Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Sites | Writers | Advertise | My Orble | Login
 
“Last night you were, unhinged. You were like some desperate, howling demon. You frightened me ... Do it again.” --- Morticia Addams

More





Innocent Blood aka A French Vampire in America
With the New Moon upon us, and the scourge that is the Twilight Saga sucking the vampire and werewolf sub-genres dry of any truly palpable supernatural menace and carnality, it was time to unleash my own definitive selection of vampire movies (and a clutch of werewolf ones too). No doubt there’ll be a few frilly collars ruffled and a few pale cheeks reddened with rage, as I completely disregard any vampire movie that dares to dance around in tight pants and a self-important, angst-ridden gaze.

Have I actually seen Twilight (2008)? No, of course I haven’t, it’s not my cup of adolescent, melodramatic romantic twaddle; I call a spade a spade, and Twilight needs burying. Of course by the middle of next week New Moon will probably have broken some kind of box office record, and that’s sweet irony.

My criterion for vamp selection excludes most of the obvious spoofs, satires or broad comedies. Don’t get me wrong; there are many excellent vampire comedies from across the spectrum, such as Vampire’s Kiss (1989) and The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). But I decided I wanted to concentrate on the scary ones, the atmospheric ones drenched in dread and foreboding, the ones most likely to stop your heart, the blood draining from your face.
30 Days of Night
There are two vampire movies very soon to be released down under – Daybreakers and Thirst - but I can’t be sure I’d include them, as I’ve heard mixed reports. If need be I’ll return at a later date to adjust the list. In the meantime here, in no particular order, is Horrorphile’s Most Blood-Curdling, Shadow-Fearing Vampire Flicks Ever!

Innocent Blood (A French Vampire in America) (1992)
John Landis does for vamps what he did for werewolves; dark comedy streaked with blood. Anne Parillaud is a most strikingly sexual and contemptuous vampire indeed!

Near Dark (1987)
Nomadic clan drift from small town to small town, hungry and squabbling, then one of their own falls for a mortal, it can only get sticky.

The Addiction (1995)
Vampirism as metaphor for drug addiction, as portrayed by Lily Taylor through the dark shadowy morals of New Yorker Abel Ferrara, this is vamp anxiety with serious intellectual bloodletting.

30 Days of Night (2007)
Savage, primal, hellbent; this was the most exciting and violent vampire movie in years. These are the hideous undead you certainly don’t want to play silly buggers with. Rather curiously director David Slade is directing the Eclipse installment of the Twilight Saga.

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
German Expression at its most unnerving. Max Schreck is Graf Orlok. Director Murnau freely plays with Bram Stoker’s novel creating probably the most nightmarish adaptation of Dracula ever committed to celluloid.
Nosferatu 1922
Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht (1979)
Another Bavarian countryman, Werner Herzog, delivers a rarity; a remake as compelling as the original, that is oh so different, yet bewitchingly similar in atmosphere. Klaus Kinski inhabits the vampyre Count with unctuous ease.

Let the Right One In (2008)
This turned out to be the most satisfying and rewarding mainstream vampire movie in years. Whilst being poetic, it didn’t shy from its darker framework (although nowhere near as dark as the original novel).

Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Another German production, echoing with sensual abandon from modern horror’s most provocative decade. This dares not to play by the rules, feels perverse, but chaste, and lingers like a bewitching dream.
Salem's Lot
Salem’s Lot (1979)
One of the best Stephen King adaptations, Tobe Hooper’s made-for-television two-parter was re-edited into a much creepier and more violent feature. The floating kid scratching at the window still makes my skin crawl.

Cronos (1993)
Guillermo Del Toro’s debut feature kicks arty ass! Vampirism plucked from the ancient past and the projected into the future via the present. Creepy-crawly ingenuity that gleams in the night.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Forget Keanu Reeves dire portrayal of Harker, Francis Coppola’s reasonably faithful, and dramatically stylized telling of the legendary novel is a sumptuous display of bravura cinematic storytelling.

Martin (1977)
George Romero strays from the zombie path to delve effectively into one man’s delusion and paranoia, a desperate thirst for sanguine in a world oh so cynical and real.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1995)
Wild and wicked, lewd and lascivious, director Robert Rodriguez with both stakes blazing, writer Quentin Tarantino playing sub-genres to the hilt and then some. Salma Hayek steals the show.

Now for the lycanthropes! Scary, sweaty werewolf movies are a rare breed indeed! Much to my dismay, I was hard-pressed to think of more than five that possess a serious bite. Perhaps that’s why I’ve started co-writing my own werewolf feature …

The Most Hair-Raising, Howl-Inducing Werewolf Flicks Ever! (well, five of them at this stage)
An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
This is the seminal comedy classic from director John Landis that stars Rick Baker’s truly astonishing special effects make-up (years before CGI). Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter have a ball.

The Howling (1981)
Made at the same time as American Werewolf, Joe Dante’s movie features the equally impressive special effects makeup work from Baker’s protégé Rob Bottin (only 21 at the time). This is another bona fide fright-chuckle classic.

Ginger Snaps
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Lycanthropy as metaphor for the menstruation cycle, this was the most original and freshest flick sprouting lupine hair since Landis and Dante butted heads. Emily Perkins and Katherine Isabelle are superb.

Dog Soldiers (2002)
Neil Marshal delivers a masterful exercise in macho cowboy shenanigans pitted against huge monstrous wolfmen in the woods. It’s every man - and the odd woman - for themselves, it’s gonna get hairy!

The Company of Wolves (1985)
The fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood gets a makeover courtesy of contemporary mythmaking author Angela Carter and is directed with consummate style and wit by Neil Jordan.
53
Vote
   


MATURE CONTENT
   


Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

November 16th 2009 02:00
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust movie poster
An American-Japanese-Hong Kong co-production, Vampire Hunter D (2000) is often called Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, so as not to confuse it with the original Japanese feature Kyûketsuki Hantâ D (1985) AKA Vampire Hunter D. But aside from being anime movies, the central character, D (short for Donleal), and the title, the movies are worlds apart in style and effectiveness.

Both movies are set in the far distant future (the 121st Century to be precise). In the original D is hired by a woman, Doris, who has been bitten by Count Magnus Lee after she trespasses in his domain whilst hunting marauding demons. Fearing for her life she enlists the services of the man known as “D” in order to hunt down the evil vampire. The movie was directed by Toyoo Ashida based on the novel Kyuuketsuki Hantaa D by Hideyuki Kikuchi. The Japanese-language version is much better than the American dub (made at the time), but unfortunately the movie has dated badly; the animation is simplistic, the storytelling is pedestrian, the tone uneven, and it’s frequently just downright silly.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust
D, the vampire hunter
Fifteen years later another of the author’s vampire novels, D – Yousatsukou, is used and a new story emerges. The director is now Yoshiaki Kawajiri (who helmed the wicked Wicked City) with American Jack Fletcher helming the English-language version (and what a woefully lame job he did with his Yank actors!). The most significant difference, which is the movie’s best element, is the stunning traditional cell animation and matte paintings. This is one of the most beautiful and evocative fantasy anime movies I’ve seen, with a more compelling adult-edged story.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust Meier Link
Meier Link
In a far–off apocalyptic future on Earth where vampires once ruled the night but have seen their numbers reduced by fearless bounty hunters comes D, the half-breed son of a human mother and vampire father, the most legendary hunter of them all. When Charlotte, a sweet girl from a rich family, is abducted from her home by the sleek blond vampire Meier Link, her father contracts both D and the Markus brothers (a rival group of renegade hunters) in a race to retrieve her. As they battle with assorted demons and monsters across a ravaged, derelict, and mysterious landscape, they begin to suspect that the girl may have gone with Link willingly. Then vampire queen Carmila enters the picture, and the blood thickens.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust Leila and Charlotte
Leila and Charlotte
The Bloodlust DVD version distributed in Australia by Madman is the American dub. It’s a shame the Japanese version (made third after the English and Cantonese language versions) isn’t available as an alternate soundtrack as the American voices are utterly disengaging. The worst cast is Andrew Philpot as the voice of D, John Rafter Lee is not much better as Link, and the voice of D’s left hand (Michael McShane) is annoying as hell. Only Pamela Segall and Matt McKenzie are bearable as Leila and Borgoff, respectively. The way the American actors have been recorded the dialogue has no presence, or to be more precise, it all sounds like it’s been recorded in the same small echo-less chamber. I was convinced by the end of the movie that it would play better as a silent movie, well, certainly preferably to the American dub. It didn’t help that the dialogue was dire (I’m curious as to whether it was written that way, or is simply a poor translation from the Japanese?)
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust desert ruins
The movie is a strange mix of sci-fi, horror, Western, and fantasy that looks like it’s been pulled from the pages of Heavy Metal magazine (in fact, it would probably work quite well in a French-language dub). The humour, most of which is in the dialogue from D’s Left Hand, is flat and unfunny. But the visual style is so very strong, with powerful images and montages that linger. The retro classic, futuristic and industrial armoury and the neo-Gothic design of Carmila’s castle, is fantastic, as are many of the phantasmogorical creatures that scurry and slither, fly and pounce throughout the hunters’ pursuit, whilst the violence and battle scenes are executed with panache.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust silhouette
Despite the movie’s flaws it is one of the best anime movies of its time. It’s certainly a darkly poetic tale; of heroism, vampirism, immortal love, loneliness and desire. The final confrontations are vivid and haunting. The final scene – an epilogue - is steeped in poignancy, a floating melancholy that has drifted with the movie the entire time; finally laid to rest.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust Charlotte, Link, and Carmila
Charlotte, Meier Link and Carmila
Vampire Hunter D is probably the most intriguing and original animated feature tale of vampirism ever. Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) lurks in the shadows, but that’s a short film, not a feature.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust
A big-budget live action popcorn version of Vampire Hunter D would be way cool, with the following A-listers: George Clooney as Borgoff, Emily Blunt as Charlotte, Viggo Mortensen as Meier Link, Lindsay Lohan as Leila, Tilda Swinton as Carmila, and Orlando Bloom as D. The movie could be directed by Zack Snyder in a similar violent and sensual vein as 300.

Here's the trailer:


Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust DVD is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, many thanks!
44
Vote
   


FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH, TWENTY-OH-NINE

November 12th 2009 23:50
Suspiria movie poster detail
What is the state of the modern horror movie? What is there to be thankful for? What is there to look forward to? Are we in a time of progression or recession? Will the Darkness always be there?

The genre of horror in the history of cinema began in Germany, during the Expressionist Movement, and arguably was heralded – and still championed - with the release of Robert Weine’s oneiric tale of a crazed doctor and his somnambulist killer, the feature The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919


[ Click here to read more ]
33
Vote
   


Black Water

November 11th 2009 23:31
Black Water movie poster
Nominated seven times in three categories (Best Editing, Best Actress and Best Director) at the three major Australian film awards (AFI, IF, FCCA), and eventually winning Best Director and Best Cinematography at Melbourne Underground Film Festival, Black Water (2007) is a superbly made low-budget horror-thriller that opts for suspense rather than gore, and brilliantly integrates real croc footage instead of using CGI or animatronic crocodiles (which most other croc movies in the past have done).

Co-writers and co-directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki have fashioned a lean, mean fighting machine; a massive Northern Territorial rogue crocodile and pitted three (make that four) pitiful humans against it in the swampy mangroves where the water is as black and murky as the devil’s backside. It’s a essentially a three-hander (there’s only five speaking parts in the whole movie); Grace (Diana Glen), her fiancé Adam (Andy Rodoreda), and her younger sister Lee (Maeve Dermody) head off on a much-needed holiday, but end up spending most of their time up a tree with a hungry croc snapping at their heels


[ Click here to read more ]
26
Vote
   


Dèmoni 2: L'incubo Ritorna

November 10th 2009 22:50
Demons 2 DVD cover art
Arrrrgh! The Nightmare Returns! Lamberto Bava continued his assault on the American market with more and less of the same; more demonic chaos and mayhem, but less gore and style. Demons 2 (1986) is set almost exclusively within the confines of a high-rise apartment block in Rome - but Cronenberg’s Shivers (1975), this is not! - The demon energy released via a movie in a cinema in the first Demons (1985) movie is unleashed again, only this time from a movie playing on television, with the first demon pushing through the fabric of the screen - but Cronenberg’s Videodrome, this is not! - and into the apartment of disgruntled birthday girl Sally (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) who promptly turns into a maniacal taloned hellraiser and proceeds to kill as many of her annoying birthday guests as possible. Meanwhile her infected blood, and all the infected blood of those whom she scratches and rips, seeps through the floorboards and into apartments below, causing further spread of the demonic contagion.
Demons 2 Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni as Sally demonified
Whereas Demons was saturated in style, mood, tone and atmosphere, yet devoid of much logic, reasoning, rationale or sense, the sequel Demons 2 seems to have abandoned most of that gloriously vivid oneiric quality which is part and parcel with most of producer/co-writer Argento’s supernatural descents, yet retains the proverbial insanity. Some of the atmosphere is present, the occasional moment of inspired visual lunacy, but it’s as if American distributors instructed Bava to tone back the graphic gore and in its place Bava piled on the formaggio. Yup, Demons 2 is one hell of a cheesy flick, so ludicrously absurd one can only guffaw. This isn’t a scary movie, it’s silly, dripping ketchup, gherkin jelly and processed cheese all over the floor.
Demons 2 demonic grins

[ Click here to read more ]
58
Vote
   


WILDERNESS looks wild!

November 10th 2009 09:57
Orble movie colleague Jason King over at Salty Popcorn sent me the link to a fantastic looking trailer to new American horror-thriller Wilderness which is still in post-production and will be released in 2010.

I discovered whilst looking into the release dates another horror movie called Wilderness, a UK production which was released in 2006. That looks quite good too. It stars Sean Pertwee and deals with violent juvenile delinquents sent to an island as punishment, only to find the island is inhabited with something much more terrifying than each other


[ Click here to read more ]
92
Vote
   


The Final Destination

November 9th 2009 23:03
The Final Destination movie poster
Nothing new here … Oh, wait, yes there is, the fourth in the cheating death series, The Final Destination (2009), also known as Final Destination 4: Death Trip, is presented in the current hi-tech 3D. So specialised that the glasses I was initially given didn’t work, they were IMAX 3D glasses, not intended for regular screenings. Thankfully that was during a 3D trailer and not the main movie, but still, a nuisance.

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!
[ Click here to read more ]
50
Vote
   


The Hills Run Red

November 6th 2009 01:32
The Hills Run Red movie poster
Great title, but oh, what a piece of crap movie; The Hills Run Red (2009) is one of those annoyingly pretentious movies that aims to be savage and extreme, whilst playing with sub-genres (slasher flick-cum-torture-porn-cum-mo vie-within-a-movie) and expectations, yet slits its own throat of plausibility from the get-go, leaving the corpse to become utterly bloated with satirical self-importance. This is no laughing matter; the movie fails on almost every level.

The only thing I can recommend it for is Sophie Monks’ tits, and yes, I’m being facetious. Monks spends a surprising amount of time exposing her natural, luscious bust, and for fans of the ex-pat Aussie, it seems she’s dead keen on scuttling any sweetness she might have once possessed. But enough about Monks’ assets, she can act, and her role isn’t perfunctory, but the movie’s dead in the water even before she attempts her lame lap-dance


[ Click here to read more ]
25
Vote
   


Strigoi

November 5th 2009 22:09
Strigoi movie poster
If you like your vampire mythology pungent and filthy, cloaked in the authentic ethnic threads of Eastern European sensibility, and sans the usual toothy, suave trappings of most of the fanged vehicles out of Tinseltown, then the highly original, far-from-British UK production Strigoi (2008) - which screened last Friday at the inaugural Fantastic Planet international film festival as part of their Halloween indulgence, along with Zombieland (2009) and Infestation (2009) which screened on the Saturday night, but I was unable to attend – will most definitely be an undead surprise worth digging for.

Writer/director Faye Jackson (a pleasant change having a woman at the helm of a horror feature, whose husband is Romanian) has made a decidedly unromantic, downbeat, morbidly humorous, and deceptively unsettling take on the vampire flick. Strigoi (the Romanian word given to the blood-thirsty undead) are forever returning to seek justice for wrongdoings against their former living selves. They have quite the appetite too, and not just for plasma and the red stuff; these smelly, dirty creatures will eat you out of house, home, and when they’ve emptied your pantry, they’ll finally settle on the side of your neck


[ Click here to read more ]
27
Vote
   


More Posts
13 Posts
18 Posts
3 Posts
672 Posts dating from August 2006
Email Subscription
Receive e-mail notifications of new posts on this blog:
Moderated by Bryn
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]