Rivers of London, originally released as Midnight Riot before it was retitled to launch the continuing series of novels it spawned, was a wonderful surprise and a complete joy to read, and a fantastic introduction into the genre of urban fantasy. PC Peter Grant is afraid he’s going to end up doing administrative duty once…
Tag: vampires
The X-Files (1998) – Bad Blood, and Patient X
Vince Gilligan delivers a very comedic entry in The X-Files with Bad Blood, which first aired on 22 February, 1998. A riff on not only classic vampire beliefs as well as the classic he said/she said trope. The episode opens with a shocking moment, a young man, Ronnie (Patrick Renna) is being chased, and ends…
The X-Files (1994) – 3, and One Breath
Scully (Gillian Anderson) is still missing, and Mulder (David Duchovny) heads off to L.A. to investigate possible vampires, or at least blood fetishists in the first real clunker of season two, 3. Written by Chris Ruppenthal as well as Glen Morgan and James Wong, this disappointing episode first aired on 4 November, 1994. As Mulder…
The Monster Club (1981) – Roy Ward Baker
Boy is this one a doozy, coming on the coat tails of The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, the next werewolf title up for review in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies is a rather lackluster affair. An anthology film whose only werewolf is the secretary of the club, the Monster club in the title. Despite…
Paprebacks From Hell (2017) – Grady Hendrix
Grady Hendrix wowed and delighted me with his nostalgia, and horror filled, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and I’m always on the look out for the other books he’s written. So when I came across his non-fiction book, Paperbacks From Hell, documenting the paperback horror novels of the 70s and 80s, I had to grab it…
Night Watch (2004) – Timur Bekmambetov
The next title from DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies as I continue my way through the vampire section of the book written by John Landis, is the Russian visual stunner, Night Watch. Based on the novels by Sergey Lukyanenko, the story gives us a look at vampires and other creatures, all known as Others,…
Vampires (1998) – John Carpenter
The chapter on vampires in DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies continues to provide me with countless films to sink my fangs into, and this week I got to revisit a classic John Carpenter film, as he takes on the creatures of the night. Based loosely on the novel by John Steakley (which…
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004) – Stephen King
The penultimate volume of Stephen King’s magnificent fantasy western opus is on the book shelf this week, and leads us along many roads, some hauntingly familiar, all troubling. With the abduction of the pregnant Susannah by Mia, the daughter of none, mother of one, at the climax of the previous book, everything is set up…
The Vampire Lovers (1970) -Roy Ward Baker
Hammer Films stepped up their game once they realized blood, fangs, boobs and sexuality can mix. The Vampire Lovers, which features Peter Cushing is the next stop in the vampire chapter of DK Canada’s immensely enjoyable Monsters in the Movies by legendary director John Landis. Referred to as the first film in the Karnstein trilogy,…
Van Helsing (2004) – Stephen Sommers
After his fairly positive success with two Mummy movies, and the cult favorite Deep Rising, Stephen Sommers looked to do an homage to the Universal Monsters and hopefully launch a new tentpole franchise with the Hugh Jackman led Van Helsing. This is the next recommendation from DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies by John Landis,…
The Mind Reels 