Blood Scarab (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Blood Scarab" is a really terrific homage to classic monster movies and vampire films! It is definitely the best film famous cult movie director Don Glut ("Dinosaur Valley Girls") has made to date! Lots of creature feature action, awesome FX make-ups, tons of vampire girls. . . . . with tasteful, erotic, full nudity. . . .and some surprisingly good CGI for a low-budget horror film. The actors all do a great job, especially Monique Parent and Natasha Diakova.

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To exist in daylight, Countess Elizabeth Bathory -- the infamous Blood Countess and widow of legendary vampire Count Dracula -- makes a blood pact with an Egyptian goddess involving three lovely victims and a living Mummy. A centuries-old craving collides with an ancient curse in this horrific climax to Frontline Entertainment's Countess Dracula and Mummy's Kiss movie series! Theatrically released.DVD Bonus Features:-- Commentary track with director Donald F. Glut, and stars Monique T. Parent, Del Howison and Natasha Diakova.-- Original Trailer-- Making Of documentary-- Deleted Dancing Handmaidens -- Theatrical Premiere Video-- Cast and Crew Interviews-- Graveyard Theatre Stars-- Harvey and Bob Show Review-- Countess Dracula and Mummy's Kiss Archives-- Six Still Galleries

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The Monster Squad (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been waiting for this DVD to come into print for years, and now the wait is finally over. Thanks to Lionsgate for finally stepping up, straightening out the rights issues, and putting together a nice 2-Disc special edition of this classic 80s kids flick.
The Monster Squad, much like the Goonies and the Lost Boys, is a kid's flick at heart, but it doesn't come off as if it were written and directed down to children. The flick stars Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert (of Kids Incorporated fame), Brent Chalem, Michael Faustino and Robby Kiger as a group of kids that have a secret Monster club where they pontificate on all things monster related. Quick, two ways to kill a werewolf? Stumped? That's right, everyone knows you need to shoot `em with a silver bullet. Anyway, the group runs into trouble when unbeknown to them the all too real rouges gallery of the classic Universal monster movies are converging on their town looking to destroy an amulet that can prevent them from taking over the world. Sean, the leader of the club, lucks into a copy of Van Helsing's diary, which provides the instructions to a ritual that will banish the monsters into limbo. With the help of "Scary German Guy" (played by the always excellent Leonardo Cimino) a concentration camp survivor and resident German diary translator, the group bands together to save their families, their town, and quite possibly the entire world.
The film was directed by Fred Dekker and co-written by Fred Dekker and Shane Black (of Lethal Weapon and Predator fame) with amazing special effects and make-up by the legendary Stan Winston. This DVD was made possible by the director, actors, and fans who banded together in the past year through letter writing campaigns and revival screenings which proves just how much of a cult classic this flick is. If you are a generation X'er who's into action, horror or nostalgia the Monster Squad is sure to be a perfect addition to your DVD collection.
The 20th anniversary special edition set is reported to contain 2 audio commentary tracks, deleted scenes, an making of featurette, trailers, as well as a vintage interview with Tom Noonan (who played the Frankenstein's monster.)


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Love at First Bite (1979) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, as far as the movie itself goes, this movie deserves 10+ stars, because not since, Young Frankenstein, has a movie so poignantly and perfectly, captured the true feel of the original classic, of which it so lovingly satires.
George Hamilton plays Dracula, like no one else (except maybe, Jack Palance, but that's another review altogether :) doing Bela Lugosi, proud, whilst still putting his own stamp on the character.
And who can forget, Arte Johnson, as Dracula's , "Cockroach eating friend" (he-he-he... :) Renfield, and Richard Benjamin as their foil, Van Helsing ("Dracula's stolen my girlfriend, and I think he's better in bed with her, then I am...")
This movie is a hands down, no, if-ands-or-buts, classic, from, "Children of the night, shut up", to the end credits.
So why did I only give it 4 stars then?
Well, when this great homage to the classic Dracula films was first released to the big screen (I went to see it with my first girlfriend) there was this great show stopping dance sequence where Dracula seduces Cindy ("The only woman that I have ever loved") on the dance floor to the tune of the disco classic, I Love The Night Life, but then, years and years later, when the movie finally came out to video, I was dismayed to discover that this song had been replaced by some generic disco song.
Now don't get me wrong here, this new song is pretty good, and had it been the original choice for the dance sequence, then I would have had no complaints, but that's not the case here, I Love The Night Life, is the song that defined this movie for all of us who remember seeing it at the theater, and its apparent non-inclusion, on this highly awaited, DVD release, is just another slap in the face to the fans who have been waiting for over 20 years, to finally hear the right song, put back in the movie...
I mean, could you imagine if Star Wars had been released without the opening music, but instead, replaced by some stock music (in order to save a few bucks on the licensing rights) sure, it would still be Star Wars, but there would be something missing. I mean jeepers; it would almost be as bad as say, Greedo, getting off the first shot..., oh right... lol, never mind...
We the fans, should petition MGM, just to let them know that we are not happy with the omission of our beloved song, but alas, seeing as the DVD's have already been manufactured, and will be in stores in a couple of weeks, I'm afraid that the only way in which, I Love The Night Life, will ever be heard in this movie again, is if you sync up the CD of the song, and turn down the DVD's volume during the dance sequence.
It's a darn shame, if you ask me... :(
***NOTE: Just got my copy of this DVD, and as feared, "I Love The Night Life" is missing in action, on both the widescreen and full screen versions (as I had secretly hoped that it made it onto one of the two versions, but alas, no :(
But here's the rub, as there's a rather lengthy trailer for the movie, included on the DVD, and guess what song is used through out this trailer, yep, none other then, "I Love The Night Life".
What a slap in the face to the fans of this great film, to have to endure the generic disco song during the actual movie, only to have the original song, dangled in our face, over and over again in the trailer (there are even snippets of the dance sequence, with the proper music, in the trailer :(
FYI: you'll probably want to watch the movie in the full screen mode, because the widescreen mode it simply the full screen mode, matted to widescreen, and not the other way around, so there's more top and bottom info on the screen in the full screen mode, as opposed to less right and left screen info with movies cropped to fit full screen.

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Count Dracula (BBC Mini-Series) (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)I first saw this version of "Dracula" on PBS back in the 70's (shortly after having read the novel) and thought it a wondererful (albeit a little stiff) and very faithful film adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic gothic novel. Of course there have been hundreds of films featuring Count Dracula down through the ages but very few of them adhered closely to the orignal source material. In fact most of them just borrowed a few key characters and maybe a plot thread or two and then just created their own story. Thankfully the BBC decided to rectify matters by filming their own adaptation for television and this is the first film that I am aware of that really does stay true to the novel. In fact this was the first film to show many of the famous scenes from the novel that previous films had ignored. Namely the scenes of Dracula crawling down the castle walls and a very controversial (at the time) scene where the Count offers a baby to his three vampire brides.
Now keep in mind this is 70's era BBC televsision. While the acting is quite good some of the other production values are not going to be of the same quality that many of today's viewing audiences are used to. For example many of the exterior scenes are filmed outdoors while the interior scenes are filmed on sets. Consequently there is going to be some sequences with a certain stagey quality to them. Some of the special effects shots are going to be...well, lets just say not all that special. Now having said all that I still can tell you that there are more chills to be had from this version than the BBC's most recent and very disapointing adaptation of "Dracula". In fact, I'll go so far as to say that this version is even better than Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula". I never really cared for Coppola's version anyway but I will give it high marks for production values. One of the big mistakes with Coppola's film was the changing of Dracula's character from Stoker's concept of evil vampire to that of a silly, romantic love-struck vampire. Louis Jourdan (Gigi, Octopussy) does a fine job as the Count despite the fact that he is one of the few things in the film that doesn't quite mesh with Stoker's original concept. He does however convey very well that strange dichotomy of vampires. Namely the sensual yet evil qualities we've come to expect from many other screen Dracula's.
To sum up: this film may be cheap in the production values department but if you are looking for a version that is faithful to Stoker's original story, character and concepts then you are on the right track with this offering from 70's era BBC. There's lots of atmosphere and plenty of good chills to be had from this version despite the shortcomings it may have.

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This fan favorite three-part series from the BBC is now available on DVD for the first time! Louis Jourdan stars as the deliciously blood-thirsty Count Dracula in this version of Bram Stoker's horror classic. Keeping close to the original novel, the series begins with Jonathan Harker visiting the Count in Transylvania to help him with preparations to move to England. It is in the Count's castle that Jonathan becomes a prisoner, and discovers Dracula's true nature. Many scenes shot on location -- such as the Gothic graveyard of London's Highgate Cemetery -- add extra atmosphere to an already powerful production.

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