365 Days- Day 25

movie: Dracula Dead and Loving It
starring: Leslie Nielsen, Peter MacNicol
genre: Comedy
year; 1995
format: DVD

plot: Dracula arrives in England and chaos follows.


This is a spoof by Mel Brooks, and one of the funniest vampire comedies I've ever seen. It's just so crazy.  Peter MacNicol does the second best Renfield, I think ever. Mostly because it's a straight up tribute to the one Dwight Frye created in 1931

And again, this version of Dracula mixes the characters and losses others completely.  Mostly because it's based more on the 1931 Bela Lugosi movie then the actual book by Bram Stoker.

One of the jokes that always cracks me up is when Dracula first meets Renfield and there is a bat that is hovering around them, and Dracula goes to utter what you think is the classic line of "children of the night, what sweet music they make"   but instead says "the children of the night, what a mess they make" and then the camera focuses on a large clump of bat poop. 
And of course, there is the blood bath scene when Johnathan Harker has to stake Lucy.  I've seen this movie close to twenty times in the last 18 years and that still cracks me up.

It also pulls a lot of ideas from the 1992 version of Dracula as well as the Roman Polanski film Fearless Vampire Killers. (mostly the large ball room scene) 

what do i think i learned from this film?
When staking a vampire always remember to put newspaper down on the floors first. 

365 Days- Day 24

movie: Hotel Transylvania
starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg
genre: Family, Comedy
year: 2012
format: DVD

plot: After his wife is killed, Count Dracula builds a new castle in the middle of nowhere in order to keep his daughter Mavis safe. It quickly becomes a spot for monsters to vacation.  On the eve of her 118th birthday, Dracula throws a major party, only some how Johnathan, a human stumbles in to the castle. And when he meets Mavis, it's love at first sight.  Now Dracula is trying to keep Johnathan a secret from the rest of the monsters, but only manages to break his daughter's heart by keeping the two teens apart.

This just came out on DVD this week.  I'm happy.  I got to see this in the cinema last fall and loved it!

There are very few vampire movies that I would ever let kids watch, and this is one of them. It is a cartoon, it`s geared for kids over the age of five, and it`s just too cute for words.

This is also a story about how some parents can be over protective at times, letting their pasts mistakes or heartbreak control how they raise their kids.  This is also about being open minded to other cultures.  Dracula in this is so fearful of humans that he`s convinced everyone he knows that trusting humans will lead to certain death for monsters.  This film also brings up the topic of being a control freak and knowing when to relax.

This movie brings too mind the Addams Family and the Munsters, in the effect that the characters function normally and have no clue that they are really different from the rest of us.

what do i think i learned from this film?
At some point, everyone has to be allowed to make their own choices, no matter how hard it is for the people in our lives.  There is a line in the film where Johnathan and Mavis are talking about all the places Johnathan has traveled to, and when Mavis asks him about it he responds by saying what`s the other option just staying at home and never trying anything?

365 Days- Day 23

movie: The Night Stalker
starring: Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland
genre: Drama, Crime,
year: 1971
format: VHS

plot: A wise cracking reporter working in Las Vegas is put on the case of multiple murders that have two things in common, they are all young women and they are all totally drained of blood. At first they believe that it's a serial killer who thinks he's a vampire, but they soon learn he's the real deal.

This is the original  made for tv movie that spawned both the sequel -Night Strangler- and the tv series (the original 1974 and the 2005 remake)  and is based on a novel by Jeff Rice.

I find it interesting that the first episode of the tv series that followed a few years later -episode called The Ripper- was very similar to this original movie/story. 

This movie still holds up all these years later- the story, not so much my VHS copy- and made me long for shows like this (the X-Files pays homage to this show on many occasions and McGavin did a few episodes as Mulder's hero) I would say it is the front runner for many of the sci-fi styled detective shows we have had in recent years. Or some of the better detective shows in general actually.

It's basically all about what you are willing to believe.  The thin line between fiction and reality.  The movie was done at a time when the supernatural was really seeping into every form of mainstream. And vampires had one of the biggest boosts with Dark Shadows and the Hammer Dracula films.

There's this one line at the end of the film when the character is told his girlfriend was made to move away and the head of the police department says "she was an undesirable, and we don't want that in Las Vegas"   which makes me crack up every time.

what do i think i learned from this film?
Everyone has a story and the truth is out there

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 21

Dracula The Series- Episode 1 The Children of the Night


We open with a couple walking alone at night and are viewing them through what seems to be a fog. A cop comes up to them and tells them to move along, and we then follow her down the alley alone through the sudden strange fog.  She hears something turns and screams as a man in a black hat and coat comes up to her, attacking her, leaving two bite marks on her neck.

Then we see a car pull up to a old house, a mom and her two sons-Chris and Max- get out of the car and into the house. Their uncle Gustav welcomes them complaining about the sun. Max starts looking around the house finding a wooden stake, asking if it's for killing vampires. Gustav brushes him off making a joke and referring to a folklore about seeds and vampires, which Max had been eating.
We then are introduced to Sophie, who lives in the house which Chris falls for on sight.

They then go to a business dinner, and meet Alexander Lucard, head of the company.  We then see the two boys talking about how they think their uncle is a vampire.

The next morning, Max goes to see Alexander Lucard at work, and knocks over a bag of seeds which seems to make Lucard act odd. He then tells Max that their uncle is not what they think just before throwing himself onto the floor to eat the seeds.

Back at the house, Chris and Sophie  are watching movies and discover Max has sneaked out of the house to go to find Lucard at his castle, and run after him.  Max believes that they are in danger if they stay at their uncle's and that they are only safe at the castle.  Sofie pulls a cross and stuns Lucard for a few seconds letting the boys run away, but she is trapped by zombies.  While in the castle, Lucard starts to play music for Sophie, and she figures out that he is indeed Dracula.
The boys come back to the castle getting the attention of a female vampire and some of the zombies, tricking them into opening the door letting them in.
We then learn from a conversation between Sophie and Lucard that he's very aware that Gustav is a Van Helsing. The boys break in and try to fight him, with Max spraying holy water on him.  As they run out of the building, they meet back up with the female vampire again and stake her.
Lucard then appears blocking the door, trapping the kids.  But before he can bite any of them, Gustav shows up and they have a short battle before Lucard turns to a bat and flies away.

Back at the house, Gustav fills the kids in about the history of their family and how many times Dracula has tried to take over the world. And that now in the modern age he's using his corporation to do so.  Max makes a comment about how he was in the same room with the real Dracula and didn't get his autograph to which Gustav says there will be other chances.



I know this is a show geared for younger audiences but, I remember when it first came out back in 1990-1991.  There is something endearing about this show even though it was short lived with only one season. The campy dialogue and pure humour of it always puts me in mind of the best parts of Lost Boys and Monster Squad.  At the time, vampire tv shows were really making a dent in the mainstream programming. (Forever Knight, episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark, Kindred the Embraced,  all were done within a short time of this)

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

Just a note

My Spudguns!
I know, I have missed two more days in a row this week.   The challenge this year has been having a really bumpy start.  And I think I've been online for a grand total of 10 minutes in the last 48hours. 
I'm trugging through a round of the flu, which is making it impossible to get anything done, both on the blogs and in my housework.

I will be back sometime before midnight with the next installment of the 365 Days challenge. 
It just looks like it might take me six hours to get through a 90 minute DVD.