Special effects wizard John Dykstra, legendary composer Henry Mancini, Alien scribe Dan O’Bannon, Sir Patrick Stewart, and the lovely Mathilda May are all part of Tobe Hooper’s sci-fi vampire movie. And you’d think that with credits like that, including Steve Railsback and Peter Firth would make this a solid entry in the Monsters in the…
Tag: special effects
Fright Night (1985) – Tom Holland
One of my favorite vampire movies is the next title up in the Monsters in the Movies book from DK Canada. Tom Holland’s Fright Night starring Roddy McDowall, Chris Sarandon, Stephen Geoffreys, Amanda Bearse and young William Ragsdale in the lead in this wonderful suburban update on the vampire legend. I came to horror movies…
TAD2018: Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) – Issa Lopez
Toronto After Dark gets underway this evening at the Scotiabank Theatre with its opening night film, Tigers Are Not Afraid. Hailing from Mexico, this film kicks off the festival with a darkly beautiful story that has hints of del Toro, and invites us into the troubled lives of a group of children. Screening at 7pm…
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) – Ed Wood Jr.
While not necessarily a vampire movie, Plan 9 From Outer Space, undeniably one of the worst films ever made (which in turn made it a cult classic), is the next title in the vampire section of John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies from DK Canada. The film does feature a plan to resurrect the dead,…
Mark of the Vampire (1935) – Tod Browning
Eight years after the release of London After Midnight, Tod Browning remade the film as Mark of the Vampire with Lionel Barrymore as Professor Zelin, a variation on Chaney’s inspector from the original film. It is also the next film up in John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies, a coffee table tome that I am…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993) – Timescape, and Descent
Captain’s log: stardate 46944.2 Directed by Leonard Nimoy’s son, Adam, this episode was penned by Brannon Braga and first aired on 14 June, 1993. I’m always a fan of episodes that play with time loops, time travel, paradoxes and such, and this one ends up being very enjoyable. Travelling back to the Enterprise, Picard (Patrick…
Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – The Eleventh Hour, and The Beast Below
Matt Smith steps into the TARDIS this week as the new Doctor. Following our brief glimpse of him at the conclusion of The End of Time, the story picks up moments later with the blue box plummeting to Earth and into a story written by Steven Moffat. The episode first aired on 3 April, 2010,…
Faust (1926) – F.W. Murnau
DK Canada’s The Movie Book brings me some more F.W. Murnau. The film highlighted in the book is Sunrise, which I’d previously reviewed, and I’ve viewed his Key Movies, so I moved on to What Else to Watch and dug into his adaptation of the classic tale of Faust. Taking into account the time in…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) – Encounter at Farpoint
Captain’s log: stardate 41153.7 Set decades (78 years altogether) after the events of Kirk and company, Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired on 28 September, 1987. Launching us into the 24th century, a script by series creator Gene Roddenberry and D.C. Fontana introduced us to an all new U.S.S. Enterprise, a Galaxy-class starship, and…
The Mummy (1999) – Stephen Sommers
While the updated version of The Mummy blasts into theatres this summer, the 1999 reboot was on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for follow-up titles to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This version, directed by Stephen Sommers, stars Brendan Fraser, Oded Fehr, Rachel Weisz and Arnold…
The Mind Reels 