The Skinny On... Countess Dracula
on Jan 2, 2009 in Nigel Green Countess Dracula Peter Sadsy Ingrid Pitt I closed 2008 with a look at The Vampire Lovers (1970), a clumsy but entertaining late-era Hammer entry. Let’s start 2009 with a quick look at a much more resonant Hammer film of this period, Peter Sadsy’s Countess Dracula (1971). Despite its r...

The Skinny On... The Vampire Lovers
on Dec 26, 2008 in Hammer Studios The Vampire Lovers Nothing says the holidays like lesbian vampires, so in that spirit I give you my quick review of The Vampire Lovers (1970).In the 1970’s, a wave of Carmilla-inspired lesbian vampire movies deluged the horror market, much to the delight of male fans...

Achieving the Hammer Ideal
on Dec 26, 2008Hammer Studios of England is widely regarded as one of the premier purveyors of the horror genre. They were known for their literate scripts, full-color gore, and a top-notch stable of acting talent. Oh, and they were known for one more thing, as a...

The Skinny On... Horror of Dracula
on Dec 19, 2008 in Peter Cushing Horror of Dracula Hammer Studios Christopher Lee Horror of Dracula (1958) was one of the first films to really explore the sexual aspect of the vampire myth. While other films had broached the inherent eroticism in veiled ways (most notably, the Spanish Dracula (1931), Dracula’s Daughter (1936)...

Virtual Success
on Dec 18, 2008I run a few small businesses when I’m not blogging (that’s right, I don’t make all my money writing about The Mummy’s Curse or Zombie 4: After Death – can you believe it?). One of the trickiest aspects of a small business is trying not to...

The Skinny On... Martin
on Dec 18, 2008 in George Romero Martin John Amplas In 1968 George Romero altered the very fabric of the horror genre with Night of the Living Dead, a movie that gleefully abandoned traditional genre conventions in favor of an unrelenting assault on the senses. Night of the Living Dead was a movie th...

Phantoms and Operas
on Dec 18, 2008I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most refined person. Anyone who can delight in a double feature of I Drink Your Blood and Pieces probably won’t be dining with the glitterati anytime soon. When I think of opera, the first thing that com...