The Dead Don't Die (2019 film)

The Dead Don't Die movie poster.  Look at all those names!

"So the dead just don't want to die today, is that it?" - Zelda Winston

Hello, everyone, and welcome to 2019's Happy Horrorween celebration.  Now, I know every year I promise that I'll bring you a whole month's worth of reviews, and only one year was I ever able to do that (and just barely, at that!), so I'm not going to promise it at all this time.  Instead, I'm going to do as many posts as I can, with my offline work schedule, and see if I can't start posting up more than I have been.  Considering my last post was a year ago, about that year's Happy Horrorween, and then I didn't follow through, I think I'll be able to post a little bit more.

So, on to The Dead Don't Die!  I started seeing the ads for this one earlier in the year and was looking forward to seeing it.  When the time came for its release, we checked online to find out when it would be showing at our favorite theater... and it wasn't.  Neither was it at the second choice, or third.  Turned out, it was playing at a small independent theater nearby, so we never got a chance to go over and see it.  Fortunately, the movie just came out on DVD a couple weeks ago, so I got my hands on it and am happy to bring a review to you!

The movie starts off with some shots of a cemetery that I thought for sure was the same one that was in the original Night of the Living Dead (it looked VERY similar).  After the opening song (called "The Dead Don't Die", oddly enough), we meet our two main stars, Chief Cliff Robertson and Officer Ronnie Peterson, as they try to track down Hermit Bob in the woods.  It seems that Bob was accused of stealing one of local farmer Frank's chickens.  After encountering him, the two drive back into town and talk about how off the daylight seems to be, with it approaching 8 or 9 at night and the sun still shining.  Once the sun finally goes down, however, two figures approach the local diner from the cemetery and wreak havoc there.  It seems the town of Centerville has a little zombie problem.

I really enjoyed this movie.  At it's base, it's a pretty by-the-book zombie apocalypse, with an ever-dwindling cast of human characters, and some pretty good zombie make-up.  There are a few surprises along the way that I really enjoyed, plus a few fourth wall breaks that I laughed at.  The film is a horror comedy, so there are a ton of jokes, wordplay, references, all pretty cleverly done.

The cast was pretty well picked, with many well-known actors playing both big and small parts.  Bill Murray plays overwrought Chief Cliff here, who you know from Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters and a ton of other movies.  Adam Driver plays Officer Ronnie.  Mr. Driver, of course, played Kylo Ren in the recent Star Wars trilogy amongst a lot of other things.  Tilda Swinton plays Zelda Winston, the new owner of the town's funeral parlor.  She played the Ancient One in Doctor Strange (to a bit of controversy), as well as several roles in the recent Suspiria remake.  Other cast members include Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Iggy Pop, RZA, Carol Kane, Selena Gomez, Tom Waits and many, many more.

All in all, I got a laugh out of this one and give it a 4 out of 5.  I hope this is a great kick-off to Happy Horrorween, and will get back to you with another review soon.  Until then, take care of yourselves, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Victor Frankenstein (2015 film)

Copyright: 20th Century Fox

Our final Frankenstein Week post, we have the most recent big budget film, Victor Frankenstein.  A bit of a change-up in this one, as we get a different point of view.  Not from the Doctor himself, not from the creation, but from the traditional assistant, Igor.  In this version, however, we find that the assistant is as intelligent as the Doctor, if not more so at times.

We open on the circus where the unnamed hunchback has been working all his life as a clown.  In his spare time, he's swiped medical books and tried to learn something about medicine, despite his roommate's ridicule.  One night, while the trapeze performer, Lorelei, was doing her act, the trapeze rope breaks and she falls to the floor of the tent, critically injuring herself.  The hunchback rushes to her side, along with a spectator from the audience, a doctor, who assesses her injuries and says there's nothing they can do for her, as her injuries are preventing her from breathing.  The hunchback, not to be balked, asks to see the doctor's watch, as he needs it to help her.  With the doctor's help, the hunchback is about to set both the broken bone and the dislocation, freeing up her airway and saving her life.  The doctor, Frankenstein, helps the other workers take her to the hospital.  Meanwhile, the owner and ringmaster locks the hunchback in one of the animal cages to prevent him from leaving, along with burning his medical books.

A little later, Frankenstein returns and uses a magnet to pick the lock on the cage, then leads the hunchback through an action packed chase through the circus, dodging away from the workers who the ringmaster's sent to try to stop them.  Eventually escaping, Frankenstein takes the hunchback back to his quarters and then assaults him... or so he thinks.  He actually drains the fluid from his back, caused by an abscess, then gives him a back brace he says was originally for "Gordon".  The last thing he does for the hunchback... he gives him a name, Igor, telling him that the name belonged to his roommate, who's disappeared.

The film goes on to show the interactions between Igor and Victor, at first just on a sort of student/mentor relationship (respectively), but when Igor shows his own aptitude towards understanding both how the human body works, and how to manipulate the energy needed towards Frankenstein's work's needs, Victor upgrades their relationship to master and assistant, then to full partner before they reveal Gordon to the school.

This movie was pretty fun.  There was a lot of action in places, and I found the interactions between Igor and Victor, and later Igor and Lorelei after she recovers, really interesting.  Victor was hilarious at places, trying to push his views on anyone who will listen, especially after he's had a little to drink (and after telling Igor not to embarrass him!).  The two actors work off pretty well.  The nemesis to Dr. Frankenstein, Inspector Turpin, was an interesting case, also, sort of like a mix of Inspector Javert from Les Miserables with a witch hunter: he believes in God's righteous fury against those with blasphemous views, and he'll stand at nothing to bring that wrath to whoever he feels holds them.

Playing as Igor is Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.  He did a really good job here.  He was also in Woman in Black and Horns, along with the recent release Swiss Army Man.  Playing Victor Frankenstein himself is James McAvoy.  He was pretty funny here, at times, especially when playing the drunk at the party.  He was in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as portraying Professor X in the recent X-Men films from First Class up to Apocalypse.  In a scene, portraying Victor's father, the Baron, was Charles Dance who we saw in last week's Dracula Untold as the Master Vampire.

All in all, a pretty fun movie, one I was happy to watch and review.  I happily give it a 4 out of 5.  Well, with the end of Frankenstein Week, we'll have a different subject next week, but I don't want to let you know ahead of time.  Until then, take care, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

I, Frankenstein (2014 film)

Copyright: Lionsgate Entertainment

Day 4 of Frankenstein Week and we're going a little more modern, with Frankenstein's creation living into the modern day and becoming reluctantly involved in a battle between good and evil, with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance.  But where does the newly christened Adam stand?

The film opens with a brief summary of the original story, ending with the creature giving Frankenstein a proper burial (better than he deserved, according to his narration).  In the middle of covering his creator's casket, he's attacked by several mysterious figures whose features shift into something monstrous. Attempting to capture the creature, he instead impales one of his attackers with their own weapon, causing the figure to up in a fireball that drives into the ground.  This attracts the attention of a pair of gargoyles from a nearby church, who fly over and help dispatch the creature's other attackers before assuming human form and attempting to talk to him.

After "persuading" the creature to come with them (by knocking him out and carrying him), he comes to at their fortress, a cathedral, and meets the queen of the gargoyles, Leonore, who gives the creature the name Adam (since Doctor Frankenstein never gave him a name).  She then tells him of their fight: the gargoyles, who represent the forces of good and light, have been fighting the demons, who represent evil and darkness, to protect humanity at the behest of the Archangel Michael, then ask him to join their cause, and offers hims shelter.  Adam still feels bitter over how humanity has treated him, so turns her down.  The gargoyles let him take some new weaponry from the armory (he takes a pair of bludgeoning staffs over something lighter) and send him on his way... not telling him they also kept Frankenstein's journal, as protection against proof that God is no longer the only one to be able to create life.

The movie follows Adam's attempts to distance himself from humanity, the demons' continued attempts to capture him, and his further existence in the modern day, when he decides to bring the fight to the demons.  But will Adam find what he's been looking for his entire life?

This was my first time seeing his film, even though I received it for Christmas two years ago.  I thought it looked good form the trailers, and I wasn't disappointed.  There was a lot of action, a few scares, and a really good story tying it all together.  Adam's makeup was effective, as was the looks of the demons.  The gargoyles were sort of noticeably CGI, but the effect worked nonetheless.

They had a good crop of actors for this film.  First off, playing Adam himself, was Aaron Eckhart, who brought a suitable mood to the role.  He also played Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, as well as having roles in The Core, Suspect Zero and Battle: Los Angeles.  Bill Nighy played the Demon Prince Naberius and seemed like he was having a good time with the part.  He also plays Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Shaun's stepfather, Phillip, in Shaun of the Dead, Viktor in the Underworld series, and Slartibartfast in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film.  Playing Gideon, commander of the gargoyles and Leonore's second in command, is Jai Courtney.  He was also in Terminator Genisys as Kyle Reese and Suicide Squad as Captain Boomerang.

I really enjoyed this movie, and thought it was a fun ride.  Lots of action happening in it, a pretty decent storyline, and some really good makeup and special effects work.  I give it a 4 out of 5.  My next article should be coming a little later tonight, to make up for lost time.  Until then, take care, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Dracula Untold (2014)

Copyright: Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures

We're finishing off Dracula Week with one of the most recent Dracula films to be released, Dracula Untold.  It goes back to Vlad's days and gives us an example of where he might have come from, as well as, originally, setting us up for the Universal Monsters Shared Universe.  But we'll get into that in a little bit.  For now, let's take a look at the film!

It starts off telling us about how Vlad was used as a royal hostage as a boy when the Turks had invaded his lands.  It flashes ahead to Vlad's adulthood, after his days as impaler.  He's now ruling Wallachia, at peace with the Turks and with a wife and son.  While he and his men are patrolling the river, they come across a Turkish helmet and fear it may mean a scouting party is preparing to invade.  Following the stream, Vlad and his soldiers come across Broken Tooth Mountain, where they're attacked by a strange creature faster and stronger than any human they'd encountered.  Vlad loses the two men who came with him, and barely escapes the cave with his life.

Later, the Turks arrive during an Easter feast, demanding their usual tribute... and, in addition, 1000 boys for the Sultan's Janissary troop.  When Vlad goes to the Sultan to request that he have mercy over the country, even offering himself instead, knowing that his skills would make him worth more than the 1000 requested, the Sultan turns him down, then asks for Vlad's son, in addition.  When the emissary arrives to take his son, however, Vlad kills him and the rest of the soldiers, then tells his men to hold up and protect the castle and his wife and son.  Vlad turns towards Broken Tooth Mountain with a plan...

The movie was definitely good, with a lot of action to it and amazing special effects.  Vlad transforming into a flock of bats was always fun to see, and how he used it to his advantage against the Turkish forces trying to kill him and his people was really cool.  A later scene where Vlad used a lightning storm as cover was really well-done, also, as was Vlad's vampire-vision, where he could see the flowing vessels under the skin.

Luke Evans plays Vlad, aka Dracula, in this film, and he plays the part well.  You can get the sense of frustration he gets having to hide his powers from his people.   He's also in the Hobbit trilogy, Fast & Furious 6 and 7, Clash of the Titans and in the upcoming live action Beauty and the Beast as Gaston.  Charles Dance plays the Master Vampire who Vlad has to approach to gain the ability to save his people.  He's been in a lot of movies, including Underworld: Awakening (and the upcoming Blood Wars entry into the franchise), Victor Frankenstein, and the much reviled Ghostbusters remake.  Art Parkinson played Ingeras, Vlad's son, and went on to co-star in San Andreas.

I really enjoyed this one, and give it a 5 out of 5.  It was originally intended to be the opening to the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe, even having a few scenes added in that could have linked in with the upcoming films, but it looks like Universal's changing the start to be a new Mummy film starring Tom Cruise.  Looking forward to that one, but for now, as always, this is Red Hawk signing out!