365 Days- Day 62

Movie: The Lost Boys
starring: Corey Feldman, Corey Haim
genre: Horror, Comedy,
year: 1987
format: DVD

plot: Sam and Micheal move with their mother after she gets a divorce. To their horror, they have moved to what seems to be the murder capital of the west coast, as hundreds of people are either dead or missing in the small sea side town. Soon, both boys have made some new friends, Micheal has been hanging around a group of teenaged bikers, and Sam a couple of guys who work in their parent's comic book store. They soon find out that neither is really what they first appear to be. Micheal's new gang are actually a group of blood sucking vampires and Sam's buddies are the hunters that are set to kill them. Meanwhile, their mom ends up dating the head vampire.

Cult classic!
There is so much to say about this film, but at the same time nothing to say because it's all been said a million times over the last twenty plus years.

What at first seems like just another teen horror film from the 80's, is more a discussion on finding the truth about yourself, and how far you are willing to go to learn it. (as seen in the classic line uttered by David "How far are you willing to go Micheal?" )

What do i think i learned from this film?
I think the film fits better of what have I not learned from it?  This movie single handedly changed the way I think, act, breathe for that matter.

365 Days- Day 51

movie: The Hunger
starring: Catherine Denuve, David Bowie
genre: Romance
year: 1983
format: VHS

plot: A centuries old vampire has begun to age rapidly, and searches out a doctor who specializes in genetics.  But, with only 48 hours to find a cure, he ends up having to be entombed in a box, left to live out eternity in strange state of continuing to mummify and still be aware of it.  Meanwhile, his lover who is a vampire who's been around since the beginning of creation, has begun to find a replacement for him, in the form of the female doctor who was trying to help cure him.  The doctor, is then made into a vampire against her will, with little hope to save herself.

This is based on the novel by Whitley Strieber and spawned the short lived television series, which also starred David Bowie.

Cult classic.  This movie is one of the most enduring vampire movies around. It's themes are addiction, illusion, lust, greed, desperation, time, and co-dependence.  
The lead character of Miriam is cold in her approach to humans, but simply unable to spend time without them.  It's not even about the feeding or even the sex as much as it is about the idea that she just can not seem to deal with the thought of being alone. Of not having someone worship her.
The flash backs are short and confusing at times.  We learn that she originally met her husband John (if the mummy count is right, he's lover #7) during the 1700's-1800's, and it seems has told him about the possibility (as we learn the certainty) that he might being to age at some point and becoming a mummified living corpse. You almost get the feeling that the previous lovers were unaware of the fact till it was too late.
This sort of rewrites the myths of vampirism up to that point, dropping the cinema's rules and pulling a bit from folklore (they can be out in the day, they have reflections and can be seen in photos and on video)

what do i think i learned from this film?
Seduction can sometimes come with a price all it's own, just because you are looking to be seduced does not mean that you need to be.  Love, as much as we want to believe is forever, it too will fade.
Energy does not die, but it can be displaced with the idea of time. 

365 Days- Day 28

movie: Highlander
starring: Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown
genre: Sci-fi
year: 1986
format: VHS

plot: Immortal beings have been fighting each other for centuries, always taking the lifeforce of each other in order to stay alive and gain strength. We see the final few as they battle in modern day New York in what they have called the Gathering, for the ultimate prize.

So we have here, immortal creatures that get stronger by destroying each other and absorbing their life energy, and the only way to destroy them is to decapitate them with silver.   Classic vampire.
They get the knowledge, skills, memories and strengths of the other Immortals after they've feed off of their energies. And they are unable to reproduce.
You almost have to wonder if the original idea was taken from pieces of folklore or what?

Add to it, Clancy's character looking like Frankenstein and the quickening being a lightening, and you really can not help but see the resemblance to classic horror stories.
Dead but unable to die, as they don't get "activated" until they have first died (as long as they are not beheaded) much like the idea that a vampire isn't activated till after it's died. 
I liked the little nod to the vampire mythology when Connor is standing in the doorway of  Brenda waiting for her to invite him in. We then see a shot of him staring at himself smirking in the mirror, showing that he has a reflection. (folklore has many myths about vampires actually having a reflection but which seem to move onto themselves)

what do i think i learned from this film?
Clancy Brown can be truly frightening.

365 Days- Day 22

movie: The Monster Squad
starring: Andre Gower, Duncan Regehr
genre: Comedy
year: 1987
format: DVD

plot: A group of friends who love monster movies find a diary that once belonged to Van Helsing and discover that not only are monsters real, but that once every hundred years they have a chance to take over the world, and it just so happens that that the kids are the only thing standing in the way of Dracula having control of the world.

Classic! Classic! Classic!
I think this is the first time since the golden age of Universal that all the major monsters are in one film.

I popped this in the DVD player and was laughing within minutes, nodding to my pizza, cause I had forgotten just how great this film is.  Jam packed with one liners that have become more then just cool quotes or catch phrases, but such iconic moments of monster related history.  (Wolfman's got nards)

This movie is 26 years old and it still rocks!  It's one of those films that at first glance seems like it would be complete cheese, but it's not. It manages to balance the absurd with the rational, which I think is what makes it feel like a real drama.

what do i think i learned from this film?
This movie deals with finding the courage to stand up for yourself, for your family/friends and even your "village".  We see the dad who is a cop, battling the wolfman because it's both his job and because his family is in danger. The things that everyone had been fighting about in the beginning of the film becomes seen as the petty nothings they really are when a real danger is presented.
All the preconceived notions everyone has about everyone and everything, including the idea of real security, is shattered when they realize that there are bigger and badder things in the night. 

365 Days- Day 20

movie: Once Bitten
starring: Lauren Hutton, Jim Carrey
genre: Comedy
year: 1985
format: DVD

plot: A teenager who just can not seem to talk his girlfriend into sex, decides to go with his two best friends to a bar in Hollywood to meet women. He ends up going home with a sexy older woman, only to learn she's a vampire.  He begins to turn into a vampire himself, and only his girlfriend can break the bond the vampire has over him.

This is a cult classic

It's still one of those films that 28 years later makes me laugh out loud.  Like a scene when the girlfriend figures out what is happening and gets the two best friends to check for bite marks on his thighs. Hysterical.

I think one of the reasons this movie hits such a note, is that the main topic of having sex for the first time, is so blown out of proportion when it comes to pride. (at lest it was when I went to high school) One of the first scenes has the lead character and his girlfriend talking about not having sex, while being surrounded by a dozen cars filled with teens in the act. (complete with squeaky sounds and a visual of an pump in the background) it not only sets the pace for the film, but gives this feeling of total isolation and frustration for the lead.

This could easily of gone wrong. I've mentioned before, there have been times when you look at a film and think "gee if this had been done five years later, it would have been too much of a gross out"
Considering the topic at hand, this film was done at a time of a bit more...innocence. And it works. Plan and simple.  I really don't think this would have been the same vein (no pun intended)  if it had been made a decade later. 

what do i think i learned from this film?
This is an obvious hint at the idea of disease from unprotected sex. It's always better to side on caution.  The tagline pretty much says it all  a one night stand with eternal complications

365 Days- Day 1

movie: The Dark Crystal
starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz
genre: Family
year: 1982
format: DVD

plot: Jen is the last of his kind after his village is destroyed. Raised by the Mystics, a tribe of healers, he is told that he alone holds the key to repairing the worlds, which he must do with the missing piece of the crystal. Along the way, he meets Kira, a female who was also told she was the last of their kind. Together, they face the Skeksis, the current keepers of the crystal.

Right off, you're thinking what the hell?

The Dark Crystal is indeed a vampire movie.  The Skeksis live by draining and drinking the lifeforce of other creatures.  Just because there are no fangs or coffins does not mean it doesn't come into the category of vampire. And I thought it was the perfect way to kick this whole thing off.
Showing that vampires are truly everywhere.  Even when you don't think they are.

I've actually mentioned this theme before on other blogs in the past, but still, The Dark Crystal is such a classic that it gets lost in the shuffle of "kids movies that are creepy".
There is also the factor that the character of Kira is brought back from death by the now whole creatures.

The entire story deals with duel natures. Negative and positive, male and female, light and dark etc. Focusing on the idea that you can't have one without the other.  You can not have life without death, as it will start to loose it's focus.  Immortality is the main goal for the characters of the Skeksis, to cheat death at all costs throwing the balance of life off. Meanwhile, the Mystics have the knowledge that in order to truly live, you need to know both sides of the situation.  And once they understand and accept this, when they become "one" with their darker sides, then they actually get the immortality that they are looking for. 

what do i think i learned from this film?
Death is not a permanent thing. Energy flows from one form to the other and keeps on regenerating itself. There is no real need to be greedy with the life you are given, or to throw things off balance.