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 :) 

Dario Argento's DRACULA

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this film.

People ripped it TO PIECES. They hated it. Laughed at it. But, I'm going out on a limb and saying...I didn't hate it. It's fine. It's watchable like a college play is watchable. I watched and didn't want my time back afterwards and that's saying something.

There's nothing new here. It's Dracula. But, there are some fun Argento-isms that I enjoyed seeing. The story moves along and things happen....:::shrug::::   There are some nekkid folks in it, blood and biting. Everything you'd expect. I think it was due to the extremely low expectations that I didn't walk away feeling this movie was all that bad. Especially when watching at home with a small glass of an adult beverage on my comfy couch via Netflix. It was a good time.

Now, there are HORRID things in here as well. Things they just should have masked with shadows, fog and darkness. The 3D. It's bad. It's cheap and bad and it should not be as prominent as it is. When it comes up, it's obvious and sad.


Asia "Yum Yum" Argento is still delicious, but she seems like she's playing well under her age range and it really doesn't work. The period clothing and hairstyle has an adverse affect on her charms as well, but she can vamp it up in true Asia style and it's fun. 








And...Rutger Hauer in a "what am I doing here?" portrait of Van Helsing is just...yeah. You have to see it. It's fun in and of itself. :)

The lighting is strange overall as well. It's such a bright film. However, I think I might get what Argento was going for.

If you look at old Hammer films, they have the same look at points. Bright and stage-like, the lighting is blown out and in your face. I thought....just for a moment...that Dario might be going for this bright look of the older Hammer films.

At any rate, the film was fun and I enjoyed watching it. I still would have LOVED to see a SUSPIRIA Dario era Dracula - I think that would be really wild. Toss this on if you're in the mood for some fun post-recorded dialogue, bad 3D and strange turns of events. It's fine.

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.

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

Lust For A Vampire

Well...LUST FOR A VAMPIRE was my least favorite in the Hammer Karnstein Trilogy. I won't take much time with it.

It's plot is a bit messy. Carmilla Karnstein is basically hanging out at a girls school and running through the ladies like a hungry man at a sushi boat restaurant. One man pines away for her love while the other pines away for being a vampire himself.


Girls go missing, man go missing, and cover up operations abound, but I found that I didn't really care about anyone in the film much.

Yutte Stensgaard tosses her Denmark blonde hat onto the Hammer Glamor list and doesn't seem to have a problem baring her...soul...for the role.


Ralph Bates does well as the driven school teacher who wants to be a vampire and the wooden performance of Michael Johnson is fun to watch as he bumbles about. But, the real awesomeness of the film comes from Mike Raven doing his best Christopher Lee impersonation. His booming voice and over the top "I'm a bad man" presence is a joy to watch. It's fun stuff.

Watch LUST for the trilogy aspect, but feel free to do something else while it's playing in the background. :)

Twins of Evil

The HAMMER FEST continues with TWINS OF EVIL from 1971.

Here we have the return of the Karnsteins in the final film of the Karnstein trilogy...of evil. Frieda and Maria Gellhorn - adorable twins - come from Vienna to stay with their uncle Gustav (The most awesome Peter Cushing) after their parents pass away. They are proper young ladies, but not proper enough for their witch burning, bible loving Uncle - the leader of THE BROTHERHOOD of witch hunters. And we soon find out that the young twins have very different personalities, too. One is good...and the other has the touch of evil. This makes her most desirable to Count Karnstein, especially after he gives his soul to the devil and becomes a vampire. Can Gustav and the townspeople reach the Count before he and the wicked Frieda escape?


This film is in line with the others in the trilogy. I'd say this is my second fave of the three behind THE VAMPIRE LOVERS and before LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. We hear about Mircalla Karnstein (I believe she even makes an appearance) and the Karnstein line and their wicked deeds. We see the Karnstein devil influences. All in all, it's an enjoyable addition.

We get the usual Hammer cleavage as well, but it pales compared to THE VAMPIRE LOVERS. The Collinson twins are very cute and work well as the films leads. They don't have the same presence as Ingrid Pitt or Yutte Stensgaard, however, but it is hard to keep that level of screen presence. Especially casting true twins.

The film has some nice gimmics in it. When Karnstein signs his soul away, he can not be seen in mirrors. They did a simple trick where the mirror was taken out and a duplicate of the room was created so that it looked like there was no reflection. Simple, but effective. There were several "witch burning" scenes with the classic "fire in front of the camera" routine. Again, effective. This was another almost bloodless vampire film. When someone is bitten, small dribbles of blood are shown on the neck. It was truly a more simple time when it came to horror.

The story is simple, but the real fun comes from the relationships between characters - one of my favorite parts of Hammer films. I don't watch them for the "horror" (they are really tame) , but LOVE their character interactions. TWINS has some fantastic interplay.

Cushing as Gustav Weil is not a nice guy here. He's horrid, driven and blind to anything but leading the Brotherhood in their witch hunt. He hunts down and burns several women in his hunt for evil with no trial or mercy all in the name of good. Karnstein is his main enemy even before he's changed. He represents the impure nature of man - full of lust and impropriety. Karnstein, in turn, loves provoking Gustav because he has political ties that prevent Gustav from doing anything to him. Very handy especially after he's made into a vampire.

The twins run the same - Frieda wanting to escape the tyrannical uncle and Maria wanting to remain the good girl. They love each other, but there is a great tension between them as well. Maria is so kind that she even pretends to be her sister when her uncle checks in on them so her sister won't get into trouble.

There's also a rather forgettable love interest in the story, but the only thing I liked about him was a scene where he thinks about launching a spear into the chest of Count Karnstein even though he happens to be holding Maria in his arms...at chest level...up on the second floor. A villager stops him and says, "You can't! You might hit Maria!" and the love interest lowers the spear with a "Oh yeah, I guess you're right" look on his face. Comical.



TWINS OF EVIL is a fun little gothic horror drama and is well worth checking out.

Black Sabbath

This 1963 gem is "trilogy of terror" type film - three stories with a loose (and sometimes rather silly) hosting by Boris Karloff himself. The great Mario Bava (Black Sunday) is credited as Director, but Salvatore Billitteri shares directing credit. While the whole film looks the same artistically for the most part sporting Bava's amazing color pallet, the time periods and quality of story vary greatly.

The first and strongest segment is The Drop of Water and it's by far the most chilling of the three tales. It tells the story of Helen Chester (Jacqueline Pierreux) - a woman tasked with helping prepare the body of a medium for burial in what looks like a time period around the early 1900s. We're told by the servant that the woman must not touch anything in the room because the medium said a horrible curse would befall anyone who did. Heavy handed and clunky, true. Let's move on. :) Of course, the woman sees something she just has to have...and the ensuing nightmare conclusion is friggin' horrid and so damn creepy it gives me chills just thinking about it!  I wish the film ended with this segment - it's the strongest of the three tales and packs the biggest punch. It also plays with shadows and light very well. It has deep, dark areas that push things back while bright and colorful lights illuminate the foreground and add to the nightmare look it has.

The second, more modern segment is called The Telephone and I think I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. :::grin:::  I think I got a little caught up with the delicious curves and beauty of Michèle Mercier who plays Rosy in the segment. I kept thinking, "Man...she's really gorgeous" and "Ah, that's when women looked like WOMEN" as I watched her dive deeper and deeper into the terror of...phone calls. Yes, poor Rosy is getting calls from someone who definitely should not be calling her. Disturbing from a stalker standpoint for sure, but the segment pales in comparison to the Drop of Water tale.


The last story is a tale based further back in time again - around the 1800s. We've been shepherded along by Karloff, remember, so the switching of time periods isn't as jarring as it could have been. Plus we have Bava-color to tie everything together nicely. Now we hear about The Wurdalak  - a vampire, basically - and how it has a VERY adverse affect on it's family. Will Sdenka (Susy Andersen) make it to safety with her boyfriend? Maaaaaaybe. We get Karloff being very "Karloff" and a series of passionate deaths, but most of this tale fell flat to me. All but one scene in particular where a family member comes back...walks toward the family home...and calls out...that it's cold. So cold. :::shiver:::  That moment rang through me and was the closest to capturing the chills the first tale had. However, that's where the chills ended for me. The tale even wraps with a strange, comical scene with a horse running away in "comical fast motion" with a wacky, dark musical score. Similar to the "Da da da - da da da - DA!" wrap up, punchline tune used for jokes. Jarring. 

I might have enjoyed this film a bit better if I had not just finished watching a bunch of Hammer films recently. I hold them in high regard and it was hard to see the Bava version of gothic afterward. However it's worth watching - available via Netflix streaming as of the time of this posting. The Drop of Water alone is worth the price of admission! (And, the triple bill of Pierreux, Mercier and Anderson is easy on the eyes!)

A DROP OF WATER

Horror Show Promo 2010

The 2010 HORROR SHOW PROMO

Comments welcome!

Vampire Lovers

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) is a fantastic film.

Don't get me wrong, it's a film made in the 70s, so it has 70s pacing and 70s acting, but there's a charm in that. A charm that works so very well with the gothic vampire theme. Ideal for a cold winter night.


Ingrid Pitt the lead in the film - the mysterious Marcilla. But, is she who she says she is? She slips into the homes of families as an invited guest and the beautiful daughters of the homes start dying. Slowly.




Now, there is really nothing to spoil here - it's a vampire story. So, there are vampires. The story itself is classic. Vampire anemia making young girls waste away while strapping young men and noble older men try to find the vampire or vampires and do away with them before the young innocent dies. The Hammer Studios stamp is all over this film. Fantastic, gothic sets with fog and candles all around. Men ride horses through forests while lovely ladies with cleavage abound.   It's lovely.

The film poster above is not for the film I saw. This poster would have you believe there are women ravaging men in chains. "Not for the mentally immature." Hilarious. In truth, this film has more of a lesbian twist. Pitt makes the young, sweet ladies swoon as she drains them of their life essence. And man, it has scenes of smoldering passion, that's for sure. (Again, 1970s style) NETFLIX even has it with a Gay and Lesbian tag.  Whatever it is, it's sexually charged and fun to watch.

The pace will through a few people off, I'm sure. The story itself is sound and moves along like you're reading a novel. However, people with modern day pacing sensibilities will hate this film, I believe, kicking their feet and clawing the arms of their chairs as they wait for a car chase or explosion. Even the "gore" - little as there is - is far more tame than today's films. (I just saw PIRANHA and the first 10 minutes was more gore filled than Vampire Lovers.)


If you need another reason to watch this film, it's Peter Cushing. While he doesn't have a lot of screen time, the time he does occupy is golden as usual. He is serious as ever and his performance is top notch.

 There's another character that I wasn't 100% sure about. If someone knows who he is, please let us know in the comments below! He's a vampire who is in on the charade of Pitt and who seems to be the leader of the vampire house guest plan, yet the story never says who he is or who he could be. I read that this film is part of a Karnstein Vampire Trilogy: VAMPIRE LOVERS, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and TWINS OF EVIL. I'll have to see if the character reappears in those films. They are on my list.

So, if you're a fan of the fantastic HAMMER HORROR films of the 70s and have somehow missed this film, check it out and play along with the Karnstein Vampire Trilogy! If it's been a while since you've seen the film and remember liking it, revisit it and let us know if you still approve.

And, as always, let us know if you didn't like the film and why and maybe we can have a...dialog?

YouTube has these movies available. While not the best viewing experience, it's great for "instant grat" people like myself.

~The Vampire Lovers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRqG11LU1Oc

~~Lust for a Vampire - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0Sdc1TiOeM

~~~Twins of Evil - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WH699V9iro