Vampires vs. The Bronx

"Vampires vs. The Bronx" (2020, Osmany Rodriguez, Broadway Video, Caviar, Netflix) is a coming of age vampire comedy set in The Bronx neighbourhood of New York City.

Miguel (Jaden Michael), Bobby (Gerald W. Jones III) and Luis (Gregory Diaz IV) are three friends living in The Bronx. Aside from the usual troubles of girls, overbearing mothers and bullies, the kids are trying to arrange a block party to raise funds to save their local shop and favourite hangout from being shut down and gentrified by a vampiric real estate agency called Murnau Enterprises (a nod to F. W. Murnau; director of the 1922 classic "Nosferatu") who it turns out, are more vampiric than the kids know.... being run by actual vampires...

After Miguel witnesses someone being eaten, the race begins to put a stop to the Murnau company's evil plans, while trying to avoid being eaten themselves! 

A charming film with a 12 rating, so you know going in to expect minimal actual scares. The actors give a great performance as our three protagonists; funny, sweet and characters you want to root for. They are supported by a fun and energetic cast of other characters and the film does a good job of setting up the community feeling of the neighbourhood and its inhabitants. The vampires are cartoonishly ghoulish and possibly rely a little too heavily on the ol' Max Schreck hand gimmick, but fit in with the fun tone of the film.

Definitely a bit of fun just in time for Halloween, and hopefully a film that will attract young potential horror fans with its humour, charm and vampires!

 [Image: Netflix et al]

Hani

Sleepwalkers

"Sleepwalkers" (1992, Mick Garris, Columbia Pictures) is a film based on a short story by Stephen King.

Charles (Brian Krause) and his mother, Mary (Alice Krige), are the last surviving creatures of a clan of shapeshifting energy vampires called Sleepwalkers. They are also terrified of cats. As well as being mother and son, the couple are, well, an incestuous couple. *shudder*

Charles meets Tanya (Mädchen Amick) at school and begins a romantic relationship with her in an attempt to feed from her life energy to keep himself and his mother alive. Unfortunately for Charles, things do not go to plan. Especially when a local police deputy sheriff (Dan Martin) and Clovis, the police cat, catch up on the would-be feast.

The film clumsily straddles the genres of campy horror comedy and a more serious vampire movie. It begins somewhat strongly but tapers off into a bit of a farce around the halfway mark. Although, that's not to say that it is not enjoyable; it is. It's just perhaps more enjoyable for more humorous reasons than initially intended.

Mary plays out as the most interesting character with her flimsy nightwear and penchant for setting bear traps in which to snare the neighbourhood felines who have taken to sitting on her lawn. And Charles is a somewhat sympathetic character up until he begins his games of cat and mouse (pun intended) with both Tanya and with the deputy sheriff.

The film enjoys some fun, physical effects and an entertaining ability of the Sleepwalkers to make themselves invisible, into cat creatures or to add a glamour to any given object.

A sincere yet cheesy piece that also enjoys a short cameo from both Mr. King and Mark Hamill as well as a small but memorable role for Ron Perlman.

Come for the intriguing premise, but stay for the batshit crazy action. Killer corn on the cob!

[Image: Columbia Pictures]

Hani

Saturday the 14th

"Saturday the 14th" (1981, Howard R. Cohen, New World Pictures) is a horror spoof film.

John (Richard Benjamin) inherits a house from his uncle and moves in with his wife, Mary (Paula Prentiss), and their kids, Debbie (Kari Michaelsen) and Billy (Kevin Brando). The house isn't exactly what they'd envisaged and, when Billy finds a strange book, things begin to get weirder. To add to their problems, vampire couple, Waldemar (Jeffrey Tambor) and Yolanda (Nancy Lee Andrews), are desperate to get their hands on the house and, more importantly, that book.

John and Mary remain oblivious to all the weird happenings, and begin to plan a housewarming party which will result in some more antics. They also hire an owl exterminator (Severn Darden) to rid them of the strange noises heard throughout the house.... An exterminator who may have more of an idea of what's going on than the family do themselves.

Despite a fair few recognisable talents in the cast, the film can't shake off a distractingly stilted quality. A lot of gags fall a little flat also. However, it's oddly charming, if a little too silly to consider 'so bad it's good'. Not the best horror spoof out there.

[Image: New World Pictures]

Hani 

Vampires

"Vampires" (1998, John Carpenter, JVC Entertainment Networks, Largo Entertainment, Spooky Tooth Productions, Storm King Productions, Columbia Pictures) is a vampire hunter film set in New Mexico.

Jack Crow (James Woods) is the leader of a group of vampire hunters working for the Vatican. He and his men either use an arrow attached to a winch on their car to drag the creatures into the sunlight or just stake them. Although, they're also fairly fond of firing a lot of ineffectual bullets around the place.

During a rowdy celebration, the hunters are attacked by a Master Vampire named Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith). And the surviving members, Jack and Tony (Daniel Baldwin), escape with a prostitute named Katrina (Sheryl Lee) who is in the process of becoming a vampire. Joined by a young priest called Guiteau (Tim Guinee), they face off against Valek who is seeking a fabled crucifix which can allow vampires to walk in the sunlight. (It seems that Valek beat Spike to the punch by roughly a year).

Not one of my favourite Carpenter films, but the film remains action-packed, violent and enjoys some cheesy one-liners. Both surviving vampire hunters, Crow and Tony, remain flawed heroes in the way that Carpenter excels at creating. They are neither particularly likeable nor are they infallibly skilled. They make mistakes, they treat others cruelly but they're trying to save the world.

Valek is styled in your traditional vampire way with lank dark locks, pale features and a tendency to nibble on young maidens. He does, however, enjoy some fun and brutal fight scenes and sports a particularly deadly manicure.

An entertaining vampire flick that isn't trying to be clever. The Master of Horror has many other films where he offers food for thought, "Vampires" just isn't one of them.

[Image: Columbia Pictures, et al]

Hani

Vampira

"Vampira" (aka "Old Dracula", 1974, Clive Donner, Columbia-Warner, American International Pictures) is a horror comedy about everyone's favourite vampire Count.

Count Dracula (David Niven) is getting old. In order to survive, he has began hosting tours of his castle where he can feast on curious tourists. When a group of beautiful, young Playboy girls stay at the castle, Dracula sees an opportunity to attempt to revive his lover, Vampira. One of the Playmates was a black lady (Minah Bird) and so, naturally, the Countess comes back as the beautiful Teresa Graves. While the Count hunts down more blood for the Countess with the help of a photographer called Marc (Nicky Henson), the Countess goes out on the town, enjoying the sights and sounds of the 70s.

A rather silly flick in both plot and acting. It's certainly not one of David Niven's best films by a long shot, but he brings the Count to life in his usual gleeful, gentlemanly style. Teresa Graves plays the proper Countess letting loose with her new persona and her new modern time in a fun and flamboyant way.

The premise is a little controversial, and the film is full of awkward comments, but on the whole the film is pretty innocent and mildly entertaining. From the comedy vampire bites to the vampire disco it's very of-its-time.

[Image: Columbia-Warner, et al]

Hani

The Night Watchmen

"The Night Watchmen" (2017, Mitchell Altieri, Contender Films, Indie Entertainment, Studio BOH) is about a vampire outbreak in an office block all started by the miss-delivered corpse of a famous clown....

Ken (Ken Arnold), Jiggetts (Kevin Jiggetts) and Luca (Dan DeLuca) are night security guards for a large office block. They are joined by a new rookie (Max Gray Wilbur) for his first day on the job.

Aside from oogling Karen (Kara Luiz) on the monitors and consistently forgetting to acknowledge Penny (Diona Reasonover), the guys' job seems to pretty much consist of playing cards and eating. That is, until they receive the unusual delivery of a coffin by mistake containing a deceased, famous clown. Unfortunately, the dead clown doesn't stay that way for long and swiftly fills the building with a horde of ferocious vampires!

An epic battle ensues, but can our unlikely heroes actually save the day?

A fun film with a so-bad-it's-good vibe that really hits the mark. The banter between the characters, who were surprisingly well-rounded considering the genre, is entertaining and the action is gory, silly and well paced. The film is a perfect party movie, not overstaying its welcome and containing angry, zombie-esque vampire clowns.

Definitely worth a shot.

[Image: Contender Films, et al]

Hani

Twins of Evil

"Twins of Evil" (1971, John Hough, Rank Organisation, Universal Pictures, Hammer Film Productions) is actually the second sequel to "The Vampire Lovers" (1970) and the third film in the Karnstein trilogy, based loosely on "Carmilla" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

Identical twins, Maria and Frieda (former Playboy playmates, Mary and Madeleine Collinson respectively) arrive in Karnstein from Venice to live with their uncle, Gustav Weil (Peter Cushing), after the death of their parents. They are surprised to find that their uncle is a puritan witch hunter who leads a cult of fanatical witch finders who prey on the town's women, burning them in the name of god. Frieda in particular takes a severe dislike to Gustav and becomes fascinated by Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), who enjoys a risque reputation.

Things become complicated, however, when Frieda becomes more entrenched into the darker side of Count Karnstein, much to her sister's horror.

 A schlocky film from Hammer with some well trodden, but no less fun. tropes and some opportunities for the leading ladies to show flaunt around in pretty period outfits. Although cheesy, the film is quite original and the plot spotlights evil from two different angles; the judgemental puritans, burning innocent people to sate their holy bloodlust and the unclean vampires with their own, more literal blood lust.

Peter Cushing plays the villain with a scary coldness that brings some ominous presence to the film. And Damien Thomas' villainous vampire is devious and horny, a scary mix.

Definitely a worthwhile entry from Hammer's latter films, and while flawed, a good bit of fun.

[Image: Hammer Film Productions]

Hani 

The Brides of Dracula

"The Brides of Dracula" (1960, Terence Fisher, Hammer Film Productions, Universal-International) is a Hammer Horror sequel to "Dracula" (1958) although it does not feature the prince of darkness himself.

Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur) is a young, French teacher on her way through the Transylvanian countryside to take up a job. She is abandoned by her coach driver and is invited to take refuge for the night at a large, impressive castle by an elderly noblewoman called Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt). Of course, the Baroness has devious plans for young Marianne...

At the castle Marianne happens across the Baroness' handsome son, the Baron (David Peel), whom she sees is chained up. The Baroness and her servant, Greta (Freda Jackson), inform her to take no heed of the young Baron; he is insane. Having taken pity on the Baron, however, Marianne frees him of his shackles before fleeing. Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) arrives, having been called due to the suspicious death of a young lady on the first night of the Baron's freedom. But can he stop the villainous vampire before he claims every fair maiden in the village in his quest to create an army of sultry, vampire vixens!

A very typical Hammer Horror production with wonderful sets, some cheesiness and beautiful 60s colour cinematography. While we lack Christopher Lee's ominous presence as Dracula, Peter Cushing brings a touch of class to the production with his effortless style and presence. The vampires enjoy some extra skills that Dracula himself did not get to enjoy and we get to see some lady vampires rise from their graves.

[Image: Hammer Film Productions]

 

Hani

Sicilian Vampire

"Sicilian Vampire" (2015, Frank D'Angelo, In Your Ear Productions) is a mobster vampire film.

Santino Trafficante (Frank D'Angelo) is a mobster who is bitten by a bat whilst at a weekend trip with his associates. He soon begins to notice that he is changing into a vampire, and puts his new found talents to use against his enemies whilst also trying to ensure the safety of his wife, Carmelina (Daryl Hannah), and daughter. He also seeks the help of mysterious doctor, Professor Bernard Isaacs (James Caan).

While the idea isn't bad and the cast includes some known mobster genre names, as well as Daryl Hannah rocking jet black, straight hair, the film feels too much like a vehicle for the director to play out his dreams of being a mobster family man with Rat Pack-esque charisma. And winds up feeling a little flat and stilted.

The horror is minimal and low budget. Although, as you know, I never deduct points for low budget horror. I just feel it could have done with some more gore to make the kill scenes more fun. Most of the kills happen together in tandem, which I liked as it broke up the slow pacing of the rest of the film and rounded off the loose ends.

A mouse farting joke and the actual bat biting scene were fun additions. But the musical number and the dream sequence could have done with some cutting down.

All in all as a film it just doesn't stand out particularly.

[Image: In Your Ear Productions, et al]

Hani

Daughters of Darkness

"Daughters of Darkness" (1971, Harry Kümel) is an erotic Belgian vampire movie made in English.

Newly weds, Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet), are on their honeymoon. They stop at a grand and lavish hotel in Belgium planning to spend the night there and then catch the ferry to England in the morning. The couple are experiencing some tension as Stefan seems reluctant to introduce his new wife to his mother.

The concierge explains that hotel is empty as it is off-season and that the couple have the place essentially to themselves. Well, mostly. There is always the Countess, Elizabeth Báthory (Delphine Seyrig) who shows up after dark in all her splendour with her secretary, Ilona (Andrea Rau). The countess takes an unhealthy interest in the young couple, becoming obsessed with them.

Valerie and Stefan come across a gruesome murder and learn of others. By the time they see the Countess' true nature it could very well be too late.

A very strange film that manages to be both classy and campy at the same time. This film has beautiful scenery, exquisite costumes and erotic horror elements. It's a real hybrid of a film. I feel that this film acted as inspiration to AHS' Hotel season;a  lonely hotel, creepy staff and the halls haunted by the presence of a beautiful, polite and sinister femme fatale vampire wearing fabulous outfits.

Sinister, sensual and dark, "Daughters of Darkness" manages to engage whilst retaining its Art House charms.

Hani

Freaks of Nature

"Freaks of Nature" (2015, Robbie Pickering, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures) is a horror comedy set in a town called Dillford where humans, vampires and zombies co-exist together in harmony.... until some aliens show up, that is.

Dillford is famous for riblets... and for having a multicultural society comprised of vampires, humans and zombies. There has never been any issues with each group all cohabiting the town and attending the local high school without issue. It seems that vampire and zombie teens have all the same issues as human teens do (bullying, peer pressure, popularity...etc...).

Suddenly, a horde of aliens appear from outer space and the humans blame the vampires, who blame the humans, and the zombies... well, they're just being zombies... but they're sick of this shit regardless. Brains. Whatever.

The start of the film was surprisingly un-engaging. It set up like any other teen high school film, except with added zombies. The film takes the proverbial out of all the typical classic and modern horror tropes. However, once the aliens show up things do become more interesting and the main 3 characters become more than two dimensional.

I have to hand it to Josh Fadem who gave a pretty awesome performance as whizz kid-turned zombie. His background antics in pretty much every scene he was in was really superb.

Whilst it is very tropey and takes a while to get started, the film plays out quite well with a fair amount of gore and comedy value and co-stars a few fun recognisable faces. It's cheesy but I warmed to it as it unfolded. I had worried that it would end up too messy with all the monster mashing (get it?!) but actually it worked out OK. It's a cheesy horror comedy set in a high school. It does exactly what it says on the tin!

[Image: Sony Pictures]

Hani

Let's Scare Jessica to Death

"Let's Scare Jessica to Death" (1971, John D. Hancock, Paramount Pictures, The Jessica Company) is a film about an emotionally fragile woman who is experiencing strange visions and nightmares.

Jessica (Zohra Lampert) is recovering from a meltdown. She and her husband, Duncan (Barton Hayman), and their friend, Woody (Kevin O'Connor), have all given up their jobs and moved out to a farm in Connecticut known to the locals as 'The Ol' Bishop Place'.

Upon arriving there, they discover a squatter called Emily (Mariclare Costello) living in the house. Being 70s free spirits, they decide to let Emily stay because she can play guitar and stuff... Oh, and Woody fancies her.

Jessica is scared to tell the others, in case they think she's going crazy again, but she's begun to hear voices, see a mysterious blonde girl in a white dress and has been grabbed by pale, grasping hands under the water when swimming. When she's told an eerie tale by a local, she begins to see things fall in to place... or is it all just in her mind?

A slow chiller with a twisty and slightly confusing plot. This film is very much of its time, but still manages to have a few nice chilling scenes. On the whole, however, the title promises things that the end product does not deliver. And the story is definitely not what I was anticipating!

[Images: Paramount Pictures]

Hani

Bloodsucking Bastards

"Bloodsucking Bastards" (2015, Fortress Features, MTY Productions, Brian James O'Connell) is a vampire comedy romp set in a failing office environment.

Evan (Fran Kranz) is acting sales manager. He's trying hard, but his team are unmotivated wasters who don't really want to do any work. He's even more demoralised when he's completely overlooked for a promotion and his girlfriend, Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick), dumps him when he fails to say "I love you" back.

These may be the least of Evan's worries, however, when he begins to notice certain changes around the office... With Frank, the kickass security guard who drinks too much red bull (Marshall Givens), and his lazy best pal, Tim (Joey Kern), can Evan stop the horrors in the office, win back his lady and save the day?

My crush on Fran Kranz aside, this film was great. It's funny, it's self-aware, it rates high on the gore score, it's engaging, it boasts entertaining characters and is well put together... Essentially this is one of those films you see at a horror festival and think 'yes, this is what I came here to discover'.

[Image: Fortress Features, et al]

Hani 

The House that Dripped Blood

"The House that Dripped Blood" (1971, Peter Duffell, Amicus Productions) is a British horror anthology about a cursed house which sees the strange and unusual deaths of its inhabitants. I actually watched it as part of my personal homage to the life and works of Christopher Lee upon his recent passing. But, in true Hani style, I didn't actually get around to writing up the blog post until now!

We follow Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) as he is summoned to solve the disappearance of someone in the house. He goes to the local police station where he is told several tales of the house's strange past and we are taken along for the ride.

Each short is about the house's previous inhabitants. There are 4 shorts in all.

"Method for Murder" starring Denholm Elliot, Joanna Dunham and Tom Adams is about a horror writer who begins to see his new creation stalking him. It's a nicely realised piece with some quite disturbing stealth stalking and an ending very typical of British horror shorts. But in a good way.

"Waxworks" stars the legendary Peter Cushing and Joss Ackland who are both friends who become obsessed with a local waxwork museum's prime attraction: a beautiful murderess who looks like someone they once knew. It was a little slow in the uptake, but had a lovely proper feel to it that made up for that. And who doesn't love a good severed head on a plate?

"Sweets to the sweet" stars the wonderful Christopher Lee as a widower with a young daughter (Chloe Franks) whom he treats very strictly, not even allowing her to play with dolls. The daughter's new home-school teacher (Nyree Dawn Porter) thinks that he is being very unfair and buys the girl a doll.... Big mistake. My favourite of the collection because it went a way I wasn't completely expecting. The young Chloe Franks also did a fantastic job as the creepy child.

"The Cloak" is the final short and stars Jon Pertwee as a horror movie actor/diva, who has moved into the house whilst shooting a vampire film. He sources a strange black cloak from a local antiques and oddities shop ran by Geoffrey Bayldon, only to find that the cloak has special powers. His co-star is the fabulous Ingrid Pitt.

The pieces aren't ground breaking storytelling, but they are all well made, star studded and engaging. The film holds together well as an anthology and keeps the viewer interested.

Images: Amicus Productions

Hani

The Lost Boys: The Tribe

"The Lost Boys: The Tribe" aka "The Lost Boys 2" (2008, P.J. Pesce, Thunder Road Pictures, Hollywood Media Bridge) is the sequel to 1987 vampire film, "The Lost Boys".

I am a huge fan of the original film. It's funny, silly and gross and full of good tunes. The sequel, unfortunately, pales sorely in comparison. Even the extremely goofy third film, "The Lost Boys: The Thirst" manages to outshine the second one, even if it's only because it actually attempts to alter the plot somewhat.

The problem with "Tribe" is that it is a badly done redo of the original. Instead of the two Emerson brothers being forced to move to the fictional seaside town of Santa Carla, California to stay with their nutty grandfather and their kind of loopy divorcee mother, it is brother, Chris (Tad Hilgenbrink), and sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser), also named Emerson, who move to Luna Bay (also a beach town), to rent a house off of their nutty aunt after their parents are killed.

Other parallels include the surf shop scene which is essentially the same as the comic shop scene, except instead of meeting the Frog brothers there, they are recommended to visit the Frog brothers' van by the surf shop guys.

The surfer vampire gang attempts to follow the same layout as the previous film's biker vampire gang. This is pretty forgiveable because it would make sense, I suppose, that vampires share the same habits and hierarchy. I did appreciate Kiefer Sutherland's half brother, Angus Sutherland, playing the part of head boy vampire, Shane, but it really wasn't enough of a nod to save the film.

Hands up, I've admitted my, possibly misguided, appreciation of Corey Feldman before. But even I can say wholeheartedly that this film sucked and his performance did not help it. The nods to The Goonies also did it no favours.

Essentially, the protagonists are annoying and lack the more three dimensional characteristics of Michael and Sam from the original and the badly scripted dialogue doesn't give the impression of being tongue-in-cheek and comes across as more stilted.

I have a high tolerance for bad films, but I just wasn't feeling this one, and the end scene with Corey Haim remains a sad homage to the troubled actor. I also just feel plain bad for Jamison Newlander who's scenes were deleted. Although, maybe he's happy about not being officially credited in this film... I don't know.

All in all, I'd recommend either sticking to the wonderfully funny, cheesy 80s original and pretending there were no sequels at all, or giving the extremely crappy, cheesefest third one a spin and ignoring this one altogether.

[Image: Thunder Road Pictures]

Can I ask what's meant to have happened to Edgar Frog's neck tattoos between film 2 and 3 or do we not talk about those?

Hani 

What We Do In The Shadows

"What We Do In The Shadows" (2014, Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Paladin Pictures) is the horror comedy about four vampire housemates from the guys behind "Flight of the Conchords".

Four vampires from different time periods are sharing a house in New Zealand in today's modern world. We follow a fly on the wall 'documentary' and get to witness such delights as house meetings, arguments about chores, shopping and recent altercations with their nemesis gang; the local pack of werewolves.

A very entertaining film with some good one liners and a lot of nod-nod-wink-wink references to vampire lore of all types.

I really enjoyed it and, although it's not exactly a 'thoughtful film' or really a horror in any way, it hit all the right buttons and brought a big smile to my wee fanged face. It's smart and cheeky and bound to please anyone looking for some tongue-in-cheek vampire commentary on today's world.

[Image: Paladin Pictures]

 

Hani 

Dracula Untold

"Dracula Untold" (2014, Gary Shores, Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures) depicts the origin tale of Dracula.

Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, Prince of Transylvania (Luke Evans) seeks some unorthodox help to defeat his Turkish ex-captors and maintain the freedom of his homeland and its people. Much to his detriment, as we all know.

I wouldn't call this a fantastic vampire film, but I equally won't bestow on it the bile that many online bloggers have. Yes, the film is not Bram Stoker's Dracula, but it never claims to be. Yes, there are historical inaccuracies, but it's not a documentary. In fact, I found it to be a refreshing take on a classic tale, even if it does often delve into the more comic book action genre than anything resembling horror.

It's not a serious film, nor an accurate historical character study, nor even a horror movie. But it does well to capture the era, the desperation and shows a more human side to the famous character than previously investigated in the rather bloated world of vampire cinema.

Evans creates an attractive Vlad, but Charles Dance steals the show however, with his fabulous talent for creepiness with a touch of bitter disappointment and that fanged grin.

Image: Universal Pictures

 

Hani

Afflicted

"Afflicted" (2013, Cliff Prowse, Derek Lee, Automatik Entertainment,Téléfilm Canada) is a 'found footage', relatively low budget horror with some excellent jumps.

Two mates (the asforementioned Cliff and Derek, playing themselves) are on a hiatus from college to go on a Eurotrip. They get as far as Paris before an encounter with a lovely lady leaves the rest of their trip tainted by an increasingly nightmarish situation. 

The film builds similarly to its peers but with a charmingly good sense of unease and an excellent and appropriate amount of gore.

The camera work is great, not giving too much of that motion sickness I've come to expect from such films and the story telling is good, if a little long in the build up.

The plot manages to breathe some life into an old story and bring it into today's culture with great ease and style.

The best way to enjoy this film is to go in knowing as little as possible and let the events unfold. 

A fun and creative endeavour from two young and talented film makers. A very good highlight in the ~Glasgow Film 4 Fright Fest 2014 lineup.

[Image: Automatik Entertainment]

Hani

Twixt

"Twixt" (2012, Francis Ford Coppola, American Zoetrope, Pathé) is a horror mystery film.

Hall Baltimore (Val Kilmer) is a has-been horror writer doing the rounds of small town America in every bookshop that will take him. Upon visiting a strange little town with an odd 7-faced clock tower, he happens upon a local tragedy; the murder of 12 orphaned children at a hotel, previously famed for having Edgar Allen Poe (Ben Chaplin) stay for a night.

Hall becomes intrigued further when he learns of the recent murder of a young girl and then has a strange dream in which he passes into the land of the dead, where he encounters a female ghost who calls herself V (Elle Fanning). He decides to stay in the town longer to write a book based on its tragic history, telling the local sheriff, and budding mystery author, Bobby LaGrange (Bruce Dern, who I know best as Rumsfield from "The 'Burbs"), that he can share in the novel's credit if he helps him solve the mystery.

An unusually styled film with some creative cinematography. The dream sequences, although strange, are nicely designed and I enjoyed the use of colour. I found the scripting very strange and often hollow, though, but Kilmer seems to really enjoy the role and is good fun to watch.

I really enjoyed the premise of the film and, although it's oddly put together with split scene sequences and a very random low budget 'Lost Boys'-esque 'vampire gang' in the mix, it's watchable. It seems more like Mr Coppola was entertaining himself in the making of this film, and it doesn't fit too well together. More like a made-for-TV film with a hint of Arthouse about it, I wouldn't call it a work of art, but it's certainly not the worst I've seen and it's very visually pretty.

Image: Pathé

 

Hani

Shadow of the Vampire

"Shadow of the Vampire" (2000, E. Elias Merhige, Saturn Films, Long Shot Films, BBC Films, Delux Productions) is an extraordinary film about the filming of the classic 1922 masterpiece, "Nosferatu", but it's no documentary by any means.

From the slow process of filming with the old hand turning equipment to the period dress the feeling of making this film is recreated elegantly. Humorous in places and excellently put together, "Shadow of the Vampire" is quite a captivating piece.

While filming the famously unauthorised version of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", Frederich Wilhelm Murnau (John Malkovich) is obsessively creating his masterpiece. He hires in an unheard of method actor, Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), who refuses to 'come out of character'.

The other crew members are wary of Schreck, who is altogether a weird guy. But things become increasingly more suspicious that Schreck may be something other than human!

A truly eccentric film, I loved it. Dafoe plays the hammy horror icon to a tee and you can always rely on John Malkovich to bring some weird in. While not a scary film, it's an intriguing concept and a fun view for any fans of artsy cinema.

 

 

[Image: Saturn Films]

Hani