My Review of House Of Dracula (1945)

 

Written by Edward T. Lowe

Directed by Erle C. Kenton

Milizia: "Your world is coming closer to me. But I'm afraid."

Count Dracula: "It is a world without fear. It is like the music. Beautiful. Beautiful."

Following the events of the previous movie, it was time to shift the focus back on to the Count himself - Dracula (John Carradine). He's alive and in need of assistance and Dr Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens), whether the latter liked it or not.

This movie seemed to have a theme about seeking out cures. Franz was doing research of curing people of their afflictions and most of the characters here wanted to be cured. Oddly enough, Dracula was one of them. I say oddly because if anyone, he'd seemed the type to love who he was.

With Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr) showing up to Edelmann's place looking to cure his lycanthropy, it felt business as usual. It's been a consistent thing with Larry in every appearance he's made but this time around, he actually got his wish this time around. He even got a hero moment as well.

As for Dracula, things didn't go as well for him. He was fixated on Edelmann's assistant, Milizia (Martha O'Driscoll) and paid the consequences of messing with blood transfusion. Then again, so did Edelmann as he took on a more monstrous look and killed poor Nina (Jane Adams).

Yes, despite Dracula being the title villain of the movie, he's disappointingly removed from the main action once again. It doesn't help that Edelmann's role more or less was the same as Niemann's in the previous movie or that Edelmann's role also felt like a substitute for another monster they could've used as well.

I'll admit that Larry Talbot did have a much better role compared to the previous movie. He's still mopey and self pitying but at least he got what he wanted and managed to defeat Frankenstein's monster by the end of this movie. Frankenstein's monster was also underused again.

- Some of these monster would appear in later movies with Abbott & Costello.

- Elements of this movie stemmed from an unmade Wolf Man vs. Dracula film.

- Standout music: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 Moonlight by Beethoven.

- Chronology: An unspecified time since the events of House Of Frankenstein.

House Of Dracula probably should've been the end point for this universe but then we wouldn't have gotten things had it ended here. Two of the three monsters are somewhat wasted, two characters are clear substitutes for two other monsters and one got cured.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of House Of Frankenstein (1944)

 

Written by Edward T. Lowe

Directed by Erle C. Kenton 

Larry (re Frankenstein's Monster): "He wanted life and strength. I wanted only death. Yet, here we are."

For Halloween, I'm giving a double bill of crossover events from the Universal Monsters and I'll admit, while they're not among the best movies in the bunch, they're also not lacking their moments. 

The funny thing was that both movies seemingly put a certain monster centre but the monster in question didn't have as much screentime as you'd hope for them to have. In fact, Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) only popped up towards the second of this film.

The first half focused on mad scientist Dr. Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) and his hunchback henchman, Daniel (J. Carrol Naish). They managed to escape from a prison and then found themselves assisting a travelling freak show. The real show being led by Professor Lampini (George Zucco). It didn't take long for Niemann to betray Lampini either.

On top of that, Niemann also managed to revive Dracula (John Carradine) in order to get revenge on Burgomaster Hussman (Sig Runan). Dracula however found himself fixated on Hussman's granddaughter-in-law Rita (Anne Gwynne), much to her husband, Carl's (Peter Coe) displeasure. Throw in some death and the Dracula bit was hastily paused to get to the rest of the story.

Niemann and Daniel encountered gypsies with the latter being smitten by Ilonka (Elena Verdugo) but she didn't reciprocate his feelings. Instead she was in love with the new unfrozen Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr) as the latter found himself drawn into Niemann's schemes.

As for Frankenstein's monster, he got revived very late in the movie, killed Daniel after the latter attempted to murder Niemann and then walked into quicksand. There's a tragic romance/mutual killing between Ilonka and the Wolf Man but it's rather unsatisfactory in it's execution.

- A sequel, titled House Of Dracula was released several months after this movie. Most of the cast in this returned for it.

- I got to admire that Lon Chaney Jr consistently played the Wolf Man while Dracula and Frankenstein's monster actors kept changing.

- Edward T. Lowe previously wrote the scripts for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1923) and The Vampire Batman (1933).

- Chronology: Mostly taking place in Visaria, following the events of Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. 

House Of Frankenstein isn't a bad start to the two part crossover events but it may disappoint you if you were hoping for more of Frankenstein's monster or even Dracula, who was killed off midway through. It also didn't really do anything new with the Wolf Man and neither will the next one.

Rating: 6 out of 10

DCU Blog - October 2025 Edition: MOT & TBPtII Updates, Supergirl Reshoots And More

It's nearly Halloween and October is almost at an end. Here's an update on what's been going on in the world of the DCU this month.

As of now, James Gunn's still working on the script for Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027). A recent description for a character seems to suggest either Brainiac or Mongul as the main villain.

Colin Farrell has recently discussed both The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) and the now scrapped Sgt. Rock movie he was going to star in.

Warner Brothers is up for sale again and will be purchase by someone in 2026. As of now, they've currently rejected an offer from Paramount.

The Batman - Part II will take place a few weeks after the events of The Penguin.

Reshoots for Supergirl (June 26th 2026) are underway. It's also been confirmed the movie will be faithful to the source material.

Andy and Barbara Muschietti have confirmed they will have to wait a few months before they can talk about The Brave And The Bold. 

DC Studios have recruited Jock for the upcoming Dynamic Duo (June 30th 2028) animated movie.

Batman: Knightfall will be a four part animated movie, with the first part to be released in 2026.

Clayface (September 11th 2026), starring Tom Rhys Harries in the title role will finish filming this week.

James Gunn has confirmed that there are no plans for a third season of Peacemaker.

James Gunn also has had discussions with Keanu Reeves about a Constantine sequel but no script has been greenlit as of now.

Despite his current deal with Paramount, James Mangold is still interested in making a Swamp Thing movie for DC Studios.

The Bat-Fam animated series will premiere on Amazon Prime from November 10th.

No release date for Lanterns has been confirmed yet but a recent image did confirm Nathan Fillion's involvement as Guy Gardner in the show.

A Strange Adventures TV series is in development, though this has yet to be officially confirmed. 

In terms of comics, both Wonder Woman and Batman will crossover in their Absolute universes. Zatanna will also have a major in the Wonder Woman side of things.

That's it for the month of October. Have a Happy Halloween and let's see what next month brings for DC fans.

Freddy's Nightmares - Episodes 16-20 Reviews

I know it's been a few months since I've done this but hopefully I can finish this series before the year is out. Let's look into these batch of episodes.

Episode 16: Cabin Fever 

Brett Cullen's one of those actors I occasionally seeing things and I think "I know that guy". In one of his earliest acting roles, he popped up here as an airline heir enduring the worst flight of his life. It's also a flight that landed him straight into Hell with the build up to that realisation being handled particularly well. The second half then focused on a lovlorn hostess trying to find love in all the wrong places. Needless to say, her quest for romance ended up seriously dooming her. Robert Englund directed this episode. 7/10

Episode 17: Love Stinks

Well, the first story had it's male protagonist, Adam cheat on his girlfriend with another girl and then spent most of the first half of the episode realising what a big mistake that was. The second story involved Max getting to work at a pizza place (formerly Beefy Boy) with his obnoxious uncle trying to undermine him. There's a familiar element to this story but it's handled recently enough. 6/10

Episode 18: The Art Of Death

What if you had the power to draw things into life? That was the first half of this episode. Awkward guy was able to bring things to life through his comics. This also meant putting the girl he had a crush on in danger. The second half dealt with the trauma the girl went through. The episode could've allowed her to heal but instead, it amplified her trauma and then ended things for her on a horrible note. 5/10

Episode 19: Missing Persons 

One of my favourite episodes so far. You've got a babysitter named Gina (Eva LaRue). She have to look after two bratty kids but her issues with food and her looks reared their head and she turned into a monster, who then exploded. Then it turned out that Gina was a young girl with weight issues and then her babysitter looked very familiar. The second half focused on Gina's father making a life trade that he ended up regretting. Oh and his mistress looked incredibly familiar. 8/10

Episode 20: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

This one just bored me. There was a guy trying to conquer his fear of the dark by working in a sewer. Then there was a plot with a pornographer being trapped in his nightmares. Honestly, I just didn't care about either story. 4/10

Next blog I'll cover Identity Crisis, Safe Sex, Dreams Come True, Heartbreak Hotel and Welcome To Springwood.

Doctor Who Future: Disney+ Part Ways, Christmas 2026 Confirmed And Spin-off Airing This Year

After months of radio silence, today of all days the BBC decided to drop a few bombs in regards to the future of Doctor Who. Most of these reveals won't shock but here goes nothing.

Let's get the obvious one out of the way first. After twenty one episodes, comprising of the eras for both the Fourteenth (David Tennant) and Fifteenth Doctors (Ncuti Gatwa) respectively, Disney have parted ways with Doctor Who. Of course, there's still the upcoming spin-off but yup, the show has been booted out of the House of Mouse. Going by the online reactions, most fans aren't particularly saddened by this turn of events. 

As for the future of the series, not only have the BBC doubled down on an animated spin-off that was announced a few months ago, they've also confirmed a Christmas special for 2026. Russell T. Davies will write the episode but as of yet, no cast members have been confirmed for the special. Of course I'm using a picture of David Tennant and Billie Piper (last seen in The Giggle and The Reality War) because I'm convinced both are likely going to be lined up for this episode. I'm also convinced this special will likely serve as a finale for Russell T. Davies divisive second era before the BBC confirm a future series in a few months with a different showrunner and Doctor no doubt.

Last but not least, there's upcoming spin-off,  The War Between The Land And The Sea. A few months ago, it was being pushed to 2026 but its now revealed that the show, starring Russell Tovey (Barclay) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Salt) will air on the BBC in December and on Disney+ in 2026. The five part series was written by Russell T. Davies and Pete McTighe and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, focusing on a conflict between mankind and the Sea Devils. The series will also feature Jemma Redgrave, Alexander Devrient, Ruth Madeley and Colin MacFarlane.

Press Release: https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/bbc-confirms-future-of-doctor-who-and-a-new-christmas-special-in-2026

Filming for the 2026 Christmas special of Doctor Who will commence early next year. I'll post more details as they become available.

My Review of The Mummy (1932)

Written by John L. Balderston And Nina Wilcox Putnam And Richard Schayer

Directed by Karl Freund

Sir Joseph: ""Death... eternal punishment... for... anyone... who... opens... this... casket. In the name... of Amon-Ra... the king of the gods." Good heavens, what a terrible curse!"

Ralph: "Well, let's see what's inside!"

Earlier this month, I reviewed the 1959 version of this movie and I really enjoyed. Now it's the turn of the Universal Monsters era and it's a very interesting take.

As expected, the movie started in Egypt with a group of archaeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron), Ralph Norton (Bramwel Fletcher) and Dr. Sid Muller (Edward Van Sloan). They disturb the tomb of Imhotep (Boris Karloff). Quickly, enough Imhotep came to life and poor Ralph ended up laughing hysterically.

Then the movie jumped a decade later and Imhotep managed to integrate himself into Egyptian society and ended up coming into contact with Whemple's son, Frank (David Manners) and Professor Pearson (Leonard Mudie). Of course, Imhotep didn't meet them by chance.

Imhotep was looking for scrolls needed for a spell to help resurrect his lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-Amon. The latter also happened to look like Frank's lover, Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann). Of course that wasn't unnoticed by Imhotep himself.

In fact, it was the whole point of the movie. He knew the resemblance that Helen had to Ankh-es-en-Amon and he went out of his way to show Helen memories of their past life together when he wasn't killing Frank's father or trying to kill Frank himself. 

The last few minutes of the movie have the attempted resurrection in question with Imhotep trying to bring his lover back while also vocalising Imhotep's resentment for being sacrificed in the first. The love story between Helen and Frank seemed to be the thing that saved Helen in the end and doomed Imhotep.

- Both Boris Karloff and David Manners were previously the Monster and Jonathan Harker the year before in Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) respectively. Talk about typecasting for both. 

- The movie spawned a reimagining such as The Mummy's Hand (1940) and various sequels it. 

- Dog lovers will not love what happened offscreen to Helen's dog. Oh and there's a white cat.

- Chronology: Both 1921 and 1931 in Egypt as well as flashbacks to 3700 years before for Imhotep's backstory.

While it's not as instant a classic as some of the others, there's no denying that this version of The Mummy (1931) set a high standard. Boris Karloff played Imhotep with such ease. He gave an excellent performance and so did Zita Johann and David Manners.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of It - Welcome To Derry - The Pilot

 

Written by Jason Fuchs

Directed by Andy Muschietti 

Lilly: "We're going to get you out."

Matty: "No, you won't. You're the reason I'm in here."

HBO perfectly timed the released for this show. With less than a week to go until Halloween, it was time to see what brand of chaos was unleashed on Derry before the events of the IT movies.

The opening episode started off with Matt Clements (Miles Ekhardt). He snuck into see a movie called The Music Man and briefly encountered Ronnie Grogan (Amanda Christine) before getting into a car with a strange couple and their childen. It was a car journey that Matt ultimately wouldn't survive.

Cut to four months later and you've got the focus on several young kids who are drawn to each other because of Matt's death. There's the alien believing Phil Malkin (Jack Molloy Legault), his sister Susie (Matilda Legault) and his best friend, Jewish kid, Teddy Uris (Mikkal Karim-Fidler). Oh and there's Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack).

They've all felt the loss of Matty but while Phil was initially in denial about what happened to Matt, both Teddy and Lilly force him to face up to it. Along with Susie, they soon encountered Ronnie and a trip to the cinema at night led to an almighty bloodbath.

Every once in a while I can be surprised with how far a television show can push the gore factor and I was pretty shocked with how far this one pushed things. With the exception of Lilly and Ronnie, every other kid in that scene got absolutely slaughtered by the mutant baby. Talk about pushing the rating there.

As for the rest of the episode, there's an air force subplot involving returning Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) and Captain Pauly Russo (Rudy Mancuso). While Leroy experienced racism, he did have support from General Shaw (James Remar) but it didn't stop an incident where masked men nearly killed him over classified information. I'm sure that information will be relevant later on.

- Other actors who appeared in this first episode included Chris Chalk as Dick Halloran. Bill Skarsgard will appear as Pennywise later in the season.

- Teddy was reading comics about The Flash and Clayface, Phil was obsessed with breastfeeding, Ronnie's father was a suspect, Susie had great handwriting, Lily spent time in Juniper Hill and Matt used a pacifier when he was stressed.

- Standout music: Ya Got Trouble from the movie Matt ended up trapped in.

- Chronology: January 1962, before it moved into May. Derry, Maine of course.

The Pilot showed a hell of a lot of trouble with the lead cast on great form and top notch directing from Andy Muschietti. He's set a high bar that hopefully can be maintained for the rest of the season.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Scary Movie 5 (2013)

 

Written by Pat Proft And David Zucker

Directed by Malcolm D. Lee

Jody: "I feel like there's something in this house."

And we've hit the low point of the franchise. In the 2010s, this subgenre was well and truly dying on it's arse. This final entry was a case of "why even bother?" as it tried to set up a new group of protagonists.

First things first though - sexcapades with Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan? Even in 2013, that felt pretty dated as one of them died and the other got arrested. The kids of Sheen's also ended up being feral and discovered by two idiots named Ja'Marcus (Snoop Dogg) and D'Andre (Mac Miller).

The kids would be taken in by Sheen's fictionalised brother, Dan Sanders (Simon Rex) and his wife, Jody (Ashley Tisdale). Needless to say, they're a handful and even with help such as Maria (Lidia Porto), they only really answer to Mama herself.

This movie threw in the likes of Mama, Paranormal Activity and Black Swan as it's main reference points. The kids could see that title baddie from one movie, found footage factored a lot into the house and Jody herself was competing with Kendra (Erica Ash) for the Swan Queen. 

Yes, the movie trudged through these spoofs and not with the coordinated zing of the first two movies. It's such a sloppy movie, almost knowing that it's coming from an era that's already ended for this subgenre.

Jody and Dan are serviceable characters but there's a blandness to both Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex. You almost get the impression neither one of them wanted to be a part of this but couldn't get out of their contracts. None of the jokes land and the resolution's pretty crap to boot.

- There's a post credit scene with Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan that played into "it was a dream" cliche. Cameos included Tyler Posey, Jasmine Guy, Mike Tyson, Usher, Kate Walsh, Molly Shannon and Angie Stone to name a few.

- Other spoofs included Planet Of The Apes, Cabin In The Woods, Evil Dead, Inception, Insidious and 50 Shades Of Grey.

- Standout music: Hyper Crush's Werk Me.

- Chronology: Years since the previous movie. No real references to the previous ones though.

Scary Movie 5 really was an embarrassment for this franchise. It's poor in every aspect and I really cannot say a good thing about it. A terrible ending for a sometimes fun but dated franchise. Will next year's sixth entry redeem this franchise? We'll see but this one's a dud.

Rating: 2 out of 10 

My Review of Scary Movie 4 (2006)

 

Written by Craig Mazin And Jim Abrahams And Pat Proft

Directed by David Zucker 

Jeremiah: "I am sorry, Elder Hale... but sometimes my tongue wiggles beyond my ability to control it."

Brenda: "This is a problem with which I have had much experience. Maybe I could help him in a room in which there are no others. Or you can all watch. I don't give a shit."

And we've reached the part of the franchise where the last vestiges of the Wayans influence were present. This was the last film in the franchise to feature both Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) and Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall). I wouldn't say it ended on a particularly high note.

Let's see, this time around we're dealing with Saw, The Grudge and The Village as the bones of the plot. The film opened with Shaquille O'Neal being captured by a very familiar and not as menacing puppet. 

Then there's Cindy. Her marriage ended and she became a widow, her nephew was gone to military schooland she was now looking after old people like Mrs. Norris (Cloris Leachman) and dealing with creepy ghost boys (Garrett Masuda). Oh and Brenda's back because in this franchise, death won't keep get her down. As usual, the highlight in every movie.

Now here we've got Cindy getting involved with single father, Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko) and the latter's children, Robbie (Beau Mirchoff) and Rachel (Conchita Campbell). The romance plots Cindy got in these later movies weren't interesting and this one was rather flat.

There's a bit more fun to be had when Cindy and Brenda ended up in a backwards village and have the likes of Henry Hale (Bill Pullman) as a foil. Brenda in particular charmed the likes of Jeremiah (John Reardon). Let's just say that Brenda's butter churning skills left a profound effect on Jeremiah.

Throw in another alien invasion, a secondary love story between Brenda and Zoltar (David Zucker) and puppets getting beaten by Brenda and it's mostly an okay third act. I would've preferred something other than an alien invasion or Cindy getting another bland love interest. This movie reheated elements from the previous and not very well tbh.

- It turns out that Mahalik Phifer (Anthony Anderson) and CJ Iz (Kevin Hart) had sex with each between movies.

- Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Leslie Nielsen and Edward Moss reprised their roles from the previous movie as well. However Carmen Electra and Chris Elliott played new characters. James Earl Jones did the narration. Dr Phil McGraw also appeared.

- Standout music: Pitbull Daycare's You Make Me Feel So Dead.

- Chronology: A few years since the events of the third movie.

Definitely the weakest of the bunch. Scary Movie 4 showed signs of fatigue but it was around this point, this subgenre had been overstretched and was becoming less funny as a result. Still, there's one more to go.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Scary Movie 3 (2003)

 

Written by Craig Mason And Pat Proft

Directed by David Zucker

Tabitha (to Cindy): "Jesus Christ, lady. I'm giving you seven friggin' days. I can come over now and kill the shit out of you if you'd rather have that."

Needless to say that without the Wayans, there's something about the Scary Movie franchise that lost its identity. I felt that a bit with this one and moreso with the two that would follow suit. It was their franchise and without them, it's lacking a bit.

Granted, we're also in the third entry of this franchise and there's an attempt to mature both Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) and Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), albeit not by much. Brenda's still as delightfully irreverent as ever, a small mercy in this one.

For Cindy, she's gotten a news anchor job and a nephew named Cody (Drew Misuska) to look after but he's consistently put in harm's way, so she's not very good as a would be guardian. That kid should've been dead halfway through this movie.

On top of that, this movie also both The Ring and Signs as the backdrop for it's main story. There's a bit of 8 Mile in the mix with Cindy's new boyfriend, George Logan (Simon Rex) and new recurring character, Mahalik (Anthony Anderson). The rap battle were not great to watch at all.

As for Brenda, yup she became a victim of Tabitha (Marny Eng) but not before she got a few smacks in herself as did The Oracle (Queen Latifah). No point morning Brenda because, well, she'll be back in the fourth movie and her death, while funny here wasn't quite as effective as the first movie.

Outside of Cindy and Brenda, you've got aliens who kick people in the crotch in order to greet, George's brother, Tom (Charlie Sheen) and niece, Sue (Jianna Ballard), the President played Leslie Nielsen and two characters getting married by the end. Throw in a thwarted alien invasion and a ghost girl free of her curse and things did grind to an ending.

- Other spoofs included The Matrix and it's sequel and a somewhat dated Michael Jackson joke at the time.

- Other cameos/minor roles in this movie included Pamela Anderson, Simon Cowell, Camryn Manheim, Jenny McCarthy, Denise Richards, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Hart, Ja Rule and lots of different rappers. All of whom were popular in the 2000s.

- Standout music: Elfie's School Girls and Aman's Creep While You Sleep.

- Chronology: A couple of years since the events of the previous movie.

Scary Movie 3 doesn't quite hit as well as the first two and it's definitely the start of a slippery slope for this franchise. There's some laughs to be had but also a lot that doesn't land the way it should either.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Scary Movie 2 (2001)

 

Written by Shawn Wayans And Marlon Wayans And Alyson Fouse And Greg Grabianski And Dave Polsky And Michael Anthony Snowden And Craig Wayans

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans 

Cindy: "Oh, my god, Brenda we're gonna die."

Brenda: "IT WOULD HAVE JUST BEEN YOU IF YOU HAD JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

With the first movie being such a massive hit, the Wayans certainly didn't waste time in getting that sequel out. It's certainly of a similar quality. Take that as you like.

The opening scene decided to lampoon The Exorcist with the likes of Veronica Cartwright, Natasha Lyonne, James Spader and Andy Richter assuming the roles of Mrs. Voorhees, Megan, Father McFeely and Father Harris. It's amusing enough, gross as expected and not overly long.

As for the main bones of the movie, it's all bit The Haunting Of Hill House, isn't it? First of all, the survivors of the previous movie - Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans) have returned. They're also in college and they've made some new friends to boot.

The friends being Buddy Sanderson (Chris Masterson), Theo (Kathleen Robertson) and Alex Monday (Tori Spelling). They're taking part in an investigation in Hell House. They're brought together by Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) and his assistants creepy butler Hanson (Chris Elliott) and wheelchair bound Dwight Hartman (David Cross). There's a rivalry of sorts between Hanson and Dwight that's amusing enough to watch.

Anyways the ghost of Hugh Kane (Richard Moll) has been causing trouble in Hell House and Cindy just happened to look like his wife while Shorty found himself getting involved with Hugh's mistress, Victoria Crane (Jennifer Curran). That was better than him being smoked by a giant weed plant.

As the rest of the movie, there's a smart mouthed parrot named Polly (Matt Friedman), a violent black cat, a villainous clown being a victim of Ray, a possessed Hanson and the means of getting rid of Hugh Kane. Add in a funny Charlie's Angels homage and it's reasonable silly fun.

- Other homages are IT, What Lies Beneath, Titanic, The Sixth Sense to name a few.

- There's no explanation given as to why Brenda and Ray are still alive but there's a pointed moment about the black characters being separated from the white characters when there's danger.

- Standout music: Vitamin C's Graduation (Friends Forever), The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up and Nelly's Ride Wit Me. Beetlejuice was in Shorty's brain.

- Chronology: The majority of the film took place a year after the opening scene.

While Scary Movie 2 was definitely rushed as a sequel, I really enjoyed it. Brenda was the highlight and the use of Shirley Jackson's classic story worked well. Yes, there are things that have not aged well too.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Scary Movie (2000)

 

Written by Shawn Wayans And Marlon Wayans And Buddy Johnson And Phil Beauman And Jason Friedberg And Aaron Seltzer

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans

Cindy: "You guys are psychos! You've watched too many TV shows!"

Ray: "No! Watching TV shows doesn't create psycho killers. Canceling TV shows does! I mean The Wayans Brothers was a good show, man! It was a good show, but we've never even got a final episode!"

Now for something different. With the sixth movie in this horror spoof franchise currently in production, it was time for me to go back and review the first movie. I can't believe it's been over twenty five years since this franchise debuted.

Taking both Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) as the bones of this story, you've got a group of mostly horrible people trying to cover an accidental death and being picked off one by one. The killer? It's Ghostface actually.

The people in question are three high school couples - Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) and her boyfriend, Bobby Prinze (Jon Abrahams), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall) and Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans) and Buffy Gilmore (Shannon Elizabeth) and Greg Philippe (Lochlyn Munro). They killed someone and tried to cover their tracks. Except Ghostface had other ideas on that matter.

As the movie progressed we had Buffy winning a beauty pageant while Greg was getting ridiculed on the size of his manhood. They're the two weakest characters in this first movie. There's also the permanently stoned Shorty (Marlon Wayans). I think the character's a fan favourite but he's more of a mixed bag for me.

On to the two fan favourites, it's obviously Cindy and Brenda. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are as much the glue to this franchise as the Wayans are. Cindy's the goofier version of every final girl ever but Brenda's on another level. The majority of the best lines and funniest scenes are usually from her. Whether it's her falseness towards Buffy, that sex scene with Ray or her "death" that was a homage to Scream 2, she's one of the best comic characters in this subgenre. 

Getting to the Ghostface side of things. Well, didn't we all think that Billy Loomis and Stu Macher were secretly a couple? The Wayans clearly did because that's what we got with Bobby and Ray. I'll admit some of the gay jokes have not aged well but I did laugh at the time. However the twist of Officer Doofy (Dave Sheridan) and Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri) being the actual killers kind of undermined them a bit.

- Other things that got spoofed included Halloween (1978), The Shining, Friday The 13th (1980), The Blaire Witch Project and The Matrix to name a few. Brenda also watched Shakespeare In Love during her "death" scene.

- There's a horribly misjudged and transphobic joke with the character, Miss Mann (Jayne Trcka). There's no way in hell the Wayans would get away with that type of character these days.

- Standout music: The Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated.

- Chronology: The film opened during Halloween with Drew Decker (Carmen Electra) being the first Ghostface victim.

Scary Movie certainly has scenes in it that have not aged well and it'll be a miracle if the upcoming sixth movie can land with a modern audience. Saying that, it's mostly a very funny first outing in this franchise.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Dracula (1931)

 

Written by Garrett Ford

Directed by Tod Browning

Count Dracula: "I am Dracula. I bid you welcome."

Seeing as I have been doing a watch of Universe Monsters take on classic monsters, of course that meant I'd have to watch Dracula as well. I've seen this one before but it was a delight to go back and watch it again.

Cast in the role of the Count himself was Bela Lugosi. No stranger to this particular franchise, playing the role of Dracula of course would be his most iconic. The film itself also would be seen as an iconic iteration of the character.

Doing a role swap, it ain't Jonathan Harker this time but it's Renfield (Dwight Frye). Normally he's Dracula's subservient right hand man but here he assumed the Harker role as the lawyer tasked with spending time with Dracula in Transylvania. Renfield was warned by the villagers to avoid the Count. Renfield chose not to listen.

The funny thing about this movie was that John Harker (David Manners) did appear in the film, once things were directed back to London. There's even a relationship of sorts between him and Mina Seward (Helen Chandler). It's charming enough I suppose, until Mina nearly killed John while under the influence of Dracula.

This adaptation certainly picks and chooses what to keep and what to play around with. The remainder of Renfield's story did play out like it normally did but he also got John's story as well. Similarly this version of Mina wa the daughter of Dr Seward (Herbert Bunston) while Lucy Weston (Frances Dade) was also quickly dispatched of. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) seemed the most in character.

In terms of performances, Bela Lugosi undoubtedly was the highlight of the film. He's absolutely captivating as the Count and his best scenes were ones that involved Renfield, Mina and Van Helsing. Of course this was not a great film for John Harker, with the character largely ineffectual but oftentimes that's the curse of the guy. 

- Bela Lugosi had played Dracula on stage, prior to this movie. He'd also play different characters in this particular franchise.

- At least two different scenes, including an epilogue akin to the prologue from Frankenstein (1931) were added in later releases. There are also silent and foreign language versions of this movie.

- Standout music: Tchaikovsky's  Swan Lake.

- Chronology: The late 1800s, both in Transylvania and London.

Dracula (1931) to this day will remain one of the best versions of the Count in live action. Bela Lugosi set the bar for a performance and his chemistry with his costars is magnetic. It's a beautiful looking movie and very eerie in parts. I love it.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1941)

 

Written by John Lee Mahin And Percy Heath And Samuel Hoffenstein

Directed by Victor Fleming

Mr. Edward Hyde: "The world is yours, my darling, the moment is mine!"

I'm having a bit of a time trying to find a certain version of this movie but I did find one from 1941 but I did watch this one over the weekend. First time viewing and it's an interesting one.

In the role of both title characters, you've got Spencer Tracy. He certainly played both roles rather well, albeit maybe Hyde just that little bit better if I'm being perfectly honest.

We have Jekyll performing experiments to separate the good and bad in humans, only for himself to be the result of the experiment. Jekyll tried his damnedest to be a good man. Hyde on the other hand, revelled in the sheer chaos he brought unto others.

One person in particular who was the victim of Hyde's wore impulses was the unfortunate Ivy Pearson (Ingrid Bergman). She bore the brunt of Hyde's abuse and her attempts to get Jekyll to help her from Hyde only backfired on her. Hyde was his absolute worst with poor Ivy.

Then there's Beatrix Emery (Lana Turner). She was the love of Jekyll's life and their engagement was met with disapproval by her father, Sir Charles (Donald Crisp). It also didn't help that Hyde ended up bludgeoning her father to death as well. Needless to say that engagement didn't result in a marriage.

As for the rest of the movie, Jekyll and Hyde caused enough chaos for everyone and when Jekyll almost became himself again, the stress of the police brought back Hyde and then death. Of course this movie had to end with both title characters reaching their tragic conclusion. 

- This movie was a mainstream hit and even managed three Academy Award nominations.

- The Hays Code changed Ivy from a prostitute to a barmaid for this movie.

- Standout music: Alice Mock's See Me Dance The Polka.

-  Chronology: 1887 London.

I really liked Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. It's unsettling where it needed to be and while Spencer Tracy made for a better Hyde than Jekyll, he's still great in both roles. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Exorcism Of Saint Patrick (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Quinn Armstrong 

Patrick (to Trick): "I'm trying to save your soul from an eternity of torment."

In films I didn't know existed until I started scrolling through movies on Plex, I encountered this one. Is there an actual exorcism? Not quite. Instead we're dealing with something far more insidious.

You've got a pastor named Patrick (Steve Pinder). He been tasked by some concerned to pray the gay away from a teenage boy named Patrick (Michael J. Cline) or Trick to help differentiate between both characters. That did work I suppose.

Anyways, Patrick took Trick to a cabin in the woods where he went through various methods to not make Trick gay. If anything, it seemed like Patrick was desperately projecting onto Trick as the latter confessed to being bullied by other kids and had creative aspirations once he left school.

Trick also had the sense to recognise just how unhinged Patrick really was and tried his best to manipulate the latter into bringing him home. Patrick would've spared himself a lot of hassle if he had simply just let Trick go. However, Patrick was too stupid to do the right thing.

Instead, he inadvertently killed Trick and then tried to hide the body. He also didn't take kindly to his superior, Alan (Alan Tyson) trying to give him a way out. Patrick also didn't like being under scrutiny by Meredith (Caitlin McWethy). Meredith seemed to know exactly what Patrick was up, even if she wasn't able to stop him in time.

Not that it mattered. As this movie got towards the end, Patrick was haunted by both Trick and another previous victim, Alana (Maya Jeman). On the plus side, at least Patrick got a much deserved comeuppance and surprisingly, it was less gory than expected. 

- Also known as Fresh Hell: The Exorcism Of Saint Patrick.

- I'll give the film credit for addressing the existence of gay pastors and most churches being more liberal. Patrick however dismissed these things to further isolate Trick.

- Were Trick and Alana the only people that Patrick's extreme methods killed? I thought he might have had more victims during that final sequence.

- Chronology: It seemed to be present day in a small American town.

I'll admit that The Exorcism Of Saint Patrick wasn't as horrible as I expected it to be. That's not to say it's a good movie because it isn't but it's at least a short one and the acting's mostly adequate at best. 

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Black Phone 2 (2025)

 

Written by Scott Derrickson And C. Robert Cargill

Directed by Scott Derrickson 

The Grabber (to Finney): "It took a long time but you of all people know that dead is just a word."

I got to admit - I was surprised that a sequel for The Black Phone actually happened. I know it was a massive hit but it was grounded for a horror movie and the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) seemed very much dead. 

However because it was a hit and had supernatural/ghost elements, of course a sequel had to happen. Being dead usually doesn't keep a good horror villain down as both Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) were about to find out.

Since the events of the first movie, the brother/sister duo's lives haven't improved a lot. On the plus side, Terrence (Jeremy Davies) has stepped up a bit as a father to them but they're still social pariahs in their school. Finney's even gotten moodier and violent as well as refusing to give Gwen's dreams any attention.

With the first movie alluding to Gwen's abilities being inherited from her mother, Hope (Anna Lore), this movie decided to take things to a much colder location in order to get some answers. Yup, we had Finney, Gwen and Robin's brother, Ernesto (Miguel Mora) visit the Alpine Lake Camp to learn a lot more than expected.

In between a blossoming romance between Gwen and Ernesto and unhelpful counsellors, it turned out that this particular setting was where the Grabber had started off his killing spree, which included Hope. Oh and he'd back as a homicidal ghost to boot.

Yup, touching into Freddy Krueger territory, the Grabber wasted no time in terrorising both Finney and Gwen in this much colder environment and adding to his large enough body count. However the ghosts of previous victims and Finney/Gwen working together meant that things didn't end so good for the Grabber yet again.

- Some solid supporting roles for Demián Bichir as Armando and Arianna Rivas as Mustang. I also liked Gwen's utter contempt for Barbara (Maev Beaty).

- Miguel Mora previously played Robin but in this movie he played Ernesto. I didn't recognise him at first.

- Standout music: FEX's Subways Of Your Mind and Duran Duran were mentioned by Gwen and Ernesto.

- Chronology: Four years since the events of the first movie. There was also flashbacks to 1957.

Black Phone 2 made for an okay sequel. It did try to up the ante from what the first entry did and again, the Finney/Gwen team up was it's biggest strength. Overall I did like, I just didn't love it as a second outing.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Mummy (1959)

 

Written by Jimmy Sangster

Directed by Terence Fisher

John Banning: "Seems I've spent the better part of my life amongst the dead."

Yesterday I was looking for a different version but I'll find that one next week. Anyways this version was in the Hammer Horror side of things and why, it did feature both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

The movie started with a trip to Egypt in the 19th century where John Banning (Peter Cushing), his father Stephen (Felix Aylmer) and his uncle Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley) are looking into the tomb of Princess Ananka (Yvonne Furneaux). She was the high priestess of Kharis (Christopher Lee). She was also his lover too.

Of course, John injured himself so he wasn't there to disturb the tomb itself or to ignore the warning of Mehemet Bey (George Pastell) about a curse for those who'd desecrate such an ancient tomb. Then again, when did anyone actually heed such a warning?

Anyways, some years had passed and back in England, a rather traumatised Stephen tried to warn his son about the curse and in particular, the dangers of Kharis. Yes, they brought the mummified Kharis to England and it didn't take long for Kharis to come to life and prove that it wasn't a good idea to disturb a mummy's tomb.

On top of that, John's wife Isobel also happened to look exactly like Princess Ananka and the Mummy noticed this himself. Isobel's resemblance to his dead lover was the thing that also broke Mehemet's control over Kharis, though it didn't entirely keep Isobel out of danger. 

Isobel very nearly ended up being buried in quicksand with Kharis and the scrolls that activated the curse. By the end of the movie, Isobel managed to just about survive while the Mummy got a rather slow second death.

- This movie aired in double bills with either The Bat (1959) or Curse Of The Undead (1959).

- Elements from the 1932 version's sequels were incorporated into the movie.

- Karnak is a city, not a God and eyes are open rather than closed for the dead.

- Chronology: 1895 Egypt as well as 1898 England. There was flashbacks to Ancient Egypt to provide backstory for Kharis and Ananka's relationship.

The Mummy (1959) certainly fused elements of past attempts rather well and as usual, there's a nice reliability in both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. They give very good performances throughout this particular adaptation. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)

 

Written by Harry Essex And Arthur Ross And Maurice Zimm

Directed by Jack Arnold 

Captain Lucas: "I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon" - a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it."

So far I've been looking at the more familiar of Universal Monsters creatures that I hadn't thought about the depths below. Yup, it was time to take a trip to the Amazon for a more subterranean threat.

Let's meet the Gill-Man (Ricou Browning/Ben Chapman). What exactly was he? Something left over from another time? A link between land and sea animals? Yup, it seemed to be the latter. Nevertheless his presence caused quite a stir.

Cue to an exploration team mostly made up of men such as Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) and his two assistants, Luis (Rod Redwing) and Tomas (Perry Lopez). Add in Dr David Reed (Richard Carlson), Dr Mark Williams (Richard Denning) and David's girlfriend, Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams). Now you've got an expedition team.

It's a very male heavy movie, including Captain Lucas (Nestor Paiva) while Kay's role was being the unwilling attraction piece. The Gill-Man took more than an interest in her during their interactions, even to the point of bringing her to an underwater cave.

Kay's role in this whole film was mostly a thankless part as aside from being the only woman in the movie, there's not much for her to do. The men when they weren't fighting among themselves seemed more intent on capturing or killing the Gill-Man himself, somewhat succeeding in the latter eventually.

As for the Gill-Man himself, he's portrayed as more tragic than anything else. At the end of the day, it was that expedition team that disturbed him and for the most, he was just minding his own business. Being obsessed with Kay probably didn't help. The underwater scenes looked really good as well.

- There are two sequels - Revenge Of The Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). A remake hasn't happened though many attempts have been made.

- There's a colourised version of this movie in existence but it's better watching this in black and white.

- Ricou Browning played Gill-Man in water while Ben Chapman played the role on land.

- Chronology: Set in the Amazon rainforest. The Gill-Man seems to be left over from the Devonian period.

Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) did make for a more science fiction focused film. The human characters are generally fine but it's the Gill-Man who held the interest. A great design brought to life.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

 

Written by Lester K. Cole And Joe May And Curt Siodmak And Cedric Belfrage

Directed by Joe May

Willie: "What kinda ghosts sneeze?"

Geoffrey: "It's cold in the other world, so cold!"

Sequel time. Turns out that being a part of the Universal Monsters World meant getting a sequel and after the success of the first movie, our often unseen antagonist warranted a return.

Of course there was the problem of Jack Griffin being dead and in this movie, he's still dead. His successor for the serum would be the falsely accused Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe (Vincent Price). He was working with Griffin's brother, Frank (John Sutton) and his fiancé Helen Manson (Nan Grey) in case he was found guilty of his brother's death.

The first movie made it clear that the serum used to make a man invisible can also drive them to madness. Geoffrey fell victim to this as well. This was in spite of the fact that Geoffrey made it clear to both Frank and Helen to stop him if he succumbed to madness.

Geoffrey's actions for the most part are more sympathetic than Jack's in the first movie. Geoffrey simply wanted to clear his name and avoid Detective Sampson (Cecil Kellaway) from arresting him. He's actually closer to an antihero than villain in this movie.

Of course when Frank and Helen tried to stop Geoffrey from being corrupted by the serum, it inevitably backfired. Geoffrey terrorised the bejesus out of Willie Spears (Alan Napier) and found out that his cousin, Richard Cobb (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) was the killer instead.

The differences between how the locals were between Jack and Geoffrey also made for an interesting last act. With Jack, they were only too happy to burn him alive but with Geoffrey, they're actually willing to donate blood to keep him alive, and it worked too.

- Vincent Price and Alan Napier would both appear in the 1960s Batman TV show together.

- There's a rather striking scene where Geoffrey borrows the clothing from a scarecrow before getting his blood transfusion.

- Much to my surprise, this movie was the first time that Vincent Price entered the world of horror. It certainly wouldn't be his last time.

- Chronology: A while since the events of The Invisible Man (1933).

The Invisible Man Returns to me was a far better sequel than I had anticipated. It didn't repeat the same format as the first movie but managed something different enough to stand out. I genuinely enjoyed this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Life Of Chuck (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Mike Flanagan 

Chuck: "I will live my life until my life runs out."

Fresh from his Netflix era and prior to a few major upcoming projects, it was time for another theatrical release from the very talented Mike Flanagan. Low and behold, it's an adaptation of a Stephen King story. 

I snark but to Flanagan's credit, it's a recent story and it's a first time live action take. It's also more fantasy drama rather than horror and a nice examination into one seemingly ordinary man who died young and his story was told out of order.

Split into three acts, the third one was centred on the death of an accountant named Charles "Chuck" Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). Chuck had died from a brain tumour with his wife Ginny (Q'orianka Kilcher) and son Brian (Antonio Raul Corbo) by his side. 

Of course there was a bigger issue than Chuck's death. The universe was ending and the third chapter focused on teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his inattentive class. There was also his need to reconnect with ex-wife, Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan) and interactions with other characters, such as mortician Sam Yarborough (Carl Lumbly) and little girl, Iris (Violet McGraw). Then the universe ended.

Getting into the second act, there was an actual focus on the title character himself. Chuck's love of dance reared it's head when he took on the recently dumped Janice Halliday (Annalise Basso) as a dance partner in the street. There was a busker (Taylor Gordon / The Pocket Queen) to provide a nice beat for the dancing duo. It's a nice middle act but had the least screentime.

The first act of course provided the main context. We spent a lot with the child (Cody Flanagan/Benjamin Pajak) and teenage (Jacob Tremblay) versions of Chuck. We saw his love of dance come from his grandmother (Mia Sara) as well as his grandfather (Mark Hamill) being afraid of what a room. We saw two of his teachers - Miss Richards (Kate Siegel) and Miss Rohrbacher (Samantha Sloyan) encourage him and even his crush on Cat McCoy (Trinity Bliss) during his formative years.

What I liked about the movie was that Chuck did feel like an ordinary guy who went on to live a pretty ordinary life, even if it was cut short. Did his death cause the universe to actually end or was it just a coincidence? I'm not really sure but the last shot was a powerful way of ending this movie.

- The Acts themselves are Thanks, Chuck (3), Buskers Forever (2) and I Contain Multitudes (1).

- Other Flanagan alumni that appeared in this movie were Rahul Kohli, David Dastmalchian, Matthew Lilliard, Molly C. Quinn, Michael Trucco, Carla Gugino, Hamish Linklater, Elan Gale, Sauriyan Sapkota, Matt Biedel and Heather Langenkamp. Mike even appears himself during a funeral scene.

- Nick Offerman provided the narration for the movie and Lauren LaVera had a voice role.

- The movie had a dedication to Scott Wampler, who passed after the film finished filming. 

- Standout music: Steve Winwood's Gimme Some Lovin.

- Chronology: Chuck Krantz died at the age of thirty nine and the universe died along with him.

I genuinely think if this movie had gotten a spring or autumn release, The Life Of Chuck wouldn't have gone under the radar. Releasing it during the summer was madness. It's a lovely movie, great performances and played easily into Mike Flanagan's strengths and known tropes. I very much enjoyed it.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of After The Hunt (2025)

 

Written by Nora Garrett

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Maggie: "I don't feel comfortable having this conversation with you anymore."

Alma: "Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable, Maggie. Not everything is supposed to be a lukewarm bath for you to sink into until you fall asleep and drown."

Taking a mild breather from horror stuff, I thought I'd venture into at least one potential award contender this week. Except this might already be out of the running. Luca Guadagnino, what is happening with you?

With Queer (2024) getting frozen out, there was potential for After The Hunt to be an award vehicle for Julia Roberts but in spite of her best efforts, this film sadly might be a lost cause. There's a good idea but it's so horribly muddled with the results on offer here.

You've got five characters. First there's Julia Roberts as philosophy professor, Alma Imhoff. She's in a crappy marriage to Frederik (Michael Stulbarg) and she's caught in a "he said, she said" dilemma between colleague Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield) and promising student, Maggie Resnick (Ayo Edebiri).

Maggie claimed that Hank sexually assaulted her and Hank claimed that she plagiarized an assignment and was accusing him of rape in revenge. While Hank turned out to be right about the latter, it's somewhat muddled as to whether or not he actually raped Maggie.

Alma's the one caught in the middle of the two as her dynamics with both Maggie and Hank are on display. At one point, Alma absolutely tore into Maggie's character and got slapped by her. A lot of what Alma said about Maggie did seem to be true even if it bordered on cruelty with the way she said it.

Then there was her marriage to Frederik. The latter was mostly a dick to her but did step during the times in which Alma's health took a turn for the worst. Alma's dynamic with Hank had all the toxic unresolved sexual tension that culminated in a moment that definitely made me think Hank might have been guilty of attacking Maggie after all.

There's a supporting role for Chloe Sevigny as university liaison, Dr Kim Sayers. Her character's very unprofessional and outright unhelpful and to be honest, I think Alma had every right to snap at her. Kim's not even the worst behaved character in this movie but she's also someone you wouldn't want to go to for advice.

- Maggie was established to be a lesbian and was dating Alex (Lio Mehiel). By the end of the movie, Maggie was dating an older woman when her and Alma cleared the air with each other.

- Luca Guadagnino and Andrew Garfield are currently working on Artificial and hopefully it'll be a better fit with the pair.

- I'm pretty sure this movie implied that despite Hank's obsession with Alma, he was also sleeping with Frederik and both female and male students. Hank got a job working for a Democrat.

- Chronology: Present day American setting, though it was filmed in London and Cambridge.

After The Hunt needed to be a good thirty minutes shorter and a lot more concise in its messaging. It does drag as a movie and despite it's leading cast, none of them are enough to raise this movie out of the mess it fell into.

Rating: 6 out of 10