Spotlight On: Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee is both a horror icon for his appearances in Hammer Horror films in the 1950s, and also a geek icon for being the only actor to appear in both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings films. He is a great actor with a fantastic deep voice, and here are some of my favorites of his roles.

The Curse of Frankenstein

Here he played Frankenstein's monster in his first starring role for Hammer, and one of several times that he was paired with the great Peter Cushing. You can watch a scene from the film HERE



Horror of Dracula

Here he plays another horror icon, Dracula. This is probably his most famous role from the Hammer films, and he is in my opinion, one of the best people to have ever played Dracula.



The Wicker Man

While this film has become slightly overshadowed by the shitstorm that was the Nicolas Cage remake of this movie, the original The Wicker Man is a horror classic. Christopher Lee plays Lord Summerisle who was the leader of this crazy cult. You can find the best scene of the movie HERE



Sleepy Hollow

He only appears in the beginning of this film, but he definitely leaves a lasting impression with his little cameo. He plays the Burgomeister, who is the one who sends Icabod to Sleepy Hollow. You can find his scene HERE

The Lord of the Rings

I am not the biggest Lord of the Rings fan (I'm more of a Star Wars person), but I love Christopher Lee as Saruman. He just has that great voice of his where you just have to listen to everything he is saying. One of my favorite scenes in the whole trilogy is his fight with Gandalf.




Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones/ Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Christopher Lee also appeared in the Star Wars prequels as Count Dooku, a man who was trained as a Sith Lord. I love Dooku because he manages to knock down Anakin a few pegs, who was just way too cocky in Attack of the Clones. Also, you just have to love the scene where he fights Yoda.


Upcoming: He will be apparing in the movies Hugo, Dark Shadows, as well as playing Saruman again in The Hobbit movies.

Horror-A-Day: Day Twenty Two

I loved this movie! I didn't expect it to be nearly as good as Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, but it really was! It has some pretty terrible acting, but it makes up for that with a good story and some GREAT gore effects. It is about scientists who are trying to find a cure for the zombie problem. They are doing so at a military base, so they have to deal with these asshole army guys. I love the whole Frankenstein-esque aspect to the story. The head scientist (who they appropriately call Dr. Frankenstein) is learning that zombies can be taught things, with his main subject being a zombie called Bub. Bub reminded me a lot of Frankenstein's monster, and the scenes where the doctor is teaching him things reminds me a lot of the scene from Bride of Frankenstein with the creature and the blind hermit. The doctor even has the zombie saying a few words in this movie! This movie also has some great gore! There are quite a few scenes of people getting torn apart by zombies. I also love all of the parts where you see the zombies after they have been operated on. Like the severed head that can still movie its mouth, or the zombie that has no head, and is just a body with a brain. Love it! I also love the different zombies you see when the huge crowd gets into the military base. You see a clown zombie, a bride zombie, and a ballerina zombie. Awesome!

Best Horror Villains

My second YouTube video! Enjoy!!!

My Favorite Movie Lines

My first YouTube video! A compilation of my favorite movie lines. As soon as I made it, I thought of a million more so I'll probably have to make another one...

Iconic Horror Scene: Frankenstein (1931)

"Its alive!!!" This is probably one of the most memorable scenes from the Universal Horror era. People often associate this scene with the Frankenstein monster even though it was nonexistant in Mary Shelley's novel. In the book it does not say how the creature was created. Basically every film version of Frankenstein involves the creature being created by electricity, which was a 100% Hollywood invention. Well, the awakened by electricity thing does make a lot more sense than what you see in the 1910 silent film version where he is sort of made like a soup or something.

Even though you do not see the creature without his bandages in this scene, you do get a sense of the great size of him. I don't know if it is actually Boris Karloff that you see lying on the table, but if I had to guess I would say that it was. It would certainly be easier to have him do it, than it would be to find another man of his height.

Then you see Dr. Frankensten and Fritz (the Igor type character) raise him into the lightning, then lower him after a while. Apparently the whole life-giving process isn't very long. Then comes the most memorable part of the scene.

One of my absolute favorite shots in any movie is the close-up of the creature's hand moving. Henry (it should be Victor!) sees that all of his hard work has been worth it, and he has successfully created a man. At this point he is not thinking about the consequences of his actions, or anything at all except for the fact that he has succeeded! He has toyed with the laws of nature and now "knows what it's like to be god!"

All subsequent adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel have been influenced by this film. This is no surprise since not only is this a great film, but it had also come up with a creative way to show how the creature came to be, which was not important in the novel. Instead of making up their own explanations, they just borrow from this film.

One of my favorite films that was influenced by this is actually a parody. Young Frankenstein is my favorite Mel Brooks film, and also features one of my favorite performances by Gene Wilder.

Character of the Week: Frankenstein's Monster

This week's character of the week is from one of my all time favorite stories, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Even though he is remembered as this big scary monster, I've always found Frankenstein's monster to be a much more sympathetic creature. After being born he is neglected by his father and left to fend for himself in a world that he doesn't understand. There is a scene from the first Universal Frankenstein film that I think showcases it perfectly. It isn't from the novel, but is one of the best scenes in the film.



My favorite Frankenstein film is actually the sequel, Bride of Frankenstein. My favorite scene is when the creature is talking to Dr. Pretorius. In the video below, it starts at about 7:54.

Spotlight On: Helena Bonham Carter

This week's spotlight is on one of my favorite actresses, Miss Helena Bonham Carter. She is both extremely talented and beautiful, and I love the fact that she can play both an English Rose and an insane person. I haven't come close to seeing her entire filmography, but these are some of my favorite performances from what films of hers I have seen.

Room With A View

Helena's portrayal of Lucy Honeychurch in this film was one of her earliest film roles as well as her first starring role. She plays a young girl who is engaged to marry a rich man, even though she is in love with another. (Yet another Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar love triangle.) I first saw this movie about a year ago and I almost didn't recognize Helena, she is so young in this film. This is the first of her many English Rose roles, and definitely one of her best.




Frankenstein

I love the story of Frankenstein, so I was really pleased to see that Helena portrayed Elizabeth in the 1994 film version. They do something really interesting in this adaption, and that is that instead of Victor making a bride for the monster, he reanimates Elizabeth after the monster kills her. Thats not at all how it happens in the novel, but I still thought that it was a neat choice. And I love how Helena still looks really pretty without hair and covered in stitches. You can find a clip from the film HERE

Fight Club

I love love love her in this movie! She just plays this totally crazy, disfuntional, messed up woman, and she is absolutely amazing! I honestly can't see anyone else playing Marla Singer. I mean when she walks on screen and says "this is cancer, right?" she just hooks you!



Planet of the Apes

I just love her in this movie because she is in full ape make-up, so for the longest time I had no idea that it was her. She plays the ape that sympathizes with the humans and tries to help them out. This is also the first movie she did with Tim Burton

Big Fish

No matter what accent she is speaking with, she always sounds so charming and refined. In this film she has a southern accent, which she pulls of beautifully. I love her so much in this movie because she plays both a young pretty girl and an old witch that shows you your future. It is just further proof of her versatility.



Conversations with Other Women

I randomly chose this movie to watch one day when I was scrolling through the different choices on Netflix movie viewer. At first I just thought that it was just a cute movie, but then I found myself watching it whenever I was bored. Now I own this movie. It is just filled with great dialogue spoken by both Helena and her costar Aaron Eckhart, who she has great chemistry with. I thought that the split screen thing would get annoying after a while, but I guess I got used to it.




Harry Potter

I've never been a big Harry Potter fan, but I love Helena as Bellatrix Lestrange. I have only read the first three books, so I have no idea if she is anything like the character in the book, but I just love it when Helena gets to be batshit crazy.




Sweeney Todd

Helena gets a chance to sing in this movie, where she plays Mrs. Lovett, the pie-maker who makes meat pies out of the people that Sweeney Todd kills. She doesn't have the best voice in the world, but she does do a decent job. She sings in my two favorite songs in the movie, and here is one of them. (The other one is Little Priest.)




Alice in Wonderland

Her performance of The Red Queen was a bit over-the-top, but I think that it suit the movie perfectly. It makes me smile everytime I watch the part where she yells, "IDIOT!"

The King's Speech

It came as no surprise to me when I read that Helena Bonham Carter recieved an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in this film. This is the kind of role that she is perfect at. I loved her in the scene when she goes to Geoffrey Rush's office for the first time.

Upcoming Projects: She is going to be in the last installment of the Harry Potter series which comes out sometime this year, and she is going to be in another Tim Burton film titled Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eva Green.

Spotlight On: Doug Jones

This week's spotlight is on the greatest creature actor of our time, Doug Jones. While there is a chance that you do not recognize his face, you will more than likely recognize at least one of his characters. He is probably most well-known for the work he has done with Guillermo del Toro, but he has worked on several other really cool projects. He has worked on several movies/ TV shows/ music videos, but here are my favorites of his roles going in chronological order.

Thin Clown

In 1992, Jones played the thin clown in Tim Burton's Batman Returns. Not a particularly big role, but still a really cool one in my opinion. He was part of Penguin's evil gang and help rewire the Batmobile.

Billy Butcherson

Hocus Pocus was one of my favorite movies when I was a little kid, and Billy Butcherson was always my favorite character. He is a zombie man that Winifred brings back from the dead to help attack the kids. Has a really cool look to him and Doug Jones does an amazing job. Here is the part of the movie where he is risen from the grave.




Ripper

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the movie Tank girl. The one thing that I did like about the movie though, were the Rippers. I thought that they looked really neat, and one of them was played by Mr. Doug Jones.

Gentlemen Leader

This is one of his creepiest roles. He plays the leader of the Gentlemen in what is probably the most well-known Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, "Hush." Creepy. As. Hell. The creepiest thing about them is probably the fact that they don't speak and they just communicate to eachother by gestures, which is something that Doug Jones, being a creature actor, is perfect at.



Abe Sapien

This is probably the role that Doug Jones is identified with the most, and for good reason. He is perfect as Abe, and is one of the main reasons why the Hellboy movies are so great. In the first movie, David Hyde Pierce does the voice of Abe, but Jones does it in the sequel. I just love it because he really knows how to move when wearing a costume, and really makes the characters come alive.



Cesare

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is my favorite silent film, so I wasn't too pleased with the idea of a remake. When I read that Doug Jones played the somnambulist Cesare, however, I had to see it. Overall, the movie is not that great and has horrible acting, but I loved Jones as Cesare. There is other living person who could have played this part, or at least played it nearly as well as Doug Jones.



The Faun

He plays two creatures in Pan's Labyrinth, the first being the faun. "Soy un fauno." It is obviously not Jones' speaking voice, but the character is all him with the look and the movement of the creature.



The Pale Man

The Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth is probably my favorite of Doug Jones' characters simply because he is scary as hell. Like the Gentlemen, this creature says nothing, so the creepiness is all in the movements. Even the way his hands movie is creepy, and when he started running after Ofelia, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.



Silver Surfer

Laurence Fishburne did the voice of the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but again Doug Jones owns this character. To be honest, I have never actually seen this movie, but from what clips I have seen the whole movie looks pretty stupid. Jones as the Silver Surfer would be my only reason to watch.



Chamberlain

In Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Jones reprises his role as Abe Sapien and also plays two other characters. The first of the other two is the Chamberlain. He is this really odd looking creature with these really long fingers, and I think that it takes a really great creature actor to make a character like this work.

Angel of Death

God damn, how cool would it be to be Doug Jones and to be able to wear all of these amazing costumes and makeup? The Angel of Death in Hellboy 2 just looks amazing!

Ice Cream Man

I have absolutely no desire to see the movie Legion. When the CGI old woman crawled on the wall in the trailer, I was just like, "NOPE!" I just thought that this was worth mentioning because it is such a strange character. In the trailer you see all his arms stretch and his face gets all long. I mean, its a neat role for Jones, but this movie just looks stupid to me. On a plus, though, it is actually a movie where you see Doug's actual face...



The Creature

Now I am just waiting patiently for Guillermo del Toro's adaption of Frankenstein, which is supposedly coming out in 2012. Doug Jones will be playing the Creature, aka Frankenstein's monster. According to del Toro, the look of the creature will be based on Bernie Wrightson's artwork, so Doug should be a perfect choice. Can't wait!

Just Finished Reading: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus 1818 text

I just finished rereading this book for my Women Writers class. We had to write a literary analysis on a novel of our choice, so of course I chose Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This is one of my absolute favorite stories, and I never get tired of reading this book. It has fantastic elements of science fiction and horror, but is also quite beautiful and heartbreaking. In my literary analysis I wrote about the themes of love, revenge, and the consequences of trying to play god. It was actually pretty easy for me to write and I ended up writing a lot more than I needed to. Well, to be fair, she said that it had to be five pages, but she didn't say that it had to be double spaced. So, I have five pages of single spaced, which is way longer than it needed to be but, whatever, I think that I wrote a good literary analysis.
I am somewhat obsessed with the Frankenstein story. I love the story of how it first came to existance with Percy Shelley and Lord Byron telling horror stories with Mary Shelley. I have loved most of the film adaptions that I have seen (my favorite being Bride of Frankenstein,) and I am super excited for the new adaption being made by Guillermo del Toro with Doug Jones as the creature.

I HATE RECASTING!!!!

I don't know why, but it really bothers me when they recast parts for movie sequels. For characters like James Bond, Batman, or any other superhero type character like that it doesn't bother me because there are a billion movies like that and actors can't stay young forever. When I read that the part of Andromeda was recast in the Clash of the Titans sequel, Wrath of the Titans, that just bothered me! I have nothing against Rosamund Pike, who I liked in Pride and Prejudice and An Education, but I really wish that they would have kept Alexa Davalos. I was really disappointed that her role was so small in the first movie, and now I guess she will be a more important character, and they cast someone else in the part!


Alexa Davalos as Andromeda



Rosamund Pike

Also, Rosamund Pike is blonde, and Alexa Davalos has dark hair in the first movie! I know these probably doesn't seem like a huge detail, but are they going to have her dye her hair for the movie? What I find interesting is that love interest roles in sequels have been recast since forever. For example, in the 1931 movie Frankenstein, the role of Elizabeth was played by Mae Clarke, but was played by 17 year old Valerie Hobson in Bride of Frankenstein. 


Mae Clarke



Valerie Hobson

Do they do this because they don't think that the love interest character is really all that important and that people won't care? Another example of this is in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. In Batman Begins, Rachel Dawes is played by Katie Holmes, and in The Dark Knight is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.



Katie Holmes



Maggie Gyllenhaal


While I am not a big fan of Katie Holmes, I was annoyed with the recasting. It did not really matter in the long run, though, because people people didn't go see The Dark Knight for the love interest Rachel Dawes, they went to see it for Batman and the Joker. Just like people didn't go see the Frankenstein films for Elizabeth, they went to see them for Karloff as the monster. I guess love interest roles are just expendable. Just look at James Bond, he has a different girl for every movie he's in.

Horror-A-Day: Day Twenty-Six

Fail! Yesterday, on the twenty-sixth day of my horror-a-day mission, I failed to watch a horror movie that I had not seen before. My wireless internet is still broken on my laptop, and I had to study for my Intro to Film Studies midterm...So, instead of posting about a horror movie that I have just seen, I'm going to post some pictures from one of my favorite horror films: Bride of Frankenstein

We belong dead!