Skip to main content

HALLOWEENTOBER

Okay, I usually try not to post more than once a day on this here blog, but since we're just days away from Halloween (woohoo!) I thought I'd take a minute and list my three favorite Halloween vampire movies. Sure, I have a cornucopia of other films I love to watch during this spooky time of year, but hell, I write vampire stories for devil's sake. I'm gonna keep it real! Until the Vampire Hunter D is captured in celluloid, this list will do. And I have to give a shout-out to INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. Without this film, I never get into Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, and perhaps never begin writing about vampires in the first place. Near Dark should be on this list, it is utterly incredible, though very similar to The Lost Boys and came out in theatres the same year. But this is a top 3, not a top 4 or top 5. This will be boringly obvious, I'm sure. Right then, I'll begin.


3. John Carpenter's VAMPIRES
Easily my favorite Western of all time. The vampires are hardcore things of legend and the gore is copious. James Woods is the man (Fuck James Woods I hear in the background somewhere...). But he rips in this film. And Valek, the main baddie vamp is badass. When he rips a hunter in half with his bare hand, you can only say, "Duuude." The book by John Steakley is better, but what's new. The movie rules in its own way. But get the novel to compliment it.




2. BLADE
This movie re-invigorated my love for vampires when it was released in 1998. I still remember the goosebumps after seeing the trailer for the first time with "Confusion" pumping in the noise for the kids. Style, style and more style is what Stephen Norrington does to movies. And this one is fast, violent and edgy. The ending still leaves something to be desired, but it's far better than the alternate ending on the DVD. That was just painful to watch... But the way the vampires disintegrate when felled is classic, sort of like Mr. Whedon did with the "Dusting" of vampires in the Buffyverse.




1. THE LOST BOYS
My all-time fav. This movie takes me way back, all the way to 1987. And it still is copied to this day. I will not mention the sequel here. No point. Looks like crap. But this film was special. The soundtrack, the characters, the story. I overuse the word Cool quite a bit, but what else will do it justice? I watch it at least once a year, and especially right before Halloween. I give Near Dark an honorable mention here, because it came out the same year. It was far more violent and dark than The Lost Boys, but again, it's overshadowed because David and his boys no how to have a good time. For a long time this movie has left an impression with me, and I owe it to Michael Schumacher and co. for giving me my first taste of inspiration.

So tomorrow, after class, I know what I'll be doing. No, not homework. I'm going to be glued to the set with a big, fatty bag of potato chips, some Diet Pepsi and I'm gonna lounge in the dark.

Happy Halloween!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jack-o'-lanterns in November!

Today most of America seems to have forgotten that the venerable jack-o'-lantern is not only an important symbol of Halloween, but also of Thanksgiving. As a kid this icon of Thanksgiving was a decoration you would see in people's yards throughout October and November; through most of autumn. Today you don't see it as much, with folks settling for simple uncarved pumpkins on the steps on the porch, or on bales of hay. I bring this up only because I'd like to see a return to the pumpkin-headed scarecrows staying around for more than one holiday. I'm keeping my jack-o'-lanterns out in the yard and on the porch until the day after Thanksgiving. It's time we keep the pumpkin-head scarecrow around all fall. This is a perfect way to repurpose your jacks into November, instead of letting them get tossed by some teenagers post-All Hollows Eve! However, there is something to be said for rotting jack-o'-lanterns after Halloween that just screams cool. Aging jacks ...

BEING ELTON ALWINE

This is something that I've not give much thought about, and I'm not one to self-diagnose, but I have to find out if I have an anxiety disorder. All the symptoms are there: sweating, shortness of breath, headaches, etc. The list goes on. It's hard to concentrate, and I'm sick of excuses for why I'm not writing. It's certainly not lack of love or passion. And I am just a bit too affected on Sundays. The Baltimore Ravens are one of my loves in life, but this football team should in no way affect my attitudes and moods after game day . This, to me, is completely unacceptable. As of late, I've also developed an unnatural fear of death. I have witnessed this transformation seemingly outside of myself. I've never actually been the "worry wart" type, and I'm far from letting this behavior continue. Depression, Anxiety - these are words that I have always abhorred ; figments of the Pharmaceutical Industry's Utopian dream. Quite a bit of this d...

As of Today...

Nothing is certainly new. My fingers are still crossed, regarding Marvel. I really think I put together an ambitious letter inquiry for them. Now, if I could just get them to want to see my writing... If not, I will do my best to overwhelm their mail department with inquiry letters for the next few weeks. Eventually, someone's going to write back. I still haven't touched UNIQUE . This has to be a good thing. This is the longest I have gone without opening up the story and fixing something. The movie script project has been without attention lately, too. How unfortunate is the only thing I can think of. For thirty pages I was bursting with energy and creativity. I think I really got caught up in the BLADE script, and that settled me down for a few weeks. I need to get the enthusiasm back! And then there's school. Astronomy is the only class that can retain my interest for an hour and a half. But it's good to have the history lessons refreshed in my mind. It's good t...