Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween Movie Guide: Part 1

I'm going to go out on a limb here and start out by recommending Plan 9 From Outer Space. Universally considered the worst movie ever made, and directed by Ed Wood - the worst director of all time - this is the pinnacle of the bad movie arts. In addition to the b-movie standards of bad plots, bad acting, and bad special effects, this movie has so much more. Flying saucers dangling from visible strings, cars that change make and model during the same chase scene, scenes that change from day to night and back to day again inexplicably, an astroturf graveyard, and my personal favorite, since Bela Lugosi died during the filming, during the remainder of the film his part is played by Ed Wood's dentist, who attempts to conceal the fact that he is not Bela Lugosi by holding a cape in front of his face in all of his scenes. And it is precisely these things that make this movie so unintentionally funny and enjoyable. And to steal a line from Chris Rock, I've seen better acting from tough acting Tenactin.

From here I will move on to actual good movies. Today's category is vampire movies:

Unquestionably the best vampire movie I've seen is Bram Stoker's Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I've seen many other versions of Dracula, but this one has the best acting (despite Keanu Reeves), screenplay, special effects, and general ambiance. Way better than the Jack Palance Dracula.

Also worth watching is the first vampire film ever made: the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu. Movie making has come a long way since then, but this one is still worth a look.

A fictional story based on the filming of Nosferatu, Shadow of the Vampire is one of my favorites. The basic premise is that FW Murnau found a real vampire to play the role of Count Orlock, the vampire in his film. Naturally, this didn't work out quite as well as he had expected. I think this is a very unique and enjoyable film.

Interview With The Vampire was also pretty good, although a bit too long and it drags at points.

Stay tuned for more!

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