365 Days- Day 14

Movie: Vampires
Starring: Pierre Lognay, Julien Dore
Genre: Comedy,
Year: 2010
Format: online

Plot: A film crew follows a family of vampires in Belgium, and documents how they get themselves tossed out of the community.

This was a different sort of film.  I've seen a ton of vampire movies over the decades (hence this whole project) and many mockumentaries too.  This was by far one of the better mocs out there.

It is subtitled, so if you're not a fan of reading a movie, you might want to find something else
There were elements of this movie that sort of made me cringe because they were too much like elements I've seen from role playing games.

Two of the sub-plots have to do with a female vampire wanting to be human again, and a vampire playboy who is living like he's a teenager even though he's nearly 70 years old.

What do I think I learned from this film?
No one is ever truly happy with how they are.

365 Days- Day 13

Blade the Series- Episode 3: Death Goes On

We open this episode with a truck stopping at a gas station, and learn that it is carrying vampires who are being used for their blood. The cop from the previous episodes was turned into a vampire at the very end, and is among the victims. He uses one of his teeth to cut his way out and kills the driver getting away.
Then opening credits.

We're back in Detroit where Blade is preparing, trying to understand what happened in the last fight he had with the Uber vamp.  Meanwhile, his sidekick Shen is trying to figure out what the connection to the latest situation is.
We then see Krista, who is still in the vampire main house, having nightmares. Where upon, we see Chase and the Ubervamp talking.
Back to Blade and Shen, trying to understand why the vampires are producing Ash.

We then learn that the vampires are conducting experiments on their own kind, trying to create a vaccine that will not affect the turnbloods. We start to see what the affect Ash is having on humans, which causes them to want eat their own hands for blood.  Ash basically gives humans a short jolt of vampire powers.
Blade then beats up a dealer for information.  Next scene is Krista injecting one of the bottles of Blade's serum while in the shower. Marcus is waiting for her when she gets out of the shower, and we're never really sure if he's witnessed the serum or not?
A guest of Marcus's decides to go to the local feeding house, feeding on humans who have been sedated.  

Next scene is Blade once again questioning the dealer, looking for a major dealer called Cain. Marcus then takes Krista on a date, where she learns they can actually eat food. Only because of her taking the serum, she learns she can't eat.

We then see a dealer hyped on Ash, kill two vampires. Then go to his drug factory. We discover this is Cain.

Marcus then goes to the feeding house, and realizes that it's someone other then Blade who killed his guest and driver. Killing the Madam.

Krista learns about the vaccine, project Aurora from Fritz the Ubervamp.   We then see Chase torturing a human about the Ash.
We then learn that Marcus is not at the head of things, but in fact answers to another vampire.

Krista and Chase are sent out to a warehouse to clean up the drug factory that Cain has going.  Meanwhile, Blade has followed the dealer he'd been questioning to the same building.  Soon it's a full on battle between the "clean up crew" and Blade.  Fritz the Ubervamp gets killed, and both Chase and Krista end up injured.
We end on a scene of the cop vamp attacking another police officer in the middle of the highway, and see that he's got a woman in the trunk of a car.

This episode, you see the softer side of Marcus, as he's doing his best to woo Krista. And Chase's jealousy is clear.  You also learn that there is more to the hierarchy then we first thought. And that the vampires are having unrest within their own world.
It's also brought up that the vampires are not all happy with the idea of the Ash drug being out there on the streets.

I think the main theme in this episode is that things are not always as they first appear. There is always something going on just under the surface. Just the fact that Marcus and Chase were willing to kill one of their own members to save a secret says volumes. As does the fact they kill the Madam for letting the drug be used in the feeding house.

365 Days- Day 12

movie: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper
genre: Action, Historical,
year: 2012
format: DVD

plot: Following the life of Abraham Lincoln, as he destroys vampires from the time he was a teenager to his death.

This is based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith

I know I made the plot seem less then it is, but it's pretty much that simple to sum up.  This film is a lovely mix of reality and fiction.
It's a beautiful weaving of pure action flick styled like Blade or Underworld, taking on the idea that there is a secret world that very few are aware of that has slithered into governments.
There are elements of a love story between the characters of Abraham and his wife Mary, which otherwise might have detracted from the story, but works perfectly as a underlining theme.

I loved the fact that the vampires are sturdy in their beliefs. They are either down right evil or they are heroes, but none of them are wimpy or shy about their natures.  All the vampires drink blood with vigor.

There is one scene when the vampire Adam is making a deal with a human and lifts two glasses, when the other guy turns it down, the vampire takes a drink from one glass and nearly chokes on it spitting it out. You have to assume he drank the wine instead of the blood, which I thought was a neat little moment of humour.

what do i think i learned from this film?
Love and Honor are the only things we really have.

365 Days- Day 11

movie: Mom's got a Date with a Vampire
starring: Caroline Rhea, Robert Carradine
genre: Comedy
year: 2000
format: VHS

plot: Two teens decide to set their mom up on date in order to sneak out of the house to go to a concert. Only their younger brother sees the guy turn into a bat and calls a vampire hunter.  Soon, the kids are in a fight for their lives.

This is a made for tv movie from the Family channel.

This movie hits all the right notes, and has just enough elements of Lost Boys and Monster Squad to make any die hard vamp fan happy.
Giving the restaurant the name of Renfield's  was a cool nod to Dracula.  Charles Shaughnessy plays the Dracula-ish vampire with just enough a mix of comedy and sex appeal, that you forgive his British accent even when he claims he's from Romania/Hungry.
The tricks the Van Helsing character uses to find the vampire are some of the most unique I've seen in movies.

The baseline in this is that true love comes in all forms, as it's the parent-child bond that saves the mom from the clutches of the vampire. Where as, in typical vampire movies it's a romantic relationship that usually breaks the vampire's hold.
It's also about reconnecting with your own spirit, as the mom starts to believe in herself again after singing during their date. Her confidence returns giving her a moment to remember what her life was like before her divorce. And if you want to go deeper on that idea, the vampire character represents any new boyfriend that might come into the life of a single mom, who just doesn't want to be a daddy figure.

what do i think i learned from this film?
Don't let eight year olds watch vampire movies; they could turn out like me. And don't pimp out your family members for a concert.

365 Days- Day 10

movie: The Caretaker
starring: Anna Burgess, Mark White
genre: Drama
year: 2012
format: DVD

plot: When half the world begins suffering from a plague of vampirism a few lone survivors find themselves locked up in a farm in Australia with one vampire. They make a pact to keep him safe during the day from hunters, and he keeps them safe at night from other vampires. Soon their balance is thrown off when one of them gets infected as well.

I found it interesting that they had it so that the vampires were turned not by other vampires, but by mutant mosquitoes.  When you think about it, mosquitoes are tiny vampires in their own right.

The movie starts off very similar to Night of the Living Dead, in the fact that the population is already hit by this when the movie starts and the viewers are thrown face first into the situation without any real back story.  It also centers around a group of strangers who have no choice but to band together in a farm house.

The vampire in this is neither the bad guy nor the hero, he just sort of is.  The title comes more from the ending then anything else, when one of the main characters is seen looking after the house where the vampire is.  He's also the character you are suspicious of through out the film. Just textbook creepy old guy.
This is also a bit of a throw back to old horror films of the 1960's/1970's as it takes over half of the film to really get it's plot out.  To me it felt like it was just starting to gel the last 15 minutes of the film. That to me should have been the starting point.

what do i think i learned from this film?
I'm not sure if this was about global warming, or fear of the unknown, or what; to tell you the truth. There is a dirty old man who I kept thinking was a serial killer or something, and another guy who seemed to be a woman hater because of his ex wife.  Both who did their best to manipulate the third man in this movie for their own means. 
I guess if I have taken anything from this movie is that sometimes the vampires are not the worst thing you need to face in life.

365 Days- Day 9

movie: Draghoula
starring:Chriss Lee, Stephanie Seidle
genre: Comedy
year: 1995
format: VHS

plot: A lab researcher has his funding cut and ends up having to find his lab rats on the black market. Little does he know they are vampire rats. One bites him, turning him into a vampire, which he expresses by becoming a vampire drag queen at night.

I decided to go with this last night for this week's movie club selection on my movie blog (if you want to read that much longer post it's here)

This movie is pure camp.
The lead character is a grown man who lives with his mother, and is pretty much having his life controlled by the women around him. The only freedom he finds is when he starts turning into a vampire.
I'm not really sure why he dresses in drag?  Unless it's just a by product of the time it was made?
I'd love to say the idea of gender identity is suppose to be a theme in this, but I can't. The lead character just shows up in drag without any forewarning.

The film itself doesn't really go anywhere either. It just sort of spins the same type of scenes over and over, which are of the lead character running around the streets in garters and a cape.

what do i think i learned from this film?
I'm not sure there is anything to learn from this, just sit back and enough the silliness. 

365 Days- Day 8

WWBD? part 4

Season 1 Episode 6- The Pack

Buffy, Willow and Xander are on a school field trip at the zoo.  Some of the other students are bullying another boy, and Xander follows them into the Hyena house stopping them.  Unknown to them, the Hyena is magical and possesses the group of kids. Later that night, while out at the Bronze, Buffy and Willow start to notice Xander becoming less caring and mean, as he joins in with the bullies. He then sniffs Buffy, commenting on her having bathed thus changing her scent.
The next day at school, Xander shows up with the rest of the bullies who are now his new best friends. Buffy thinks something is really wrong and starts talking to Giles about it.

Giles has the best line of the episode at this point when he says "Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate, and there's a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor, and otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging around with imbeciles. It's devastating, he's turned into a sixteen year old boy."

We then see the pack eat the school mascot before turning on Mr. Flute, killing him. While this is happening, Xander is attacking Buffy only to get knocked out.   Willow stands guard over Xander while Buffy and Giles go to the zoo to talk to the zookeeper.  They figure out that it was the actions of Xander saving the boy from the bullies that activated the spirit switch, and agree to bring the pack there to undo it.  Meanwhile, Willow is trapped by the pack in the school.
Buffy and Giles realize that the rules of Hyenas apply to the kids, one of which is that the pack will hunt down their missing member and race to the school to save her.
Once they do, they bait the pack to follow Buffy to the zoo, where Giles is already waiting with the zookeeper.  Only Giles finds out the zookeeper was the cause of the whole mess to begin with, as he is a devotee of a cult that worships pack animals.
Buffy and the pack arrive just in time for her to save Willow, after Giles has been knocked out, and tosses the zookeeper into the animal cage where he is eaten by the Hyenas, reversing the possession. The students and Xander are freed from the curse.

This is the transition between Mr Flute and Mr. Synder.  Sort of the innocent into the devious.  The metaphor is summed up in the quote by Giles about Xander's hormones kicking in. 

This episode also draws from folklore about shapeshifters and possessions, which will lay the ground work for so many elements in the rest of the series.

The scenes where Xander stalks Buffy have as much to do with her being an "alpha" female as it does his general crush on her. She's the only one who he recognizes as being stronger then himself.  And with the animal spirit controlling his base nature, he for the first time is in the same league as her.

I think this episode carries with it enough reality to really make you understand why the show is as good as it is. 
You never know when someone will change to either fit in, causing heartache to their friends, or when someone will simply grow apart from their normal group.
I love the fact the costume department put the pack in earth tones of grey and brown for this and not the typical black. It gives that subconscious idea that they are turning into Hyenas.  The sound they make though when killing Mr. Flute to me sounded more like Monkeys then Hyenas.

This is one of my top favourite episodes of Buffy. (Top 5 list)