Based on the Children’s book series The Little Vampire, from German writer Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, the story from the author has been adapted before, most notably in the 2000 live action kid’s film. This version is directed by Joann Sfar with about as much competence as is humanly possible, and it’s sadly hindered by the poor American dub that sadly almost seems exclusively available. I wonder if there is a version with the original voice track, but sadly the movie isn’t so good that I will necessarily go and seek it out.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
The Elderly (Viejos) (2023)
Raúl Cerezo, and Fernando González Gómez’s horror thriller may not be the most entertaining genre film, but it certainly is one of the most depressing movies about aging I’ve ever seen. With movies like “The Elderly,” although there is almost certainly another horror element waiting around the corner, the pair of directors are keen on depicting aging and being elderly as perhaps the most horrific circumstance to ever find ones self in. “The Elderly” is a lot about this inexplicable series of events involving the local elderly population, many of whom are becoming violent toward their family and toward themselves.
Subservience (2024)
Out today on VOD from Vertigo Releasing
A father needing help buys a SIM to assist around the house and with the children while his wife if in the hospital. Soon, things take a dark turn when the beautiful android gains awareness.
All Fun and Games (2023)
It’s really too bad that directors Eren Celeboglu, and Ari Costa’s supernatural horror movie virtually came and went without much of a trace in 2023. It’s not by any metric a complete masterpiece, but it sure is a fun little horror film packed with a lot of mythos that I wanted to learn a lot more about. “All Fun and Games” is primarily about the fragility of the family unit and how this family known as the Fletchers are thrown in to disarray and pure chaos at the drop of a hat.
Monster Family (2017)
You could be forgiven for mistaking “Monster Family” as a part of the “Hotel Transylvania” movie universe, but I don’t think that’s unintentional. “Monster Family” bases itself on a lot of other better films for what amounts to such a flat affair. Despite its lively animation, everything about “Monster Family” is a messy, convoluted, and bizarre affair that never makes much sense, despite its attempts to bring itself down to Earth as a tale about family unity. Holger Tappe delivers what is just a sloppy, derivative mash-up of “Hotel Transylvania,” “The Incredibles” and “The Munsters.” And it’s never as fun as either of the aforementioned, even at its best.
Talk to Me (2023)
Danny and Michael Philippou’s “Talk to Me” really is one of the crowning horror achievements of 2023. It’s one of those horror movies that doesn’t just scare you, but it also leaves a stain on you. That’s because while “Talk to Me” is very much a demonic possession movie, it’s deeply rooted in the concept of the urban folklore that taps in to not only our obsession with death, but our need to know if there’s anything after we’ve died. That’s essentially what fuels pretty much everyone in “Talk to Me”; the twisted porcelain hand reaching out for a grip becomes the sort of Monkey’s Paw or Ouija Board that everyone begins to center their lives on.
It grants them an amazing ability, but one that is easily misused and one that can be exploited. It’s almost a phone extension to the other side where anyone can mine souls for some sort of contact. The problem is we’re never quite sure what kind of souls they’re conjuring up. What becomes such a fascinating drive for these characters is that the use of the film’s mysterious porcelain hand is a plot device that is powerful, but also ambiguous until the very end. Whose hand is it? How old is it? Where does the power come from? Is it meant for good or pure evil? Can it filter out demons?
A Corner in Wheat (1909)
Notable as being among D.W. Griffith’s earliest attempts to blend cinema and politics, the 1909 short film “A Corner in Wheat” depicted the rise of the “Wheat King,” a speculator who manages to corner the commodity market on wheat. His success brings him great wealth that is spent on opulent entertainment for his friends, while the farmers who grow the wheat are stuck in hardscrabble lives and the lower classes who cannot afford the price gouging by the Wheat King – the cost of bread loaves is hiked from five to ten cents, forcing many to go hungry. However, the triumph of his business ruthlessness occurs moments before a freak accident where he crushed to death in a grain silo.
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