‘Dracula Untold’ is not a masterful or deep re-introduction to the franchise; but as basic genre fare, it’s relatively fun in its depiction of the monster in a different light. A new Dracula movie hitting theaters is always a cause for celebration. I awaited DRACULA: UNTOLD with cautious optimism. The trailers teased and hinted at…
Celebrate Youth, as Rick Springfield said.
A new study found that bone fractures in older mice healed more quickly when they received blood from young mice. And here we though Dracula was just a perv. What with his always putting the bite on young, nubile females, I mean. Turns out he had a perfectly practical, non-sexualized reason for it. Modern Science…
The Aswang- the Vampire of The Philippines
For centuries the people of the Philippines have told of a violent, malevolent monster that has provoked terror and mayhem and which has been responsible for an untold number of savage, violent deaths. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably ain’t no chicken, as my Grammaw would say. Or…
“Night Doctors” – A New Take On An Old Fear
Do the roots of how we have come to perceive the UFO abduction phenomenon lie elsewhere, not between the stars but buried in the folklore and superstition of a suppressed people? Secularists too often disregard Folklore as a collection of superstition, colloquialisms and “local color,” with nothing substantive to offer today. Such a viewpoint misses…
Mad Max: The Blood Is The LIfe
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD may have raised the bar where the Sci-Fi/Action genre is concerned. Coming thirty years after the last installment in the series, BEYOND THUNDERDOME, it was worth the wait. Almost universally praised (except by anti-femi-Nazis who believe the film is trying to brainwash the public with a pro-feminist viewpoint they and their…
Depraved, or Undead? Jack the Ripper as a Potential Vampire
Of the millions of conspiracy probabilities floating around throughout history, combined with unsolved crimes and suspicious happenings, none could be more fascinating than that of Jack the Ripper. Considering every myth has its genesis in an attempt by grasping intellects to explain the unexplainable, is it any wonder that some have theorized that history’s most…
Mama Mia! Was Lilith the Mother of All Vampires?
In her demonized form, Lilith is a frightening and threatening creature. Much more so than Eve, she personifies the real (sexual) power women exercise over men. Who, or what, is Lilith? Other than a feminist icon, that is. Transformed in our modern age from something evil and vengeful into an object of reverence, where did…
Vampire or Victim: Premature Burial
Modern medicine makes it easy to determine if someone who looks dead really is dead— not in a coma or otherwise still alive. In the old days, it wasn’t so easy. Can you imagine anything more horrifying? You wake up in complete darkness. You try to move and find that you can’t. Not more than…
Croglin Grange – Did It Really Happen?
The phantom vampire of Croglin Grange is one of the best known vampire stories in Britain. It’s so easy today, when we read about something fantastical that supposedly happened at some point in the past, to dismiss it. “That couldn’t have happened,” we tell ourselves. Our minds, whether we intend it or not, immediately start…
The Blight That Is ‘Twilight’ Just Keeps Rolling. And That’s a Damn Shame.
Lionsgate’s Ron Schwarts, exec VP and general manager of home entertainment, said in a statement: “Consumer demand for ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2″ reflects strength in all segments of the home entertainment marketplace – packaged media, digital and on demand. This is further proof that author Stephenie Meyer has created a timeless classic…