Tag Archives: Hallowe’en

The Revenge of Hallowe’en Horror Fest

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Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

An interesting one, this – not exactly a shocker, but undeniably creepy.  Shadow of the Vampire proposes that the classic silent film Nosfertu (1922) employed an actual vampire to portray it’s evil protaganist, Count Orlock.  Set during the production of the film, Director F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) decides that only a real undead creature can portray the villain of his story.  As a result, the production is plagued by catastrophe as the vampire’s natural urges threaten to derail the project. shadow-of-the-vampire-poster

Willem Dafoe is almost unrecognisable as Max Shreck, the vampire playing a vampire.  He gives a fantastically eerie performance, superbly impersonating the Orlock of the original movie and also bringing his own air of barely contained menace.  Malkovich shows his skills as the driven perfectionist trying to keep together a production that is teetering on the brink of collapse.

To truly get the most from Shadow of the Vampire, the audience needs to be familiar with the source material.  But then, if you’ve never seen Nosferatu – you should be ashamed of yourself.

8/10

Taste the Blood of Hallowe’en Horror Fest

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Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Time for more Hammer for Hallowe’en Horror Fest.  This film sees Christopher Lee star as Dracula in an unusual twist on typical vampire sequels.  

Three well-to-do Victorian gentlemen leave their family homes once a month to carry out some charity work in the less desirable parts of town.  Although it turns out that they’re actually a group of depraved hedonists, hell bent on enjoying whatever illicit thrills they can.  Enter Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates), a society satanist, who encourages the revellers to partake in a gruesome evil ritual.  A ritual that involves relics of the vanquished Count – including his powdered blood.  The three refuse to drink the blood mixture, and resort to killing Courtley.  Once dead, he is regenerated as Dracula, who vows to destroy those who killed his loyal servant. taste-the-blood-of-dracula-1-1024

Taste the Blood of Dracula offers a novel spin on the rejuvenation of Count Dracula.  We also see a different plot in that Dracula engineers a revenge against his servant’s enemies and their families.  It’s a good idea and executed well in the typical Gothic Hammer fashion.  This variation on the normal themes creates a sequel that’s well worth checking out.

7/10

Hallowe’en Horror Fest part 2

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The clock strikes, darkness descends and it’s time for more movies from Hallowe’en Horror Fest!

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) 220px-Bloodmummytomb

This is what we want!  Hammer Horror – with all the trappings.  This gem from 1971, based on a story by Bram Stoker, offers all the trademarks we expect.  The very lovely Valerie Leon plays Margaret, who seems to be a reincarnation of an Ancient Egyptian Queen of evil named Tera.  Her Egyptologist father (Andrew Keir) and his comrades excavated Tera’s tomb many years before, and now are faced with the return of the sorceress and several dastardly, supernatural murders.

The narrative begins very well and is spiced up with some fairly gruesome imagery.  However, the last third of the film seems to drag a little when it should really deliver more thrills.  Never the less, this Hammer movie features dependable performances and impressive sets that make it a movie well worth catching.  A clever concept with some definite moments that make the film stand out from similar fare. tumblr_lx2w6mr6Wk1r18pefo1_500

Of course, the real event here is Valerie Leon, who can be summed up alliteratively with words such as voluptuous and VA VA VOOM!!!

7/10

More Hallowe’en Horror Fest reviews coming very soon…

Hallowe’en Horror Fest

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It’s October!  Which means it’s not long till Hallowe’en.  Which also means that I’ve started my annual Hallowe’en Horror Fest – watching scary movies and listening to horror rock!

The festival of Hallowe’en is a big deal at the Virtual Hot Tub.  Not only will I be decorating the place and having a fancy dress party for all my fiends, I’ll update you on other cultural happenings throughout the month.  Starting now.

A big part of Hallowe’en Horror Fest is the films.  Horror movies old and new, whether they’re real shit-your-shoes off jumpy, or just have some supernatural element to them.  My aim is to watch as many as possible before we get to November.   Here’s the scoop on the first two.

The Raven (2012)

A serial killer is committing terrible murders inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.  Poe (John Cusack) must turn detective to put an end to the grisly crimes before his betrothed becomes the next victim.

I was intrigued to see this film as I’ve read many of Poe’s stories over the years, and enjoyed them immensely.  Whether you enjoy the movie will depend on if you can accept the fictionalised account including the real Edgar Allan Poe as a protagonist.  For me, this twist was a great idea and worth exploring.

Not truly “Horrific”, but nonetheless creating a suitably dark, brooding atmosphere with a fair dose of gore, I enjoyed the film very much.  Very good, though shock factor is not too high.

7/10

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

A hybrid of Tarantino gangster movie and splatter crazy vampire fest, I wasn’t a big fan of this film the first time I saw it.  The juxtaposition of the two styles jarred.  However the exploding, gloopy vampires – acting more like zombies in their mass attack on the humans – grated on me even more.  They didn’t resemble enough the vampires of folklore I was familiar with.  I actually enjoyed the gritty realism of the first part of the film rather than the horror element.

Repeated viewings have proved me wrong.  The more I see this film, the more I admire the ingenuity, creativity and enthusiasm thrown onto the screen like an exploding blood pack by Director Robert Rodriguez.  Great performances from everyone, including George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Harvey Keitel and Tarantino himself.  Watching it again now, the disparate elements really serve to create a sense of bewilderment when the vampires show themselves.

Highly recommended, if you’ve not seen this film, get on it now.  And not forgetting Salma Hayek makes one of the sexiest vampires ever as Santanico Pandemonium.

8/10