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Vampire Circus (1972)
7.0
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Movie
Late-period Hammer horror movie, released on a double-bill with Countess Dracula. When the townsfolk...
Hammer Horror
The Lair of the White Worm: A Mystery Story
Book
A masterpiece of horror from the creator of Dracula. Bram Stoker stamps his powerful influence on...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Spooks Run Wild (1941) in Movies
Jun 17, 2020
The East Side Kids Meet Dracula
Spooks Run Wild- is a funny entertaining horror movie starting the East Side Kids and of course Bela Lugosi as the creepy man/villian.
The plot: The East Side Kids are sent to summer camp, and shortly after arriving they encounter a mysterious man named Nardo (Bela Lugosi). Naturally, the Kids assume Nardo is the "monster killer" they've been warned about. Their theory is strengthened when they see Peewee (David Gorcey), seemingly risen from the dead after getting shot, walking around Nardo's house in a zombie-like trance. The Kids take it upon themselves to capture Nardo before he can kill anyone else.
Like i said its funny entertaining and over a good black and white comedy horror film.
The plot: The East Side Kids are sent to summer camp, and shortly after arriving they encounter a mysterious man named Nardo (Bela Lugosi). Naturally, the Kids assume Nardo is the "monster killer" they've been warned about. Their theory is strengthened when they see Peewee (David Gorcey), seemingly risen from the dead after getting shot, walking around Nardo's house in a zombie-like trance. The Kids take it upon themselves to capture Nardo before he can kill anyone else.
Like i said its funny entertaining and over a good black and white comedy horror film.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Monster Squad (1987) in Movies
Mar 13, 2021
The Monster Squad is of course a 80s classic, and one of the great gateway horrors for a younger audience to enjoy.
Its biggest selling point is it's premise and the subsequent rogues gallery of classic horror monsters, as a group of misfit school kids (and Rudy, that weird older teenager who hangs round younger kids because it makes him feel cooler or some shit) take on the likes of Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and their leader Count Dracula. It's a hell of a lot of fun, especially for people who enjoy the old Universal movies.
The whole cast are pretty likable, a decent screenplay thanks to Shane Black and director Free Dekker, and delivers some solid effects work to top it all off.
Its biggest selling point is it's premise and the subsequent rogues gallery of classic horror monsters, as a group of misfit school kids (and Rudy, that weird older teenager who hangs round younger kids because it makes him feel cooler or some shit) take on the likes of Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and their leader Count Dracula. It's a hell of a lot of fun, especially for people who enjoy the old Universal movies.
The whole cast are pretty likable, a decent screenplay thanks to Shane Black and director Free Dekker, and delivers some solid effects work to top it all off.
The Lair of the White Worm & The Lady of the Shroud
David Stuart Davies and Bram Stoker
Book
With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies. 'The worst parts were the great masses of flesh of the...
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Dracula in Books
Oct 2, 2020
Dracula by Bram Stoker is the ultimate horror classic of all times. This is where it all started. A tale about a creature that feeds on the blood to survive, but also a tale of friendship and love, described and presented in a way we rarely have a privilege to see these days.
If Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy, Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse series pop to your mind when you first think of vampires, this book might feel extremely slow to your taste. However, if you want to experience the real horror and the building tension through many diary entries - you will enjoy this book completely.
I am a fan of both, and I had moments where I fell in love with the detailed explanations of weather and whereabouts. But the setting of writing many polite letters to people dear to the characters also made me cringe. I suppose a cringe can’t be all bad for a horror book though?
Through many diary entries of various characters, we follow their experience with the Count Dracula. Young Jonathan Harker is sent to go to Transylvania and arrange for the apartments the Count Dracula wants to buy in London. During his stay, he faces many unusual things. Meanwhile, his fiance Mina and her friend Lucy are in London, and Lucy is facing some unusual experiences herself, when Dr. Seward arrives to help better her condition.
“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.”
I knew what I was getting into, and I believe knowing this is a classic, and not a fast-paced romance with a paranormal twist put me in the right mood from the very beginning, so I was aware of what I was going into, and I really enjoyed it!
Dracula as a character is so mysterious, so powerful, very feared and secretly admired. I both loved and hated the fact that we don’t get to really see much of him, but we have to be satisfied with what the other characters are going through. And even though, he continues to be a shadow, a fear, a thought of everything they are doing. He is always there, even when he isn’t, and it requires great skills as a writer to create that presence for a character.
The characters of Lucy and Mina were very interesting - from a time perspective. How things have changed for women in all these years. What women were doing and thinking at that time, and how different it is now. I suppose I could make all the comparisons in the world - but one thing stays true will all classic books - they leave a mark of the time they were written, and this mark always gets better as time goes by.
“It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way - even by death - and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment."
I am glad I read Dracula, and I will try to read more classics in the new year. The writing style, the past of them, they remind you to take a big breath and acknowledge many things you take for granted in today’s world. In a world of page-turners, you sometimes need a slow book that makes you think deeply.
If Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy, Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse series pop to your mind when you first think of vampires, this book might feel extremely slow to your taste. However, if you want to experience the real horror and the building tension through many diary entries - you will enjoy this book completely.
I am a fan of both, and I had moments where I fell in love with the detailed explanations of weather and whereabouts. But the setting of writing many polite letters to people dear to the characters also made me cringe. I suppose a cringe can’t be all bad for a horror book though?
Through many diary entries of various characters, we follow their experience with the Count Dracula. Young Jonathan Harker is sent to go to Transylvania and arrange for the apartments the Count Dracula wants to buy in London. During his stay, he faces many unusual things. Meanwhile, his fiance Mina and her friend Lucy are in London, and Lucy is facing some unusual experiences herself, when Dr. Seward arrives to help better her condition.
“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.”
I knew what I was getting into, and I believe knowing this is a classic, and not a fast-paced romance with a paranormal twist put me in the right mood from the very beginning, so I was aware of what I was going into, and I really enjoyed it!
Dracula as a character is so mysterious, so powerful, very feared and secretly admired. I both loved and hated the fact that we don’t get to really see much of him, but we have to be satisfied with what the other characters are going through. And even though, he continues to be a shadow, a fear, a thought of everything they are doing. He is always there, even when he isn’t, and it requires great skills as a writer to create that presence for a character.
The characters of Lucy and Mina were very interesting - from a time perspective. How things have changed for women in all these years. What women were doing and thinking at that time, and how different it is now. I suppose I could make all the comparisons in the world - but one thing stays true will all classic books - they leave a mark of the time they were written, and this mark always gets better as time goes by.
“It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way - even by death - and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment."
I am glad I read Dracula, and I will try to read more classics in the new year. The writing style, the past of them, they remind you to take a big breath and acknowledge many things you take for granted in today’s world. In a world of page-turners, you sometimes need a slow book that makes you think deeply.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Renfield (2023) in Movies
Apr 22, 2023
Cage feels Caged-In
Sometime you are in the mood for a drama, sometimes an action flick, other times a romantic comedy.
And then there are times you just want to watch Nicholas Cage camping it up on-screen as Dracula.
If that is the mood you are in, boy do I have a movie for you.
Based (very loosely) on the character created by Bram Stoker (and the classic 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi), RENFIELD tells the tale of an over-the-top Dracula in modern times as seen through his “familiar”, Renfield.
Nicholas Hoult (Beast in the latest series of X-Men films) plays Renfield as a put-upon assistant to Dracula - kind of a comedy/horror version of the relationship of Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - and it works (for the most part). Hoult is a winning (enough) and sympathetic presence on screen and you find yourself rooting for him in the end.
The surprising thing to me in this film is the sub-plot of Renfield finding love with a Police Office portrayed by (of all people) Awkwafina. This comedienne/actress has really grown on the BankofMarquis as a solid and dependable presence on screen and she doesn’t disappoint here. And that’s a good thing for the Renfield/Rebecca the Cop relationship ends up taking center stage during the 2nd act of this film (moving Nic Cage’s Dracula off-screen for a long stretch of time) and it works for Hoult and Awkwafina play off each other very well.
As for Cage, his Dracula is off-center, wacky, frenetic and out-of-this world. A true fish-out-of-water. But…if I’m being honest…his performance feels reigned in and it didn’t go far enough out-of-the-box and didn’t get nearly crazy enough for my tastes.
When something like that happens, one needs to look no further than the Director and Chris McKay (THE LEGO MOVIE, THE TOMORROW WAR) has a track record (at least for the BankofMarquis) of pulling his punches - and he pulls many, many punches in this film. But, he also DOESN’T pull punches at times (like in the scene where one guy gets his arms ripped off and then these arms are used as nunchucks on a bevy of bad guys). He doesn’t really know how far or how outlandish he should go. So he filters in a comedic amount of blood and gore - and then reigns Cage in. It’s an odd choice.
If you decide to watch Renfield, you already know what to expect - and for the most part you get it - except in the one spot that you really need it.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
And then there are times you just want to watch Nicholas Cage camping it up on-screen as Dracula.
If that is the mood you are in, boy do I have a movie for you.
Based (very loosely) on the character created by Bram Stoker (and the classic 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi), RENFIELD tells the tale of an over-the-top Dracula in modern times as seen through his “familiar”, Renfield.
Nicholas Hoult (Beast in the latest series of X-Men films) plays Renfield as a put-upon assistant to Dracula - kind of a comedy/horror version of the relationship of Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - and it works (for the most part). Hoult is a winning (enough) and sympathetic presence on screen and you find yourself rooting for him in the end.
The surprising thing to me in this film is the sub-plot of Renfield finding love with a Police Office portrayed by (of all people) Awkwafina. This comedienne/actress has really grown on the BankofMarquis as a solid and dependable presence on screen and she doesn’t disappoint here. And that’s a good thing for the Renfield/Rebecca the Cop relationship ends up taking center stage during the 2nd act of this film (moving Nic Cage’s Dracula off-screen for a long stretch of time) and it works for Hoult and Awkwafina play off each other very well.
As for Cage, his Dracula is off-center, wacky, frenetic and out-of-this world. A true fish-out-of-water. But…if I’m being honest…his performance feels reigned in and it didn’t go far enough out-of-the-box and didn’t get nearly crazy enough for my tastes.
When something like that happens, one needs to look no further than the Director and Chris McKay (THE LEGO MOVIE, THE TOMORROW WAR) has a track record (at least for the BankofMarquis) of pulling his punches - and he pulls many, many punches in this film. But, he also DOESN’T pull punches at times (like in the scene where one guy gets his arms ripped off and then these arms are used as nunchucks on a bevy of bad guys). He doesn’t really know how far or how outlandish he should go. So he filters in a comedic amount of blood and gore - and then reigns Cage in. It’s an odd choice.
If you decide to watch Renfield, you already know what to expect - and for the most part you get it - except in the one spot that you really need it.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
LucyB (47 KP) rated Frankenstein in Books
Jul 23, 2017
Best classic horror story - by a mile
MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE! If it wasn't awesome enough that this was written by a woman in the 1800s (let's face it - a bit of an achievement in itself), this is one of the most genuinely unsettling books ever written.
The true magic of this book lies in its underlying theme- the notion of 'reaching too far' and trying to beat nature. Throughout, there are men trying to achieve unnatural things, and the book illustrates beautifully the dire consequences of doing so. As for Frankenstein's creature - every time I read this book, he completely breaks my heart; and he serves to highlight the shallowness of the humans around him. Yes, admittedly, he's a murderer... but it's testament to Shelley's skill that she makes us understand what drove him to it.
I love the origins of the book too - Shelley's writing competition at Lake Geneva (is that the right lake?) where she pitted her talents against Lord Byron, John Polidori and her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley... you can just imagine that dark night, and all those amazing writers trying to outdo each other with their horror stories!
Love every aspect of this book. Yes, Dracula and Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde are also fabulous, but for me, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the pinnacle of gothic horror.
The true magic of this book lies in its underlying theme- the notion of 'reaching too far' and trying to beat nature. Throughout, there are men trying to achieve unnatural things, and the book illustrates beautifully the dire consequences of doing so. As for Frankenstein's creature - every time I read this book, he completely breaks my heart; and he serves to highlight the shallowness of the humans around him. Yes, admittedly, he's a murderer... but it's testament to Shelley's skill that she makes us understand what drove him to it.
I love the origins of the book too - Shelley's writing competition at Lake Geneva (is that the right lake?) where she pitted her talents against Lord Byron, John Polidori and her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley... you can just imagine that dark night, and all those amazing writers trying to outdo each other with their horror stories!
Love every aspect of this book. Yes, Dracula and Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde are also fabulous, but for me, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the pinnacle of gothic horror.
SF
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Sequels, Series and Remakes: An Illustrated Filmography (1996-2016): Volume II
Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester
Book
Science fiction, fantasy and horror movies have spawned more sequels and remakes than any other film...
Dracula's America: Shadows of the West: A Wargame
Book
It is 1875, and Count Dracula is President of the United States of America. In the wake of the Civil...