Notizie

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” which spotlights the doomed ship in Bram Stoker’s oft-adapted 1897 novel, is the second Dracula film released in 2023 after “Renfield.” Both take generous liberties with the source material, which brings up the question: Out of the 200-some films about the famous Count, which ones are the most faithful?

Here’s our ranking of some of the most popular, and a few lesser-known, Dracula adaptations.

Universal

8. Renfield (2023)

Pretty much the only thing this horror comedy has in common with the novel is Nicholas Hoult as the bug-eating title character and a delightfully campy Nicolas Cage as his bloodthirsty boss. The movie brings them both into the 21st century, makes Renfield an ass-kicking hero and swaps out Lucy and Mina for Awkwafina’s incorruptible cop.

Miramax

7. Dracula 2000 (2000)

The film begins with a shot of the wrecked Demeter and footprints in the sand as Dracula heads to town.

The UK-based comms agency has announced promotions and new hires.

UK-based communications agency Premier has restructured its filmed entertainment division with promotions and three new hires.

Former head of television Sj Peyton has been promoted to director of television. She is joined by the promotion of Fiona Lewis as director-photography and Eugene O’Connor as director-film. O’Connor previousy served as senior account director and is returning to the company from a freelance stint.

The trio will work alongside the division’s senior team which includes Alice Jenkins-Bruce (executive director), Annie McMonagle-Wilmot (director-digital), Jonathan Rutter (executive director) and Angela Smith (director-awards).

“This way of working,...

Hello, everyone! We’re back with another rundown of this week’s horror and sci-fi home media releases. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Don Mancini’s Chucky TV series, you can finally catch up with it as of this Tuesday. Arrow Video is giving Kenneth Branagh’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein the 4K treatment, and Kino Lorber is keeping busy with an assortment of releases on the 12th as well, including New Year’s Evil, Tentacles, and a Dr. Phibes Double Feature. IFC Films is also set to release their psychological thriller The Novice on Tuesday, too (and it’s great).

Chucky: Season One

The notorious Chucky slashes his way to television in a killer new series written and executive produced by creator Don Mancini, who penned the iconic film franchise. After teenage loner Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) discovers a vintage 'Good Guy' doll at a suburban yard sale,...

Happy 2021, everyone! It’s been a few weeks, but we’re back with a brand-new edition of our weekly Blu-ray and DVD releases column to kick off this new year. And while we may not have a ton of titles headed home on Tuesday, we do have an excellent bunch of films all the same, including one of my favorite films of 2020, Love and Monsters, which hits various formats this week. Another film from last year that I really enjoyed was Brea Grant’s 12 Hour Shift, which hits both Blu-ray and DVD (and will be available On Demand) tomorrow, and if you have somehow never seen it, I highly recommend picking up the new Blu for Savage Streets, featuring Linda Blair.

Other releases for January 5th include Tintorera… Tiger Shark, From the Depths, Nina of the Woods, and Hacksaw.

12 Hour Shift

It's 1998, and over the course of one...

Some movies just don’t get the respect they deserve, which cues pushy reviewers to sing their praises. Forget everything you’ve read and give this Roman Polanski picture a chance — it’s the classiest Halloween treat ever, a lavish blend of Hammer horror, slapstick comedy and wistful romance — plus a vampire horde more balefully scary than a carload of zombies. It’s the beloved Sharon Tate’s best picture, and its vampire king is an original apart from Bela Lugosi and Chris Lee’s Draculas — an aristocratic one-percenter on a satanic mission to put all of humanity in a graveyard of the undead. Warners’ Panavision-Metrocolor restoration is drop-dead beautiful. And they’ve even revived Frank Frazetta’s original ‘jolly chase’ poster art.

The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 107 91 min. / Dance of the Vampires, Your...

On Saturday, October 6, event chair Barbara Davis hosted her iconic Carousel of Hope Ball at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Robert De Niro and Jay Leno at Carousel of Hope Gala

The gala, a Hollywood institution since 1978, honored longtime supporter Robert De Niro with the “Brass Ring Award” for his philanthropic efforts and continued dedication to the cause. Patrons of the evening were treated to show-stopping performances by legends Gladys Knight, Kenny Babyface Edmonds, and David Foster. The Carousel of Hope Ball has raised more than $100 million to date, with proceeds benefitting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. This year’s gala alone raised over $1.9 Million.

Award-winning director David O. Russell took the stage to present his friend and frequent collaborator Robert De Niro with this year’s “Brass Ring Award.” De Niro delivered a heartfelt speech, recognizing the awe-inspiring work being...

Few latecomer ’60s spy movies were big successes. This amusing Brit effort sank without a trace, perhaps taking with it the career of the talented Tom Courtenay as a leading man. The comic tale pits an underachieving, cheeky London lad against an intelligence conspiracy that wouldn’t be doing anybody much harm — if they didn’t insist on murdering people.

Otley

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator (UK)

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Available at The Ph page / Street Date March 19, 2018 / £15.99

Starring: Tom Courtenay, Romy Schneider, Alan Badel, James Villiers, Leonard Rossiter, James Bolam, Fiona Lewis, Freddie Jones, James Cossins, James Maxwell, Edward Hardwicke, Ronald Lacey, Phyllida Law, Geoffrey Bayldon, Frank Middlemass.

Cinematography: Austin Dempster

Film Editor: Richard Best

Art Direction: Carmen Dillon

Original Music: Stanley Myers

Written by Dick Clement, Ian la Frenais from a book by Martin Waddell

Produced by Bruce Cohn Curtis, Carl Foreman

Directed by Dick Clement

The British film...

Long live Michael Laughlin. Two years after he released one of my favorite early ‘80s oddities, Strange Behavior (I wrote about it here), he was back to unleash the next chapter in a proposed ‘Strange’ trilogy, Strange Invaders (1983). And while the former is a tribute to Mad Scientist films of the ‘50s via an updated Slasher take, the latter tips its fedora to the great Alien Invasion films of the same era. It may not reach the same dizzyingly weird heights, but Strange Invaders is an affectionate romp that captures the feel of those bygone drive-in classics and solidifies Laughlin’s unique voice.

A co-production between Emi Films and Lone Wolf McQuade Associates, Strange Invaders was released by Orion Pictures in mid September stateside to positive reviews and lackluster box office. Returning only a quarter of its $5 million plus budget, this was the Way of the Laughlin – everyone liked his movies,...

1978 cast a long shadow in the world of horror. From Dawn of the Dead to Halloween, the landscape was abundant with everything from the socially relevant to the singularly terrifying, from superior remakes (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) to quirky haunted houses (The Evil). And then there’s the red headed stepchild that no one talks about: Brian DePalma’s The Fury. Frenetic, action packed, and gruesome, The Fury never gets the love from even most DePalma fanatics. What a shame – it’s never less than entertaining, and at its best showcases the director’s mesmerizing visual touch.

Released in March by Twentieth Century Fox, The Fury made $24 million against its $5.5 million budget. That’s good green, folks, and DePalma received favorable reviews, still basking in a critical glow left over from his previous effort, Carrie (’76). So why is it so easily dismissed, ranked along the lines of efforts like Wise Guys,...

Strange Behavior. What an apt title for this film. Released in 1981, Aka Dead Kids, Strange Behavior is a unique mash up of a popular (at the time) sub-genre and one long forgotten – the Slasher and The Mad Scientist. For fans of either, it provides a weird, loving tribute to the latter while quietly etching a place for itself in the former. A lot of horror lovers missed the boat on this one at the time of its release, which is strange behavior, indeed.

Given a limited release in October by World Northal stateside, Strange Behavior impressed many critics at the time with its ethereal quality and 50’s throwback feel, but audiences really never got a chance to see it until released on video the following year. And even then, it never picked up steam with the horror crowd. Which is quite sad, as the film still plays as a creepy,...

In the 1980s, bored film critics sometimes claimed to see homoerotic themes in any 'buddy picture'  about guys being friends with guys. Only one bold comedy dared to confront this notion directly -- in this show, Dennis Quaid spends a full two hours inside Martin Short, yet the finished picture is still perfectly suitable for all audiences and age groups! Savant Blu-ray Review Warner Home Video 1987 / Color /1.78:1 / 116 min. / Street Date August 4, 2015/ available through Warner Bros. / 13.09 Starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Fiona Lewis, Vernon Wells, Robert Picardo Cinematography Andrew Laszlo Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren Art Direction James H. Spencer Film Editor Kent Beyda Original Music Jerry Goldsmith Written by Jeffrey Boam, Chip Proser, story by Chip Proser Produced by Michael Finnell, Peter Guber, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Jon Peters, Chip Proser, Steven Spielberg Directed by Joe Dante

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Warner Home Video shows...

“If a movie makes you happy, for whatever reason, then it’s a good movie.”

—Big E

*******Warning: Review Contains Spoilers*******

By Ernie Magnotta

If there’s one thing I love, it’s 1970s made-for-tv horror films. I remember sitting in front of the television as a kid and watching a plethora of films such as Gargoyles, Bad Ronald, Satan’s School for Girls, Horror at 37,000 Feet, Devil Dog: Hound of Hell, Scream Pretty Peggy, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Moon of the Wolf and The Initiation of Sarah just to name a few. Some of those are better than others, but all were fun.

When I think back, there have been some legendary names associated with small screen horrors. Genre masters John Carpenter (Halloween), Steven Spielberg (Jaws), Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street), Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Joseph Stefano (Psycho) all took shots at television...

Horror cinema has a long tradition of creating iconic characters and none more so than those borne in the early days of the genre: characters such as Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and, of course, Dracula – the king of horror. A character who, despite his many cinematic deaths, always returns to the silver screen for one more bite of flesh… As he does this week in Dracula Untold, which features Luke Evans as the evil Vlad Tepes.

With that in mind we thought we’d rundown the ten best unforgettable Dracula performances in cinema. Check them out below and let us know in the comments if you agree or disagree!

Christopher Lee – Dracula (1958)

Dracula (1958) is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films. Directed by Terence Fisher, Dracula (1958) stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh and Michael Gough. Retitled Horror of Dracula...

Sometimes in this business we end up writing our own synopses for films. The good folks over at VideoETA have done so for Dan ("Dark Shadows") Curtis and Dan Curtis' Dracula, and it's pretty... well... see for yourself!

"This version of the Transylvanian count talks more and is ugly to boot; Van Helsing gets him."

We hereby nominate VideoETA to write all synopses from here on out.

Official Synopsis

Academy Award winner Jack Palance stars in this terrifying adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel Dracula, written for the screen by sci-fi/horror master Richard Matheson ("The Twilight Zone," I Am Legend, Duel) and produced by the legendary Dan Curtis ("Dark Shadows," Trilogy of Terror, The Winds of War).

Palance (City Slickers, Batman, Shane, Contempt) is Count Dracula, whose centuries-old existence is threatened after he attacks the lovely Lucy Westenra (Fiona Lewis; Dr. Phibes Rises Again), and her fiance (Simon Ward; "The Tudors,...

After the long holiday weekend, it’s time to get back into the swing of things and for us, that includes keeping you guys updated on all the great horror, sci-fi and thriller movies making their home video bow this week.

On May 27th, Robert Hiltzik’s cult classic slasher Sleepaway Camp finally makes its high definition debut courtesy of the fine folks at Scream Factory. We’re also seeing the release of Dan Curtis’ Dracula and Death Spa from Mpi Home Video and E.L. Katz’s superb Cheap Thrills is also arriving on DVD and Blu-ray for those of you who may have missed it earlier this year. This week we’re also getting a pair of disaster flicks, the latest from Danny Trejo (the hardest working man in Hollywood) and actor/director Joe Swanberg as well as a few more titles that should definitely be of interest to genre fans.

Innerspace

Written by Chip Proser and Jeffrey Boam

Directed by Joe Dante

USA, 1987

Science fiction is a genre in which anything is possible. Films in particular take advantage of this opportunity to transport its audience to new worlds and new ideas. In 1987, director Joe Dante and executive producer Steven Spielberg took us on a “big” adventure with the zany sci-fi comedy Innerspace. The film stars Martin Short, Dennis Quaid, and a young Meg Ryan, who all get involved with a scientific mission gone wrong. With an Oscar win for Best Visual Effects and a comic tone full of energy and fun, Innerspace is one ride from the 80s you might want to check out.

Lt. Tuck Pendleton (Quaid) is a brash Navy pilot who isn’t exactly looked upon as a military hero. He drinks, he fights, and he’s actually kind of a douche. His fellow pilots want nothing...

There have been many great actors to portray Count Dracula over the passing decades, and in case you forgot Jack Palance donned the fangs and cape for Dan ("Dark Shadows") Curtis in Dan Curtis' Dracula, it's heading to Blu-ray this month.

From the Press Release

Academy Award winner Jack Palance stars in this terrifying adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel Dracula, written for the screen by sci-fi/horror master Richard Matheson ("The Twilight Zone," I Am Legend, Duel) and produced by the legendary Dan Curtis ("Dark Shadows," Trilogy of Terror, The Winds of War).

Palance (City Slickers, Batman, Shane, Contempt) is Count Dracula, whose centuries-old existence is threatened after he attacks the lovely Lucy Westenra (Fiona Lewis; Dr. Phibes Rises Again), and her fiance (Simon Ward; "The Tudors," "Young Winston") calls in famed vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing (Nigel Davenport; A Man for All Seasons, Mary, Queen of Scots) to investigate.

Mpi Home Video has announced that they’ve given Dan Curtis’ Dracula a high definition upgrade and will be bringing the 1974 horror movie to Blu-ray on May 27th:

“Academy Award winner Jack Palance stars in this terrifying adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel Dracula, written for the screen by sci-fi/horror master Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone, I Am Legend, Duel) and produced by the legendary Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, Trilogy of Terror, The Winds of War). Palance (City Slickers, Batman, Shane, Contempt) is Count Dracula, whose centuries-old existence is threatened after he attacks the lovely Lucy Westenra (Fiona Lewis, Dr. Phibes Rises Again), and her fiance (Simon Ward, The Tudors, Young Winston) calls in famed vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing (Nigel Davenport, A Man for All Seasons; Mary, Queen of Scots) to investigate.

Originally shown on CBS-tv in 1974, Dan Curtis’ Dracula has long been considered among the...

The wizards at Arrow Video have been focusing their brain waves on bringing another cult treasure to hi-def life in the UK, and the result is a brand new restoration of Brian De Palma's The Fury, hitting shelves on October 28th. Don't stare too long...

From the Press Release:

Marking the film’s UK Blu-ray premiere in style, Arrow’s team of restorers have breathed new life into this telekinetic masterpiece – it’s crystal clear, incredibly vibrant and has been newly graded, all the while keeping true to Richard H. Kline’s brilliant original cinematography. 2013 year marks The Fury’s 35th birthday... it’s never looked better.

Restoration Supervisor James White says of the project – "It's been a great honour to restore The Fury, a truly fantastic film by one of my favourite directors. Its combination of sci-fi, horror and post-Watergate paranoia thriller makes it one of the key...

"There's a monstrous killer churning up the sea... Tintorera ...Tiger Shark" What? There are even more killer shark flicks for Sinful Celluloids Craptacular Shark Week? God yes! Moving right along, we are going to jump from Italy to Mexico with 1977s Tintorera! Is this movie better than our previous two Shark flicks? It depends on what you want. This flick has non-stop sex, nudity, some gore and Celluloid Sinners Susan George, Fiona Lewis, an…...

All this talk about Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows makes me think about the original Dark Shadows, and when considering show creator Dan Curtis’ ovure, I am reminded of his great, and often unfairly overlooked, 1973 take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The film, shot in England in 1973, hit the airwaves on February 8, 1974, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The telepic starred Jack Palance, in retrospect, a natural nod as the fanged fiend. As audiences would see a decade later in the Palance-hosted television hit Ripley’S Believe It Or Not, he has always been the perfect sinister gentleman, a quality played to the hilt in Dracula.

Also starring Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, Pamela Brown, Penelope Horner, Murray Brown, and the stunning Fiona Lewis, Dracula was shot at famed Pinewood Studios in England, and could easily pass as a Hammer production. Curtis handles the tale like a bigger budget episode of Dark Shadows,...