Blood Demon Rising

Blood Demon Rising. What to say....

Blood Demon is a low budget feature - no hiding that factoid. Low budget. But, the film has a heart and life to it that carries it up and out of the grim world of cheap horror and into a very entertaining space indeed.

Long and the short - there is a blood demon and people are trying to bring it into the world. There's a house of horrors amusement house involved and frat boy characters wandering along with a priest  dealing with psychos, hot vampire girls, and masked cultists.  But, it's all about how the story is presented that makes it really interesting. I've seen a lot of films in this budget range and many of them don't make the blog. Blood Demon Rising earns it's place on the blog right from the get go and manages to impress.

Lots of 3D sets as backgrounds. Not bad work, really!

While some films with a lower budget drop in 3D elements here and there to pep things up and most of the time they just come off as a little sad, BLOOD DEMON goes for the fences and uses a ton of 3D. And, it's not half bad, really. It creates a look and feel that's unique and engaging.




The film itself has the look of a cool stage play. In addition to the 3D mentioned above, they use negative space and darkness to imply a larger space and to highly the action. It's really rather smart.





When the film started, I got a little cringe. "Ut oh....what are we watching here?"  But as it went on, it really grew on me. When the 90 minutes was up, I found myself really enjoying what I saw. Didn't even fast forward through any of it. Harry Tchinski wrote, directed, and did the special effects like some sort of one man army. :::grin::: 

If you are able to not be a snob about a films budget and see the efforts people put into a film, I'm sure you'll enjoy BLOOD DEMON RISING as much as I did. Well worth a viddy!

HA! Spaceship Terror is Harry Tchinski first film from 2011 :) 

Stake Land

I finally saw 2010's Stake Land and thought to myself, "Man! WHY did I wait so long to see this movie?!" It was great. Really, that's the review in a nutshell - GREAT!

The "real world" vampire film tells the story of Martin, a teen whose whole family is wiped out during the vampocalypes. He's saved by the vampire hunter "Mister" and is trained in the art of vampire killing. A road movie and buddy movie set in a world where the vampire virus has taken control. Sure, that's bad, but the backlash of religious cult leaders like Jebedia Loven may be even worse.








Connor Paolo (Martin), Michael Cerveris (Loven) and Nick Damici (Mister) do some great work in this film. Kelly "Comback" McGillis graces the screen with her presence and it's a sight to behold. She is grand and I'm glad she's doing more genre stuff - she's good at it. And, Danielle Harris has managed to wriggle her cute little self back into my good graces. :::grin:::  After hearing an interview, I was a little bothered by her. It's irrational, of course, but....   So, I saw her and narrowed my eyes waiting to be really bothered. But, it turns out that she did a great job as well and I didn't find her annoying in the slightest. I'll have to revisit some of her other works now that the spell is broken.

I like Jim Mickle as a Director as well. MULLBERY STREET was a lot of fun as well and it's fun to see the progression of his work and art.

The film hits a level that I really love - the "real world" level I spoke about above. It's the same thing that 30 Days of Night did. No, I'm not going to rant about sparklepires or things of that nature. I was going to mention the real world horror styles that make things a little more interesting. It's something people can relate to. What if scenarios that look realistic and not filmic. 28 Days Later instead of Zombieland. Colin instead of Dawn of the Dead. Of course, it's not to say that the film-style versions of these films are not good. They just look more like films and have scenes that are more film style that something you may see in the real world. I loved the approach Stake Land took, showing the vampires as diseased and animalistic with a drive to devour. Fun stuff.

If you have not already seen Stake Land, jump on it. It's rather fantastic. I wish more films like this had a broader release on more screens. Available on Netflix streaming at the time of this posting.

Nox Arcana - Night of the Wolf

Great video for NOX ARCANA "Night of the Wolf".

It has some great, cinematic shots and effects.

Happy Halloween!

HALLOWEEN LIST 2012: VAMPIRES

Vampires. Vampires that are designed for adults, not teen girls. Now, there's nothing wrong with Twilight-pires that glisten...if you're a romantic, a teen, or just have that sort of taste for film. But, the Twilight-pires are not made for the likes of THE HORROR SHOW. No my friends, we have stronger tastes. A taste for lust. A taste for blood. Maybe a little more lust, I dunno.

And...to the list!

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Blade
If you like vampires, you've already seen this film. But, re-watch it.
Half human, half vampire killing vampires? Yes, please!



Vamp
The wondrous Grace Jones leads a pack of vampires and uses a strip club as perfect honey to catch their flies - men. This pre-dates FROM DUSK TILL DAWN by ten years.



30 Days of Night
Alaska is the perfect spot for vampires during the long, dark winter.



Near Dark
Vampire with western / trailer park undertones. A fantastic film by Kathryn Bigelow.



Twins of Evil
Sexy, dubbed twins find out that their uncle is a witch hunter. One good, one naughty - the twins soon find out the real threat to the town is a vampire. Hammer Horror goodness!



Thirst
An epic vampire film from South Korea. This film is a prize and must be seen. Park Chan-wook's masterful direction and the acting of Song Kang-ho and Ok-bin Kim are pure gold.



The Vampire Lovers
The delicious Ingrid Pitt stars in this little lesbian love triangle vampire tale. Another Hammer Films classic. It's slow, but filled with great scenes and lusty feelings.



The Hunger
Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon. BOOM! Slick, stylish vampire lives.


Salem’s Lot
This made for TV King based film is rather great. Now, it's dated in parts, but the story is solid and there are some scares throughout. Well worth a view.



From Dust Till Dawn
A strange and fun film. Half of the film plays as a crime story and the other half vampire fights in a bar. Add Tarantino and Clooney and you get gold.



The Night Stalker
The beginning of Carl Kolchak's adventures chasing monsters. The reporter tracks down a killer...who's a vampire. I could not find a trailer, but this promo will give you a taste! :)



Let the Right One In
The original Swedish version of the film. Oscar is bullied and alone...until he meets the cold and mysterious Eli. The cold, Swedish landscape is as chilling as Eli's thirst for blood and company.



Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Ok, Kids, I know...I know...Buffy was a TV show you watched. But, back in the EARLY days of film, it was a movie. Like, one you saw in a theater. :) This is a solid film worth seeing.

VAMPIRE WEEK Movie List

Well, it's VAMPIRE WEEK, but I think TWILIGHT has ruined the vampire experience for me. :)
In an effort to get it back, we're tossing in a BUNCH of movies that you will want to watch to flush the Pattinson out of your mind.

Werewolves or Vampires?

                                                

On my drive into work, I thought about how the mainstream agenda has ruined (...well, almost ruined...) my love of zombies. I've been a zombie lover for ages, but the recent rise of "zompopularity" has me crawling back into the grave when it comes to the living dead. I've taken to dipping back into the waters of DAWN OF THE DEAD, ZOMBI,  RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BEYOND to avoid the swell of BS zombie, low budget fair.

Then, I remembered my other loves from long ago - werewolves. WAY back, I did IRC werewolf text chat role play gaming and it was a lot of fun. Wolf lore taken to political realms, lost loves growled about and a general wild feeling that was grand. Movies like THE HOWLING, WOLF,  and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON fueled the imagination and had me...howling for more. :)

 

Role play text turned a corner with AOL and werewolves were given up for Vampires. VAMPIRE: The Masquerade was a base for some awesome, online vampire gaming. I was a typing fiend - sometimes "playing" three different people at once as I helped to weave stories of lust, revenge and blood. Eventually, the large group of 15 or 20 on AOL became a smaller group of 5. That group fell away leaving me and a woman playing, her husband giving up because we typed too fast and had the story (CLEAN, mind you! No silly, sexting action) moving along way too fast for him to keep up. The End of the first set of stories would have made for an amazing TV show end or a wondrous trilogy wrap up. Sadly, efforts to start a second batch of vampire dramas fizzled and flailed out of being with a whimper.

With my recent sadness about zombies came a renewed interest in werewolves and vampires, though TWILIGHT has had me leaning werewolf-ly and away from the prissy vampire clans. TRUE BLOOD has not helped the cause for me remembering a love of vampires either. I may be one of five people who think the dialog and acting are something I'd think I'd see in a high school production. (Send hate mail to idontcare@void.net) 

DOG SOLDIERS

NEAR DARK

UNDERWORLD (NOT Twilight) had some grand vampire on werewolf action. Big fights between the suit and tie vampire styles and the t-shirt and jeans, rough wolf crew. I've always loved that separation - vampires looked at as dapper and refined and werewolves looked at as feral and bestial.  There are some fun variations on that theme, however. NEAR DARK and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT had vampires acting more like animals and it worked really well. WOLF showed how the animal nature of the wolf can be directly associated with the world of business.

People tend to take sides on the werewolf or vampire question. They generally prefer one to another, routing for one side to dominate the other. This ties in directly with the type of person you are. Do you like sipping wine in a quiet room chatting with friends as you flirt with a young lovely from across the room or sipping a cold beer in an outdoor patio setting...eating steaks...and pawing at your sexy, curvy mate?

Personally, I can't wait for werewolves to come back into fashion. At least, until it becomes SO mainstream that you start seeing titles like ATTACK OF THE STRIPPER WEREWOLVES on Netflix streaming. Then, I'm out. I was hoping the inclusion of werewolves in TRICK 'r TREAT would have pumped a little life into the werewolf movie world, but it's relatively small, cult following didn't fan the flames much.

NY MAG posted a nice little sum-up back in 2010

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/63426/

The HORRORPHILE posted something back in 2007 as well

http://www.horrorphile.net/debate-battle-vampires-or-werewolves/

In my searches, most of the debate articles pre-date 2011. Hmmmm...

THE HOWLING

Seeing as the awesome HOWLING came out in 1981 (JEBUS!) and the cool DOG SOLDIERS came out in 2002 , I'm hopeful that we'll see some good werewolf action in 2012! IMDB has some possible nuggets listed for a 2012 release.
http://www.imdb.com/list/-Irb8XBKi7E/




GROWL is coming out in 2013 and stars BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Katee Sackhoff.  
We'll see - the director's (Sxv'leithan Essex) other credits are a short and "Headbangers Ball"

I, FRANKENSTEIN is also a 2013 release that I'm thinking might be VERY cool seeing as the likes of Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy and Miranda Otto are attached to it.

Sadly, DOG SOLDIERS 2 is in purgatory or development hell - erased from the world. Maybe this is actually a good thing. My rekindled love of werewolves won't go the way of the zombie loves in my life. I'll keep my wolves close, snuggling up with the classics and modern fair like THE HOWLING, GINGER SNAPS, DOG SOLDIERS, TRICK 'r TREAT, THE WOLFMAN, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, COMPANY OF WOLVES, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, WOLF and 2010's THE WOLFMAN (Yes, I liked it!) and be happy that it has not been as tainted as the zombie genre! 

English accent from a time long gone?

Against a tree in the woods breathing in the night air?

What do YOU lean towards -  Vamp or Wolf? And...why?

GINGER SNAPS

THE HOWLING