Posts Tagged ‘Vampire’

Review: BLOOD SCARAB

Posted by phillip in Films, Reviews on September 3rd, 2008

Monique T. Parent needs a bib

Perhaps best known for writing the novel of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, writer, director, screenwriter, musician, special FX man, prop builder, and actor, Donald Glut continues to feed his passion for making independent movies in his latest project, Blood Scarab. As one of the original “sci-fi boys”, Glut lived and breathed horror and science fiction. His efforts gained him much publicity in the original Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines during its time. Today he returns to us in the new era of Famous Monsters.

Blood Scarab, produced by Dan Golden and directed by Donald Glut, is Frontline Entertainment’s sequel to their Countess Dracula and Mummy’s Kiss series. Starring Monique T. Parent, Blood Scarab tells the tale of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the infamous vampire who bathed in the blood of virgins to preserve her youth, in her quest for survival in daylight. Her motivation: her husband Count Dracula (accurately hounded as Vlad) has just fallen victim to the sunlight, and she too nearly suffered a similar fate. Committed to serving now Countess Elizabeth, Renfield (of the long line of Transylvania Renfields not to be confused with Marty Renfield of the Long Island Renfields) discovers a method via the “mummy’s kiss” for his mistress to walk in the daylight. Their hunt leads them to steal the mummified body of Hor-Shep-Sut (Hmmm…that’s a mouth full) which will allow the contact to Hathor, the Egyptian blood goddess and sister of Ra, (cousin to Courtney, mother to Bolinda…oh sorry, wrong movie). Consumed by her newfound ability, the Countess attempts to dispose of the loyal Renfield and defies Hathor. The Countess and the Mummy engage in an all out battle of the boobs.

Anyone familiar with the old Hammer films will immediately recognize Blood Scarab. Donald Glut pays homage to these old films by revisiting the legend (created in the last 37 years) of the “Blood Countess” from the 1971 Hammer horror Countess Dracula and in addition, merges her character with another one of our favorite genre monsters, the Mummy with boobs.

Glut takes the film to a new level. You know the level you wanted to see when you were 12, watching Creature Features and the two vampire chicks are almost naked, cat calling the other? Get your mind out of the “Glut-ter”. The bloodshed is plentiful throughout the movie (and so are the boobs) to keep the audience in suspense. Glut spares no details for the virgins in this film…Virgins in Hollywood?!!! We’ll that’s some acting, Aye?

The mummy suit was created by special FX man John Buechler. Although the mummy suit is not up to par with today’s The Mummy franchise, this had boobs…are you getting the picture? Well you can on DVD.


Twilight Shooting Again This Week

Posted by dominie in Events, Films, News on August 27th, 2008

The hype over Twilight continues, as Thanksgiving weekend will soon approach us. MTV revealed yesterday that Twilight rallied up cast and crew to shoot “additional scenes” for the film this week. We won’t quibble over the semantics, but here are the details.

Its not uncommon for films to reshoot scenes, but it usually means that the original footage is less than adequate for the big screen—an indication that something is amiss. According to Peter Facinelli who plays vampire patriarch Carlisle Cullen, and Taylor Lautner who plays Jacob, however, this isn’t the case.

Facinelli tells MTV, “They like it so much, they are bringing us back for some encore time—to beef it up… A little salt and pepper.” Lautner adds that the shooting days were planned before Summit Entertainment swiped their early release date, explaining, “They’ve been showing it to some people, and some people go, ‘I want to see a little more of this,’ or ‘I don’t quite understand this.’”

Will the teen vampire drama live up to it’s hype?


Anchor Bay Unleashes Bloodsucking CInema

Posted by bob in News on August 17th, 2008

A release from our pals over at Anchor Bay:

Burbank, CA – They are the sexy embodiment of immortality. Their literal lust for life rivals the antics of today’s rockstars. The story of the vampire has ravished humanity for thousands of years.  But, in particular, evil, erotic and insatiable, vampires have stalked our dreams – especially with our eyes wide open in a darkened theater. The vampire has been a fixture of the cinematic landscape, from the silent era to today’s CGI blockbusters. What is the continuing fascination?  The Starz Originals documentary Bloodsucking Cinema, which Anchor Bay Entertainment is releasing on DVD September 23 at the anemic SRP of $19.97, goes a long way to toward explaining this attraction. (more…)


Sutherland Talks Lost Boys

Posted by bob in Films, News on August 17th, 2008

During the promotion for Mirrors, Kiefer Sutherland also talked about his association with The Lost Boys. He told ShockTilYouDrop, “There were great [follow-up] ideas. Joel [Schumacher] had one that was a prequel dating back all the way to the earthquake in San Francisco. The one we talk about in the original.”

“The whole thing I found interesting was that once you were a vampire you go back to that youthful state,” he said. “The prequel was always going to follow David when he was mortal before he got sucked into the earthquake and got turned. That was Joel’s idea and I thought that was really cool. But apparently Joel was really busy, Warner Bros. was really busy and it didn’t happen.”

As for his non-participation in the recently release direct-to-DVD sequel, Sutherland was emphatic. “No, absolutely not. Lost Boys was a massive part of my life, it still is. You can’t crap on that. And I’m not going to go out and do a cameo in a DVD release sequel. Why they never talked to Joel Schumacher in the past 15 years about doing a proper sequel… If you’re not going to embrace what you’re coming from in its original state…look, it was hard enough for me to do Young Guns 2 which I ended up thinking - because we were all better - was a better film.”


The Latest Twilight Doings

Posted by bob in Films, News on August 17th, 2008

It’s been a busy few weeks for Twilight and its related world.  No sooner does Warner Bros. move Harry Potter from fall to summer, then Twilight seizes the open weekend now coming just prior to Thanksgiving.

Sara Castillo at FEARnet was able to catch up with some of cast and chatted about how each of them tapped into their respective inner vampires.  FM now recaps on the highlights of each interview. (more…)


Six Shooter Theatrical Release Dates

Posted by bob in Films, News on August 17th, 2008

Magnet Releasing, a division of Magnolia Pictures, has set theatrical release dates for their Six Shooter Film Series with the first beginning in late October.  The series is motivated by a labor of love for genre films and aims to bring fans the vanguard of quality genre cinema from around the globe.  Each of the six films originates from a different country and captivates a unique and refreshing approach to genre films we have become all too familiar with.  The six-slated features will release in succeeding months after their inaugural debut on October 24 with award winning vampire tale, Let The Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson.  Magnolia will run each theatrical release for one week in theaters with plans for extension depending on their box-office performance.  Of its series, LTROI is already scheduled for a wider release in following weeks after its debut. (more…)


Yeti Vs. Vampire Coming in October

Posted by bob in Comics, News on August 7th, 2008

Yeti vs Vampire 1 coverAntarctic Press will be releasing a new four-issue miniseries this October with the deceptively simple title of Yeti vs. Vampire, written by Miles Gunter and illustrated by Kelsey Shannon. The first issue will retail for a mere 99 cents and the creators are happily blogging about it.

Gunter also did an extensive interview at Comic Monsters, talking about the project and its origins. “Yeti vs. Vampire is the story of Monda, a vampire fashion designer who sets out to capture the Yeti and use its exotic fur to create a line of ultra chic fur coats for her upcoming runway show in Milan,” he explained.

In addition to a Yeti and a vampire, Gunter promises, “Lots of monsters! We’ve got outlaw gutter punk werewolves, Egyptian sphinx cyclops horticulturists, Armani clad skeleton butlers, a giant mummified alligator that likes to play fetch with a steel skull, as well as some other creatures that I don’t want to reveal.”


Breaking Dawn Sets Record, Breaks Hearts

Posted by bob in News on August 5th, 2008

Breaking Dawn coverIn case you missed the hubbub, Stephenie Meyer’s final chapter in her Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, mustered the same sort of buzz as did the final Harry Potter book.  Hachette Book Group USA reported an all time high for one-day sales with release of Breaking Dawn. The book was released at 12:01 a.m. with great fanfare and events at bookstores across the country. By the end of Saturday it had sold some 1.3 million copies of the tome.  While the first day sales for Breaking Dawn were significant, last year’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows still had the biggest 24-hour sales with 8.3 million books sailing off shelves.


Underworld 4 May Go Back to the Future

Posted by bob in Films on August 4th, 2008

Bill Nighy - UnderworldDirector Patrick Tatopolous spoke with ShockTilYouDrop and riffed on what might be found in a fourth chapter in the Underworld franchise.  While Underworld: Rise of the Lycans goes back to explore how the Lycans were enslaved by the vampires, the next installment might expand further on the background or go back to the present and continue Selene’s story.

Tatopolous admitted co-creator Len Wiseman “has a concept of what the next film will be. At this stage, where we’re at now, I would personally love to go back to the future. You can explore a lot of things, however, with our film; we’ve opened the door to other interesting projects. It could be [another] period film.”

Expect Underworld: Rise of the Lycans on January 23, 2009.


Ready for Lost Boys 3 Yet?

Posted by bob in Films, News on August 4th, 2008

Lost Boys: The TribeLost Boys: The Tribe just hit DVD a week ago and already Moviehole is hearing word of another installment. More of Corey Haim and Jamison Newlander is being promised for the third installment, along with, of course, Corey Feldman.   The direct-to-DVD certainly sets up threads for more vampiric action. For those missing Newlander in the main film, he can be found on the DVD’s extras so make sure you take a peek.