Friday Night Double Feature: Planet Of The Vampires/The Astro-Zombies

We are proud to announce that we are now opening a new segment every Friday with the, 'Friday Night Double Feature'! These are just a couple of Horror or Science Fiction movies that we thought that we would recommend for you Fright fans every Friday night!

And for this week we thought that we would recommend, Planet Of The Vampires (1965) and, The Astro-Zombies (1968), for more information on these movies, please check out these trailers!

Planet Of The Vampires (1965):

The Astro-Zombies (1968):

Five Songs From The 80s & 90s That Helped Define Five GreatHorror/Sci-fi Movies

One of the things I have noticed in the new millennium which I have wondered about, is that there seems (definitely in modern horror movies, and to a strong extent with Science Fiction movies,) a noticeable absences of mainstream bands making music that one could say defines the movies in music terms!

What do I mean for this? Well of course there is always composed music, like the composed music that John Williams (Jaws) has done for a lot of the biggest Science Fiction films of all time, in this case what I mean is, music such as what Rob Zombie (Halloween) has done for his movies... And Rob Zombie has done a great with this!

In the case of Rob Zombie, he has always done some truly kick ass songs for (I can't say all, because I haven't seen all of them,) but almost all of his movies! So as a little reminder of what bands did for Horror & Science Fiction, I thought that you guys would enjoy:  Five Songs From The 80s & 90s That Helped Define Five Great Horror/Sci-fi Movies!

For number 5: The Cure: Burn (1994) from: The Crow soundtrack:

For number 4: Gerard McMann: Cry Little Sister (1987) from: The Lost Boys soundtrack:

For number 3: Rage Against The Machine: Wake Up (1999) from: The Matrix soundtrack:

For number 2: White Zombie: The One (1996) from the soundtrack for: Escape From L.A.:

For number 1: Guns 'N Roses: Sympathy For The Devil (1994): from the soundtrack for: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles:

There are a lot more out there, but I would say that these are some of the better ones, and I hope that these remind you of some of the awesomeness that was soundtracks for horror and science fiction in the 1980s and 1990s

Claudia... A Vampire Long Gone, But Never Forgotten

"Locked together in hatred. But I can't hate you Louis. Louis my love, I was mortal till you gave me your immortal kiss. You became my mother, and my father, and so I'm yours forever. But now it's time to end it, Louis. Now it's time to leave him."

- A quote from: Kirsten Dunst (Claudia) in: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

Claudia... A devilish little Vampire girl that has stolen the hearts and minds of Vampire Chronicle fans for decades!

Alright for most of you, I imagine you guys probably have no idea who this is, (Considering the series that she is a part of has not seen any new additions in either the movie or book form for more then a few years now...)

Well that's fine, a little bit about her back story is this... (There is a book specifically devoted to Claudia's back story that I haven't read, but she plays a largely relevant role in, 'Interview With The Vampire' (1976)... So I can tell you what I know about her through this, as well as from the movie...)

Anyway, back in the 19th century, when Louis & Lestat (two of the more important characters in this story,) are having a particularly hard time, Lestat ends up going out in search of a companion to make their duo in to a trio... In comes, Claudia (their little Vampire child...)

 Louis (Played by: Brad Pitt ), Lestat (Played by: Tom Cruise) & Claudia (Played by: Kirsten Dunst) in 1994's big screen adaption of the novel, 'Interview With Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles'!

But as time went on, the Vampire, 'Threesome', became a Vampire, 'Twosome'... And the way that Lestat was disposed of being something that the Vampire community generally frowns upon... Well that led to her end in the first novel...

I hope that I haven't given to much away, and I will admit that i'm not giving her back story as much justice as it deserves... But this character was cut short... The way that Anne Rice wrote her character, was extremely... dare I say it... profound?

Yeah I said it... And even though I know profound is kind of a stretch for a character in a book, especially for a, 'Vampire'... but this little girl vampire along with Louis, helped keep that story going extremely well through out the time that she was in the book... And the movie... So much so that I would say some of the best moments of each was when she was in it in some capacity!

This little one certainly steals the show in the first of the, 'Vampire Chronicles'!

As a matter of fact, I almost felt like after her time in either the book or the movie was over, that at that point would be a good time for both to begin to wind down... And I think that, that is at least part of why both were so good! I mean there was still some more good reading and good watching in the movie form, but in the end, both wound down after Claudia's end quite nicely!

Kirsten Dunst as: 'Claudia', along with Brad Pitt as: 'Louis' & 'Tom Cruise' as: Lestat, in a scene from: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994):

The Slow Death Of The, 'Vampire' And It's Hopeful Resurrection

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="416"] The death of the Vampire movie is a sad day for the horror movie world![/caption]

You know I will be honest and say that where as I have always been a huge fan of Vampire movies and TV series, and always will be, I have to say that I have always been more of a fan of the Zombie side of the Supernatural monster media market...

Well in recent years I have to be honest and say that as a horror Movie/TV show fan, and a fan of Vampires in both mediums, that I have been a little concerned with the direction that the, 'Vampire' sub-genre has been going (this has been a problem with novels as well...)

That is the direction that takes the more traditional kick-ass Vampire, that can easily seduce any girl in to their grave or to becoming their brides (the reverse is true for female vampires and their effects on men), but also the fact that they can kick mortals ass really easily!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="404"] Lestat was a real bad ass who could both charm a lady and kick some ass![/caption]

This direction has been being led astray in recent years in just about all of the mediums, including: Movies, TV Shows and Books, and leading to Vampires that are becoming the new, 'lotharios' in, 'Romance' novels!

This is a total mistake! Hey being innovative and taking the sub-genre in a direction that it has never taken before is one thing, but taking it in a direction that only satisfies one audience set is a total mistake!

A great example of this is the, 'Twilight Saga'... Don't get me wrong, I imagine there is some good stuff to say for both the books and the novels... But the vampires in these novels don't even have a problem with the sun!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Why is Edward not burning up?[/caption]

I mean if you want to satisfy both sides of the coin, 'True Blood' has done a truly fantastic job of this!

What do I mean... Well in this awesome HBO series, a vampire ends up falling in love with a human woman, and the pitfalls that comes from trying to merge the two worlds...

The drama that is centered around this couple, and the fact that neither world really accepts it is a lot of fun, and is set up in such a way as to pull in both sides of the coin while not changing the fact that Vampire's are more then just weird immortal humans, but are actually terrifying monsters that could kill you with out a second thought!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="485"] True Blood has the drama of a, 'romance' novel, but also adds in the sexuality along with the brute force of an awesome horror movie![/caption]

In the end, good or bad, I am glad that the, 'Twilight Saga' is over with, and I hope that with the deaths of, 'Team immortal human claiming to be a 'Vampire' and, 'Team weird looking wolf dude', that the world of, 'Vampires' can get back to what it is supposed to be!

http://youtu.be/N-DrKgjit4I

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Interview With The Vampire (1976) Anne Rice - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

Now here is another terrific writer of horror, Anne Rice!  I mean this woman is just a truly terrific writer that has painted a world of horrors, myth and wonder the likes of which I would honestly say that haven't been seen (with her brand of horror writing) since H.P. Lovecraft!

Now the first time I had actually heard of this amazing writer's work was actually not in the books that she had written, but in the fact that when I was just barely out of the single digits that I had gone to see the movie, Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), (which as it turns out was a pretty awesome movie that starred, Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible), Brad Pitt (World War Z) and a young Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man) to name a few of the truly awesome actors and actresses from this movie!)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] This movie was truly amazing... But no where near as good as the book![/caption]

Well you know what? This movie was a truly amazing masterpiece of horrific drama, that hearkened back I feel to the concepts that Bram Stoker tried to instill when he wrote, Dracula (1897)! But in all truth, as good as this movie was, the book was even better! You see this book is based on a narrative as being told to a writer, by an actual Vampire  by the name of, 'Louis de Pointe du Lac', and how Louis takes the reader through his life, from when he was still alive and a wealthy but bitter and depressed man, through being changed in to a Vampire by, 'Lestat de Lioncourt', and the rest of his journey through out his immortality!

 This book is truly awesome, and as a matter of fact was so well written that I couldn't put it down... As a matter of fact, after reading this novel not long afterward I spent a couple of months collecting up the whole series... (which are all, also really cool, but we will get to those in later reviews...)

You might be wondering why these books are so good... Well simply speaking, I think the truest sign of a great author is their capacity to keep the reader engaged and interested through out the story... And not only does Anne Rice do that through out, 'Interview With The Vampire' but she keeps you enthralled! I mean you almost kind of follow the story as if Louis is really reciting his life to you!

[caption id="attachment_759" align="aligncenter" width="199"] A truly amazing book![/caption]

The only other thing that I would say about this novel is that this novel has a fair amount of strong sexual overtones, and if you find that to be offensive, then this may not be the series for you, but if you can either get passed it, or don't have a problem with it, then I think that you might find that this one is a pretty solid novel, and is a strong backing for a great series to follow!

Good & Evil: Criminals In Hell

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] This guy really wants to know what you did to his boy![/caption]

In movies, (and you see this a lot in heist films), but in most movies criminals are just that… criminals! Good, bad they are what they are what they are and they oft time do what they do very well!

What I mean by this, is that rather or not the guy in the movie who is robbing the bank, or robbing the house or are committing some other form of crime but are generally a good guy at heart, or is a total asshole at heart, these criminals in these movie generally speaking tend to at least initially like what they do, and are pretty good at it!

You might be saying to yourself at this point, ‘well duh, thanks for that Captain Obvious…’ Well the reason that I mentioned this, is that I got to thinking, ‘what is a great way that criminals in movies have been known to redeem themselves or to at the very least face up to their crimes? And well I thought about it… And a great way to do so, is when they are with a group and are facing a threat that threatens to destroy them all… Such as the undead!

A great example of this is the movie, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)… Believe it or not this movie could be said to be a lot of things… A total gore fest (which it is), an awesome sort of supernatural heist movie (It is that to)… As a matter of fact it is that but so much more!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Seth Gecko (Played by: George Clooney) and Richard Gecko (Played by: Quentin Tarantino) as the fun is about to begin![/caption]

This movie tells the story of the Gecko Brothers who whiling being low life criminals are trying to get out of the country so that they can live off the money they stole in a country that has no extradition… And as a way they believe that they can do so is to kidnap this fallen Priest and his family while they make their way down to Mexico…

What no one expects is that the Bar that the Gecko’s wish to meet their contact at happens to be a bar that is populated with the undead! So in the end, Seth Gecko (Played by: George Clooney) and the fallen Priest by the name of Jacob Fuller (played by: Harvey Kietel) as well as Fuller’s family will have to band together to get out of this undead nightmare before they are served up like food on a hot plate!

Now besides the fact that this truly is an awesome gore fest and a fun super natural heist movie that was created by Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi), I also thought that this was a great redemption movie, because (although he does in the end, end up keeping the money) Seth goes to war alongside the Fuller family against the undead (and seems like he is generally trying to do more than just save his own ass), and in the process of this epic struggle Jacob will ultimately end up finding hi faith again!

This next example may not be supernatural, and it may not even be a heist movie, (and unfortunately it may not really be a good movie), but this movie is called, Nine Dead (2010), about a group of people from all walks of life (including a Cop and a low level mob lieutenant), can come together in mutual protection of each other when they are kidnapped and forced to discover what crime they each committed together (without realizing it) and to answer for their crimes!

Now this next example is kind of a cool super natural story of a heist on a ship and the justice that the victims are looking for from beyond the grave! This movie being: Ghost Ship (2002)…

You see this movie tells the story of a Passenger liner from the 60s that is sitting lifeless in the early part of the new millennium and the salvage crew that finds the ship, and claims it and starts towing it back to shore… Of course as they do so they start experiencing strange phenomena occurring on board the ship… And the only way to survive this salvage trip is to find out what happened to the ship, it’s passengers and crew, and to ultimately get justice for one of the bloodiest heists in history!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="565"] The Ship of the damned...[/caption]

There are some other such truly awesome examples of criminals getting their justice in other films of the horror genre as well as other genres, but if you’re a horror fan like me you will enjoy the fact that criminals in hell means justice served!



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The Story Behind Nosferatu

Dracula, the father of the modern movie Vampires! Now over the decades many people have played Dracula over the years, including people such as, Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man), and even Bela Lugosi (Bride Of The Monster)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Bela Lugosi as, 'Count Dracula' in Universal Pictures 1931 classic, Dracula![/caption]

And speaking of Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi can be said to be the father of the modern movie vampire due to his role as a Dracula in Universal's 1931 classic of the same name, and due to the legendary popularity of Lugosi's portayal of the legendary, 'Count', since then an entire industry was created with in the world of movies!

Now some people might think that Bela Lugosi's Dracula was the first Dracula movie that was ever released... Well Dracula (1931) may have been the first movie to have the name, 'Dracula', but it wasn't the first movie to have a story based on Bram Stokers classic 19th century novel of the same name!

The movie of course that I am speaking of is, Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)!

This movie which is most recognizably known as just, 'Nosferatu', was directed by: F.W. Murnau (Faust) and starred Max Schreck (Peer Gynt) in the role of the famous, 'Count', and had been filmed for the German production company, 'Prana Film' (As a matter of fact, it is the only movie that Prana Film ever made!)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Max Schreck as, 'Count Orlok' in F.W. Murnau's cult classic, Nosferatu: eine Symphony des Grauens  (1922)[/caption]

Prana Film when it was in pre-production for this movie went to the Stoker estate to try and gain the legal rights to make the movie based on Stoker's book (Dracula)! Unfortunately his estate would not grant the request to use Bram Stoker's original story.

So alot of key segments of the movie had been changed including, the fact that alot of the second string characters in the original novel had been taken out. The principle characters had been kept in this new movie, including, 'Count Dracula', (although the names of the characters had been changed.)

Also the locations and dates were changed from, Britain in the 1890s to Germany in the 1830s.

The last thing that I thought that I would mention here that I thought that you guys might find to be rather interesting is the fact that in Bram Stoker's original novel, that Dracula could be in daylight, but is weakened when he is in sun light. In Nosferatu, the count (who in this movie is called, 'Count Orlok') needs to sleep away from the day light.

The particular fact that in Nosferatu, that Count Orlok has to sleep away from the day light could be said to be the most prolific contribution to Vampire movies that Nosferatu could have made, due to the fact that since Nosferatu was released on March 15th, 1922, that having Vampires having to sleep away from the day light has been a common theme in both, 'Dracula' movies as well as, 'Vampire' movies as a whole!

For more information on this movie I thought that you guys would enjoy this trailer for, Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens:

http://youtu.be/N-DrKgjit4I

The Vampire (1957) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Over the last few years, since I have been really begun delving deeper in to movies then I would have ever gone before, I have started watching these really great black and white movies, and you know what? I have found that I really like them!

Now I mention this for two reasons. The first reason that I mention this is that another interesting fact about movie goers that I am slowly beginning to realize is that a lot of movie fans primarily (but often not exclusively) tend to gravitate toward the movies that and styles of movie that they grew up watching when they were kids!

A great example of this is that I knew a guy who I was talking with about movies, and he was talking about all of these great movies from the new millennium that he just thought were truly fantastic (and I have to admit that more than a few he had mentioned genuinely were quite fun,) but at the time I was deeply involved in the works of Bela Lugosi, and trying to talk to him about it was going right over his head! (Of course there was a few that he was talking about that were going over my head as well.)

Now if you’re a fan of old black and white horror or science fiction movies then the other reason I mention the above is because I recently watched a kick ass classic black and white horror movie called, The Vampire (1957)!

Written by: Pat Fielder (The Monster That Challenged The World) & Directed by: Paul Landres (Daktari). Starring: John Beal (Amityville 3-D), Coleen Gray (The Killing), Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World), Lydia Reed (The Seven Little Foys) and Dabs Greer (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers).

Now, The Vampire, is an interesting tale, you see in a lot of respects, although it does have elements of the, ‘Vampire’, story line, it is really more closely related to the tale of, ‘Dr.Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="530"] Mr. Hyde... The Vampire![/caption]

What I mean by this, is that Dr. Paul Beecher (Beal) is a small town Doctor with a quiet little practice where he is liked by his patients and the rest of the community, and is respected with in the scientific community that has set up shop in the small town.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="671"] Dr. Paul Beecher (John Beal) as he is seeing patients... But before he begins to transform in to the man he is going to be... Literally![/caption]

One day though Doctor Beecher is called out to the base of operations for the lab that had been set up by Doctor Campbell (Played by: Wood Romoff). You see this solitary Doctor who had developed a drug that was supposed to eventually expand the intellect of mankind… The only problem is that the drug is hideously addictive and every time the person who is addicted to the drug doesn't take it, then the killer that the drug created is awaken (very Jeykll & Hyde, eh?)

Anyway, Doctor Campbell ends up dying, but before he does, he gives Beecher the drugs that he had been taken…. Well Beecher takes them home with him, but when he gets home, Doctor Beecher comes down with a headache and asks his daughter, ‘Betsy’ (Reed) to give him one of his headache pills from his coat pocket, big mistake!

You see the pill that Betsy ends up giving Beecher is the drug that killed Doctor Campbell, and now that Doctor Beecher is addicted, the more he tries not to take the drug, the more his own personal, ‘Mr. Hyde’ will go on his own literally blood thirsty rampage that will end up slowly destroying the Doctor!

Now I have to say that this movie is more of an interesting take on the old, ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’ premise, I mean there are elements of Vampirism in this movie, (when Beecher changes, he does appear to drink blood through the jugular,) but un like most vampires (who just kind of are vampires,) Beecher’s monster came out because of the drug, and the change was more like changing in to, ‘Mr. Hyde’ then any of the more traditional vampire archetypes that we are used to seeing in Vampire movies even going that far back!

With all of this in mind, this movie is a fun one, and if you like black and white movies, then you should atleast try this movie once!