Nosferatu

Image credit: IMDb

In my review for Last Voyage of the Demeter, I stated that I do agree with the argument that major studios are overdoing it with reboots and remakes. I am still of this opinion – there are so many good stories out there that could be turned into compelling films that might actually do well. The Invisible Life of Adie Larue could be the new romantic drama to replace The Notebook, The Scholomance series could easily become something like a new Twilight or Divergent series. But the more good remakes that I watch, the more I am inclined to ease off. At the end of the day, people are choosing to retell these stories because they are timeless and have a special relationship with people.

It's funny that the last time I talked about this was a vampire movie, a retelling of Dracula nonetheless, and that I’m talking about it again now with my review of Nosferatu.

Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) has been haunted by nightmares since childhood. When her nightmares come back shortly before her husband leaves on a job that would secure him a promotion, it proves to be a dark omen indeed. Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) travels to meet with the esoteric Count Orlock to finalise the sale of a property in England. Thomas’ stay with the count lengthens as he mysteriously falls ill and begins to awake each day with strange bite marks on his body. Fearful for his life, Thomas manages to escape back to England and his wife, but it soon becomes apparent that their dealings with the sinister Count Orlock are far from over.

Based on the novel by Bram Stoker and a remake of the 1920’s classic Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens starring Max Schrek, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gorgeous American-Gothic horror film that breathes a new life into the classic tale.

Filmed with a cold colour palette, almost dark enough to be black and white, and favouring tantalising, lingering panoramic shots that stretch the nerves to their utmost extent in anticipation of a jump scare, the film is a return to supernatural horrors of the ‘20s and ‘30s where performances, camera techniques, and hand-crafted achievements in costume, set, and makeup design enthrall audiences. Whilst definitely adhering to the gothic-romance aesthetic, the film superbly mixes both modern and traditional folk horror, with culture clash and the differences in social evolutions of towns and countries proving to be the real villain. Afterall, what’s more terrifying than bringing an old horror from another country home with you?

Image credit: Rotten Tomatoes

The captivating performances of Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe and Bill Skarsgard ensure bums remain firmly planted in seats from reel one, with the story being just different enough from Dracula to keep you invested in the heroes’ goal to eradicate the monster. There is a romantic element to the tale and a unique relationship written in between Ellen and Orlock: a story of infatuation, loneliness, and the power of promise. Depp is graceful and gorgeous, almost ethereal when she’s not seizing or having blood gush from her eyes. And Skarsgard produces some good ol’ fashioned chills down the spine with his deep and painfully eloquent vocal work. But of course, the real stars are Sally Alcott and the incredible makeup department who so perfectly designed a modern monster from a different age. The makeup design for Orlock is incredible: scary enough to cause recoil, yet not completely masking the humanity underneath.

Nosferatu is a beautiful modern horror movie that feels like a classic and what’s most endearing about it is that the love for the story, the genre, and the medium can be seen and felt in every shot.

Director: Robert Eggers, 2025

Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, Bill Skarsgard, & Willem Dafoe

Blade: Trinity

If gothic novels, movies, supernatural TV series, and annoying young-adult paranormal romances have taught us anything, it’s that we are never going to be rid of vampires. More than that, we will never be rid of the original vampire, Dracula. As Buffy so eloquently said, “don’t you think I watch your movies? You always come back!” Indeed he does and in this review he has come back to plague Blade. 

As Blade’s war on bloodsuckers enters the public’s eye, social media as well as the police target him as a vigilante to be brought down. However, the moment Blade is taken into custody, he’s busted out by a group of vampire hunters he never knew existed called The Nightstalkers. Teaming up with them, Blade prepares for a final showdown against the ultimate vamp: Dracula. 

I guess when you’re dealing with a franchise about vampires, it’s bloody tempting to just throw good ‘ol Drac into the mix and let the mayhem loose. And whilst I personally think this is a demonstration of a bit of lazy writing and lack of originality, I cannot say that Blade: Trinity is a bad movie. Actually, I enjoyed it the most out of the entire trilogy and in truth it’s thanks to the writers and their introduction of new characters with back-stories. 

Undeniably, the Blade movies are a spectacle in their kick-arse action sequences and original protagonist, however something that made the first two a little hard to really get into was their lack of interesting characters. The vamps were vamps, cool and all, and then there was Whistler who was a great character. But until Trinity, it didn’t really feel as though there was any character chemistry or reacting agent in any of the other films that gave them spice. With the character of Whilster’s daughter, Abigail (Jessica Biel) and Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) it feels like there is much more going on in this movie and a level of character depth and chemistry that just makes it all better. Biel provides us with a nice complex character that we get to the delicious task of figuring out and Reynolds is the hilarious and hot headed comic relief working like salt to make everything taste so much better. He’s got a pretty interesting history too, which you’ll have to watch the film to discover. I feel that there was more character chemistry happening here, which just made the movie so much more enjoyable as you’re inclined to root for these guys rather than just watch them do cool shit. 

So there you go; good characterization makes all the difference. 

The performances are solid and the action sequences are as cool to watch as ever before. Story-wise I guess it leaves a bit to be desired, but when you’re invested in the characters, writers can get away with being a little lazy. 

Marvel has come a long way since Blade, but these movies still deliver the expected thrills and movie experience, so you can’t begrudge them much. And, watching them after the contemporary surge of superhero classics, you can see the fundamental tricks and tropes, which guarantees the Marvel experience. 

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, Parker Posey, Mark Berry, Dominic Purcell, Paul Levesque, Paul Anthony, Francoise Yip, Michael Anthony Rawlins, Callum Keith Rennie, John Michael Higgins James Remar, Natasha Lyonne, and Kris Kristofferson 

Rated: MA

Blade 2

Is there anything worse than vampires? How about a mutant creature that enjoys the taste of both vampire and human blood? At least it is for Wesley Snipes’ half-vamp half-human vampire hunter, Blade, because it means he has to team up with the very race of creatures he has a vendetta against. In the blood-soaked and action-packed sequel to Stephen Norrington’s original ‘90s instalment, this is certainly the case. 

After he succeeds in his quest to find his grizzly mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade is approached by a family of vamps and asked to help them exterminate a strange creature that thrives on blood (human and vampire alike) and threatens to plague the world. Blade reluctantly takes the job leading a bloodthirsty pack of select assassins who are likely to sink their teeth into him at any moment, but gets more than he bargained for when he discovers a disturbing twist in the mutant’s origin story. 

What is there to say about a sequel that hasn’t already been said before? Well, yes I guess it has to be said that this movie does ramp a few notches up from the first, namely because this one is directed by Guillermo del Toro. It cannot be denied that the man has a great eye for action and horror and in Blade 2 each of these elements is ramped to 11. There is definitely more going on in terms of the action elements of the story rather than balanced narrative exposition; the story itself and its execution are kind of ho-hum, but I guess what does it matter when the weapons, the fight sequences, and the general badass-ness of Wesley Snipes and Ron Perlman are in the mix? The action sequences, although definitely dominating, are undeniably impressive in this movie: perfectly timed and choreographed so as to transfix you. But I do have to admit that this is all that is great about this movie. Me myself, I’m not so into the whole Blade thing. I can appreciate the novelty of the character and I did like the semi-scientific approach to vampirism that was taken in the first movie, but when a film relies on its central character and action sequences to survive (admittedly, films can make quite a living on those elements alone), I just tend to zone about because I feel as though there’s no balance of effort from all departments. 

In a nutshell, the director, the stunt team/actors, costume department, and prop team are the real heroes with the writers just sitting in the back seat asking if there’s anything else they can do. I even noticed in terms of performances that this movie doesn’t really demand much from the actors with Snipes almost having no lines at all. Protagonist-performance-absence is something that seems to only affect movies such as this where the character is so stand-alone cool and surrounded by such gripping action that they don’t need to offer more to their viewers (it’s a similar problem that plagued Fury Road). It’s a sad condition for films to suffer from, but simultaneously I can’t wholeheartedly say that it fatally attacks movies. It’s more like a skin condition or hayfever: not great, but can be lived with. Blade 2 does suffer from this condition, but thanks to del Toro’s gripping action sequences, it doesn’t inhibit the film too much. 

If you like the Blade character and if you liked the first movie, then you’re going to enjoy this one hands down.

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Normad Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann, Luke Goss, Matt Schulze, Danny John-Jules, Donnie Yen, Karel Roden, Marit Velle Kile, Tony Curren, Daz Crawford, and Santiago Segura. 

Rating: MA.

Blade

What do you get when a pregnant women is bitten by a vampire? The answer: Wesley Snipes and a trilogy of strange yet enjoyable vampire hunter movies. 

Blade is a vampire hunter, born part human and part vampire. Armed with a vampire’s strength and a human’s ability to walk during the day, he is the ultimate fighter, waging a war against bloodsuckers. When one particular vampire poses a significant threat to the human race, it’s up to Blade with the help of his weapons designer and a newly bitten doctor to take out the omnipotent vampire overlord and stop the world from being destroyed in an ancient prophetic apocalypse. 

Like many action sci-fi movies of the late ‘90s, Blade is a film that has a fair amount of potential, but does suffer from some serious flaws and bad CGI. The intrigue of the movie is in the novelty of the protagonist himself. There is a lot of fun in a character that has the best of both worlds, as it were, but what’s interesting about Blade is that he takes a side and sticks to it rather stoically. Rather then occasionally running with vampires, he’s forever running them down and this makes his battles particularly interesting because it’s a case of fire against fire. His war against vamps, coupled with his own internal demonic struggles is undeniably fascinating to watch and the fact that the movie successfully puts vampires in a contemporary setting is what sets Blade apart. 

Of all the vampire movies that I’ve seen, Blade is the one that nicely situates vamps within contemporary society and what is more, actually decreases (almost eliminates altogether) the sensual eroticism and romance of them as characters. Movies like Twilight or any gothic adaptation of Dracula, have a tendency to romanticize vamps, which is all very good (traditionally they are irresistibly beautiful, sexual, and decadent), but I guess what really stands out in Blade is the fact that many of the vamps are not elegant or erotic, some are downright crass bogan or redneck types and that proves to be a nice change. 

Story-wise, the movie is pretty obvious and at times rather predictable. Whilst the whole one-man war thing against the supernatural is exciting and cool, certain narrative tropes become a little clichéd and easily called out. The cursed hero’s journey towards self-acceptance, the jealous villain, and the whole tying up to vendettas with one length of rope can get pretty ‘ugh’ by the end of the film. 

Then, of course, we have the not-so-hot CGI. Realistically it’s unfair to praise or ridicule ‘90s movies on their CGI alone because, let’s face it the computer wizardry that modern movie watchers can enjoy was not really around. It would have cost a bomb to get that kind of crisp CGI magic and sadly not every movie has a budget of billions. The CGI in Blade does what it can and performs the task that it’s meant to, but it does look pretty cumbersome and sometimes ridiculous. 

Whilst it’s not the most incredible vampire movie out there, Blade certainly has potential and one can totally see why it was followed by two other installments. Filled with action, kick-arse weapons, and drama, I think the most that can be said for it is that it’s a fresh and interesting approach to the vampire subgenre. 

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Ubo Kier, Arly Jover, Traci Lords, Kevin Patrick Walls, Tim Guinee, Sanaa Lathan, Eric Edwards, and Kris Kristofferson. 

Rating: MA

Dracula Prince of Darkness [M]

Ten years ago a great evil was rid from the village of Carlsbad, that of the vampiric count Dracula. But the villagers still live in fear that he is not truly gone. Their fears are confirmed when four English travellers are lured by evil to Dracula’s castle and one of them becomes the blood sacrifice that resurrects the monster. One falls prey to his ‘kiss’ and while the two remaining manage to escape, the release is only temporary as the bloodthirsty Dracula designs to bring about their doom no matter what. 

I have not seen the first instalment in the series of Hammer Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee, but one can easily get excited about the prospect of such an actor-character match. Needless to say I had very high expectations of this movie and, even though Christopher Lee is wonderful as the Prince of Darkness, the film was a bit of a disappointment. 

First, let’s talk about a predictable and uninspired storyline. Tourists, through mysterious circumstances, end up at Dracula’s castle and become the key to his resurrection and his meal. Two barely escape and then team up with a knowledgeable friar to destroy the monster in a very anticlimactic way. From beginning to annoyingly dispiriting end, there wasn’t much life in this story. 

I will admit that for the beginning it was rather good; it managed to create this great sense of suspense, namely through the overloud score, and it packed a bit of a gore factor: primitive and unbelievable, but still effective. 

For the second half of the film, it was just boring and the only reason that I stayed in my seat was to see more Christopher Lee. Spoiler warning: there is nowhere near enough Christopher Lee in this movie! I feel quite ripped off. 

Having said that, the scenes where he does feature are the most exciting of the film. Sauntering through the movie with absolutely no dialogue aside from hisses and screams, he was eerie and mesmerising: it feels as though you’re caught in his hypnotic powers because you really can’t look away. 

All his acting is done through his face and the expressions that he makes are quite telling of his character and where he is ‘emotionally’. At times there’s a real sadness and melancholy lingering about the mouth and the eyes, and then other times it’s pure rage and the thrill of the hunt. Once or twice there’s this sinister and villainous lustful look that flits across his features, which is exciting and creepy given the context. 

To be fair all the performances were fine, the film just falls down in it’s uninspired story and its haphazard narrative flow plus the fact that time does not travel very well here: one minute it’s the early hours of morning and the next it’s dusk the following evening. Bit of a time jump at warp speed that just warped the whole thing really. 

Starring Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Frances Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Charles Tingwell, Thorley Walters, and Philip Lathan, Dracula Prince of Darkness doesn’t quite cut it as a classic monster movie and admittedly, coming from the studio of Hammer, I expected a lot more. Filled with action, suspense, drama, romance, and some unrealistic but still slightly effective gore, it’s a film that had some redeeming features, but unfortunately not enough to save it from drowning.

The Lost Boys [M]

When Sam and his older brother Michael move to their grandfather’s place in a small coastal town, it seems that they’re going to fit in fine with the boardwalk nightlight, comic book stores, video shops, and everything. But soon they discover that the town is peopled with vampires and Michael, having been peer-tricked into drinking blood, starts to become one of them. It falls to Sam and his friends to save Michael before his first kill by ridding the town of the head vampire. The only problem is who is it? 

This is one of those cult horror movies that I know a lot of people absolutely love, but for me (maybe because I wasn’t around when it first came out) The Lost Boys was just a very dated and faded vampire movie that just hasn’t stood the test of time. Between characters being underdeveloped and large plot points suddenly being thrown at you, I couldn’t bring myself to like much about this movie. Actually that’s a lie, I did laugh a bit at the dumb acting and 80s fashions. 

When Sam and his older brother Michael move to their grandfather’s place in a small coastal town, it seems that they’re going to fit in fine with the boardwalk nightlight, comic book stores, video shops, and everything. But soon they discover that the town is peopled with vampires and Michael, having been peer-tricked into drinking blood, starts to become one of them. It falls to Sam and his friends to save Michael before his first kill by ridding the town of the head vampire. The only problem is who is it? 

Because it is a vampire movie, I can see where the cult appeal comes in. There is an evident niche market for films like this and there are audiences out there who find things in these movies that appeal to them. I am just not one of these people. The story itself is pretty pathetic: kids move to a town riddled with vampires, the older, angsty sibling gets infected, and because there is no help from the mother, the youngest son has to save the family. It works fine, but it is a little predictable and very uninteresting in parts. I wouldn’t have minded this so much if the performances drew my attention away from it, but unfortunately everyone (aside from the trio of young heroes really) just gives these dumb and wooden performances that can’t be emotionally latched onto. I couldn’t really bring myself to like anyone in this flick. 

The special effects of the vampires in their vampiric state were ok but nothing special, it was slightly fascinating that the lead group of night crawlers were a motorcycle gang of punks all clad in 80s leather outfits with dangling earring in one ear and stuff (a sort of leather clad new-romantic type look blended with punk), and I do have to give credit where credit is due to the trio of young heroes because they came into their own after beginning with a bit of a shaky start. A predictable, stupid sort of humour was the ending note and the ‘twist’ at the end was something that can pretty much be seen coming so that’s a bit of a downer. 

Starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Weist, Barard Hughs, Edward Hermann, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander, Brooke McCarter, Billy Wirth, and Alex Winter, The Lost Boys is a pretty hit and miss horror flick. The more I think about it, the more I’m tempted to see it as a sort of parody, a send-up of the vampire subgenre that just didn’t really reach its aim. Filled with action, gore, drama, romance, teenage angst, and comedy, it’s a movie that I’m happy to say that I’ve seen, but not one that I would come back to. 

The Vampire Bat [PG]

A small village is being terrorised nightly by what the townsfolk concede to be a vampire. There have been six mysterious deaths, each victim bearing the same two puncture marks on their necks and blood clot close to the wound. It is only the village detective who does not believe the superstitions of the townspeople, but as further deaths occur with a lack of any clues indicating a human murderer, he begins to abandon rational thought, even though the answer to all the riddles is within his circle of company. 

It seems that we’re getting to the point in this box set of 50 ‘classic’ horror movies where the movies are really getting short and admittedly somewhat pointless. The Vampire Bat plays to a number of generic horror movie clichés and ‘functions’ as theorist Vladimir Propp calls them and, as such, it’s a flick that fuses a few of the clichés together to create a semi-entertaining and quasi-thrilling story. For spoiler reasons, I can’t really go into deeper detail as to what recognisable patterns are used without completely giving away the ‘twist’, but I will say that whilst it is a bit obvious and very loosely creative on the part of the writers, it still makes for a compelling film. 

A small village is being terrorised nightly by what the townsfolk concede to be a vampire. There have been six mysterious deaths, each victim bearing the same two puncture marks on their necks and blood clot close to the wound. It is only the village detective who does not believe the superstitions of the townspeople, but as further deaths occur with a lack of any clues indicating a human murderer, he begins to abandon rational thought, even though the answer to all the riddles is within his circle of company. 

This movie actually has a fair bit of potential. If it was in today’s writers’ hands, then this full potential might have been entirely realised rather than cut short and safe resulting in a movie that only runs for an hour. As I said before, it’s made up of a number of recognisable clichés or patterns that feature in a lot of horror movies, particularly in those of the vampire and murder mystery subgenres. Although we know why and where most of these characters and their actions fit within the genre, the fusion of multiple horror categories or subgenres give the movie just enough of a twist and compelling mystery as to hold an audience. We’ve got the superstitious townsfolk with the flaming torches and mob mentality, we’ve got the rational and slightly cynical detective, we’ve got the doctor, we’ve got the beautiful heroine, the bustling and bumbling old dame character, and finally the mentally off, simple village oddball. All of these characters work together nicely to create this story that runs along a recognisable track for quite a time before it veers off and begins to travel through uncharted territories. I do think that a modern writer would expand on these characters a little bit more, give us more of a back story so that we might be able to develop more of a relationship with them, and then this alone would further develop the story and make the twist at the end a little more twisted and darkly surprising. 

Ultimately this movie knew where it was going and what it was, but somehow couldn’t quite make it to a place that was scarier and more thrilling. 

Featuring solid performances from Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, George E Stone, Dwight Frye, Robert Frazer, Rita Carlyle, and Lionel Belmore, The Vampire Bat is a fine little movie that doesn’t quite make the mark but is well on the right track. Filled with action, mystery, romance, drama, and comedy, it’s entertaining and compelling, but not really thrilling as a horror movie. 

The Last Man on Earth [PG]

Another morning and Dr. Robert Morgan awakens to another day of lonely and bleak existence. As he stretches and yawns, he runs through a laundry list of daily tasks: replace the mirrors on the doors, replace the repugnant garlic wreaths, fill up the petrol tank, and take the dead bodies on his lawn to the pit. This has been his way for three years, ever since an airborne plague spread from Europe to America turning all who it infects into vampiric zombies. As far as he knows, Robert is the last man on earth, but he continues to search everyday: a futile hunt for other survivors. 

I love Vincent Price and indeed up until today I was sincerely under the impression that this man could do no wrong. It turns out my faith has taken a slight battering. To give defence where it is needed, there is only so much you can do with the-last-man-standing sort of story. Indeed trying to make a story about one man living day to day in a desolate waste of a city intriguing and entertaining is a mean feat and the fact that people actually rose to the challenge should be applauded, if only a polite little golf-clap applause. 

Another morning and Dr. Robert Morgan awakens to another day of lonely and bleak existence. As he stretches and yawns, he runs through a laundry list of daily tasks: replace the mirrors on the doors, replace the repugnant garlic wreaths, fill up the petrol tank, and take the dead bodies on his lawn to the pit. This has been his way for three years, ever since an airborne plague spread from Europe to America turning all who it infects into vampiric zombies. As far as he knows, Robert is the last man on earth, but he continues to search everyday: a futile hunt for other survivors. 

What keeps attention glued to the screen in this movie is that fact that you’re struggling to work out what the hell is actually going on. Even when ‘the end’ flashed onto the screen, I was still confused as to what I just watched. For the most part, the film is a bit of an inner monologue: a voice over narration just ticking off the fleeting thoughts that go through Vincent’s head: “out of gas”, “I’ll settle for coffee and orange juice today”. Just when you’re about to scream at the TV, demanding answers as to what caused this apocalypse, we’re treated to a wispy flashback where more or less everything is properly explained. From there the question as to whether there is still life out there becomes the central focus and I won’t say more on that for fear that I might give away too much of the narrative. 

For what he had to work with; a dodgy script and a minimal cast for the most part, Vincent Price did pretty well. I imagine it would be hard to play a character that has gone through something like this as well as lived through the trauma of seeing family and friends fall victim. He sort of saunters through without bearing much empathy or feeling: just a fleshed, walking persona of bleakness disguised as a human. When there seems to be hope or a rekindling of late memories, then emotion comes to his face and he becomes a real human, but aside from that there is really nothing more to say on his performance. I’m just a sucker for his voice: that gorgeous, buttery, relishing voice. 

Starring Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho, Christi Courtland, Antonio Corevi, and Ettore Ribotta, The Last Man on Earth is a pretty confusing and dispiriting film that falls well below par in the horror movie canon. Filled with a spattering of drama, action, mystery, and suspense, it’s a pretty “what the…” type of film that I don’t think I’ll watch again any time soon. 

Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror) [PG]

The bountifully rich Count Orlok wishes to purchase property in Bremen and young Hutter is sent to the Count’s castle in Transylvania to finalise everything. But upon his arrival he discovers that Count Orlok is a strange man excited by the sight of blood and soon feverish nightmare begins to grip him. After realising that Orlok is a nosferatu, a vampire, he escapes the castle and heads back to Bremen. But it may be too late as a strange plague has already begun to sweep across Europe and it soon becomes clear that Orlok has eyes for Hutter’s young and innocent wife. 

Based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this is the original Dracula movie that spawned a lot of popular vampire myths as well as delivered some of cinema’s most incredibly creepy images, not to mention the inspiration behind Bela Lugosi’s eerie double-jointed finger movements in the 1931 classic. 

The bountifully rich Count Orlok wishes to purchase property in Bremen and young Hutter is sent to the Count’s castle in Transylvania to finalise everything. But upon his arrival he discovers that Count Orlok is a strange man excited by the sight of blood a

nd soon feverish nightmare begins to grip him. After realising that Orlok is Nosferatu, a vampire, he escapes the castle and heads back to Bremen. But it may be too late as a strange plague has already begun to sweep across Europe and it soon becomes clear that Orlok has eyes for Hutter’s young and innocent wife. 

It may be in grainy black and white, it may be a silent movie, but Nosferatu stands as a beautiful piece of German Expressionist cinema that still sends shivers down the spine even to this day! Aside from the characters’ names, little of the Stoker’s vampiric horror story is changed and, as I mentioned earlier, this movie gave birth to some of the most iconic scenes in cinema, hell clips from this flick were even featured in Queen’s music video for ‘Under Pressure’ with David Bowie! 

Count Orlok (i.e. Count Dracula) is just as creepy a character as he was back in 1922! Between his sharpened fangs, heightened eyebrows, deathly slow prowl, elongated shadows, and spindly fingers, there are just so many things about this guy that are frightening. Amongst cinema’s most iconic moments are Orlok slowly and vertically rising from a coffin, his slow walks around his castle casting eerie elongated shadows, and the slow creeping of his shadow over the bodies of his sleeping and unsuspecting victims. Seriously eerie stuff! 

What I really liked about this movie is how alike it was to the book. Just like Stoker’s original classic, the major plot points and exposition are conveyed through letters, book chapters, and newspaper articles rather than captions, and the black and white medium was never put to better use than depicting a story about the struggle between light and dark. The German Expressionist love of using greater light to cast greater shadows was used here to wondrous effect, really heightening the horror of the entire thing. 

Starring Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav van Wangenheim, Greta Schroder, Georg H. Schnell, Ruth Landschoff, John Gottowt, Gustav Botz, Max Nemetz, Albert Venohr, and Hardy von Francois, Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens is an important piece in cinematic history that many Dracula remakes and vampire flicks owe part of themselves to. Filled with suspense, romance, drama, and mystery, it’s a movie that always going to hold relevance, even if its silence is seen as outdated. It’s jagged editing, intriguing special effects, and captivating performances elevate into a realm that is beyond the reach of time’s deathly decay and for this I admire it. 

Atom Age Vampire [PG]

When beautiful exotic dancer, Jeanette, is left horrendously scarred after a car crash, there seems to be little reason left to live. That is until a scientist who has discovered a miracle treatment that can revive damaged and even deceased cells approaches her. She has the treatment and it’s a success, but only temporarily. Having fallen madly in love with Jeanette, the scientist resorts to unethical, even horrific means by which to make the cure permanent. With suspicions mounting in Jeanette’s boyfriend and the police closing in, time is running out for the scientist to find the cure and win Jeanette’s heart. 

One of the more esoteric horror films in cinematic history, Atom Age Vampire nevertheless swings with a bit of force, landing a fair few shots right in the face that leave the ears ringing. Special applause has to go to all the ladies that delivered such great screams and the makeup effects, which were really quite impressive and added to the horror factor. 

When beautiful exotic dancer, Jeanette, is left horrendously scarred after a car crash, there seems to be little reason left to live. That is until a scientist who has discovered a miracle treatment that can revive damaged and even deceased cells approaches her. She has the treatment and it’s a success, but only temporarily. Having fallen madly in love with Jeanette, the scientist resorts to unethical, even horrific means by which to make the cure permanent. With suspicions mounting in Jeanette’s boyfriend and the police closing in, time is running out for the scientist to find the cure and win Jeanette’s heart. 

There was something about this flick that was a bit La Belle et la Bete and a bit Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. All together pretty enthralling, with just the right amount of predictability in terms of the story and structure, Atom Age Vampire explores the darker side of obsession. Our heroine seeks untested medical advice out of her obsession to get her beauty back and all sorts of horrible things happen at the hands of the scientist, stemming from his various obsessions of bringing about a successful miracle cure and keeping Jeanette for himself. 

It’s particularly interesting because the title is actually kind of misleading. Contrary to what the word ‘vampire’ connotes, there is no bloodsucking, no shape shifting into mist or bats, and no coffins. The term ‘atom age vampire’ actually refers to the night time murders and the inhuman monstrousness of vampires: their strength to kill and lack of morals or empathy. 

Whilst some of the women need betterment in the ways of their acting, i.e. the heroine/damsel in distress, the men bring a passion and drama to the film that successfully keeps eyes on screen. Alberto Lupo who stars as our tortured mad scientist delivers a wonderfully captivating performance brimming with gravitas, drama, desperation, romance, and irrepressible drive. An unstoppable force is what this man is. 

I also want to give a shout out to the make up and special effects people because the marriage of the two worked to great effect in this film. The transformation sequences are actually pretty creepy and it’s all done in a slow crescendo to really heighten the suspense and terror. Considering this is an early 60s film, it’s actually pretty impressive. 

Starring Susanne Loret, Sergio Fantoni, Franca Parisi, Roberto Bertea, Andrea Scotti, and Ivo Garrani, Atom Age Vampire is a thrilling old classic filled with murder, drama, obsession, romance, suspense, and horror. It’s great to go back and watch some of these really old esoteric types of horror flicks because some of them can still manage to pack a punch. 

What We Do in the Shadows [M]

Meet Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr, four vampires living together in a flat in New Zealand. When they’re not draining victims of their blood, they’re worrying about the everyday things in life like who’s turn it is to do the dishes, hitting the clubs looking for a good time, and picking street fights with rival gangs…of werewolves. Their afterlives are already toey living in secret amongst humans, but things get a little tenser when a newly converted vampire named Nick joins their group. Relishing in his newfound abilities and broadcasting them aloud, Nick soon gets the guys into trouble when his boasting attracts a vampire hunter. 

From the guys that brought us Boy and Eagle vs. Shark, possibly the most awkward romantic comedy ever, comes this clever little horror mockumentary that is really very funny in what it achieves. Both familiarising and defamiliarising the vampire subgenre, What We Do in the Shadows is a lively and clever little film that tickles in a variety of ways. 

Meet Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr, four vampires living together in a flat in New Zealand. When they’re not draining victims of their blood, they’re worrying about the everyday things in life like who’s turn it is to do the dishes, hitting the clubs looking for a good time, and picking street fights with rival gangs…of werewolves. Their afterlives are already toey living in secret amongst humans, but things get a little tenser when a newly converted vampire named Nick joins their group. Relishing in his newfound abilities and broadcasting them aloud, Nick soon gets the guys into trouble when his boasting attracts a vampire hunter. 

The Brits, the Aussies, and the Kiwis have it down when it comes to the mockumentary. The genre is one that is beloved below the equator and fusing it with the horror genre was a really good move. What I found most clever about the whole thing was the fact that it fused two genres together incredibly well, more so when you consider that the horror genre is one of the most unreal. Fusing a structured and ‘unreal’ genre with the mockumentary format was a stroke of genius and it, on some level, really redefines the cinema, offsetting the borders between genres and the styles of filming. 

I saw this movie as a refreshing comment on the times we live in. Since Twilight, there is a high fascination with the supernatural and in particular vampires and werewolves, so this movie is an open comment on that. Simultaneously, because it’s the mockumentary format, there is this great level of narcissism, almost ‘selfie-ism’; a further comment on the world we live in Gandalf! 

The performances are all great because they are so genuine and ‘real’ despite the fact that they’re supernatural beings. The werewolves are particular favourites of mine in that, unlike the tribal breeds in Twilight, these posses are all about trying to keep the peace and maintain balance on the streets. One of their mantras is ‘werewolves not swearwolves’ and during the full moon it’s really funny to watch them go through the checklist of precautions: tracksuit pants for transformation comfort, chaining each other up to strong trees. It’s really funny. 

Starring Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stuart Rutherford, Ben Fransham, Jackie van Beek, and Chelsie Preston Crayford, What We Do in the Shadows is a really refreshing and clever little movie filled with action, gore, bloodshed, gross-out scenes, tension, and comedy. I found it really clever, original, and refreshing and if this review has at all piqued your interest, I would recommend you go see it. 

Breaking Dawn Part 2 [M]

Bella is quick to adapt to the change from human into vampire. But the complications in hers and Edward’s love story are far from over. Their newborn daughter, half human half immortal, is growing up fast and to make matters worse, she is spotted by another vampire and mistaken for an ‘immortal child’: a child vampire turned too young to control their thirst or exercise discretion, and reported her to the Volturi. Now the Cullens have to rally all their allies together to either convince Aro that the child is not what she’s accused of being, or fight. 

Ok, to be fair it’s been a long while since I read the books and I may not remember crystal clearly how the final events in this bloody saga went down. But I’m pretty sure that they didn’t go down like this! I was actually rather looking forward to this final instalment of the saga because, without a doubt, it was the best part of the whole bloody thing. In the book, I really loved meeting all these new characters in particular these new vampires from all over the world with pretty cool powers too. I held a special fascination with the Amazonian vampires, and I remember really liking the Egyptian ones too. But even the introduction of these characters that I was looking forward to could not dissuade my negative response to the writing and the general makeup of this ‘climactic’ end. 

Bella is quick to adapt to the change from human into vampire. But the complications in hers and Edward’s love story are far from over. Their newborn daughter, half human half immortal, is growing up fast and to make matters worse, she is spotted by another vampire and mistaken for an ‘immortal child’: a child vampire turned too young to control their thirst or exercise discretion, and reported her to the Volturi. Now the Cullens have to rally all their allies together to either convince Aro that the child is not what she’s accused of being, or fight. 

I can’t really go on a proper rant without giving key points of the plot away, but I’m going to try. For a start, THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH IN THIS FILM! The duration is 110 minutes and about half an hour of that is devoted to fucking credits! I appreciate all the people who work on films, but come on! What really shits me is that Breaking Dawn was split into two films (rightly so, it’s a very big book) and it’s all bloody devoted to Bella and Edward, which means it’s a lot of standing, sitting, or lying around telling each other how much they love each other or how much danger they are in. The book is as big as it is because there was this whole other story running parallel to the central love story regarding Jacob. They could have easily made a 2-hour movie with that story featured, giving this movie some substance! Even the whole ‘imprinting’ drama only goes for two seconds: Bella gets really angry and then in the next scene, she fine with it. WHAT THE FUCK!? 

And the epic battle that I was looking forward too… I won’t even start but I will say that, writing wise, THAT WAS THE CHEAPEST FUCKING SHOT IN CINEMATIC HISTORY! ABSOLUTE COP-OUT PEOPLE! And the last half hour of the bloody thing was not needed at all! It’s just one montage of lovey-dovey moments from earlier films… WHO CARES! We know how much they love each other; we’ve been buying the fucking tickets! ARGH I got really pissed off with this movie! 

Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Kellen Lutz, Nikki Reed, Billy Burke, Mackenzie Foy, Maggie Grace, Jamie Campbell Bower, Christopher Heyerdahl, Cameron Bright, Dakota Fanning, Andrew Powell, Casey LaBow, MyAnna Buring, Omar Metwally, Rami Malek, Tracey Heggins, Judith Shekoni, Lee Pace, Joe Anderson, and Michael Sheen, Breaking Dawn Part 2 was fine as a film, but it sure as shit could have been a whole lot better! Filled with beautiful people, action, drama, romance, complications, and a bit of comedy, I’ll say that as a film it was fine but because its this finale in a very big-selling saga and there’s a lot riding on it and I’ve read the books…um I got really pissed off with it! 

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter [MA]

When a vampire murders his mother when he is just a boy, Abraham Lincoln, makes it his life’s mission to have his revenge. When he grows up and befriends a vampire hunter, he learns the skills of the art and then sets his plan for revenge into motion. But along the way he falls in love, discovers his power with words, and becomes President of the United States of America. With civil war threatening to tear the country apart, Lincoln’s priorities change but his lifelong goal is never from the forefront of his mind and it’s realised yet again when the vampires begin to dish out a little revenge of their own. 

On a twenty-something hour flight from Sydney to London what else is there to do but watch movies? I was keen to watch this film as it’s written by Seth Grahame-Smith (based on his novel) who wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as well as worked with Tim Burton on Dark Shadows. After watching the movie, I’m not too sure whether I’m as keen to read the book now. 

When a vampire murders his mother when he is just a boy, Abraham Lincoln, makes it his life’s mission to have his revenge. When he grows up and befriends a vampire hunter, he learns the skills of the art and then sets his plan for revenge into motion. But along the way he falls in love, discovers his power with words, and becomes President of the United States of America. With civil war threatening to tear the country apart, Lincoln’s priorities change but his lifelong goal is never from the forefront of his mind and it’s realised yet again when the vampires begin to dish out a little revenge of their own. 

The story is solid it has to be said. The retelling of true events, historical true events, and reworking them by adding some supernatural intrigue is never really a bad thing, but unfortunately it does not always work. I found this movie to be a movie that tried to blend the genres of period history, horror, and war together and then found that it simply could not. The blending of genres worked well enough for Cowboys and Aliens, but sadly not for Smith’s supernatural take on history. 

The script was shakily constructed, harbouring a fair few different stories, morals, and messages as well as the central hero’s tale and, as such, I found it very hard and tiresome to try and make sense out of everything that was being said and done. What also annoyed me about the film’s writing was that it began as one thing and then was twisted into something else entirely, it actually felt that it was changed halfway through, as though the writers suddenly foresaw that the path ahead was a short one. We start as a revenge-fuelled horror tale, which I didn’t mind so much, but then the central drama comes in the form of a years later war epic, recreating the Civil War and using that as a front for Lincoln’s final climactic battle with the vampires. It all became a bit too weird for me. 

There were fine performances from all the cast which includes Benjamin walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, Martin Csokas, and Jimmi Simpson and it was filled with action, horror, gore, romance, drama, and war, but ultimately Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was a film that just didn’t do it for me. I’m sure there are fans out there, but I certainly would not recommend this film. 

From Dusk Till Dawn [R]

After robbing a bank, the infamous Gecko brothers go on a wild crime spree: adding to their death toll and blowing up establishments. Set to meet a friend in Mexico at a seedy strip club, the brothers take a father and his son and daughter hostage to help them make it across the border. Once at the rendezvous point, all five of them face extreme danger when they discover that the club is owned and infested with bloodthirsty vampires and the brothers have to team up with their hostages in the hopes of getting out alive. 

A fantastic action-packed and gore-fuelled frenzy of criminal and supernatural delights, From Dusk Till Dawn combines the non-stop action and violence tendencies of Robert Rodriguez with the cunning and violent comedy of Quentin Tarantino, resulting in 103 minutes of constant action and never a dull moment. 

After robbing a bank, the infamous Gecko brothers go on a wild crime spree: adding to their death toll and blowing up establishments. Set to meet a friend in Mexico at a seedy strip club, the brothers take a father and his son and daughter hostage to help them make it across the border. Once at the rendezvous point, all five of them face extreme danger when they discover that the club is owned and infested with bloodthirsty vampires and the brothers have to team up with their hostages in the hopes of getting out alive. 

Another clever and completely original screenplay from Tarantino, From Dusk Till Dawn is without a doubt one of the most interesting and delightfully random stories to come across. Successfully mixing the adrenaline-pinching vibes of a bank-robber movie and a vampire flick, this movie is just wholly awesome with its central appeal and general comedy coming in the form of the story’s complete randomness. The whole vampire thing was just there, just thrown in without a care in the world and the sheer bizarreness of the setting mixed with the central characters’ complete submissive and unphased acceptance of the whole thing just makes it all very funny as well as a macabre delight. 

The action sequences were all top-notch and filled to the brim with excellent gore and graphic effects, particularly the killings of the vampires: there was blood and slime and puss spewing from every which way. It was fantastic! 

Starring George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, and Cheech Marin, From Dusk Till Dawn is a brilliant movie literally bursting with action, violence, gore, suspense, and comedy. It’s another Tarantino triumph for me, I fucking loved it! 

Dark Shadows [M]

“Blood is thicker than water”. Barnabas Collins was always taught that family and the dignity of a bloodline is the most important thing in the world. And for years the Collins family established a strong and profitable seafood business with their views of family being strongly upheld. But everything changed when a witch, who is madly in love with Barnabas who does not return her affections, kills his parents and his beloved, places a curse upon his family, and turns him into a vampire so that he can spend eternity with nothing but his grief. Now, 2 centuries after being buried alive, Barnabas has come home and he is determined to fight back and bring the Collins family to its former glory. 

It’s Tim Burton, it’s Johnny Depp, and it’s filled with great songs from the 70s; it would have been so completely blasphemous of me to not go and see this film. Burton delivers again with this darkly funny movie based on a television show; I ultimately really liked it but there were one or two things that just didn’t make it as good as it could have been. Having said that though, it will still make it into the collection with it comes onto DVD. 

“Blood is thicker than water”. Barnabas Collins was always taught that family and the dignity of a bloodline is the most important thing in the world. And for years the Collins family established a strong and profitable seafood business with their views of family being strongly upheld. But everything changed when a witch, who is madly in love with Barnabas who does not return her affections, kills his parents and his beloved, places a curse upon his family, and turns him into a vampire so that he can spend eternity with nothing but his grief. Now, 2 centuries after being buried alive, Barnabas has come home and he is determined to fight back and bring the Collins family to its former glory. 

At the end of the day, the one thing that upset me a little with this movie was the fact that everything was sort of haphazardly thrown at you without any follow-up information or anything. Whether this was some of satirical Burton-esque humour that I did not understand is anyone’s guess, but I just felt that so much more could have been explained and, by being so explained, would have a stronger effect and really bring the film to its potential. The romance between Barnabas and Victoria, for one thing, really could have been touched on a bit more as it is one of the central themes for the protagonist’s grief, having lost his love who looks like Victoria. It didn’t need to be exaggerated or anything, but a bit more attention paid to it would not have gone astray and would make it just a bit more emotional and drawing. 

Having got the unpleasantness out of the way, the 70s setting for an 18^th century vampire to come back to is just great and makes for truly funny and wonderful comic relief and interpretation. Not to mention the fantastic songs that we get to hear on the soundtrack: there is nothing like busting out a bit of The Moody Blues, T-Rex, Barry White, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper all in the span of 2 hours. 

Starring Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Chloe Grace Moretz, Bella Heathcote, Jackie Earle Haley, Johnny Lee Miller, Gulliver McGrath, Christopher Lee, and Alice Cooper, Dark Shadows was a very good movie, but not one of Tim Burton’s finest. Filled with action, blood, sex, murder, drama, romance, and plenty of dark comedy, not to mention some pretty trippy and cosmic special effects, it’s a film that I enjoyed very much and, yeah, it has a place in my collection.