Erotikill" emphasized the horror elements.

Through out the movie Lina wanders around naked jumping from victim.
The characters seem to take magic and vampires as a given.  The medical examiner after an autopsy claims the victim was killed by a vampire and hardly anyone blinks an eye about it.  Maybe vampires were more common in Madeira then and I just don't remember it.

The most interesting thing about this movie are the number of different versions out there.  The version I have is 104 minutes. I have heard there is a 110 minute version as well but I have no idea what they cut from this one.

Erotikill had more blood than Female Vampire; which is to say it has some scenes of bloody mouths.  In the behind the scenes piece Franco wanted to be ambiguous about whether it was blood, semen or other fluids.  I guess the censors felt blood was less offensive.
Erotikill is only 70 minutes.



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Tally so far:  5 Total Watched / 4 New (I am only counting these as 1 movie total)

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.