Tag Archives: Vampire Movies

Classic Vampires

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Several years ago I was caring for five teenage girls who kept squealing about how Twilight is the best vampire movie ever made. Once I was done crying my hubby and I decided to review as many vampire movies as we possibly could and put them on the web because we couldn’t let these poor kids think that Twilight was the best vampire movie ever made.

One of the films we reviewed was “Vampyr” a German movie made in 1932. It is amazingly beautiful. The filming techniques and ‘special effects’ are lovely. The use of light and shadow to create the atmosphere was masterful. It uses a ‘classic scary movie score’ and I can’t help but wonder if this was one of the first to use it. It has been dubbed into English, which I normally hate, but there is so little talking in the film and it’s done so well that it didn’t bother me. This is not a scary movie- at least not for us- but I smiled thinking of people watching it in the theater in 1932 and being scared by it. If you enjoy vampire or old films people check this one out. It is really beautiful.

You can watch the whole movie on youtube

Foreign Film Friday

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For my last Halloween horror movie fix I give you three new choices.

High Lane is a French horror movie about a group of young adults who go mountain climbing and there is a psycho killer waiting for them. The views were beautiful- it was filmed in Croatia and if heights and the possibility of falling scare you then this will be a very scary movie. I found it more gross then scary. I didn’t jump at anything, but did look away at some of the blood.

My big issue is the people did something horrendously stupid to get into the situation, and then they kept doing stupid stuff, which means I spent a lot of time yelling at the TV. While there wasn’t out right male bashing I don’t think the writer or director holds testosterone filled males in high regard.

The killer is great- huge, scary, vicious, mentally disturbed, and his movements are very animalistic almost like a gorilla. He’s almost worth watching the movie for.
One woman does go crazy and kick butt at one point, but remember my friends when you are beating up a psycho killer you don’t stop until they’re dead, because they will come after you.

It’s not a horrible movie, but I won’t watch it a second time.

For all of my amazing followers I sacrificed 3 hours of my life- 3 hours I can’t get back so I could review a truly horrible movie. Bandh Darwaza is a Bollywood horror movie from the late 70’s or early 80’s. There is singing and dancing as all Bollywood movies, which wasn’t good. The monster was a vampire who wasn’t scary and the ‘heroes’ in the movie were amazingly stupid and not likable. If you love really bad bad bad horror movies and maybe drinking during them then please go for it. Other wise just say no to Bandh Darwaza.

Finally a really good movie. Re-cycle, a Chinese movie, definitely has scary elements in it. I held my breath. I jumped. I almost made my husband sit next to me on the couch. This movie will be especially scary for writers!

Ting-Yin is a writer who gets sucked into a world of abandoned things including half formed characters. The plot is gripping, the visual effects are striking (except for the falling), the acting is great, and I was emotionally drawn into the movie. Re-cycle isn’t a classic horror movie, but much more of a psychological horror/ suspense movie. I liked it a lot and I highly recommend it. And when you’re done, be careful that your abandoned characters don’t come for you while your sleeping.

Have a wonderful a spooky Halloween.

Foreign Film Friday

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Lucky number thirteen is a French movie called Vampire Party. When one thinks of French movies you often get the stereotype of deep artsy angst driven drama. Well this move will blow that stereo type away. Three friends get invited to an exclusive party- they use helicopters to fly the guest to the castle- it looks like fun, and it will be for the vampires waiting for them. But wait- the prize guest at this party- the top ranking dentist in France, because these vampires need a dentist. I’m not kidding it is actually a spoof! At first hubby and I didn’t know it was a spoof. It looked like a standard vampire movie, Gothic clothing, seductive vamps, and then the need for a dentist came to light and we couldn’t stop laughing. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, I find most spoofs to be crude and boring after a while, but this one kept me entertained. The only trailer I could find is in German- go figure that one out- but here it is anyway.

Foreign Film Friday

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The fourth installment of Foreign Film Friday combines my love of foreign films with my love of vampire movies. Several years ago I was caring for five teenage girls who kept squealing about how Twilight is the best vampire movie ever made. Once I was done crying my hubby and I decided to review as many vampire movies as we possibly could and put them on the web because we couldn’t let these poor kids think that Twilight was the best vampire movie ever made. One of the films we reviewed was “Vampyr” a German movie made in 1932. It is amazingly beautiful. The filming techniques and ‘special effects’ are lovely. The use of light and shadow to create the atmosphere was masterful. It uses a ‘classic scary movie score’ and I can’t help but wonder if this was one of the first to use it. It has been dubbed into English, which I normally hate, but there is so little talking in the film and it’s done so well that it didn’t bother me. This is not a scary movie- at least not for us- but I smiled thinking of people watching it in the theater in 1932 and being scared by it. If you enjoy vampire or old films people check this one out. It is really beautiful.
Here’s the imdb page http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023649/