At the time of its release, Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a risky venture. Coppola was coming off the disappointment of The Godfather Part III, which capped off his mafia trilogy on a somewhat sour note. And Dracula hadn’t been on the big screen since the moderately success 1979 adaptation starring […]
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You’d be forgiven if you thought The Invitation was another quiet attempt at re-booting a ‘Dark Universe’ of classic monsters. The premise sounds like a contemporary spin on a ‘Brides of Dracula’ concept complete with its Gothic British manor setting. But this is a Sony Pictures release, not Universal Pictures, so if there’s vampires no […]
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Hollywood has always loved sequels. But the early 2000s saw studios pursue a new direction for franchise-building – prequels or origin stories. Ever want to know why Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal? How about Michael Myers’ childhood? Or what about Father Merrin’s first encounter with The Exorcist demon, Pazuzu? Though Rob Zombie’s Halloween has its […]
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Fun little piece of trivia – Dracula author Bram Stoker was Irish. It’s a fun tidbit that Irish writer and director Chris Baugh puts to good use in his horror-comedy, Boys From County Hell. But if Baugh uses Stoker’s Irish legacy, it’s only as a springboard to tell his own story. What Boys From County […]
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It’s that time of year. Stuck in the desolation that falls between Christmas and Easter, Valentine’s Day is back. But fear not. Love isn’t just for Hallmark Channel subscribers. Yes, people find love even in horror movies. Of course, it’s usually tragic, cursed, or undead. Nevertheless, horror fans have plenty of options for curling up […]
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And it’s gone. Dracula built a lot of good will and potential over two episodes. And then Gatiss and Moffat went all Dracula AD on their story, staking that potential rather abruptly. Following its final episode, critics and fans alike expressed their discontent with the Netflix series creative choices. Indeed, Dracula’s unnecessary jump to a […]
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Like Dracula’s first episode, Episode 2, entitled Blood Vessel, expands one small section of Bram Stoker’s novel into a full 90 minutes. In this case, Count Dracula’s voyage from Transylvania to England on Russian ship, Demeter, takes centre stage. From a narrative perspective, Gatiss and Moffat have a lot of wiggle-room to expand on the […]
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Past collaborators, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, have re-connected to resurrect another old, popular intellectual property. Previously, the duo re-imagined Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective for their hit BBC series, Sherlock. Now Gatiss and Moffat are dipping back into classic literature for their latest series. This time around they’re dusting off Bram Stroker’s Dracula, which […]
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