I’ve written in great length about director Fred Dekker’s “The Monster Squad” over and over. I love it. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, and I love it now. I wore out the VHS when I was a wee lad, I had a bootleg DVD in my collection when it was out of print for many years, and ever since I love to re-visit it whenever I can. “The Monster Squad” is a drastic departure from director Fred Dekker’s other cult classic “Night of the Creeps,” but like it, “The Monster Squad” is an unabashed love letter to horror movies, and the horror genre in general.
Tag Archives: Dracula
The Halloween that Almost Wasn’t (1979)
It’s surprising that “The Halloween that Almost Wasn’t” has managed to become something of a mini-cult classic over the years. It was a TV movie that was almost lost to time, and once reclaimed, has survived thanks to nostalgia. The TV movie was much before my time, so I don’t have any real sentimentality directed toward it. In either case, ”The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t” isn’t the best Halloween special, but it has its heart in the right place, even through the cheesy final scene.
The Last Voyage of The Demeter (2023)
It’s pretty good to see at least one studio investing in transforming vampires in to relentless monsters once again after so many years where vampires have been watered down and overly fetishized. The vampires in André Øvredal’s interpretation of “The Last Voyage of The Demeter” as well as—well—Dracula in general, are not empathetic, alluring figures. They’re blank, cold and vicious monsters controlled by Dracula who is reduced to his most primal state for this re-visiting of one of the most haunting chapters in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
The Tomb of Dracula (Yami no Teiō: Kyūketsuki Dorakyura) (1985)
DRACULA WEEK
Also known as “Dracula Sovereign of the Damned,” and “The Emperor of Darkness: The Vampire Dracula,” Toei’s “Tomb of Dracula” is loosely adapted from the “The Tomb of Dracula” Marvel Book comic series published from 1972 to 1979. I like to think the Marvel comics are so much better than what Toei has offered fans, as they squeeze in all of those stories in to such a hastily made ninety minute movie. And you can tell there’s so much here added in a rush as the movie is so badly made.
Ranking the Classic Movie Monster Reboots from Best to Worst
DRACULA WEEK
With “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” coming to theaters on Friday, we’re going to see a pretty interesting interpretation of Dracula. I am quite excited to see what it has to offer horror fans and have re-visited a lot of the classic movie monsters and the studios’ efforts to reboot and re-imagine a lot of their classic IP’s. While I’m hoping “The Last Voyage of Demeter” makes Dracula horrifying again, I ranked all of the attempts at Rebooting Classic Movie Monsters from Best to Worst.
Dracula Untold (2014)
DRACULA WEEK
It’s a damn shame that Universal just didn’t have enough confidence in Gary Shore’s treatment of Dracula to warrant it a follow up. “Dracula Untold” is a good enough movie all on its own, but it was also teeming with so much potential for a larger scale sequel that reversed all roles. Where as Dracula is the hero of “Untold” and Dominic Cooper the villain as Mehmed, the Turkish Sultan, it would have been fun to see the descendant of Mehmed, played by Cooper also, as now a law abiding police officer who engages in a new war with the modern version of Dracula. That’s just the writer in me building on head canon, but “Dracula Untold” is a very good interpretation of Bram Stoker’s novel.
Dan Curtis’ Dracula (1974)
DRACULA WEEK
Also known as “Dracula,” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Dan Curtis, the creator of “Dark Shadows” adapts (I use the term loosely) the bare essentials of Bram Stoker’s iconic novel. I say “the bare essentials” because for a movie written by Richard Matheson, there isn’t much that the movie strives for beside delivering a Dracula movie and nothing else. There’s no re-interpretation, or any kind of drastic changes to the narrative, save for Jonathan Harker’s fate, which is quite gruesome.
Dear Dracula (2012)
DRACULA WEEK
I think I recall “Dear Dracula” airing on cable television back in 2012, but I never paid it much attention. It’s too bad because considering its obviously small budget, “Dear Dracula” is a fun and funny animated film. Maybe it’s because I can relate to young hero Sam and his love for characters like Dracula and the Wolfman over characters like Santa or the Tooth Fairy.