Day 15
Another 2 for 1! Purple d% and d4.
Almost half-way through!
Starve Acre (2023)
This British folk horror film based on the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley. The story follows Richard (Smith) and Juliette (Clark), a troubled couple who move to Richard's childhood home on the Yorkshire moors. Their idyllic rural life quickly takes a sinister turn when their young son, Owen, begins to act strange. Well, stranger than usual.
As Owen's condition worsens, Richard becomes convinced that a malevolent force is at work, tied to the land and its dark history.
While this is going on, Owen dies from an asthma attack, sending the couple into a deep mourning.
Richard delves into local folklore, uncovering tales of a malevolent entity that haunts the area. The line between reality and the supernatural blurs as Richard and Juliette grapple with the terrifying truth about their son and the ancient evil that threatens to consume them.
Staying with them is Juliette's sister Harriet, played by Gotham's Erin Richards. They are also visited by locals Gordon and his wife. Gordon had told Richard tales of the sprites that lived on the land and told them to Owen as well.
We learn that Richard's father believed in the ancient pagan spirits of the land and tried to sacrifice Richard to them, but failed. When Owen dies, they take him as the sacrifice.
It is a slow-burn folk horror piece, as most are really, and the true horrors don't come in until the end. It has some good tension and couple of good scares, but no monsters to speak of.
So I liked it. I like folk-horror, but not a great fit for this month's theme.
Featured Monster: Sprite??
While no monster is ever seen, the effects or at least the shadow of "Jack Grey" are felt. Was he/it doing all the whistling? Was he/it the rabbit? One thing is certain Richard and Juliette believe in him in the end.
It DOES, however, work in the sense that British folkloric fae creatures used to be a lot darker and lot scarier than they are today or as depicted in the Monster Manual. If a sprite, or a group of them, could cause madness in people then they would seem more of a threat.
Sprites are often used in place of hobgoblins or other faeries*. The Monster Manual might draw very strict lines around these creatures, but folklore did not.
*(Robin Goodfellow of "Midsummer's Night Dream" was called a Spite and a Hobgoblin.)
Maybe we need to make these creatures a bit darker in their outlooks and intent.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
Viewed: 21
First Time Views: 11
I have been covering the AD&D 2nd Ed version of Ravenloft all this month. I have also been covering the the Forgotten Realms and currently in the AD&D 2nd Edition era. One thing they both have in common is that a few of the books feature new monsters in AD&D 2nd Monstrous Compendium format.
I reviewed the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendiums sometime back. Since I have been reviewing the various books I have been printing out the Monstrous Compendium pages and adding them to my three-ring binder for Ravenloft.
As I run across a monster page for these reviews OR from Dragon magazine in my This Old Dragon feature, I print them out (or cut them out as the case may merit) and add them to my binder.
It has taken 30+ years but I feel that the Monstrous Compendium concept is finally living up to its potential for me.
I have been doing the same thing with my Forgotten Realms monsters as I talked about a while back.
Again, I might start mining my other MCs to see what would fit here. I already have one filled with demons and devils, so I wont add those, but I am considering taking the Death Knight from Krynn and putting in this one.
The truth is I am not likely to play AD&D 2nd ed Ravenloft again. BUT my son is running his 5e group through Castle Amber using AD&D 1st ed. So it is possible I could run an AD&D 2nd Ed game again one day. I have mentioned that I am running an AD&D 2nd Ed Forgotten Realms game with my oldest, though we have not played in a while. So I guess never say never.
Despite my concerns with Ravenloft under AD&D 2nd ed, it was my game for the 90s.
In any case I feel like an archivist in some dusty library, collecting tomes for my own pleasures.
This is another entry for my RPG Blog Carnival for October!
Decided that a Dracula night was in order. I wanted to watch "Last Voyage of the Demeter" and "Renfield" and thought I'd throw "Bram Sotker's Dracula" in as well.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
This movie takes the log of the ill-fated Demeter and turns it into a full-length movie. Not a bad concept really, and certainly enough here for a movie. There are some good bits here. Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones) is the captain of the Demeter with David Dastmalchian as the first mate. New characters include Anna (Aisling Franciosi) as Dracula's "road trip snack," and Corey Hawkins as Cambridge-schooled doctor Clemens.
We know the story here. Dracula charters The Demeter to London with 50 boxes of earth. He kills everyone on board, and the boat runs ashore.
In this one, Anna and Clemens survive, only for Anna to die when sunlight hits her. Clemens vows to hunt Dracula down, but we know he is not successful.
Dracula is played by Spanish actor Javier Botet under a lot of make-up.
A couple of points. The movie takes place in 1897, the same year Dracula was published, but you know my issue with that.
Also, the main character is named Clemens, and the dog on the boat is named Huck, short for Huckleberry. This is a neat little nod given what I have said about Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain's relationship with Bram Stoker.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Honestly, I have lost track how many times I have seen this movie. A couple of notes on this viewing.
One. It also takes place in 1897. I guess that can't be helped. Two. Honestly, we gave Keanu Reeves too much grief when this came out. He is nowhere near as bad as I thought he was or remembered. The same is true for Winona Ryder. Time has been better for them both. I mean who doesn't love Keanu Reeves and where would "Stranger Things" be without Joyce Byers?
Three. I am still not a fan of the "Immortal Beloved" subplot. Why can't Dracula just be the evil asshole he is in the book? It worked so well for other Draculas.
Four. Some of the script dialog is a bit cringey.
Still, this is one of the best Dracula movies. It could also be better.
The scene with Dracula as a bat-creature (after he feeds on Mina) is very much like the bat-creature in "Last Voyage of the Demeter."
I kinda wonder what Mina would have been like had she joined Dracula. I think more interesting that what we saw in "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
Renfield (2023)
Ok. This one. First off, Nicolas Cage as Dracula? Oh HELL YES. This movie is crafted as sequel to the 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. Nicholas Hoult, who is pretty much brilliant in everything he does (see "The Great" where he played Peter III of Russia), and Awkwafina playing...well Awkwafina (but that is fine it works here).
This movie has Renfield still serving Dracula into the 2000s. It is silly and maybe one of the bloodiest movies I have ever seen, but it is just so much fun.
Dishonorable Mention: Dracula's Guest (2008)
Thought I'd make a night of it and watch this one as well. But wow, is it really bad. I mean terrible. It is late and frankly I just can't sit through this one. So not finishing it, but not counting it either.
Featured Monster: Vampire
None of these movies contributed to the 1977 Monster Manual, obviously. But Dracula, the novel, and earlier movies did. The truth is that while there are plenty of pulp-era vampires, you can go wrong with Dracula as your model.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
Viewed: 20
First Time Views: 10