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graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) in Books

Feb 15, 2019

I first read this in 2006 and never got to another Sookie book. Since I want to see <i>True Blood</i> whenever it comes out on DVD, and I don't quite remember too much of the book to get to the rest of the series, I decided to re-read it.

I really don't have anything additional to say to my first review, other than I'm not as picky about the romance this time around. So here's my original review from June 24, 2006:

I've been in a paranormal mood lately so figured I'd pick this one up and see what's different here. While there's nothing original in the vampire front, the story was nonetheless told in a new and fresh way. Although the start seemed slow, I quickly immersed myself into the pace of the book and thought it was quite fitting to it being a southern book. I enjoyed reading about the courtship between a vampire and human, although a slightly different human. It was kind of sweet and though I thought they professed their love to each other too soon, it was still quite lovely in a strange way. The mystery was nice in that I didn't necessarily know who the culprit was. I did have a niggling of who it was a few times but wasn't quite sure. The book also had some interesting characters and I am curious to what direction(s) the author decides to go next.

Kudos

Andy K (10823 KP) rated Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) in Movies

Oct 7, 2018

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

1992 | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi

7.6

(31 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Another Coppola classic!

Coppola's take on the classic Dracula story is to use the book as the source! So many of the other adaptations, including the 1931 classic, changed or combined characters, rather than stay true to the source material.

So many of his decisions were great when making the film including firing his original visual effects team and hiring his son, Roman Coppola to take a more "traditional" route when setting up the film's look through "old school" techniques instead of the modern day approach the original team wanted. The result was very unique, almost "cheapish" looking, but the way the filmmaker wanted it to look.

There has been much written over the years about Keanu Reeves' role in the film and how he felt out of place with the rest of the remarkable cast. In retrospect, he may have been miscast, but I have grown to enjoy his performance over years. The performances of Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins (fresh off his cannibalistic Oscar win) certainly carry the film. Oldman almost makes the character of Dracula a sympathetic one. You almost want to root for him to be successful instead of damning him back to hell as the master vampire.

Overall, one of my top 3 vampire flicks of all time and a consistent rewatch. Just purchased on 4K which made the look and fell, colors and darkness of the film as fresh as ever. Highly recommended.

Kudos

Andy K (10823 KP) rated Cronos (1994) in Movies

Jul 27, 2019

Cronos (1994)

1994 | Drama, Horror, International

6.9

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

A Vampire film?

Contains spoilers, click to show

The feature film debut of now Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro does not disappoint!

A mysterious scarab is found after 400+ years in hiding by an old man. He decided to use the device which activates and attached to his skin. He initial pain is followed by the man starting to feel and look younger.

The situation deteriorates as the man continues to look worse and worse but gain in strength becoming able to withstand pain that would slay a normal man.

I really enjoyed the tone and look of this film. Even though it was low budget, del Toro made the most of it and it never felt cheap or the special effects look fake. The scarab was an interesting device and reminded me of the puzzle box in Hellraiser or the flying silver balls in Phantasm.

I liked the slow developing degenerative story and it never really says it is a vampire film although it feels more and more like that as the story develops.

Whenever you are watching a great foreign film, the subtitles just go away and it feels like you are watching an English speaking movie.

It's too bad there was never a sequel to this as I would've liked to see where the story went once the movie ended.

Highly recommended. Thanks @Erika