vampire movies Tagged Articles at Cinematical
The Scary Bits: Demons, Crocs & Vampires
Filed under: Horror », The Scary Bits »

How many excellent vampire movies can you name? A handful, maybe a dozen? (Even less for me: I'd go with Dracula '31, Dracula '58, Near Dark and maybe two or three others.) Well here's a very cool listing of the top 70 vampire movies of all time that Snarkerati put up last year. The films are ranked via IMDb and RT scores, so at least there's a method to all this madness.
Anyone out there (besides me) a big fan of Night of the Demons? Sure you are. 1988, Linnea Quigley, demon massacres, lotsa gore. (No, not Demons, although that's a good one too.) Well, it's one of those horror flicks that getting the remake treatment. The new version stars Edward Furlong, Diora Baird, Shannon Elizabeth and Monica Keena -- and based on this rather solid set report at Shock, the remake looks to be coming along quite gorily.
Thanks to Bloody-D for pointing us towards the trailer for a new indie horror called Growth. The bio-terror tale looks pretty solid, and the promo clip makes fine use of those Trent Reznor chords. Ah cool: Looks like the Aussie cult classic killer croc flick Dark Age is finally coming to R1 DVD, thanks in no small part to the fantastic Fantastic Fest. And if you like a little gore with your Thanksgiving gravy, then check out the splatter menu that MonstersHD is cooking up.
Elsewhere on Cinematical: That nifty-sounding Monster of Florence book has landed a screenwriter; the inarguably excellent World War Z has landed a diector; War Monkeys is described as a Tarantino-ish Gremlins; and apparently there's a big vampire movie opening this weekend.
Finally! 'Lesbian Vampire Killers'!
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Casting », Scripts »
No, I don't think this latest feature is a mixture of Buffy and Foxy Brown, where lesbians get tough and hunt vampires. (Has there been a flick like that yet? If not, I'm sure we'll get it one of these days.) Instead, this seems to be about the dudes who kill lesbian vampires, or will be killed by them. Variety reports that James Corden and Mathew Horne, who star in the UK's cult show Gavin and Stacey, are re-teaming to bring down some vamps in Phil Claydon's Lesbian Vampire Killers. Written by Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield, this horror comedy focuses on Corden and Horne "stuck in a village where all the women have been enslaved by a vampire curse." This makes it sound like the village was a lesbian commune, or the girls tapped into their gay side after growing the fangs, sort of like Willow on Buffy. However, IMDb fills in some blanks. An ancient curse falls upon this Welsh town, so the "remaining menfolk ... send two hapless young lads out onto the moors as a sacrifice." Talk about drawing the short stick, although I imagine there are worse ways to be sacrificed.
I'm sure there will be lots of skin and all the girlie bits that make horror fanboys salivate. What I don't know much about is Gavin & Stacey. Any fans out there want to weigh in about Corden and Horne taking on lesbian blood suckers? Can they do it?
Cedric Diggory Basks in the 'Twilight'
Filed under: Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting »
Wizards, vampires. and gay lovin', oh my! He's already set teen hearts a-flutter with his portrayal of Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter series, so it's no surprise that he's taking on another mystical good-guy role. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Robert Pattinson will co-star with Kristen Stewart in Twilight -- the young adult vampire story that Catherine Hardwicke will direct early next year. He'll play the sharp-toothed Edward, the object of young Bella's affection.To recap -- the project is based on Stephenie Meyer's young adult novel/series and focuses on a teen named Bella who moves to a small town to be with her dad. She falls for a hot, pale dude who happens to be a vampire. They get together, she lusts for him and would rather be dead than be without him, he tries to refrain from drinking her blood, and all is well in fantastical relationship land until his nemeses comes to town, sets their sites on her, and makes things more challenging.
When this project wraps, Pattinson will have handled two old-time fantastical staples -- magic and vampirism, which could easily get him type-cast. But he's going the Radcliffe route and mixing adult lasciviousness into the mix with his sexy Dali movie, so that should help him balance his teen dreaminess with meatier fare. But what about you Twilight fans? Is Pattinson the vampire Edward come to life?
Retro Cinema: Interview with the Vampire
Filed under: Drama », Horror », Retro Cinema »

The trick to creating a successful adaptation is not so much in being a stickler about the plot, but in recreating the verve behind the words. It goes beyond simple interest in the characters. Adaptation is just like translation -- translated word for word, it will seem flat and lack the life it does in its original setting. The translator must understand the context of the words within the language, and then find the best fit to recreate that same sentiment. Yet it must also stay true to the original words. If it diverges too much, the life will be lost, even if the meaning is the same. The right adaptation will flow so well that it will not only feed a fan's penchant for details, but also recreate the element of surprise within them.
It, of course, helps when the original screenwriter is the woman who wrote the novel -- Anne Rice. But even director Neil Jordan's inclusions, which took some liberties, Interview with the Vampire maintained most of the spice that made it a book worthy of a cinematic adaptation. He brought the world to the screen, impressing audiences as well as Rice herself -- who was, at first, quite vocal in her distaste over casting. But even she was stunned with what Jordan and his cast accomplished, and ultimately gave the film much praise.









