Greatest Film Dracula?

     Maybe it's a nostalgia thing, but I've been all about Count Dracula lately. I'm not sure what started the kick, but I've recently whizzed through not only the classic novel itself, but five of the most famous film versions as well. And I've honestly enjoyed every minute of it all. I've had so much fun with the old guy lately. The character of Dracula is such a rich, iconic character anyway- you can go anywhere on the planet, mention the name, and they will immediately know exactly who you mean. Kids today seem to know who he is and why he is without ever seeing a film or reading the book. It's cool, yet kinda weird. Same with Frankenstein. They are truly iconic.
     So, I was recently asked which Dracula is my all-time favorite, and honestly, that's a difficult question. I don't think I could pick a favorite. I mean, Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee were like Ronald McDonald and Big Bird to me growing up. They were icons to me at ten years old. Dracula is the most filmed character in film history, so there are certainly plenty to choose from. I chose to narrow it down to these five...


 BELA LUGOSI

     1.  Bela Lugosi made film history with his legendary performance as the suave, sophisticated, and cultured Count Dracula. His Hungarian accent and weird speech patterns set the tone for the stereotypical "vampire" we all grew up with and came to love, and made it all believable. This is probably the most well-known of the Dracula films. Lugosi's performance was so influential that it spawned an entire series of classic monster films from UNIVERSAL studios.

CHRISTOPHER LEE

     2.  Right up there with Bela Lugosi is Christopher Lee and his interpretation of the Count in the wonderfully retro Hammer films, which I love, by the way. There is something undeniably creepy about the weird Hammer films, especially the Dracula series.  I found Lee's Dracula rather menacing and scary the first time I saw it, and even remember having a couple of nightmares as a child about this particular incarnation of Dracula. HORROR OF DRACULA, released in 1958, was actually the first Dracula film to incorporate fangs, red eyes, and blood in a vampire movie, not to mention being the first Dracula to be filmed in color.
     Although greatly deviating from the original novel, many horror fans consider 1958's HORROR OF DRACULA to be the all-time best Dracula film. i wholeheartedly agree. To be fair, this outing does boast a much more brisk pace than the somewhat stodgy Universal classic, and offers lush cinematography, sets, and color. Lee would go on to star in a handful of "Dracula" films for Hammer, and while not all on the same par as the original, the first two or three are quite good. Lee also created an extremely iconic and memorable portrayal of the character.

LOUIS JORDAN

     3.  By the late 70's, the Hammer films were long gone, and it seemed those old hoary monsters were gone for the second time, as Christopher Lee had hung up his cape for good. But you can't keep a good count down, and in 1977, the BBC brought Dracula back as a mini-series. For many years considered the most faithful and accurate version of the Stoker novel, it's developed quite a fervent fan following.  And for good reason. I had never experienced it until recently (thank you Netflix...), and I'm pleased to report that I found it most excellent. I enjoyed every single minute of this version.

      Louis Jordan breathed new life into the role, and delivers a fine and eerie performance. I personally think if you're a fan of the book, this may be the version for you. This is a first-rate production, and deserves a spot in every serious Dracula collection. There are some moments of true horror in this Dracula film- some of the spookiest scenes I've ever seen in any Dracula film, for that matter. It's got a very unsettling and menacing tone running throughout the film, and some damn creepy music to boot.

                                                                 
                                         FRANK LANGELLA

     4.  Just two years after the lush BBC production of Dracula, Hollywood decided to follow suit and offer up its own version. Frank Langella inherited the role after perfecting it on Broadway first, and although he plays the role quite well, there's just something off about this version. And honestly, maybe I just need to watch it again. Because I don't remember liking it much at all when I first saw it. For those who thought Hammer's HORROR OF DRACULA strayed from the novel, wait til you get a load of this one. Transylvania isn't even in this one, for starters!  The whole thing takes place in England. Not that I'm carping about it being faithful to the book, either. Most film adaptions of books differ greatly anyway. I just found this version somewhat cheesy and I just couldn't get into it.
      Dracula was made much more romantic and sexy this time around, which turned many hardcore fans off. Langella, a great actor, does comes across as extremely classy and debonair. But he refused to wear fangs or special contact lenses- he wanted to make Dracula, um, more human in his portrayal... Frank, that's fine and all, but the character you're playing has been dead for hundreds of years and drinks human blood. NEWSFLASH- he's NOT human! Meh.

                                     GARY OLDMAN    
                                                               

     5.  Fans were beginning to think that Dracula was dead once and for all by 1990. However, Francis Ford Coppola decided it was time yet again to resurrect the count and unleashed his over-the-top BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA in '92. Gary Oldman definitely delivers one of the most unusual portrayals of the Count, and when this movie came out I loved it.  A lot.  But then, something funny happened.  I found myself in the mood for it one night recently and popped it in, and found to my disappointment, that I just couldn't get into it.  I tried to watch it again another time- and the same thing happened.  My opinion of Coppola's take on Dracula has done a complete turn-around.
     Yes, it's a gorgeous film to look at.  Sure. The special effects, the editing, the costumes, all of it is spectacular.  Coppola chose to sidestep the classic vampire trappings and go for a more artistic approach to the material.  But I just found myself bored with it all...  The words overblown and bloated came to mind. And what's with that title? A bit deceiving, if you ask me. If you're going to call a movie "BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA", why would you drastically change crucial parts of the story?  In the book, there was never any love between Dracula and Mina. "Dracula" was never meant to be a romance.  The casting seems a bit off as well- Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder? Nothing against them as actors either- but for a Dracula film?  Oldman is the best thing in the movie, and definitely makes the role his own- although Anthony Hopkins devours any bit of scenery he can get his hands on.  Even though this film is visually stunning,and there are some great scenes sprinkled throughout,  it now seems nothing more than a jumbled, tedious mess. I would have to say the score is excellent, though.

So, which Dracula is your favorite?

Just Before Dawn

     Talk about a pleasant surprise!  I had never seen Jeff Lieberman's little-seen but well-loved slasher JUST BEFORE DAWN , and I'm pleased to say that it's one of the best "horror in the woods" movies of the 80's.  Imagine if  THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, and DELIVERANCE all had a child together, and you get JUST BEFORE DAWN. I love these types of slashers, especially the whole inbred and murderous hillbilly ones. Backwoods legends are creepy enough on their own, and we've all heard the stories of those crazy, deformed people hiding up in the mountains.  Having grown up in the Ozark Mountains, I can certainly relate.   

     Here's the jist. Five young adults decide to take a Winnebago up into a heavily wooded and mountainous terrain, despite warnings from Forest Ranger Roy McLean, played by George Kennedy, of course. Roy shares with the youngsters the local stories of "demons" living up on the mountain, but they take no heed to the warnings. Young and carefree, they keep right on truckin' up the mountain because, ya  know, they're young and carefree and all.  However, they soon find out that there might be some truth to those stories after all as they quickly find themselves stalked and hunted, one by one.

        JUST BEFORE DAWN stands out because for one thing, it doesn't rely on mindless gore or effects to make a point. It employs that wonderful old chestnut suspense instead, which almost never lets up. The whole look and feel of the film is genuinely eerie- it's got superb atmosphere and suspense. The director makes the Oregon woods terrifying just by filming them. JUST BEFORE DAWN also excels in the sound department.  Besides the genuinely haunting score, there are many scenes that perfectly mimic that feeling of isolation- the sounds of birds and crickets, snapping twigs, crackling campfires, and trickling streams. All of these together really convey a sense of being alone in the woods where anything can happen...it's a great, haunting effect.

      Completely lost in the shuffle of FRIDAY THE 13TH clones, JUST BEFORE DAWN is well worth a look for serious slasher fans. This is a good one, kids. Shot on location at Silver Falls State Park in Sublimity, Oregon, the film offers some spectacular scenery as well.  

The Boogens

   
     THE BOOGENS was another horror film that somehow escaped my youth. I distinctly remember hearing about it, but never seemed to catch up with it.  Usually, when you finally get your hands on a lost horror movie that somehow escaped your grubby little hands, you're somewhat disappointed when you finally get to see it.  However, I can honestly say I enjoyed every single minute of THE BOOGENS!  Starring Rebecca Balding (SILENT SCREAM), Anne-Marie Martin (PROM NIGHT), and Fred McCarren (NATIONAL LAMPOONS CLASS REUNION), "The Boogens" is a wonderfully old-fashioned monster movie that looks sensational on blu-ray.

     The story goes something like this-the Silver City mine in Colorado is reopening after some 70 years of being closed down.  Turns out, the "Boogens" are monsters who dwell in the closed-up mine and are awakened by the miners descending down to see if it's unusable or not. Some college kids have rented a house in the woods nearby, and these "Boogens" seem to have taken over the basement of the house. It's an interesting premise, and it plays well off the dark, abandoned mine shafts and creepy old buildings. THE BOOGENS has some great atmosphere, a pretty good script, competent acting, good production values, and a surprising amount of suspense to boot. Probably because of budget restraints,  lots of POV shots of the monsters were used, and it's extremely effective. Director James L. Conway wisely keeps the monsters unseen throughout the entire film, until the ending. Some may laugh at the monsters when you actually get to see them, but I was having so much fun with THE BOOGENS up until then that it made no difference to me whatsoever.

     It's a great forgotten little monster movie of the 80'S. It's actually pretty good for a movie of this type.  I think it works so well because it lays on the suspense so think in the first half of the movie, so that when all hell breaks loose in the climax, we are thoroughly into what's going down onscreen. The characters are actually likable, for once- which certainly doesn't hurt matters. Hell, even the dog, Tiger, is actually quite talented and becomes a very likable character in his own right. Rebecca Balding was set to take over the title of Scream Queen from Jamie Lee Curtis in 1981- with her back to back roles in SILENT SCREAM (a great and underrated little slasher...) and THE BOOGENS, but seemed to just up and disappear without a trace.

      THE BOOGENS is a movie that by all rights should have been terrible... but I honestly enjoyed it very much. It's far better than its reputation, I think. It's a rare, almost forgotten monster movie that was all but swallowed in the glut of slashers that dominated the horror genre in the early 80's, although was briefly popular on HBO for a bit. It's a funky little fan favorite that I think is slowly gaining a respectable cult reputation, and because of the recent blu-ray release, looks sensational. Watch it!

The Final Terror

 
     I love a good ole' woodsy slasher, guys. And THE FINAL TERROR is a perfect example of one. This little seen 80's slasher deals with a group of forest rangers on a job, despite local warnings from their driver to stay away. Once they enter the woods, someone or something doesn't like it, and starts picking them off one by one... Sound familiar? It should, because this is basically the same plot as JUST BEFORE DAWN, with traces of DELIVERANCE, THE BURNING, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and HUMONGOUS all thrown in a blender, and you act like that's a bad thing? Give me a group of people out in some dark woods being menaced by an unseen killer any day. Like I said, I love a good ole' woodsy slasher.

     I liked alot about THE FINAL TERROR. Great cinematography, for one. Interesting, likeable characters with 80's staples Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, Adrian Zmed, Mark Metcalf, and Joe Pantoliano appearing doesn't hurt either. It's got a good story and a bitchin' 80's opening score. I love that it offers the time-honored scene that every woodsy slasher must have, and you know what I'm talking about-it's the cast huddled around a campfire at night in the woods, all breathlessly listening to a male character telling the story of the local spooky legend that conveniently lets the audience in on the plot and which usually ends up in another character jumping out at the right moment and scaring the shit out of everyone scene we all know and love. I also dig the fact that once the killing starts, the rangers don't cower in fear and act stupid- instead, they gear up, camouflage themselves, band together, and go into total survival mode against their unseen enemy. All set against some gorgeously filmed forests and rivers.

     This movie is far better than its reputation. Trust me, I've seen far worse in the world of slasher films. There's some decent scares and suspense in the film and I don't really understand the criticism it gets sometimes. THE FINAL TERROR makes a great double feature with JUST BEFORE DAWN, if you're into double features, that is. It's definitely an interesting slasher that's generally known to be released anywhere from 1981 to 1984 (I believe it was actually released in 1983, to be exact...) and also known as CARNIVORE or CAMPSITE MASSACRE. Good stuff indeed.

Insidious

     Upon first hearing about "Insidious", I became obsessed with seeing this movie.  We missed it at the theater, so had to wait for DVD.  Of course, Netflix had a long wait, so I ended up going the Redbox route just to see this damn movie.  Anyway, after it was all said and done, and I had the movie in my hands, we popped it in and prepared to be scared shitless.  At least, that's what we were told.  And I figured from the makers of "Saw" and "Paranormal Activity", it had to be pretty scary.

     Wrong.  Although hardly original (think of it as a modern-day "Poltergeist"...),  it is a very well-made movie.  "Insidious" offers some very creepy scenes, especially in the first half.  It's also a very interesting premise- a young family's oldest son suddenly and without warning lapses into a coma, and they soon learn that evil spirits are intent of trapping the boy to take over his body.  Sounds great... but this movie just didn't do it for me.  Like I said, it's very well done.  The acting is pretty decent, the direction is solid, and the cinematography is quite good.  But... I never once felt truly "in" the movie, nor was I once ever truly scared.  Honestly, I think the "Paranormal Activity" movies blow this one away.  This one just felt too designed for the teenage audience.  I found this movie to be extremely over-hyped.  The filmmakers had a great idea, and there are some truly spooky scenes here and there.  But overall, the film just doesn't add up.  The first half of the film is pretty good, building up dread and suspense.  We found ourselves rather bored in the last half though, especially once they brought in the psychic ghost-hunter, wonderfully played by Lin Shaye, by the way.  But with the arrival of her and her ghost-hunting team, the filmmakers inexplicably starts inserting humor that honestly just doesn't work.  I think if they were going to go down that road, they should have started the humor way earlier in the film.  But injecting it at the climax just seems odd.  And having Darth Maul pop up honestly made us laugh, not scream.

Overall, "Insidious" is average entertainment, but nothing to write home about.  I live and breath horror movies, and was just not impressed with this film at all.  Lin Shaye is honestly the only memorable performance, and the first half of the film is far more entertaining than the last half.  A truly scary movie doesn't just make you jump here and there- it stays with you.  You find yourself thinking about it later that night, as you're locking your door and shutting off the lights.  The only thing I found myself thinking about "Insidious" was how silly the Darth Maul demon-thing looked, and that I could probably watch "Poltergeist" again.  The ONLY truly chilling scene in the whole movie is the "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" scene with the record-player.  That was creepy.  But overall, the "Paranormal Activity" films are MUCH scarier- and much more simple.                      "Insidious" starts off very promising, but unfortunately gets bogged down in a bunch of astral hocus-pocus in the climax, and it ultimately saps the film of its strength. I may be in the minority here, but I was just not impressed with "Insidious".  But you know what's truly terrifying about the whole thing?  There will most likely be a sequel.  

When A Stranger Calls Back

  
      Fred Walton (who also helmed the original) returned to direct this sequel to the terror classic that scared millions of babysitters around the world with WHEN A STRANGER CALLS.  Titled WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK, this made-for-tv sequel that originally aired on Showtime back in 1993 is in my opinion, extremely underrated and scary, as many die-hard fans proclaiming it's far more frightening than the original. This film has one goal- to scare the hell out of the audience, and with relentlessly mounting tension and harrowing suspense, for the most part it succeeds. It opens with another babysitter, Julie, played by 80's icon Jill Schoelen. (What the hell ever happened to her, anyway?) This time, a man knocks on the door claiming car trouble and asks to use the phone to call the auto club. Things get scary pretty quickly as Julie soons realizes that he's got more on his mind than just the auto club.

     Just like the original, the sequel boasts an extremely terrifying opening.  Every bit as nerve-wrenching as the original, the film starts off strong and unlike the first, actually stays a bit more interesting in the rest of the movie.  And there are quite a few chilling moments sprinkled throughout the film. Carol Kane returns (in a bit of a stretch) as a counselor who just happens to work at the same college where Julie attends.  Charles Durning also returns as the retired detective who reluctantly goes back to work at the insistence of Kane to find the killer.  It's fun to see the two gang up to help Julie and track down the elusive killer.  Plus, it's got Jill Schoelen, kids.

     WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK has many things going for it.  First, the aforementioned return of Kane and Durning, who actually work well as a cinematic pairing. They click, they have a vibe, and one can almost see the two characters in their own series, tracking down mysterious psychopaths. The movie also uses a great building of suspense- many close-ups of doorknobs and doorlocks for one, and slow, deliberate camera work that achieve an almost excruciating exercise in suspense.  I saw this on Showtime when it first aired, and the three of us watching it late one night were paralyzed with fear.  Fred Walton manages to squeeze every drop of tension out of the material, and it's almost hard to believe that this is just a made-for-tv production. The great thing about the STRANGER CALLS movies are that unlike other splatter and special effects productions, these movies use the opposite approach. The terror here builds inside your head,  where it lingers... Your imagination kicks into overdrive... and suddenly every little noise, every little movement,  become much more scary.  That's the beauty of tension and suspense.  So much more rewarding than intestines.  These are sadly underrated films, and both are very much worth watching.  "Have you checked the children?"

Paranormal Activity 2

     Now I have sat through scary movies in theaters before where you almost can't even tell if the audience is awake.  No screaming, no nervous giggling, nothing.  For "Paranormal Activity 2", the audience was completely immersed in this movie- jumping, hiding eyes, screaming, and laughing the entire time.  It was awesome.  I almost expected applause when the lights came up at the end.  People left breathless, excited, and laughing.  "Paranormal Acticity 2" did exactly what a scary movie is supposed to.  I personally found the sequel to be even more scary and disturbing than the original.  And I find it frustrating that so many people out there rip these movies to shreds, yet go on and on about the wonders of the latest "SAW" or Michael Bay remake.  

     I am pleased to say that I found "Paranormal Activity 2" to be the scariest, most disturbing horror film I have seen in years since, well, "The Descent".  I was truly on the edge of my seat, and found myself 100% creeped out by this movie.  It brilliantly knows how to induce real tension and dread.  No, it's not "The Amityville Horror" or "Poltergeist" with over-the-top effects.  It's not supposed to be.  That's the whole point.  It's not often that I'm truly frightened by a movie, especially these days.  Long gone are the day of "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", and "The Exorcist".  Most movies today are just over-the-top gore and effects, because that's all that most filmmakers today know how to create.  Rob Zombie or Eli Roth, anybody?  But once in a while, certain little movies with absolutely no budget but tons of imagination come along and frighten us.  "Paranormal Activity" and its sequel certainly fall into that group.    

  

     Go and read all the reviews of "Paranormal Activity" on IMDB or Netflix and you'll see that they all pretty much say the same things- terrible special effects, terrible acting, and cheaply made.  Like I said before, if it doesn't have Jessica Biel running around screaming or in-your-face gore, then apparently it doesn't qualify as a horror movie.  All kinds of things can scare us.  Some prefer a more subdued, quiet scare.  Others like to be hit over the head.  I'm not saying that everybody should like "The Blair Witch Project" or "Paranormal Activity".  But I am saying that there are many movie-watchers out there that cry foul anytime something dares to stray away from "formula".  I honestly didn't think I would like this movie near as much as I do, and I'm so glad I saw the first one.  And you'd better believe I'll be there opening night for "Paranormal Activity 3"...

Curtains

I can't believe for one minute that this movie has somehow escaped me all my life.  I honestly have no recollection of even hearing about this movie, until a few years ago.  Then, suddenly I was hearing about it everywhere.  So I finally stumbled across a copy of CURTAINS and finally got to experience what all the fuss was about. Wow...

     Full of twists and turns and shocks, it managed to be terribly entertaining and scary.  Finally, a mask that rivals the sheer terror of the original Michael in HALLOWEEN! This killer is absolutely terrifying, and I see now why the infamous "ice skating" scene is so talked about. 

      CURTAINS follows the standard slasher handbook- a secluded location with a bunch of victims just waiting to be knocked off by a masked killer, but there's an actual reason for these ladies to be there in the first place. It's not just a bunch of horny teens placed in the woods to be slaughtered.

     Six actresses are vying for the role of Audra, a play that filmmaker Jonathan Stryker has bought the rights to and is determined to bring to life. It seems that his regular female lead actress, Samantha Sherwood, (wonderfully played by Samantha Eggar, by the way...) has just assumed the role was hers.  However, Jonathan has another vision for the role, and unbeknownst to Samantha, is plotting against her. She checks herself into a mental institution to prepare for the role, and while she's getting her method on Jonathan has secretly invited 6 actresses to his remote estate in the country to audition for the sacred role of Audra. A severe snowstorm leaves the party stranded at the estate, and Samantha, finding out about Jonathan's shenanigans, proceeds to crash the proceedings uninvited. On top of all this, a killer in a very scary hag mask starts killing off the actresses one by one in classic slasher fashion. Who is the killer? Is it Samantha's rage and anger at being rejected as an actress, or is something even more sinister going on here?

     CURTAINS contains some of the creepiest doll scenes of any movie I've seen. Although the spooky doll is used to great advantage for some truly nightmarish scenes, I must admit I'm not really sure how the doll is related to the plot. Nor does my not understanding the purpose detract whatsoever from the terror of the scenes. That damn doll is just as scary as the hag mask on the killer. 

     Shot on location in Toronto, CURTAINS has a great, moody atmosphere that makes one think of that creepy, desolate feeling of the snow covered grounds and dark nights in Bob Clark's masterpiece BLACK CHRISTMAS. Some of the acting is actually quite good, and the whole production seems very well put together. It's a classy slasher, if there is such a thing. Besides the delicious Samantha Eggar and John Vernon of NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, Lynne Griffin of BLACK CHRISTMAS and the fantastic Lesleh Donaldson of HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME both make appearances as well. I would most definitely put this one in the Top Ten Slashers of the 80's- I really liked it that much. It was a spooky good time and iI overall loved it!