Although Universal eventually did follow up Tod Browning’s “Dracula” from 1931 with their own “Dracula’s Daughter” and “Son of Dracula,” the unofficial sequel has always been 1943’s “The Return of the Vampire.” When Columbia Pictures sough to revive Dracula for the big screener, Universal halted their efforts, prompting Columbia to basically deliver the follow up to Dracula but under a variety of different names and different circumstances. With “The Return of the Vampire” we have a great spiritual sequel that stars Lugosi returning as Dracula, but–not Dracula.
Category Archives: Collector’s Den
TV On DVD: Krypton: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray/Digital], Astroboy: the Complete Series (DVD)
As a Superman fanatic it’s been a tough road as I’m still getting over the stinks of “Smallville” and “Batman v Superman,” so when Syfy proposed its own Superman series that side stepped Superman altogether, I was very skeptical. Suffice to say, “Krypton: The Complete First Season” isn’t always a great show, but appreciated as its own attempt to ambitiously tackle the back drop of the Kryptonian Lore, it’s not a bad time spent. At ten episodes total for the first season, there are a lot worse things you can do as a Superman fan. Watching “Superman IV,” for instance. I digress.
Queens of Scream – Triple Feature [Blu-Ray/DVD]
For horror fans looking for another value pack of horror movies, Mill Creek Entertainment is repackaging some of their more notable titles in to a Triple Feature on Blu-Ray. For folks looking to increase their horror movie collection and save money, this is the perfect launch pad with some up to date formats. This Trio of films come on Blu-Ray and DVD, for folks that still collect and or use the latter format.
The Craft (1996): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
Just in time for “Women in Horror Month,” Andrew Fleming’s “The Craft” is one of those movies that’s gained some heavy cult momentum over the years, and for good reason. Even with the nineties aesthetic, “The Craft” has aged quite well offering up a mature genre picture that begins as a coming of age supernatural drama and gradually transforms in to a horror film. There just aren’t films like “The Craft” anymore, and that’s a shame, since Andrew Fleming offers up a unique tale of good and evil, and power corrupting absolutely.
Willard (2003) [Blu-Ray]
1971’s “Willard” is a movie that definitely happened. It was shockingly influential and even spawned a loose sequel involving one of the film’s rat villains Ben, called “Ben.” It was also a movie, mostly known for the title song by Michael Jackson. I don’t blame the studios for wanting to remake “Willard,” as it’s definitely a great idea that had a less than entertaining end result. Sadly, much of Glen Morgan’s treatment feels like Tim Burton lite with a heavy reliance on the career revivals of R. Lee Ermey and Crispin Glover of the early aughts.
The Alice Howell Collection (2 DVD Set)
Undercrank Productions deserves a ton of credit as they are releasing films and silent cinema that no one else has even approached yet. While boutique studios are dabbling in eighties and seventies obscure gems, Undercrank and Ben Model are back in the early 1900’s restoring the short films of Alice Howell, a silent cinema comedic actress who was once compared to her contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, folks that want to bone up on the history of women in comedy cinema, this is a great place to continue your education on how much they’ve contributed, and the unsung voices of comedy.
The Plague of the Zombies (1966) [Blu-Ray]
Despite generally loving movies about the supernatural, and in spite of “The Plague of the Zombies” being very much ahead of its time in its implementing of voodoo as a means of our villain enacting his devious plan, I was indifferent toward “The Plague of the Zombies.” I can’t say that I completely hated it, but while it packs in some tension and great mood set pieces, I wasn’t too sad when it finally drew to a close.