Posted on October 25, 2020 by Darren
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist on Friday. With Halloween approaching, the column is going to take a little bit of a detour into some spooky stuff, and I’m very excited.
I’m thrilled that I got to write this piece about the Mummy, which remains one of the most interesting of the classic movie monsters because it seems to exist at odds with the rest of the classic fiends. There are plenty of classic Dracula and Frankenstein films, the Wolfman and the Invisible Man have been handled well over the years, but the Mummy always seems like the odd creature out of every wave of classic creature feature films. So I was thrilled to do a bit of a deep dive into it to look at how – and why – that is.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: Alex Kurtzman, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, escapist, hammer horror, in the frame, monster, Movie, movie monsters, steven sommers, the mummy, universal classic monsters | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 9, 2012 by Darren
It’s interesting that Hammer chose to package Dracula: Prince of Darkness in the “best of” collection I picked up for my gran over Christmas. It isn’t that it’s hardly the strongest entry in Hammer’s canon, but it’s also not the strongest instalment in their Dracula franchise. It’s the third release in the series chronologically (and, arguably, in terms of quality), following The Horror of Dracula and The Brides of Dracula). It’s not a bad film, if you’re a fan of these sorts of sixties gothic horrors, but it’s not necessarily a good one either. It’s functional, if not efficient, and never really finds anything particularly compelling about any of its characters or its set up.
You can Count on me!
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Andrew Keir, Christopher Lee, Darcula: prince of Darkness, dracula, DRACULA PRINCE A DARKNESS, film, Hammer Film Productions, hammer horror, Jimmy Sangster, Lee, Movie, non-review review, Peter Cushing, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 2, 2011 by Darren
While I was watching The Resident, I couldn’t help but think of Pacific Heights. Maybe it was the fact that I had just watched Jackie Brown and Michael Keaton was fresh in my head, but I really couldn’t get the comparison out of my head. Both movies have a rather fascinating central premise, and a fertile ground for horror – the notion that we know next-to-nothing about the people we finding ourselves living with – but both also fail to follow through on some truly great potential. There are moments when The Resident seems to be working, but they’re all too briefly brushed aside in a movie that doesn’t seem willing to build or develop its unsettling undertones.
This relationship is suffocating her...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Lee, film, hammer horror, hilary swank, Horror film, Jackie Brown, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, michael keaton, Movie, non-review review, Pacific Heights, Resident, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 23, 2011 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.
Even though I never lived through their “golden age” of schlock horror films, I still feel a sympathetic affinity for Hammer’s House of Horror. Watching movies late into the night with my gran and grandfather was one of those treats my younger self enjoyed on returning from abroad for Summer or Christmas holidays. As such, it’s nice to see Hammer producing movies again. Let Me In was a fairly major success for the company, remarking the already-classic vampire film Let the Right One In, but it didn’t feel as deeply rooted in Hammer’s horror traditions as the Irish horror the Wake Wood does. For better or worse, the Wake Wood is pure Hammer Horror.
The truth always comes to light...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aidan Gillen, Daniel Newman, dublin, Eva Birthistle, film, Hammer Film Productions, hammer horror, hammer house of horror, horror, Horror film, jameson dublin international film festival, Movie, non-review review, review, Timothy Spall, Wake Wood | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 18, 2011 by Darren
I feel sorry for Hilary Swank right now, but also a little hurt and confused. Swank should be a respected character actor at the very least, and I’d argue that she has the potential for a distinguished and competent leading lady. After all, the woman has two Oscars on her shelves and she’s not even forty (for Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don’t Cry). That’s some kind of spectacular acting accomplishment right there. We should be looking at the next Meryl Streep, a woman who can grow old with dignity and remain a well-respected and admired performer. So, I am quite surprised to find that Swank is starring in a direct-to-video Hammer horror film, The Resident.
And I’m trying to understand how that can happen.
I thought an Oscar was supposed to open doors...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Direct-to-video, Halle Berry, hammer horror, hilary swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jerry Maguire, meryl streep, Million Dollar Baby, the resident | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 4, 2010 by Darren
Remember when Steve Martin was funny? I know, it was a long time ago, but think really hard. Remember when he was churning out consistently entertaining and amusing comedies which skirted the line of brilliance? Before he became the straight man to Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated? The Man With Two Brains is a such a comedy. I’m not sure it’s consistent enough to justify the description ‘classic’, but ‘vintage’ fits it best. A vintage Steve Martin comedy.
And brains to spare...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: comedy, film, hammer horror, kathleen turner, Movie, non-review review, review, steve martin, The Man With Two Brains | 3 Comments »
Posted on January 14, 2010 by Darren
I like to think that I can appreciate a movie for what it is. I was even able to find something positive to say about The Land of the Lost, for crying out loud! Still, this doesn’t stop Lesbian Vampire Killers from being one of the worst films I’ve seen in quite some time (The Reader and Deception are the only other two movie that stick out so strongly in my mind). Paul McGann is literally the only thing that is anyway half-decent in the film, and – much like his lead role in Doctor Who – he is sucked into the mindless vacuum of crap which surrounds him. Who the hell thought this was a good idea? Really?
Look, Paul McGann, if your religious relics couldn't keep you from getting tied up in this mess, they're probably not going hold off that rampaging sexually-liberated blood-sucker...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: hammer, hammer horror, james corbet, lesbian vampire killers, lesbian vampires, matthew horne, Movie, non-review review, paul mcgann, review | 1 Comment »
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