Maurice (Barry Corbin) is having Cicely host a a wheel chair race that he is sponsoring in Grand Priz. Written by Barbara Hall, this episode was first broadcast on 9 May, 1994. But the racer he is personally sponsoring doesn’t want to be the person that Maurice wants him to be. While the town is…
Tag: dracula
Nosferatu (2024) – Robert Eggers
Robert Eggers writes and directs the latest iteration of Nosferatu, following in the footsteps of the iconic 1922 silent film directed by F. W. Murnau, and the 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre from Werner Herzog. As the story goes, the 1922 film blatantly ripped off Dracula, and delivered some of the most iconic horror imagery committed…
Salem’s Lot (2024) – Gary Dauberman
Maybe it’s all the Universal Monster movies I’ve been watching lately, but I found that, for the most part, Dauberman’s adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel (the first one I ever read), Salem’s Lot, works. I don’t like how he changed the climax of the film. He moves it out of the Marsten House…
Son of Dracula (1943) – Robert Siodmak
A mustachioed Lon Chaney Jr. takes over the role of Dracula in Son of Dracula, and while people insist he sounds like a foreigner he doesn’t sound like the Dracula we’ve been introduced to before, but perhaps he’s just another incarnation of the same creature. The Count, under the assumed name of Alucard (come on!)…
Dracula (1931) – George Melford
Sometimes there’s a glowing hole in my film education. I had no idea that Universal, in 1931, released two versions of Dracula, there was the iconic Bela Lugosi version which cast a long bat-shaped shadow over the entire 20th century, setting the standard for reserved, charming and well-dressed nosferatu. At the same time George Melford,…
Renfield (2023) – Chris McKay
Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, and Awkwafina star in Chris McKay’s bloody, hilarious, and over-the-top love letter to the supporting character of the original Dracula story, Renfield, including some wonderful homages to the original 1931 film. It’s modern-day America and Renfield (Hoult) has relocated Dracula (Cage) yet again to hide him from those who would hunt…
Hill Street Blues (1981) – Double Jeopardy, and Film at Eleven
Double Jeopardy, known in some markets as Dressed to Kill first aired on 31 January, 1981. Written by series creators Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, the episode puts Operation Duckling into action. It seems the serial rapist they’ve been trying to apprehend since the beginning of the series is still out there, and the precinct…
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979/1980) – Cruise Ship to the Stars, and Space Vampire
Buck (Gil Gerard) ends up on a space cruise in an attempt to protect the genetically perfect Miss Cosmos (Dorothy Stratten, featuring a voice dub by Anne Lockhart) in Cruise Ship to the Stars. Written by Alan Brennert and Anne Collins, from a story by Brennert, this episode first debuted on 27 December, 1979. Buck…
Mother Riley Meets The Vampire (1952) – John Gilling
This comedic title which features the next machine menace in DK Books’ Monsters in the Movies is a film that could have been filed under vampires or robots (though the vampire is definitely in it a lot longer than the robot). Apparently Mother Riley films were a thing in the UK, the character is played…
In Conversation with John Landis
Today is my birthday, so it seems like the perfect moment to share this wonderful gift DK Canada gave me. Director John Landis has overseen the compilation of a new anthology, Haunted Houses, and it is perfect reading for the Halloween season. It’s a fantastic collection, and DK Canada arranged for me to speak with…
The Mind Reels 