DRACULA WEEK
When we first see Gabriel Van Helsing in “Van Helsing,” he’s on the pursuit of Mr. Hyde, a hulk-ified version of Dr. Jekyll. While the Stephen Sommers movie was a bust, “The London Assignment” at least takes its best shot at filling in the gaps. “The London Assignment” is an okay attempt a prologue for Gabriel Van Helsing, where we follow him in his efforts to stop the vicious murder spree of Dr. Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego Mr. Hyde.
After coming home, a woman attempts to do everyday things and tasks while a creature creeps up on her, trying to take control of her.
A young girl being bullied for thinking she’s a vampire decides to show her bullies that she really is a vampire.
A young woman seemingly suffering from misophonia seeks help from her doctor. Running out of option and her sensitivity getting worse, she is put in an anechoic chamber, a room with pure sound reduction, a silent room, as silent as possible.
Every year, Halloween aficionados converge on the Long Beach Convention Center at the end of July to celebrate the official start of Halloween season. There, one can find everything from haunts in the Hall of Shadows, vendors in the main hall, horror celebrities signing autographs in the autograph section, special effects, merchandise, and just about anything you could want to get you in the Halloween mood in one place. There’s a panel room where this year many showed what they have been working on, but also discussions on issues affecting Halloween and horror fans, there are live podcasts recordings in front of audiences, food trucks, art, even a cultural exhibit around Day of the Dead, and a cat relaxation area with cats and kittens to play with and adopt.
My favorite thing about watching “bad” movies with my friends is when we accidentally find one that’s really well made. It’s such a nice surprise. Like when you expect that something will taste sour but instead get a mouthful of sweet nectar. On the surface BAD BEN looks like it should be perfect for a bad movie night. It’s very low budget, it’s made by someone who is arguably an amateur, and it’s one of the many imitators following in the footsteps of the found footage genre that The Blair Witch Project catapulted into popularity. However, I enjoyed the hell out of this. Yeah, it’s got a few rough edges, but if you’ve ever read any of my previous reviews you should know by now that I like it rough.
I never had the pleasure of riding the famous Disney attraction but I know enough about it to understand the particulars of the story and its appeal. After the somewhat awful 2003 attempt with Eddie Murphy, Disney takes another crack at adapting one of their most iconic attractions. In the end it amounts to a very entertaining and heartfelt horror comedy that I imagine will allow for a good gateway for budding horror fans. I won’t proclaim it as a masterpiece, but when all was said and done, I was so much more satisfied than I was with the 2003 first attempt.