Cronos (1993)

November 28th, 2008

Cronos is a 1993 film written and directed by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, starring veteran Argentine actor Federico Luppi and American actor Ron Perlman, the first of several films on which del Toro, Luppi and Perlman have collaborated.

An old antique dealer, Jesús Gris, finds a 450 year old mechanical device in the base of a statue. After winding the ornate, golden, scarab-shaped device, it suddenly exudes spider-like “legs” that grip him tightly and insert a needle into his skin which injects him with an unidentified solution.

The viewer later sees that a living insect is entombed within the device and is meshed with the internal clockwork. This insect produces the solution. However, Gris is unaware of these details.

Eventually, he discovers that his health and vigor are returning in abundance, as is his youth. His skin loses its wrinkles, his hair thickens and his sexual appetite increases. Unfortunately, he also develops a thirst for blood. This at first disgusts him, but he eventually succumbs to the temptation. Later, he dies, but in one of the more gruesome episodes of the movie, he revives in an undertaker’s establishment, with his mouth sewn shut.

A rich, dying businessman, Dieter de la Guardia, has been aware of the existence of the device and amassing information about it for many years. He finally discovers that it was hidden in a statue, and sends his thuggish nephew, Angel, to scour the world for it. This is much to Angel’s chagrin, as he hates his uncle and awaits the man’s death and the inheritance that would bring.

The elderly antique dealer is not willing to give it up, as he has obviously developed a need for it, and senses that a man like de la Guardia would use it for evil. He endangers his young granddaughter in his fight to keep it.

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Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

November 28th, 2008

Dracula (also known by its promotional title Bram Stoker’s Dracula) is a 1992 horror-romance film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It stars Gary Oldman as Count Dracula in an ensemble cast, also featuring Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins and Winona Ryder. The score was composed by Wojciech Kilar and the closing theme song “Love Song for a Vampire” was written and performed by Annie Lennox. The film was a notable box office hit and won three Academy Awards in 1993. It also established Oldman as a popular portrayer of villains in American film.

The film begins in a prologue, where Vlad III the Impaler was the origin knight of the Dragon. He defeats an overwhelming Turkish invasion in 1462. Upon returning home, he finds his beloved wife Elisabeta (Ryder) dead, having committed suicide upon hearing the false reports of Vlad’s death in battle. Enraged at his wife being eternally damned as a suicide, the former devout Christian Dracula desecrates his chapel and renounces God, declaring that he will rise from the grave to avenge Elisabeta with all the powers of darkness.

Four centuries later in 1862, Jonathan Harker (Reeves), a law firm clerk, travels to Transylvania to arrange the transfer of Carfax Abbey in London, Count Dracula’s (Gary Oldman) newest real estate acquisition. At the castle, full of bizarre, unnatural features and shadows that move by themselves, Harker meets Dracula, a wrinkled, pale old man in brilliant red robes. During the final signing of the real estate papers, the Count caresses a picture of Harker’s fiancée Wilhelmina “Mina” Murray (Ryder), the reincarnation of his long dead wife, Elisabeta. Dracula then sets sail on the ship Demeter to England, leaving Harker captive by Dracula’s insatiable and bloodthirsty Brides, who systematically drink his blood, leaving him weak and unable to escape.

Dracula arrives in London in a box of his native soil, which is transported to the Abbey, where Dracula emerges to ravish and drink the blood of Mina’s best friend, Lucy Westenra (Sadie Frost). Dracula, now a young and handsome prince, meets and gradually charms Mina, but refuses to bite her, instead offering her absinthe to aid her recollection of her past life. As the two fall deeper in love, Lucy’s deteriorating health and noticeable behavioral changes prompts suitors Quincey Morris (Bill Campbell), Dr. John Seward (Richard E. Grant) and Arthur Holmwood (Cary Elwes) to summon Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), who during a blood transfusion recognizes Lucy as a vampire victim. In Transylvania, Harker escapes to a convent and writes to Mina, who despite misgivings does as Lucy suggests and goes off to marry him. On the ship she writes that she still feels the presence of her “strange friend and misses him. Dracula, grief-stricken and enraged, murders Lucy to transform her into one of his vampire brides.

After Lucy’s funeral, Van Helsing leads Arthur, Seward and Morris to the family crypt, where Lucy has risen as a vampire. Horrified, the group drives a metal stake through her heart and decapitates her. Newlyweds Harker and Mina return to London and join Van Helsing, Seward, Morris and Arthur in hunting Dracula. They arrive at Carfax Abbey and destroy his boxes of soil. The Count, who watches from the shadows, travels to Mina and confesses that he is dead, a hunted creature and the murderer of Lucy. Despite her rage, Mina still loves him and wants to be with him. As she begins drinking blood from Dracula’s chest, the Vampire Hunters burst into the bedroom, with Dracula claiming Mina as his bride before disappearing into the shadows. As Mina begins changing the same way Lucy had, Van Helsing hypnotizes her and learns via her connection with Dracula that he is sailing home. The Hunters depart for the port of Varna via train to intercept him, but discover that Dracula has read Mina’s mind and evades them. The Hunters split up, with Van Helsing and Mina traveling to the Borgo Pass and the Castle, while the others try to stop the Gypsies transporting Dracula.

At night, encamped at the castle, Mina begins changing as the Brides hover nearby. After attempting to seduce Van Helsing she bares fangs, but is rebuffed with Holy Eucharist. As she returns to her human form, Van Helsing surrounds them both with a ring of fire, warding off the Brides until morning, when he wearily infiltrates the castle and kills the Brides as they sleep. Hours later, as sunset approaches, Dracula’s carriage appears on the horizon, driven by Gypsies and pursued by the Hunters. Dracula, sensing Mina’s presence, telepathically commands her to summon a spell that casts harsh winds to impede the Hunters. The carriage finally arrives at Castle Dracula and a great fight that pits the Hunters vs the Gypsies. One Gypsy coats a knife with chloroform and stabs Morris, gravley injuring him. Just as the Hunters kill the last gypsy, the sun sets and Dracula bursts from his box. He fights with supernatural strength but cannot overpower Harker, who slits the Count’s throat with a kukri knife while Morris stabs him in the heart with a Bowie Knife. As the Count staggers, Mina rushes to his defense with a rifle. Arthur tries to attack but Van Helsing and Harker allow her to retreat with the Count, turning instead to Morris, who dies from his injury while surrounded by his friends.

In the castle, in the very chapel where he renounced God, Dracula lies dying. His appearance reflecting his ancient age, his face demonic, he rebuffs Mina’s attempts to pull the knife from his heart. They share an intimate kiss, as the candles adorning the chapel miraculously light, and the desecrations he committed on the altar are repaired. God forgives Dracula, whose youthful appearance and humanity returns. As he asks Mina to give him peace, she shoves the knife through his heart and decapitates him. Mina then looks hopefully up at the vast ceiling, where a painting of Vlad and Elisabeta is shown of them rising, together, up to heaven.

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Fright Night (1985)

November 28th, 2008

Fright Night is a vampire horror-comedy film that was released in 1985. It was followed by a 1988 sequel, Fright Night II along with numerous other merchandise including tapes, CDs, videos, DVDs, and comic books.

Starring William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, and Stephen Geoffreys. Also starring is Roddy McDowall, whose character’s name, “Peter Vincent”, is loosely based on veteran horror film figures English actor Peter Cushing and American actor Vincent Price. Directed and written by Tom Holland. The musical score was done by Brad Fiedel (who also scored The Terminator series). The visual effects are the work of Richard Edlund, who also provided the effects for Ghostbusters a year earlier. The film contains a puppet that was cut from Ghostbusters. The puppet is the rejected “Ghost Librarian” character.

Fright Night was well-received, winning three Saturn Awards; it also won an award and a nomination at Fantasporto. It spawned a 1988 sequel which also gained a Fantasporto nomination. The film also turned out to be a surprise hit at the box office. It performed the best of any horror film released during the summer of 1985, grossing just under $25 million domestically.

Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is a teenage horror movie fan. One night he sees new neighbors moving in next door and they appear to be carrying what looks like a coffin. Charley shrugs this off until he sees his new neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) biting the neck of a young woman. He tells his mother (Dorothy Fielding) what he saw but she doesn’t believe him. He tries to tell his friend “Evil” Ed (Stephen Geoffreys) and girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse) but they also believe Charley is mistaken and begin to worry about his mental wellbeing. Charley calls the police claiming that he saw Dandridge killing his date and that there is a coffin in the basement. The police investigate and not finding the hooker (Heidi Sorenson) and the teenage girl (Irina Irvine) they tell Charley to never call the police again.

Charley then decides to seek the help of veteran vampire movie star and local late-night horror showcase host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), who after a long and mediocre career has become cynical and dispirited. Vincent visits Dandridge with Brewster in order to persuade Charley that he’s deluded (by asking Dandridge to drink tap water labeled ‘holy water’), only to find that Dandridge casts no reflection in his mirror. When Dandridge lures Amy into his home, Charley persuades Vincent that they must confront Dandridge, igniting Vincent’s long-slumbering faith and strength.

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Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

November 28th, 2008

Shadow of the Vampire is a movie that opened in the United States on December 29, 2000. It was directed by E. Elias Merhige and written by Steven A. Katz, and it stars John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe and Udo Kier. The film is a fictionalized account of the making of the classic vampire film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, in which the film crew begin to suspect that their lead actor is not all that he seems.

The film is set in 1922. German director F. W. Murnau takes his Berlin-based cast and crew on-location in Czechoslovakia and Poland in order to shoot Nosferatu, an unauthorized version of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. He informs them that the person playing the part of the vampire Count Orlok, an obscure German theater performer called Max Schreck, is a highly professional method actor, but in order to involve himself fully in his character, he will only appear among the cast and crew in full make-up and character.

The main setting is an old castle in Czechoslovakia. Schreck is there waiting for the filming team, and his appearance and behavior are truly disquieting. The cameraman soon starts feeling terrorized and sick, and has to be taken away and replaced. The other main actor is frightened of Schreck, but then convinces himself that he is simply a very good actor.

On one occasion, two members of the crew are sharing a drink under the stars, and Schreck approaches. They invite him to join them, and Schreck drinks with them. Jokingly they ask about his vampirism and Schreck reveals he is a real vampire, centuries old. When questioned, he tells the crew that he is so old, he cannot remember how he became a vampire, and cannot create more of his own kind. A bat flies by and Schreck catches it with a quick hand and bites it, ecstatically sucking blood from its body. The others are left impressed by what they still assume is talented acting.

As it turns out, Murnau has made a deal with a true vampire, in order to make his film absolutely realistic. Schreck has been promised the main actress Greta Schroeder as prize, provided he fulfills his role until the end of the filming. But the vampire is frequently uncooperative until eventually the entire production, stranded on an island in the North Sea, is at his mercy.

In the end, Schreck kills Greta Schroeder and the crew before being exposed to sunlight and dying, while Murnau, who has now lost his mind, finishes the film.

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Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat (1991)

November 28th, 2008

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat is a Western horror/comedy directed by Anthony Hickox, and written by John Burgess and Anthony Hickox. Filmed in and around Moab, Utah, in 1989, “Sundown” was Vestron Pictures’ last film and it was never released to theaters. Its only public screenings were at film festivals in Seattle and Palm Springs. Released in 1990 on VHS, it has earned a small cult following.

Under the leadership of their ancient and powerful leader Jozek Mardulak, a colony of vampires seek a peaceful life in the desolate desert town of Purgatory. Key to the transition is the town’s artificial-bloodmaking facility and it is just not working. Mardulak summons the human designer of the plant, who brings his wife and two young daughters along for what he thinks will be a pleasant desert vacation. Soon, he and his family are caught up in a civil war as another vampire elder, who abhors the idea of vampires being anything other than predators, organizes a revolution.

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The Lost Boys (1987)

November 28th, 2008

The Lost Boys is a 1987 American comedy-horror film about two young Arizonans who move to California and end up fighting a gang of teenage vampires.

Directed by Joel Schumacher, the film stars Jason Patric, Corey Haim, and Kiefer Sutherland, and co-stars Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes.

The title is a reference to the Lost Boys in J. M. Barrie’s stories about Peter Pan and Neverland.

After a strange and mysterious murder at fairground at the immediate start of the film, Michael and Sam move with their mother Lucy to Santa Carla, a coastal California town plagued with gang activity and unexplained disappearances. The family moves in with Lucy’s father, a cantankerous old man who lives in the outlying suburbs of town and who decorates his house with the product of his hobby: taxidermy.

The center of town life seems to be the local boardwalk. While Lucy gets a job at a local video and electronics store run by a man named Max, Michael is fascinated by a beautiful young woman who he sees at an outdoor concert. After following her along the boardwalk, he sees her getting on a motorcycle with David, the leader of the local gang. The following night he finds the young woman again and learns her name is Star. As they are about to leave together on Michael’s motorcycle, David reappears and provokes Michael into following him and his cadre. They drive to some sea-cliffs where Michael is almost baited into going over the edge. Michael punches David, who merely sees potential in Michael and invites him to the gang’s lair, an old dilapidated hotel that sank beneath the ground.

At the hotel, the gang leads Michael through an unsettling initiation involving Chinese takeout. At the end, an annoyed Michael takes a swig from a bottle which contains a dark unknown liquid (which turns out to be vampire blood). The gang then takes Michael out to where some railroad tracks cross a foggy gorge; one by one the group jumps off the tracks and out of sight. Michael realizes they are hanging from exposed reinforcement bars. They talk him into joining them under the tracks. As the train roars overhead, the reinforcement bar shakes and one by one the members of the gang fall into the foggy gorge, but they do not die; Michael can hear them goading him to fall. Unable to lift himself up, or hold on any longer, Michael falls in as well.

Michael wakes up in his bed still in the clothes he wore the night before. He is groggy and disorientated. It’s mid-day and he has no clue how he got there. In the meantime, Sam has made the acquaintance of two young brothers, Edgar and Alan Frog. The Frog brothers run the local comic book store for their burn-out parents. Upon learning that Sam is new to the area they force a couple of vampire themed comic books on him despite his protestation that he doesn’t like horror comics. They explain to him that they may one day save his life. Sam is initially mocking of their claims but becomes suspicious of Michael’s increasingly bizarre behavior, including sleeping all day and being sensitive to sunlight. One day, as Sam is taking a bath, Michael, driven by bloodlust attempts to attack him, but is fought off by the family’s dog. Afterwards Sam becomes convinced that Michael is a vampire when Michael begins uncontrollably floating around the house. In a panic he calls the Frog brothers, who inform him that he must kill Michael, but Sam refuses to murder his brother. Michael returns to the gang, and they reveal that they are indeed vampires and murder a group of teenagers at a bonfire party. David explains that Michael must feed in order to survive, but Michael refuses to kill and leaves. Returning to the groups lair he discovers Star, who reveals their nature as “half vampires” who will not achieve full vampire status until they have killed. She says that David had intended for Michael to be her first kill but that she cannot do it. The two make love.

Sam has discovered, from comic books that if the “head vampire” is killed then all of his subordinate vampires will revert to human form. Unwilling to kill his brother he enlists the Frog brother’s help in trying to kill the head vampire. This proves difficult, as it is not immediately evident who this is. Sam and the Frog Brothers suspect Max, who has begun dating Sam’s mother and who they have never seen during the day, but their tests during his visit to their house all indicate he is human.

The teens determine that one of the gang must be the head vampire. Michael, disgusted at the transformation he has undergone, joins them in an attempt to rescue Star and her young brother Laddie, also a “half vampire” and reverse their condition. The group travels to the gang’s lair and while Michael rescues Star and Laddie, the Frog Brothers and Sam travel deep into the lair to kill the vampires. They discover the gang asleep, hanging from the roof like bats. Unsure of which one of the gang is the head vampire the Frog brothers stake Marko, one of the gang members who expires in an explosive fashion. With the rest of the gang woken by the commotion the three boys retreat, with Sam narrowly escaping capture by David. That night, while Lucy is on a date with Max and their grandfather is away, the teens barricade their house and prepare for the gang’s assault. Among other things they steal holy water from a church and fill squirt guns with it to use against the vampires. That night the gang attacks. With the help of Sam’s dog, Nanook, the defenders pick off the gang-members one by one, with Sam shooting Dwayne through the heart with an arrow, Nanook knocking Paul into a bathtub full of holy water and garlic, and Michael impaling David on some deer antlers in his grandfather’s taxidermy workshop. However, Michael is still a vampire, and Max and Lucy then appear and Max reveals himself to be the head vampire after all; the tests hadn’t worked because he had been freely invited into the house. He reveals that he had wanted Lucy as his mate and that his “family” and hers would merge. Lucy is horrified, but Max threatens to kill Sam unless she joins him. As Max is about to bite Lucy’s neck, her father crashes his jeep through the wall of the house; the vehicle’s hood is piled up with large fence posts, and one of them impales Max, killing him. These fence posts had earlier, inexplicably, been put into the ground by Grandpa with the spiky end up. As the others stare in amazement, Grandpa casually gets a root beer from the refrigerator and remarks, “One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach… all the damn vampires.”

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From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

November 28th, 2008

From Dusk till Dawn is a 1996 action/horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. The movie stars George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, and Juliette Lewis. The film was banned in the Republic of Ireland on its release in 1996 and was unbanned in 2000.

Fugitive bank robbers and escaped prisoners, brothers Seth – (George Clooney) and Richie Gecko – (Quentin Tarantino) are fleeing the F.B.I. and Texas police. Seth Gecko is a cold, tough professional thief and anti-hero, while his younger brother Richie is a delusional, homicidal serial rapist and psychopath. During the first few minutes of the film, they first hold up and then destroy a liquor store and kill the clerk, a cop and a woman witness.

The Fuller family — Jacob (Harvey Keitel), the father and a former pastor who has experienced a crisis of faith; his son Scott (Ernest Liu); and daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) — are on a vacation in their RV. The Fullers arrive at the motel and are promptly kidnapped by the Geckos, who force the Fullers to smuggle them past the Mexican Border. Seth and Jacob make an uneasy truce: if the Geckos can make it past the border, Jacob and his family will come out of the ordeal unharmed. They succeed and arrive at the “Titty Twister”, a strip club in the middle of a desolate wasteland, where the Geckos have agreed to be picked up by Carlos (Cheech Marin), their contact, at dawn.

Soon after entering the bar, chaos ensues as the employees and strippers are all revealed to be vampires. Most of the patrons are quickly killed, and Richie is bitten by the star stripper, Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek), and bleeds to death. Only Seth, Jacob, Kate, and Scott survive, along with a biker named Sex Machine (Tom Savini) and Frost (Fred Williamson), a Vietnam War veteran. They manage to kill the vampires in the bar, but their problems only multiply when the slain patrons — including Richie — are brought back to life as vampires, forcing Seth to kill his brother with a stake to the heart.

During the struggle, one of the vampires bites Sex Machine in the arm. Subsequently, Sex Machine turns into a vampire and bites Frost and Jacob. During the struggle, the makeshift barricades they have erected are breached, and an army of vampires (bats at first) invade from the outside. Seth, Kate, Scott and Jacob escape to a back room, and fashion weapons from items found in the storeroom, including a pneumatic drill, crossbow, shotgun and holy water.

The four then make their final assault on the undead, during which course most of the protagonists are killed, leaving only Seth and Kate alive. They quickly get surrounded by the vampires, but then streams of sunlight shine through holes in the walls. Just then, Carlos attempts to enter the building. On Seth’s call, his bodyguards blast open the door, letting in the sunlight and causing every vampire to die in a massive explosion. Kate and Seth go their separate ways after he leaves her some cash.

As they leave, the camera pans back to reveal that the “Titty Twister” was actually the top of a buried ancient Aztec temple, presumably the home of vampires for centuries, and reveals hundreds of trucks and bikes that have been toppled down the side of the cliff following their owners’ untimely demise.

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The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

November 28th, 2008

The Fearless Vampire Killers (Originally titled Dance of the Vampires) is a 1967 movie directed by Roman Polanski and written by Gérard Brach. It has been produced as a musical, named Dance of the Vampires.

This film takes us into the heart of Transylvania where Professor Abronsius and his apprentice Alfred are on the hunt for vampires. Abronsius is old and withering and barely able to survive the cold ride through the wintry forests. Alfred is bumbling and introverted. The hunters come to a small Central European town seemingly at the end of a long search for signs of vampires. The two stay at a local inn, full of angst-ridden townspeople who perform strange rituals to fend off an unseen evil.

Whilst staying at the inn, Alfred develops a fondness for Sarah, the daughter of the tavern keeper Yoine Shagal. After witnessing Sarah being kidnapped by the vampire, Count von Krolock, the two follow his snow trail, leading them to Krolock’s ominous castle in the snow-blanketed hills nearby. They break in to the castle, but are trapped by the Count’s lecherous hunchback servant, Koukol. Upon being taken to see the count, he affects an air of aristocratic dignity whilst he cleverly questions Abronsius about his interest in bats and why he has come to the castle. They also encounter the Count’s son, the foppish (and homosexual) Herbert. Meanwhile, Shagal himself has been vampirized and sets on his plan to turn Magda, the tavern’s beautiful maidservant, into his vampire bride.

Despite misgivings, they accept the Count’s invitation to stay in his ramshackle gothic castle, where Alfred spends the night fitfully. The next morning, Abronsius plans to find the castle crypt and kill the Count, seemingly forgetting about the fate of Sarah. The crypt is guarded by the hunchback, so after some wandering they climb in through a roof window. However, Abronsius gets stuck in the window and it is up to Alfred to kill the Count, which he feels unable to do. He has to go back outside to free Abronsius, on the way coming upon Sarah having a bath in her room. She seems oblivious to her danger when he pleads for her to come away with him.

After freeing Abronsius, who is half frozen, they re-enter the castle. Alfred again seeks Sarah but meets Herbert instead, who first attempts to seduce him and then, after Alfred realizes that Herbert’s reflection does not show in the mirror, reveals his vampire nature and attempts to bite him. Ambrosius and Alfred flee from Herbert through a dark stairway to safety, only to be trapped behind a locked door. They also realise night is falling. As they watch horrified, the gravestones below open up and they see that there are many vampires at the castle. The Count appears, mocking them and tells them their fate is sealed. He leaves them to attend a dance, where Sarah will be presented as the next vampire victim.

However, the hunters escape by boiling water under a cannon and blowing off the door, and come to the dance in disguise, where they grab Sarah and flee. Escaping by horse carriage, they are now unaware that it is too late for Sarah, who bites Alfred, thus allowing vampires to be released into the world.

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Salem’s Lot (1979)

November 28th, 2008

Writer Ben Mears, a former resident of Salem’s Lot, originally called Jerusalem’s Lot, returns to the town of his childhood due to his fascination with the Marsten House, a sinister old mansion that overlooks the small town. Both interested in and fearful of the house, Mears attempts to rent it, but finds that another new arrival has beat him to the property; the mysterious Richard Straker, who opens an antique shop and reveals to the townsfolk that an even more mysterious silent partner, Kurt Barlow, is also set to move into the Marsten House. Mears during his visit, develops a romantic relationship with a local woman, Susan Norton, and befriends her father, Dr. Bill Norton. Mears also renews his old friendly relationship with his former school teacher, Jason Burke, and reveals to him his view that the Marsten House is somehow inherently evil.

During the course of the mini-series, strange events begin to take place after a large crate is delivered to the Marsten House, which turns out to contain Barlow, actually an ancient master vampire, who has come to the town after having sent his servant (Straker) to make way for his arrival. Various sub-plots are woven into this, including the story of an affair between the real estate agent Larry Crockett and his secretary. Straker cryptically informs Crockett who sold the property to him that he will be rewarded, and Crockett is later attacked by Barlow. Mears and Straker’s arrival coincides with the disappearance of a young boy, Ralphie Glick, and the two (along with Barlow) becomes suspects by Constable Gillespie. The Glick boy returns as a vampire to claim his brother, Danny, who rises from the dead and strikes first at Mike Ryerson and then a friend, Mark Petrie. However, Mark is familiar with the properties of movie vampires, and is able to resist Danny’s hypnotic control.

Slowly, the vampires spread as Mears and Burke figures out what is happening to the town and attempt to do something to stop it. Burke, however, falls prey to a heart attack, following a visit from the vampirised Ryerson. In the end, Susan, along with the Petrie boy have been both captured by Straker after breaking into the Marsten house. Mears and Dr. Norton heads over to end the town’s takeover. Inside the house, Norton is killed by the daily guarding Straker, who is then shot to death by Ben. Afterwards, Mears with Petrie finally destroys Barlow, but Susan is nowhere to be found. Both flee the town after setting it ablaze in the hopes of ‘purifying’ the evil that has engulfed the town.

The mini-series ends where it opened; Mears and Petrie seen two years later at a mission in Central America. They are apparently on the run from the vengeful vampires. Fortunately, they know when the vampires are near when the holy water they keep with them begins to glow. Warned by this phenomenon as they refill their supplies of holy water, Mears and Petrie quickly go to pack their things before fleeing from the mission. However, Mears finds Susan lying in his bed; now a vampire, she prepares to bite Ben, as he leans down to embrace her, but only to mercilessly stake her, though with grief. He and Petrie then leave, with the vampires still on their trail.

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The Monster Squad (1987)

November 28th, 2008

The Monster Squad is a comedy/horror film written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker and directed by Fred Dekker (who also wrote/directed Night of the Creeps). It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. The film features the classic monsters (re-imagined by a team of special effects artists including Stan Winston), led by Dracula (Duncan Regehr).

The Monster Squad is a society of young teenagers who idolize classic monsters and monster movies. In addition to a clubhouse in a tree, they actually have their own business cards. Club leader Sean (Andre Gower), whose five-year-old sister Phoebe (Ashley Bank) desperately wants to join the club, is given the diary of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim) – but his excitement is somewhat toned down when he finds it’s written in German. Sean, his best friend Patrick (Robby Kiger), and the rest of the Monster Squad get their local “Scary German Guy” (Leonardo Cimino) to translate the diary. (When he is asked how he knows so much, he tells them cryptically that he has “some experience with monsters.” When the children leave his home and he closes the front door, a concentration-camp number tattoo is revealed on his forearm.)

The diary describes, in great detail, an amulet that is composed of concentrated good. One day out of every century, as the forces of good and evil reach a balance, the otherwise-indestructible amulet becomes vulnerable to destruction. The next day of balance falls within a couple days, at the stroke of midnight.

The kids realize they must gain possession of the amulet before the day of balance arrives; once they have the amulet, the kids can use it — with an incantation from Van Helsing’s diary — to open a hole in the universe and cast the monsters into Limbo. As shown in the prelude, van Helsing had unsuccessfully attempted this one hundred years ago in order to defeat his old adversary Count Dracula; he subsequently hid the amulet in America, where it was out of Dracula’s immediate reach. Dracula, meanwhile, must obtain the amulet before the Monster Squad does, so that the Count can take control of the world. To this end he assembles several monstrous allies: Frankenstein’s monster, a werewolf (a reluctant ally in his human form), a mummy, and an amphibious gill-man, in addition to three teenage girls whom the Count transforms into his vampiric consorts.

The amulet turns out to be buried in a stone room, under a house that Dracula and the other monsters now occupy. The aforementioned room is littered with holy symbols, including crucifixes, which prevents the monsters from simply taking it. Luckily, the Monster Squad has the assistance of Patrick’s lovely-but-nameless elder sister (Lisa Fuller), because the incantation must be read by a virgin, and she’s the only person they know who speaks German. Sadly she is failing German and technically not a virgin (“Well, Steve… but he doesn’t count.”) Additional help comes from Sean’s father, a local police detective who was at first highly sceptical of Sean’s hobby and the seriousness of the case, and Frankenstein, who defects after befriending Phoebe, who ultimately is the virgin needed to read the incantation with the assistance of “Scary German Guy”.

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