208) Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)

"So, she's bad?"

Director
Curtis Harrington

Cast

Shelley Winters - Auntie Roo
Mark Lester - Christopher Coombs
Chloe Franks - Katy Coombs
Ralph Richardson - Mr. Benton
Lionel Jeffries - Police Inspector Willoughby
Rosalie Crutchley - Miss Henley
Judy Cornwell - Clarine
Michael Gothard - Albie

It recently occurred to me that I didn't know for sure what the difference is exactly between a horror and a thriller movie. The term "horror/thriller" confused me. A lot of horror movies are categorized as such. 

A horror movie put simply intends to scare its audience. I knew that much before searching for the difference. 

Evidently, a thriller aims to keep its audience in anticipation. But doesn't a horror movie accomplish the same thing? A thriller movie keeps its audience on the edge of their seat. 

When it comes to characters in thriller movies, they're usually pulled into the scenario or evil plans of the antagonist unwillingly. Think of "Die Hard" when Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his band of nasty terrorists as they decide to take over the Nakatomi building just as John McClane (Bruce Willis) walks in to make up with his estranged wife in time for the holidays. This is a perfect specimen of a thriller.

Horror is a bit of the same thing, but with more dreadful, unsettling imagery and actions. Horror movie characters, who are normally victims, find themselves up against powers and threats that in some way or another fall into the realm of the inexplicable. The horror more often comes to them through circumstances they can't control. And the way out of their nightmare, whatever it may be, is often through a means that's just as dreadful or paranormal as the situation they're up against. 

To put it simply, one genre builds tension, and the other builds suspense. So, it's easy to mix these two genres together. Mystery, crime and action/adventure movies can claim the label of thriller as well. 

I'm sure, if I thought about it for a few minutes, I could name a decent amount of horror/ thriller movies that are a perfect mix of both genres. While watching the 1971 holiday horror/thriller flick "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" directed by Curtis Harrington, the topic of horror versus thriller came to mind. 

Shelley Winters with young co-stars
Mark Lester and Chloe Franks in "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?"

In this movie, Shelley Winters plays the wealthy Rosie Forrest who hosts a fabulous Christmas party every year for a group of children from a nearby orphanage inside her huge estate. 

The kids come over on Christmas eve, celebrate, and spend the night so they can wake up the next morning and see what Santa Claus brought them. 

Only ten kids are selected by the head house mother, Miss. Henley (Rosalie Crutchley), to attend.

And while Rosie, whom the kids affectionately call Auntie Roo, has a warm and welcoming grandmotherly demeanor, what the kids don't know is that she keeps the mummified remains of her deceased daughter, Katherine, inside the nursery hidden away in the attic which is setup as a nursary. 

Roo even holds regular seances to try and contact Kathrine in the afterlife. As far as she knows, these seances work. During the rituals, she can hear her daughter calling out to her from the beyond. The seances are led by Mr. Benton (Ralph Richardson) whom Roo doesn't realize is a fraudulent medium. Roo pays him to hold these seances, and Mr. Benton splits the payments with Roo's butler, Albie (Michael Gothard).

However, two particular orphans, Christopher and Katy Coombs (Mark Lester and Chloe Franks) decide they're going to sneak into the party despite not being among the ten lucky chosen party goers. 

When they're discovered, Roo doesn't mind their presence at all and includes them in the festivities. She also thinks that Katy looks similar to her late daughter. 

During the night, after the children are sent to bed, Christopher sneaks around the house, and eavesdrops on Roo's seance. 

While peaking through a keyhole, he spots the house maid, Clarine (Judy Cornwell), hiding in the pantry pretending to be Catherine from the beyond, all in a continuous effort to fool Auntie Roo. 

After the kids wake up on Christmas morning, open their gifts from Santa, and eventually head back to the orphanage, Roo kidnaps Katy to raise her in place of Katherine. Since his sister is not with the other kids, he secretly stays behind to find her. 

Of course, he's caught rather quickly. Christopher thinks that Roo is a witch who intends to cook and eat him and Katy. So, he takes it upon himself to take her down and rescue his sister by himself. 

The oldest rule, perhaps, in storytelling is to show rather than tell. "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" seems to have nailed that rule well. There's little, if any, exposition. The story plays out rather naturally. 

And it's a prime textbook example of a genuine horror/thriller movie. It doesn't rely on much to be precisely that.

It's slightly misguided at first, as though it wasn't sure where to take itself. As the story finds its footing, it seems to realize that its plot is similar enough to the story of "Hansel and Gretel." So, that's what it decides to be - a very loose retelling of Hansel and Gretel.  

By the final act, it's proud of itself for realizing how similar it is that the audience starts hearing Christopher's thoughts in which he compares his and Katy's dilemma to that of Hansel and Gretel. 

The movie feels a little labored, especially as the two children try to escape Roo and her house but are outsmarted by her. The movie really milks the ending for all the trepidation and thrills it can squeeze out. 

It's a thriller that has a satisfyingly decent amount of fear and unsettling elements to make it a horror movie. Though the movie is overall predictable, it still manages to be entertaining. 

"Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" is also a perfect example of the horror sub-genre known as "psycho biddy horror." I wrote about this subgenre in my review of "Mountaintop Motel Massacre" from 1983. Also often referred to as "hagsploitation," the term refers to horror movies centered on older and often wealthy women, or "old biddies," who are driven to the point of psychotic behavior. 

The genre became popular in the 1960s. Writer Stephen King made his mark in the subgenre with his novel, "Misery" which director Rob Reiner turned into a movie in 1990 staring Kathy Bates. 

"Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" reminds me of the 2019 psychobiddy horror movie "Ma" which stars Octavia Spencer as an older mother who wins the favor of a group of teens by supplying them with alcohol and throwing them parties, all for nefarious purposes. There are some similarities between both movies. For one thing, they both have Hansel and Gretal vibes, though "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" constantly compares itself to the fairy tale as it progresses. 

Shelley Winters puts on an amusingly uncomfortable performance. She's well cast in this role and certainly off-putting to watch, even as she plays the grandmotherly figure to the orphans at Christmas. The way she develops her character is well played. She's likeable, sympathetic, and evil in the end. 

Actor Mark Lester is perhaps better known for his performance as Oliver Twist in the 1968 musical "Oliver!"

And director Curtis Harrington is known for directing some other supernatural and psychological horror flicks such as "The Killing Kind" (1973) and "Ruby" (1977). He also directed Shelley Winters alongside Debbie Reynolds in another psychobiddy horror film, "What's the Matter with Helen?" released the same year as this movie.

The atmosphere carries enough uneasiness to keep me invested. Putting children in harm's way, especially in the looming presence of an otherwise motherly or grandmotherly figure, gives movies like this a unique edge of uneasiness and intensity. Children in a vulnerable scenario at the hands of a mother-figure threatening danger of cruelty is enough for an audience to grasp their seats unable to look away because they need to see the resolution. 

The story may be simple and predictable, but its overall creepiness and unsettling tone makes it a Christmas horror movie worthy of being a cult classic. It's a fun movie despite itself, if the mood calls for such a flick. 

207) Tales of Terror (1962)

"And it is with death and dying that we concern ourselves."

Director

Roger Corman

Cast
"Morella"
Vincent Price - Locke
Maggie Pierce - Lenora Locke
Leona Gage - Morella Locke
Ed Cobb - Coach Driver

"The Black Cat"
Vincent Price - Fortunato Luchresi
Peter Lorre - Montresor Herringbone
Joyce Jameson - Annabel Herringbone
Lennie Weinrib - Policeman
Wally Campo - The Barman

"The Case of M. Valdemar"

Vincent Price - Ernest Valdemar
Basil Rathbone - Mr. Carmichael
Debra Paget - Helene Valdemar
David Frankham - Dr. Elliot James

Halloween is over for another year, but thankfully the Fall season - my favorite time of year - carries on. If there was an ideal season for watching classic horror and thriller flicks, this is it. It's just how my imaginative mind works. 

Now that I've finished my string of Dracula/ Vampire movies for Halloween, I'm anxious to get back to other things, particularly Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films. 

The last Poe film I reviewed was "Premature Burial" which follows a theme Poe seems to love. Namely, being buried alive.

"Tales of Terror" is an anthology movie that tells three different tales of the macabre. It's been a while since I reviewed a horror anthology movie. For a short period, I was reviewing a bunch of them and calling those reviews, "The more horror there is." They're fun to watch and comment on. I should get back to that anthology thread. 

The word "macabre" strongly comes to mind after watching this movie. And as expected, one of the stories involves being buried alive. 

As Poe is well known for writing short tales of terror, this movie has a true Poe feel to it. Thankfully, Vincent Price returns after being absent in "Premature Burial."
The Poe movies with Vincent Price were produced through American International Pictures (AIP). "Premature Burial" however was produced through Pathé Lab. While Corman wanted Price to appear in the last movie, Price was under contract with AIP. So, Ray Milland took on the lead role. But Vincent Price is back, and in three different and distinct roles! 

"Morella"

The first tale begins with a young lady (that's never a bad start) named Lenora (Maggie Pierce) as she's headed to Boston to see her estranged father, Locke (Vincent Price). He lives a reclusive life in his dark and dingy mansion. 

He's a big lush suffering from a stinging loneliness. Who wouldn't be if they lived alone for some many years in a huge house?

Locke holds a grudge against his daughter blaming her for the death of his late wife, Morella, who died while giving birth to her. 

While roaming his house, Lenora finds her mother's remains resting in a bedroom and treated as though she's only sleeping. 

Locke cannot accept Morella's death and has closed himself off from the outside world. He's waiting for death to take him, too. 

Lenora tells her father that she's sick and could die as a result. So, he begins to dissolve his grudge and allows her to stay. Despite having been estranged from his daughter, he doesn't want her die. 

That night, Morella's ghost returns to her decaying body since daughter is now in the house. She arises from her bed and restores her decaying corpse to her former beauty. But the catch is that her body is exchanged with Lenora's body as an act of revenge for being the cause of her death. Lenora's body then becomes the decaying corpse in Morella's spot.

Morella seeks out Locke and strangles him. His huge mansion catches fire, and Morella and Lenora switch places again. 

Lenore breaks a smile as she lies on the body of her dead father, while the bodies inside burn with the house. Burning houses, by the way, seem to be a reoccurring event in these Poe movies. 

Peter Lorre as Montresor Herringbone in the "Tales of Terror."

"The Black Cat"

In this segment, Peter Lorre plays Montresor Herringbone who has absolutely no love for his wife, Annabel (Joyce Jameson). 

He has even less affection for her black cat. 

He's also a huge lush like Locke in the previous story and wanders around town looking for a drink. 

After getting kicked out of a tavern, he stumbles upon a wine tasting party hosted by a widely respected wine connoisseur named Fortunato (Vincent Price). He decides to take on Fortunato in a wine identifying challenge. 

Herringbone impresses Fortunato by identifying each wine flawlessly. He chugs each glass while Fortunato sips and smells each glass like a well-trained connoisseur would. But Herringbone passes out before the challenge is over. Of course, Fortunato is just fine since getting plastered wasn't on his agenda for the night. Afterall, a connoisseur needs to stay respectable.  

At the end, he walks the drunk Herringbone home. There, Fortunato meets Herringbone's wife, Annabel (Joyce Jameson) while her husband remains passed out.  

After a while, Fortunato and Annabel become a little too familiar with each other. 

When Herringbone wakes up and realizes what happened between the two, he takes his revenge on both by sealing them up alive inside a wall in the cellar. 

However, after bricking up the wall, he doesn't realize that the black cat found its way inside as well and is now crying to get out. 

Police later show up to investigate Fortunato's disappearance. That's when they hear the crying cat which leads them to the sealed wall. 

When they break it open, they find the remains of Annabel and Fortunato. 

Vincent Price as Ernest Valdemar.

"The Case of M. Valdemar"

In the final segment, Vincent Price plays M. Ernest Valdemar who's suffering from a horrible illness that's slowly killing him.
So, he consults a hypnotist named Mr. Carmichael (Basil Rathbone) to hopefully ease his pain and maybe even cure him. 

Carmichael puts Valdemar into a trance. But then he keeps him a state between life and death as a kind of experiment.

While in this trance, Valdemar telepathically begs and pleads for Carmichael to end the trance or to kill him. But in the name of experimentation, Carmichael keeps him in this trance. In fact, he keeps him in this state for months. All the while, Valdemar's body starts to decay though he's still alive. 

Meanwhile, Carmichael starts to move in on Valdemar's wife, Helene (Debra Paget). She rejects his advances which infuriates him enough to attack her. This all happens in front of Valdemar's decaying lifeless body. 

However, he knows what's taking place. So much so that he slowly wakes up and kills Carmichael. 

 Vincent Price, David Frankham, and Debra Paget in
"The Case of M. Valdemar."

My thoughts...

I enjoyed "The Black Cat" the most. The late, great Peter Lorre launches this segment into grand heights. 

I really appreciate Corman casting Lorre in this film. His performance is fantastic, making "The Black Cat" among the most enjoyable stories in all the Poe films I've watched so far. Watching him work off of Vincent Price is the stuff of film legend. It's a real rarity to see these two on screen together. To my pleasure, they appear together in the next of Corman's Poe movies, "The Raven" which I will post commentary on later. 

Also, Basil Rathbone - Sherlock Holmes himself - is a welcomed sight as he plays a conceited character whose self-righteous style of cruelty effectively makes the audience want to dislike him. His performance lends Vincent Price a little more triumph when he awakens to kill him. 

I've heard "Tales of Terror" referred to as a throw-away horror flick, whatever that means. The talent is there with its big-name cast, and I'm partial to its gothic horror style just as I am with the other Poe films. 

The scare factor is in the scenarios, gothic sets, and situations. Like "House of Usher" in which the house is the monster, "Tales of Terror" relies on those three things. 

The first tale is decent enough, but more of the same as previously seen. It's a grim situation in a big creepy house just as the previous movies are. And the final tale is rather subtle. I think it's "The Black Cat" that really makes "Tales of Terror" worthwhile. 

Despite any problems this movie might have, I appreciate it for the variety that distinguishes it from Roger Corman's, especially with its off-putting tales. 

The subplot of being buried alive, seen in "The Black Cat" is depicted as an act of revenge rather than an act of despair as seen in "House of Usher." And that burial scene delivers one of the most chilling exchanges in the Poe series.

As Fortunato is being sealed up alive in the wall, he begs and pleads for Herringbone to let him go.

"For the love of God, Montresor," Fortunato pleads.

Montresor glares back and says coldly, "Yes...for the love of God." 

Vincent Price most impressively plays multiple characters, one for each story. Each character he portrays is depicted with completely different personalities. 

He's a depressed recluse in the first segment. That's followed by his performance as a conceited professional wine expert and scoundrel in the second segment. And in the third segment, he plays a sick man trapped in his own body. This movie alone shows how versatile an actor Vincent Price was. 

Out of all of Corman's Poe movies I've seen so far, this is the most Poe-like film. Of course, this and the previous movies takes various liberties with Poe's short-stories and poems. 

And it's an anthology movie which is right up my alley. I love horror anthologies. 

The movie really takes its time with its pace. Its runtime is two hours. 

Overall, "Tales of Terror" deserves appreciation. And it's a perfect segue for the next movie in Corman's Poe series which I can't wait to get to! 

206) Let the Right One In (2006)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Ten...the final vampire, for now)

Director
Tomas Alfredson

Cast
Kåre Hedebrant - Oskar
Lina Leandersson - Eli
Per Ragnar - Håkan
Henrik Dahl - Erik
Karin Bergquist - Yvonne
Peter Carlberg - Lacke
Ika Nord - Virginia
Mikael Rahm - Jocke

After two overall terrible vampire movies, despite  some of the good things they both have going for them, I wanted to end this Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza with something well made...maybe even sublime. 

The 2006 Swedish horror film "Let the Right One In," based on the 2004 novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist, is a movie I had in mind to include in this thread since I thought up this year's Halloween movie extravaganza. And as I've mentioned in previous posts, I love saying the word "extravaganza." This movie is a unique story when it comes to vampires. 

The movie, which takes place in the early 1980s in Blackeberg, Stockholm, centers around a young Swedish boy, Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), who's a bit of a loner. 

He's unmercifully bullied at school by a small clique of boys. He lives in an apartment with his mother, Yvonne, (Karin Bergquist) while his father lives elsewhere. 

Meanwhile, mysterious and brutal murders are occurring around the neighborhood. The person responsible is a man named Håkan (Per Ragnar) who hoists victims upside down by their feet, cuts their throats, and collects their blood. He does this because he lives with a 12-year-old girl vampire named Eli (Lina Leandersson) who needs blood to survive. Håkan and Eli happen to live in the apartment next door to Oskar. 

Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson in "Let the Right One In."

However, he's unaware of these two until he meets Eli one evening out in the apartment courtyard. 

Oskar spends time alone at night wandering outside pretending to inflict revenge on his tormentors at school. 

One night, Eli sees him alone outside the apartment and talks to him. Oskar takes a bit of an interest in Eli as she appears to be his age. At first, she tells Oskar that she cannot be his friend without giving a reason. 

However, they slowly become friends. He opens up to her about the bullying he endures at school. And she encourages him to defend himself.

So, he enrolls in an after-school fitness class with hopes he can build up some muscle. 

Later, Håkan attempts to murder a passer-by in a secluded area in order to collect blood for Eli one evening but is interrupted by someone else out walking their dog. So, he runs off before getting caught.  He returns home with nothing to bring back to her. 

Eli has to go out into the night and attack someone herself to feed on. She lures a man named Jocke by pretending to be a young child in need and stranded out in the cold. 

When she returns to the apartment, Håkan goes back out to hide Jocke's body by dumping his remains in a frozen river. 

He tries again to collect blood for Eli by tying up a teenage boy after school one night in a locker room long after school hours. 

However, the boy's friends come looking for him and the boy wakes up before Håkan kills him and starts shouting for help. 

He hides elsewhere in the school hoping to avoid detection. In order to prevent being recognized, Håkan pours acid on his face. 

He's soon arrested and taken to a hospital first for treatment. Eli goes to see him that same night. Since he's in custody and will no longer be able to provide for her, Håkan offers his neck to her. She accepts the offer, drinks, and he plummets to his death out of the hospital window. 

Eli goes to see Oskar, while he's in bed. She taps on his window and asks him to invite her in. He asks how she managed to get up to his window as his apartment is several stories off the ground.

She simply says that she flew and them spends the night in his room. 

Now, he's all she has to take care of her. And she's the only friend he has. 

"Let the Right One In" keeps the vampire lore in a realistic style while being its own story unlike other vampire movies out there. 

I've heard it called a "coming of age" story, and I suppose it is for Oskar. Still, it's not the first movie with vampire children. Outside of probably a ton of made-for-children movies with vampire depictions suitable for children, Kirsten Dunst as Claudia in the 1994 movie, "Interview with a Vampire" is the only one that comes to mind right now. 

Kåre Hedebrant's performance makes his character sympathetic and memorable.

He and Lina Leandersson have true chemistry. Kåre's performance supports Lina's role as he needs to give her, as a vampire, a reason to befriend him and have the audience appreciate her doing that. That must have been a challenge. 

Though the movie carries themes of bullying and friendship, I'm torn as to what Eli's true intentions are from the moment she meets Oskar all the way to the end of the story. I couldn't tell if she was deceiving Oskar with her friendship to make him her next servant. Or, if she sincerely wanted friendship just as much as Oskar. Maybe there's a bit of both? 

My suspicions lean more into the side that Eli is really recruiting young Oskar to be a servant for her, whom she'll later command to kill people so that she can feed. 

In the scene when Oskar realizes Eli is a vampire, she admits that she is. She doesn't hide it. Oskar is rightly bothered by her need to kill people so she can feed. Still, he choses to remain a friend, even encouraging her to go steady.

She tells him they are a lot alike. Oskar has a secret desire to kill his bullies, while Eli needs to kill. 

She then tells Oskar, "Be me, for a little while." 

This sentiment gives the movie's title meaning - "Let the Right One In." 

Evil can disguise itself as good, but evil can't be anything other than what it is. 

Eli is the strength Oskar that lacks which is why he gravitates towards her. Or, it could be her vampiric lure to make him her slave. After all, he sees adults, even his divorced mother and father, as not too interested in his problems and situations. His mom is too busy. His father seems to include him because he has to. This certainly works in Eli's favor.   

As a vampire, she personifies the fact that true evil is willing to deceive in any way it can to ultimately drag souls down alongside them. The devil is the father of lies. In which case, perhaps the film is a cautionary tale about becoming comfortable and familiar with evil which ultimately seeks to enslave. 

Despite being a vampire, she never hints at any desire to feed on Oskar. 

In a later scene, Oskar takes her to a hideaway and wants to become blood siblings. He slices his palm and wants her to do the same to her hand. The idea is that they'll shake hands, and mingle their blood. Instead of cutting her hand, she can't hide her insatiable thirst for blood once she sees it as he naively stands in front of her with his hand out dripping blood. Instead of attacking him, she takes to the drops of blood on the floor and tells him to leave. 

The movie also adds a little to the vampire lore in that it shows what happens to a vampire if they enter a house without being verbally invited in. 

"Let the Right One In" got an American remake called "Let Me In" in 2010 with Chloë Grace Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas. I watched it several years ago shortly after I watched the Swedish film, and I can't remember anything about it. 

Anyways, this is a very unique vampire story that emotes more feelings of sympathy rather than fear, although it does possess some fear and horror elements as is needed in a vampire movie. A lot of the older Dracula movies have a bit of a fairy tale tone to them to some degree or another. This movie maintains a taste of that style, but with much more realism, or real-life style to it. And it's perfectly subtle and thought provoking.

🧛 So, that's another horror movie extravaganza in the bag...or on the blog...or where ever it needs to be. I had a lot of vampire movies I wanted to watch and include. Some I couldn't get my hands on for some reason or another, and others I would have had to pay for which I didn't want to do. 

As for the rest, there's just not enough time to get to all of them. My initial intent was to watch one Dracula/vampire movie from each decade between 1922 to 2024. Well, I made it to 2006, and watched 10 movies which is a number I decided to stick with. So, not bad. Below is a list of other movies I had considered including in this list, or tried to include. I'm certain I'll get to some of these in the future. 

"Vampyr" (1932)

"Vampire Bat" (1933)

"Mark of the Vampire" (1935)

"House of Dracula" (1945)

"The Vampire's Ghost" (1945)

"Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948)

"The Vampire" (1957)

"Kiss of the Vampire" (1963)

"The Fearless Vampire Killers" (1967)
"The Vampire Lovers" (1970)

"Blacula" (1972)
"Son of Dracula" (1974) - This one has Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Peter Frampton and other rock stars! What the heck? 

"Zoltan... Hound of Dracula" (1977)

"Salem's Lot" (1979) 

"Fright Night" (1985)

"Vamp" (1986)

"The Lost Boys" (1987)

"Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992)

"Interview with the Vampire" (1994)

"Vampire in Brooklyn" (1995) - Eddie Murphy plays a vampire in this movie. 

"From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996)

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" (2012)

"What We Do in the Shadows" (2014) - I regret picking "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" over this comedy. 

"The Last Voyage of the Demeter" (2023)

🎃 Happy Halloween!🦇

205) Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Nine)

"Children of the night... What a mess they make."

Director

Mel Brooks

Cast
Leslie Nielsen - Count Dracula
Mel Brooks - Professor Van Helsing
Peter MacNicol - Thomas Renfield
Steven Weber - Jonathan Harker
Amy Yasbeck - Mina Seward
Lysette Anthony - Lucy Westenra
Harvey Korman - Dr. Seward
Anne Bancroft - Madame Ouspenskaya, the Gypsy Woman

If you mention Mel Brooks and "horror comedy" in the same sentence to anyone, chances are they'll throw the title "Young Frankenstein" back at you. And rightly so. 

Writer, director, and comedian Mel Brooks has satirized just about every movie genre there is. But he's knocked the horror genre around twice. The second horror satire from Brooks is his 1995 Dracula spoof, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It." 

It doesn't get anywhere near the same attention and appreciation as his 1974 horror comedy classic "Young Frankenstein." 

After checking out more macabre vampire movies, some being sublime and others taking themselves too seriously, I wanted to include something like this. I needed to toss in at least one horror comedy. And what better satirical Dracula movie could their be other than something from Mel Brooks. 

I've heard of this movie, but I've never seen it until now. 

It's a parody of "Dracula" by Bram Stoker with a lot jabs aimed directly at Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film. "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

The story in "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" is the same Dracula story told again and again. I laid it all out in my review of "Dracula" from 1931 so I'm going to skip the details of the storyline. 

The late comic legend Leslie Nielsen plays Count Dracula alongside Mel Brooks as Prof. Van Helsing. Peter MacNicol stars as Renfield. And the late Anne Brancroft, who was married to Mel Brooks, and is an actress I absolutely love, has a cameo as a Gypsie woman which I got a laugh from.

Steven Weber also stars as Jonathan Harker. And Harvey Korman, who's no stranger to Mel Brook's movies, plays Dr. Jack Seward. So, this movie is certainly well cast with strong comedic talent. 

Leslie Nielsen as Dracula in "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."

And yet the movie lacks comedy. There's not enough of it. Some scenes feel like a joke is building up, and then it doesn't arrive. Disappointing!

As for the rest of the movie, it's the same story of Dracula depicted over and over again in the movies, but with light satire. It doesn't have the comedic punch I would expect from a Mel Brooks movie. No wonder this film doesn't get the same attention as his other films, especially "Young Frankenstein." While that movie is mockery mixed perfectly with a clear reverence for the movie "Frankenstein," and includes unique lines and a memorable performance by Gene Wilder, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" certainly has a talented cast, but it goes through the motions of the Dracula story. Aside from the cast, nothing else about it stands out. Not even the lines.  

Peter MacNicol is perfectly cast as Renfield. He depicts the character's tics and sporadic mannerisms, as well as Renfield's insanity spot on. 

In fact, MacNicol is an actor who appears to enjoy whatever roles he's in, though I admit the only movies I've seen him in besides this one are "Ghostbusters II," "Addams Family Values," and Mr. Bean's movie, "Bean." He always puts forth everything he has to fine tune his performances. In other words, he never half-asses it. 

Leslie Nielsen as Dracula is exactly that - Leslie Nielsen putting on his best Dracula impression. Behind the Dracula costume and pale face, it's Leslie Nielsen. It seems liker there's potential for some comedic gold in casting Nielsen as Dracula, and then seeing what he does with this character. But it's not his most memorable character. 

This movie has potential. It's the lacking comedy which is disappointing. Only a small handful of scenes got a bit of a laugh out of me. There's little, if anything, that stuck with me after watching this. Otherwise, it's a disappointment.  

204) Vampire in Venice (1988)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Eight)

"Nosferatu is a supreme lord of evil, second only to the devil himself."

Directors
Augusto Caminito
Klaus Kinski

Cast

Klaus Kinski - Nosferatu
Christopher Plummer - Prof. Paris Catalano
Donald Pleasence - Don Alvise
Barbara De Rossi - Helietta Canins
Yorgo Voyagis - Dr. Barneval
Anne Knecht - Maria Canins
Elvire Audray - Uta Barneval
Clara Colosimo - Medium
Maria Cumani Quasimodo - Princess

Decade by decade, the vampire movies become more and more abundant. It's hard to pick just one. 

When it comes to the 1980s, there's a respectable handful of popular vampire movies, "Fright Night," "The Lost Boys," "Near Dark," "Vamp," to drop a few titles. 

For this slot, I wanted to pick something not too common but stands in some way or another. 

I went vampire movie by vampire movie on a few different streaming apps, including one app called "Cinema Box" which has a fantastic list of classic and hard to come by films for free. 

I found the 1988 Italian horror movie "Vampire in Venice" on the Tubi streaming app. 

Also known as "Prince of the Night" and "Nosferatu in Venice" the film definitely has some notable details about it. 

For instance, it stars Acadamy Award-winning actor Christopher Plummer.

In this movie, Plummer plays an Abraham Van Helsing-like character named Prof. Paris Catalano. Incidentally, in the movie "Dracula 2000," Plummer plays Abraham Van Helsing, which is worth mentioning. 

Also, in this movie Klaus Kinski plays a vampire called "Nosferatu." As I previously mentioned elsewhere on this blog, Klaus Kinski plays Nosferatu in the 1979 movie "Nosferatu the Vampyre" - a remake of F. W. Murnau's 1922 silent film which I reviewed earlier this month. 

And Donald Pleasance, who famously plays James Bond villain Blofeld in the 007 movie, "You Only Live Twice" as well as Dr. Loomis in several of the "Halloween" movies, stars in this flick. 

Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu in "Vampire in Venice."

"Vampire in Venice" is a real oddity.

This flick starts with Prof. Paris Catalano (Christopher Plummer) traveling from the U.K. to Venice, Italy in search of the infamous vampire Nosferatu (Klaus Kinski).

He believes the remains of the vampire is indeed in Venice. The last time anyone ever saw Nosferatu was back in 1786 at some carnival. This makes me wonder if this vampire has been out-of-sight all that time, why bother looking for him? 

I guess the answer lies in the fact that Princess Helietta Canins (Barbara De Rossi) asked Catalano to Venice because she thinks Nosferatu's tomb is in the basement of her family estate. 

For some reason, even though Nosferatu must still be in his tomb after all these decades, Helietta believes the old vampire wants to end his immortal life and enter into eternal life although he'll probably end up in Hell. 

When Catalano shows up, he can't help but notice how much Helietta looks like Nosferatu's old love interest, Letizia. That seems to be a running trope in a lot of these vampire movies. 

So, that night Helietta and her family, along with Catalano hold a séance for reasons that aren't explained. It's like they want Nosferatu to awaken after 200 years. Even the local Catholic priest, Don Alvise (Donald Pleasence) warns them how stupid such a demonic act is, and shouldn't be performed for the sake of their souls. 

The Catholic Church, represented by the priest, is the only figure of sanity and right mindedness. 

But obviously they're not a bright group considering they're tempting fate. So, they hold their little séance which causes Nosferatu to awaken and flea his tomb. 

Now Nosferatu is out prowling around Venice! 

In no time, he finds Helietta's mother, Princess Catalano (Maria Cumani Quasimodo) where he forces her onto a balcony and pushes her over. She lands on an iron fence and is impaled. 

During the funeral, Catalano tells Helietta that Nosferatu can actually be stopped by love, which seems like lazy and cliché writing to me. 

This movie appears to make up its story as it moves along. And why Catalano wants to kill Nosferatu before he kills himself is beyond me. 

If there's one thing this movie loves, its the image of Christopher Plummer standing in all his Christopher Plummer glory on a gondola with a look of power on his face. The movie has several shots of people floating down gondolas along the streets of Venice. Venice is a beautiful city but too much of a good thing can easily become mundane and repetitive. 

Still, I am eager to find out more about "Vampire in Venice." Why was it made? What was the motivation behind it? What was it like on set during filming, especially with Klaus Kinski on board? Movies with Klaus Kinski often have quite a

Christopher Plummer as Prof. Paris Catalano.

fireworks show of stories. Just check out my review of the 1986 horror movie "Crawlspace" which also stars Kinski. I wonder what Christopher Plummer thought about Klaus Kinski while working alongside him. 

Considering that Kinski stars in the lead role and has a reputation of having been a difficult and explosive actor to work with - notorious for not liking directors - my curiosity needs answers. His performance is nothing more than glaring with an evil glare, and that's about it. It's unimpressive. His presences is so egotistical in this movie. It spews right out of the screen with all the shots of himself standing in front of the camera over and over again as if he's reminding the audience, "I am Klaus Kinski, and you are not." 

This film tries to be a serious horror movie with depth and impact.  It's loaded with more air of artistry instead of the much needed trepidation and fear any audience would expect from a vampire movie. By the ends, it's just a pretentious and tawdry spectacle that takes itself way too seriously.

Still, the movie has some beautiful shots of Venice aside from all the characters floating down Venice streets. 

Any inclusion of haunting nightmarish scenes feels more like an after thought. And with its over extravagant soundtrack that makes me chuckle though it doesn't want me to, it takes the bite out of its horror (no pun intended). 

Anyways, the soundtrack is horrible! It starts off eerily enough, and then keeps going into an overly synthetized style that irritates my nerves. 

And the cutaways seem as though someone forgot to make the final edits to the movie. It's like the entire movie was released haphazardly. 

I get the impression the movie takes inspiration from Pope Benedict XIV's (1740 - 1758) statement that vampires are nothing but human fantasies. 

He's referenced in the movie. In one seen, Catalano is asked, "What's the Church's attitude towards vampires?"

Boy, that's got to be difficult question. Surely, there's more to it than the Church's official teaching that vampires suck. No pun intended. 

"Vampirism is one of the thousand ways in which evil manifests itself. It was Pope Benedict XIV who decreed that," Catalano replies. 

Going back to Klaus Kinski, everything I've ever seen him in, he always strikes me as insane. For Kinski, it's in the eyes. This movie is no exception. He's not frightening. He's just insane. In fact, it solidifies my impression. I can't help having the impression that he enjoyed all the worst scenes involving Nosferatu's female victims too much.

All in all, there's no real climax in this movie. It feebly fades in, and then as mysteriously as it arrived, it ends. If there's one thing I've learned about Kinski's acting style just by watching this one movie, its that he sure loves himself. 

203) The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires; aka The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula (1974)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Seven) 

"It's the darkness that brings them out." 

Directors
Roy Ward Baker
Chang Cheh

Cast
Peter Cushing - Prof. Van Helsing
John Forbes-Robertson - Count Dracula
David de Keyser - the voice of Count Dracula (uncredited)
Robin Stewart - Leyland Van Helsing
Julie Ege - Vanessa Buren
Robert Hanna - British Consul
David Chiang - Hsi Ching/Hsi Tien-en
Shih Szu - Mai Kwei
Chan Shen - The High Priest, Kah

It's East meets West in this last vampire movie in Hammer Productions' line-up of Dracula movies - "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires." It follows eight previous Dracula films I mentioned in my review of "The Brides of Dracula" - the second Dracula movie from Hammer Productions.  

I've already reviewed that movie, along with the first movie, "The Horror of Dracula" and skipped the rest to get to this unique gem of a flick. 

No doubt I'll come back to the previous movies I have yet to watch. 

"The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" is unique both in my lineup of this year's Halloween reviews as well as among vampire movies in general. 

This movie is difficult to find. And the version I was lucky enough to come across was the 1979 wide-release from Dynamite Entertainment re-titled "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula." I found it on the fantastic streaming app "Cinema Box."

It has a 75-minute runtime, and I don't know how the 1979 version differs from the original cut. 

Unfortunately, it's the second Hammer Dracula movie that doesn't feature Christopher Lee as Dracula. As I mentioned in my last post, Lee doesn't appear in "Brides of Dracula" neither. 

John Forbes-Robertson bears the fangs and dawns the cape of Dracula in this movie, making him the only other actor aside from Lee to portray Dracula in Hammer Film Production's movies. 

In the plus-column, Peter Cushing returns as Van Helsing which ties this to the previous Dracula movies.  

In this film, a Taoist monk named Kah (Chan Shen) who is also a high priest within the Temple of Seven Golden Vampires in China, travels to Transylvania to summon Count Dracula. 

The Golden Vampires of his temple are growing weak. So, Kah wants Dracula to restore their power and give them the strength they need to be as powerful as they used to be.

Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

Dracula agrees to help only if Kah will permit him to use his body to escape his castle which has become a sort of prison for Dracula. 

Kah is reluctant but allows Dracula to use his body and takes his form to escape his castle. Dracula then heads to China. 

A hundred years go by. Prof. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) actually lives up to his title of professor as he lectures at Chungking University on the legend behind Chinese vampires. During his lecture, Van Helsing mentions a Chinese village that has been tormented by a cult that calls itself the "Seven Golden Vampires." 

As he explains, a local farmer had tried to take down the cult himself. During the fight, he managed to grab a gold medallion in the shape of a bat off the next of one of these vampire cult members. It turns out the vampires need the medallion to live. 

The farmer escaped with the medallion, and the cult's high priest sent the seven vampires after him. 

They caught up to the farmer and cornered him. The farmer placed the bat medallion around a statue of Buddha just before they killed him.

One of the vampires tried to take the medallion off the Buddha statue only to ignite into flames as soon as he touched it. So, the seven Golden Vampires are reduced to six. 

Van Helsing thinks this village still exists and that the six remaining Golden Vampires are still preying on the villagers. It's just a matter of finding where it's located. 

After his lecture, all the students and professors think it's just an urban legend, and don't take Van Helsing seriously. But one student named Hsi Ching (David Chiang) knows it's true because that farmer was his grandfather. To prove it, Ching has that same medallion his grandfather took. So, he's completely on board with Van Helsing in finding the village and killing off the vampires once and for all. 

So, Van Helsing and Ching, along with Van Helsing's son Leyland (Robin Stewart) as well as Ching's seven siblings who are masters in kung fu venture off to find that long lost village and take on the six Golden Vampires. 

The tagline reads, "the first kung-fu horror spectacular!" That's really all I liked about this movie. Well, Peter Cushing, too. I've never seen a Peter Cushing role I didn't like. 

John Forbes-Robertson as Count Dracula

And to think that just three years after starring in this movie, he would appear in "Star Wars." Within that time between "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" and "Star Wars," Cushing appears in six movies. 

Anyways, this movie packs in three things I love into one film - vampires, Hammer horror, and kung fu. I don't really know much of anything about kung fu. I just know I love a good martial arts movie. In fact, while watching this, I could barely follow the story. I just wanted to see more fighting and vampires. It was a trip watching these fighting scenes as Peter Cushing stood off to the side also watching on screen. 

Everything else doesn't seem like it was thoroughly thought out. There's so much slow motion where it doesn't need to be. All that slow motion makes the movie feel like it's dragging.

The first twenty minutes contains a lot screaming and little to no dialogue. It opens with 23 minutes of gore and ghoulish blood sucking. 

Once Peter Cushing shows up, the film finally picks up and starts combining classic gothic style vampire with Chinese martial arts. 

I wish the final fight between Van Helsing and Dracula went on longer. It's the stuff of classics. Watching Dracula die marks the end of an era, or so it seems. 

A sequel called "Kali, Devil Bride of Dracula" was planned but was never executed. What a bummer! 

Otherwise, this movie has intense imagery that veers into a different mythos of vampires based in Eastern lore. And the scene with Cushing as Van Helsing explaining the differences between European vampire versus hunting Asian vampires, to Chinese vampire hunters is a real iconic vibe. If only the storyline had some stronger writing to support it, this would be a fantastic movie! 

202) Brides of Dracula (1960)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Six)

"Count Dracula, monarch of all vampires, is dead, but his disciples live on, to spread the cult and corrupt the world."

Director

Terrance Fisher 

Cast
Peter Cushing - Dr. Van Helsing
Yvonne Monlaur - Marianne
David Peel - Baron Meinster
Martita Hunt - Baroness Meinster
Freda Jackson - Greta
Miles Malleson as Dr. Tobler
Henry Oscar - Herr Lang
Mona Washbourne - Frau Lang
Andrée Melly - Gina
Victor Brooks - Hans
Fred Johnson - the priest

The end of August is approaching as I write this, and I still have six more vampire movies to get through before Oct. 31. I got this! 

I couldn't post a thread of Dracula movies for the Halloween season without including at least one movie from Hammer Productions over in the U.K. 

Hammer horror movies are a pillar in the genre. They revived the classic Universal Monsters and gave them the finishing touch which the original films from Universal tried to accomplish within the boundaries of what they could and couldn't do. And these movies are in color, treating the subject matter with reverence and appreciation. They polish the appearance and atmosphere of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and all the rest, solidifying their place in horror pop culture. 

I've already reviewed Hammer Productions first Dracula movie, "Horror of Dracula" (1958) with Christopher Lee in the title role and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. It makes sense to look at its sequel, "Brides of Dracula" from 1960. 

The movie starts as a young attractive French school teacher, Marianne Danielle (Yvonne Monlaur), is dropped off and left at a village inn while travelling to Transylvania. Her coach driver basically ditches her at the inn.

The local Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt) invites her to stay at her castle for the night. But the locals warn her it's not safe. Her son, Baron Meinster (David Peel), is rumored to be crazy and kept locked in the castle. But Marianne accepts the invitation. 

David Peel and Yvonne Monlaur in "Brides of Dracula."

Once Marianne settles in, she snoops around the castle and happens to find, to her shock and horror, Baron Meinster locked in a room and chained to a wall just as she was told.

He begs for Marianne to release him, claiming his mother has taken his lands and keeps him jailed.

So, she sneaks into his mother's bedroom and steals the key to free him from his shackles. The jokes on her, though. the Baron is a vampire! 

Now that he's free, the Baron attacks his own mother and drinks her blood, as vampires are known to do. Marianne witnesses this evil and horrific deed and escapes the castle during the night. 

Now a vampire, the Baroness starts brining in young girls for her son to feed on. 

By morning, Marianne meets Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) but can't seem to remember what she witnessed the night before. 

So, Van Helsing takes her to the school where she'll be working. When he gets back to the village, Van Helsing comes across the funeral of a young girl found dead in the woods with bite marks on her neck. He knows exactly what that means and doesn't waste time investigating the presence and location of the vampire responsible.

The local priest, Fr. Stepnik (Fred Johnson), joins Van Helsing in his pursuit. He and Van Helsing try to encourage the deceased girl's father not to bury his daughter. Of course, it sounds like an outlandish request. Naturally, the father refuses and buries her. As expected, she rises from her grave as a vampire. 

Van Helsing and Fr. Stepnik go the cemetery and try to kill the vampire girl. When they get there, they find the Baroness's servant, Greta (Freda Jackson), who knows that both the Baron and her master are both vampires, calling out to the buried girl to rise from her grave.

The girl begins crawling out of her grave. Van Helsing and Fr. Stepnik try to stop her, but Greta keeps them back. And the living-dead girl escapes. 

Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

When Van Helsing gets back to the castle, he runs into the Baroness and her son. Van Helsing attacks them, but the Baron runs off. 

Feeling pity for the Baroness as her son's attack on her was an act of revenge for locking him up, Van Helsing decides to drive a stake through her heart while she's asleep the next morning. 

The Baron goes straight to Marianne and asks to marry her, which she agrees to do. 

This makes Marianne's roommate, Gina (Andrée Melly) jealous. However, the Baron pays Gina a visit later that night and turns her into a vampire. 

Now, Van Helsing has his work cut out for him as he tries to fend off all these vampires and ultimately kill the Baron. 

It's thanks to British director Terence Fisher that Gothic horror such as this movie, and other Hammer horror films, gave audiences the classic yet revived (for the time) Universal monsters in color. 

His first major Gothic horror movie was 1957's "Curse of Frankenstein" which instantly solidified Hammer Production's place in the horror genre. Actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing took on leading roles in the majority of these movies. Peter Cushing nails the role as he gives Van Helsing a holy determination to destroy evil at the roots. 

Fisher also directed "Horror of Dracula" and "Dracula: Prince of Darkness." 

He often portrays evil as alluring and charming, only to lead to immorality, and then to death and destruction. Meanwhile goodness and Christian morals are portrayed as strong and determined. I can get behind that. 

"Brides of Dracula" is a worthy follow-up to "Horror of Dracula." While Dracula doesn't appear in this movie, though he's mentioned, his evil sickness carries on which Van Helsing must continue fighting. 

Sure, this movie is dated as far as horror goes. But it still has a classic charm about it. 

I love these gothic Victorian era horror movies! I tend to compare them with Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films made in the same period. Comparing them side by side, it's clear Hammer had a bigger budget to work with, and it shows. But Corman still made some fantastic period horror movies with his Poe series that still hits the spot. 

"Brides of Dracula" keeps the same unsettling atmosphere and classic vampire tropes previously seen. It is formulaic in its story, and doesn't add much, if anything, to Dracula's lore. It tells a tale of Dracula's aftermath, and how Van Helsing has to clean up the mess he left behind. That's an original take, I think.

It has fine acting, a unique style of horror and atmosphere, and a story that pulls the audience in. 

There are seven more Dracula films in the Hammer series following "Brides of Dracula" - "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1966), "Dracula has Risen from the Grave" (1968), "Taste the Blood of Dracula" (1970), "Scars of Dracula" (1970), "Dracula A.D. 1972" (1972), "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973), and the martial arts horror movie "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" (1974). I'll get to that last one next!