I watched EVERY Dracula Movie so You Don't Have To

I'll start with an honest disclaimer, I didn't actually watch EVERY Dracula movie. But be assured that I watched plenty.

This is my very "partial, prejudiced, & ignorant" review of them all. The films are rated on a scale from 1 to 13, because, duh, vampires.

Nosferatu
1922


A German "adaptation" in which Dracula is played by Max Schreck. There was a pretty public copyright infringement lawsuit against the film back in the day and all the copies were supposed to have been destroyed. But they were not; so we get to enjoy this gem.

I have to say, I honestly and truly enjoyed this film more than any of the other ones. First, Dracula or, rather, Nosferatu is appropriately terrifying. There is none of that gentlemanly horror that came later. Nosferatu is a monster. The cinematography and the score do a lot to evoke an eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere. And Schreck's makeup and body language create a pretty bizarre and unnerving creature, that still mostly reads as human, if only just.   

The story also deviates from the novel, with the characters, locations and some of the themes being pretty different. However, unlike some of the later films, this one seems to have the most coherent story in terms of themes. Nosferatu comes to represent illness that spreads rapidly through a small community. To the audience in the 1920s, many of whom would have remembered the Spanish flu outbreak, this particular type of horror would have been vividly real.

For those not very used to old silent films, the slow pace and the over-the-top acting (which is just miming, when all is said and done) may feel a bit tedious. But considering that the film is almost a hundred years old, it definitely remains one of the most compelling versions of Dracula, if not a very faithful adaptation.

Should you see it? Yes, definitely, yes!

Score: 10/13   

Dracula 
1931

Oh boy! I really wanted to love this movie, I really did. Bela Lugosi as Dracula is so iconic that to speak against this movie almost feels like sacrilege. But speak against it I must. It's just not a very good movie. I have seen a few of the early horror classics, and, to be honest, the pacing in them is usually tedious at best. The story in Dracula is just clunky, as it moves from scene to scene with all the grace of a derailed locomotive.

The characters' stories are shuffled about to create a hodgepodge narrative that is pretty difficult to follow unless you are very familiar with the source material. Our breading pair, John Harker and Mina, are terribly bland. In fact, it's not Harker's, but rather Renfield's visit to Dracula's castle that sets the plot in motion. As a consequence, it feels very much like it's Renfield's story - he is the one who first encounters the Count's murderous blood lust, he is the one who is corrupted, and he is the one who has the most compelling character arc. And Dwight Frye, who plays Renfield, is phenomenal!

Bela Lugosi's Dracula is yet another reason that this film must be watched despite nonsensical plot and forgettable characters. He is both suave and frighting by turns. Truly a midpoint between the monstrous Nosferatu and Coppola's sexy-sexy Dracula. Every time he is on screen you forget about everything else. 

This film has no score, which is both a boon and a drawback. The background noise, comprised of creaking and silences, creates a haunting atmosphere. And the set pieces are spectacular. Every scene in Dracula's castle is a macabre delight.

Should you see it? It's worth a watch, but only becasue Lugosi is so mesmerizing.

Score: 7/13

Dracula 
1958

This British adaptation is also known as the Horror of Dracula in the U.S. And it's pretty horrific. Christopher Lee plays Count Dracula as a sensual, aristocratic gentleman. The first time we see him ascend down a flight of stairs, there is not a hint of weirdness. He is sprightly, agile, and sexy. This film has definitely cemented the image of the Count as a lover, not a monster. It may be in line with the modern interpenetration of the character, but frankly all throughout the movie I kept longing for the ghoulish Nosferatu. Nothing against Christopher Lee, but I want a little more monstrous in my monsters.

The story is pretty nonsensical. Most of the time it seemed like some movie exec put a copy of Stoker's Dracula into a blender and then made a film out of what came out of it. Characters and plots were shuffled around in the weirdest possible way. Dracula's three brides (one of my favorite parts in every Dracula adaptation) was downgraded to just one bride; Lucy is Harker's faience, Mina is married to some rando, etc, etc. The only delightful character was Van Helsing played by Peter Cushing. He is a real action hero, who has more in common with the titular character of the 2004 Van Helsing, than the bookish professors that have come before. Let's just say there is a pretty cool showdown between him and Dracula at the end of the movie.             

Should you see it? Nah, you can live a happy, fulfilling life never seeing this movie.

Score: 4/13

Bram Stoker's Dracula

1992

Wow. Just, wow. This film was...interesting. This film has a lot of angst and sex in it. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that it was a slash fiction of Dracula. All the scenes and dialogue lifted directly from the book are great, but the rest feels very much like fan fiction. And I don't mean to disparage slash or fanfic; both are awesome.

But credit where credit is due, Gary Oldman as Dracula is perfect. He is nightmarish and terrifying, yet strangely alluring. As I've said, I prefer my vampires as straight-up monsters, but Oldman's charisma is irresistible. That said, in this one, Dracula gets a very tragic and very unnecessary backstory.



I'm not sure whether this is done to humanize him or to explain his particular obsession with Mina, but I could have done without (SPOILER!) the reincarnated love storyline.

Still, this film is stunningly beautiful and mindbogglingly bizarre in all the right ways. Though I had to stifle a laugh at some character moments and some bits of dialogue, I was glued to the screen for its cinematography. The scenes in Dracula's castle are so wonderful, and the makeup in general is so well done that you really forget that this film is over 20 years old. Really makes your yearn for the days of practical effects when not everything was CGI.

A special shout out to the costume designer Eiko Ishioka. The costumes are spectacular. I would love to do a review of them here, but Frock Flicks have already done it and done it way better than I ever could hope to. So go over and check out their podcast. 

  

But though I loved the visuals, my opinion is that this film was not made for me. If you enjoy very intense and thematically confused "love" stories, this may be a bit more up your alley.

Should you see it? If you enjoy slash, definitely. If not, maybe. 

Score: 6/13

That's all from me for now. Stay tuned for my review of some ye old horror classics.                 

Movie Review: EMMA. 2020

I went to see Emma (2020) today with a few friends. I will not lie - I loved it! And, so, naturally, I had to share my thoughts about this movie. Spoilers ahead!

Directed by Autumn de Wilde and written by Eleanor Catton, this sparkling period drama stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma Woodhouse and Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley. Everyone and their mother have said this already, but I shall add my voice to the chorus - the movie is visually stunning! The soft pastels, the warm lighting, and the floral motifs bring to mind a rococo pastoral painting.

The Love Latter, François Boucher, 1750 

via Universal

But they also put me in mind of works by Regency caricaturists such as James Gillray. This is not an accident, both the costume designer and the director took inspiration from satirical cartoons and fashion plates of the period(1). The result is a lush, saturated color palette, but also a wry and cheeky approach to the source material.   

Matrimonial-Harmonics, James Gillray, 1805 via Wikimedia Commons

The dialogue is mostly taken straight from the book and most of Austen's plot remains intact. A few things are cut here and there in the interest of time; a few things are added to keep with the tone and visual medium of the film. I quarrel with none of these. For the most part, I have no complaints about the changes made.   

I have heard that some people had expressed concern regarding certain posteriors that appear in the film. It is true, many of Jane Austen's adaptations up until now have been rather buttoned-up. But we must remember that behinds are very period appropriate. In fact, they show that de Wilde is clearly familiar with the visual culture of the time:

Comfort, Charles Williams, 1796 

The only thing I can find fault with is the pacing. The transitions from one scene to another are a little clunky at times. But individual scenes are invariably perfect. Autumn de Wilde is able to tell the story visually so well that I sometimes felt that there was no need for dialogue at all.

Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn) via Universal 

Her talent in setting the scene and visual story telling is greatly assisted by a frankly astounding cast. Almost every single person seems like they were born to play this exact role. Anya Taylor-Joy, as the self-assured Emma is wonderful. Her face is incredibly expressive, which makes watching Emma's character as she unravels so much fun.

Johnny Flynn is by far my favorite Mr. Knightley. He brings a blend of manliness and softness that makes you fall in love with him over the course of the movie. I have heard some complain that Flynn is not old enough to play Knightley. He is 36 to Taylor-Joy's 23. In the book, Emma and Knightley are 21 and 37 respectively. In the new adaptation, Knightley may appear younger becasue he does not take the sanctimonious, dictatorial tone that other directors tended to ascribe to the character. He acts more in line with what a contemporary man of 36 would be like with a friend, rather than a father-figure of ye olden days. 

Mr. Woodhouse (Bill Nighy) via Universal  

Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse is a delight. His hypochondria is still there, but it is off-set by a sprightly and energetic manner, which makes it so much more hilarious.

Mr and Mrs Elton, via Universal 

Miranda Hart as Miss Bates is the breakout star of the movie. She makes Miss Bates as annoying as humanly possible, yet when she is hurt, her pain is palpable. The Eltons are perfectly cast. Mr Elton (Josh O'Connor) is just as smarmy and simpering as you'd expect. Mrs Elton (Tanya Reynolds) is overbearing and over-trimmed. She is a great contrast to Emma, almost as a reminder that this is what Emma could have been if she did not have such a good head and heart.

Frank Churchill (Callum Turner) via IMDB

The rest of the cast is equally wonderful. The only two I would mention here is Amber Anderson as Jane Fairfax and Callum Turner as Frank Churchill. Anderson gets very little screen time as Jane, and since her character is rather reticent, little can be said about her. The only one who comes close to being miscast is Callum Turner as Frank Churchill. Turner does the character justice, but he just does not have much to work with. He also does not have the disarming charm of Ewan McGregor (who played Frank in 1996 Emma).       

Overall, I would say this is now my favorite adaptation of Emma (Clueless, naturally, notwithstanding). It feels modern and fresh, without any of it feeling forced. However, this may not be a version for everyone. If you come to this film looking for sentimentality, you will not find it. This is a broad comedy, a farce, where all the situations and characters are a little (or a lot) absurd. Fortunately, that is exactly how I like my Emma adaptions.   

This review is too long, so I defer gushing about the costumes to a latter date.

1. AUTUMN DE WILDE ON THE DREAMY, COLORFUL AND PERIOD-AUTHENTIC STYLE IN 'EMMA', Fashionista

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

It's Christmas! For me, it's the beginning of the holiday season that will last for four weeks. First, it's a traditional Christmas with my boyfriend's family. Then, a fun Russian New Year's celebration with my family. Then back for Russian Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7. And finally, Old New Year on January 13, which is the beginning of the year according to the Julian calendar. Old New Year is not an official holiday, but people like to celebrate it with a hint of irony.

Christmas also means a lot of my favorite things:

Great TV & Christmas movies

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Agatha Christie's Poirot

Miss Fisher's Murders Mysteries

And wonderful music

Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney - Ella Fitzgerald

Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry

Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt

Have a great one, everyone! 
    

Great Superheroines of the Past

Image via Jason Ratliff

The other week I went to see the Wonder Woman. And boy-oh-boy, did I enjoy it! Growing up I mostly read the Batman family comics, Batgirl and Birds of Prey being my favorites, but Wonder Woman with her Greek mythology backstory (I admit to being a huge mythology nerd) and really fun powers (lasso of truth, anyone?) always had a special place in my heart.

And to see her for the very first time on the big screen was exciting. I'm not going to lie, I did bounce up and down in my seat when I saw the Amazons riding out on to the beach (that's as spoiler-y as this post is going to get, I swear). But it got me thinking, there are so many wonderful comic book superheroines of yesteryear that are all but forgotten. So I thought I'd put together a list of my favorite vintage ladies who kick butt. This is not a an exhaustive list by any means, but I thought I'd pick the ones I think would make for great movies or TV shows. And though not all of them have super powers, they are all pretty super.

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Black Cat
Possibly my absolute favorite of the vintage comic book crime fighting gals. Black Cat aka Linda Turner is a stunt woman who becomes a Hollywood actress. But she is bored with the glamorous life of a starlet and when on a picture she encounters possible Nazi spies, she puts on a costume and uses her stunt woman training to bring evil doers to justice. With Old Hollywood setting and a lot of stunts, this would make for a great movie. 

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Zaza the Mystic
Before there was the Mentalist, there was Zaza the Mystic. Zaza is a fortune teller and a psychic. Or is she? Her friend and admirer Lt. Bob Nelson cannot quite tell. Zaza seems to be able to predict the future and she uses this gift to help Bob solve crimes. Perhaps the source of this gift is just a keen eye and intuition, but maybe there's more to it. This would make a great TV show à la the Mentalist.

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Girl Commandos
I'm cheating a bit here, because the Girl Commandos are not one  but five brave ladies. But no list of this kind can be complete without them. This title is unique even by today's standard because of its incredible diversity. The team consists of Pat Parker, the leader of the group, Ellen Billings, her second in command, Tanya, a photographer from the Soviet Union, Penny Kirk, an American radio reporter, and  Mei-Ling from China who joins the group to avenger her family who had been killed by the Japanese. Though there is some stereotyping in how the characters are portrayed,they are still shown with respect, their opinions are valued by other members of the group and there are no cruel jokes at their expense. I would love to see this group in a movie or a TV show, going behind enemy lines on daring rescue missions or foiling the plans of saboteurs.

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Phantom Lady 
Sandra Knight, daughter of the Senator Henry Knight, is dissatisfied with a life of a socialite. And so she starts fighting crime as Phantom Lady using her martial arts skills and a blacklight ray that can blind her opponents or make her invisible. She must have had some other magic to go with the ray since even though she did not usually wear a mask no one seemed to recognize her. She also had some of the best named foes - Subway Slayer, anyone? I would love to see her in a TV show fight crime and corruption in Washington.     

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Senorita Rio
She shares some similarities with the Black Cat: Rita Farrar is also a Hollywood star and a former stunt double. She is a spy and uses her acting abilities, fighting skills and extensive knowledge of languages to infiltrate enemy cells in Central and South America. I honestly do not know why there isn't a TV show about her. It would be perfect - glamour, action and adventures.  

There are more, so many more unstoppable heroines. If you want to learn about the super ladies of the pasts I can recommend Mike Madrid's Divas, Dames & Daredevils: Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics (if you want to find out about vintage female villainy, there's also Vixens, Vamps & Vipers: Lost Villainesses of Golden Age Comics) or Hope Nicholson's The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History. Do you have a favorite vintage female heroine that you would want to see in a film or a TV show? Let me know.    

Film Review: Stage Door (1937)

I've been sick for the better part of the week. And when I'm sick, I like to watch a lot of movies. It was then very fortunate that I came across the delightful 1937 Stage Door on BBC iPlayer. Starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, the film tells the story of trials and successes of aspiring actresses who all live in a boarding house in New York City. It has it all - sparkling humor, biting wit, Ginger Rogers dancing, the glamour of the stage, the tragedy and poverty backstage, and, of course, the delectable late 1930s fashions.

Plot: Hepburn plays Terry Randall, a rich girl, who wants to see if she has what it takes to become an actress. She is determined, pragmatic and maybe just a little too entitled. All this doesn't sit too well with the other aspiring actresses at the Footlights Club boardinghouse where Terry lodges. She and her new roommate Jean Maitland (Rogers) develop an amusing love/hate relationship that leads to a lot of comedic moments. The other inhabitants of the boardinghouse are the shrewd Linda Shaw (Gail Patrick), the fragile and tragic Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds), and the endearingly goofy Judy Canfield (Lucille Ball). Terry gets a part in a new play, but acting turns out to be harder than she had thought. It takes a real tragedy to make her into an actress.

There is a lot of humor in the film, but there's also a lingering sense of doom over the young women in the house. Like All About Eve, one of my all-time favorite films, Stage Door may be glitzy and glamorous, but underneath all this there are some hard questions - will Terry's success last or will she be forgotten by the next season? Are the other girls going to find their big break or will they have to give up and marry? Will they live out the rest of their lives in obscurity and relative poverty?

One of the things I especially love about this film is that it centers on women, their lives and their goals. Unlike other movies about women that are really about men (yes, I'm looking at you The Women 1939), Stage Door does not try to hammer in the point that a woman's best role is that of wife and mother. In fact, marriage seems to be treated as failure and near tragedy, while men are obstacles, rather than heroic saviors. One of the more prominent male parts in the film is the smarmy producer Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou). He is as close as this film gets to a villain. Even though he is rather pompous and silly, his predatory behavior shows clearly what the women have to put up with to succeed in the theatrical world.  

Hepburn is delightful as Terry. She bring the dry wit and sophistication that this part really needs. Terry does come off as rather entitled and too posh at times. The scenes where she quarrels with the director and the writer of the play she had been cast in are truly cringe-worthy. But she learns her lesson in the end.

Rogers as Jean is fresh, bright and sparkling (sometimes literally). Her comedic timing is impeccable and she delivers some of the funniest lines in the film. But she also has her moments of gravitas as she contemplates her future and the future of the other girls in the boardinghouse.

Miss Luther (Constance Collier) is one of my favorite characters. She is played for laughs as an aging actress who is trying to become an acting coach and insists that the girls need theatrical training. The audience is meant to laugh at her, but she's not wrong. Terry's main problem is that she assumes that acting is somehow innate. The film makes a broader point that the tragedy of show business is that it's more about being liked by powerful men like Anthony Powell rather than having talent. But I'm still with Miss Luther on this one, those girls should at least know a little bit of Shakespeare.

Needless to say, the outfits in the film are wonderful. The costume designer was Muriel King.

The Battle of the Mink Coats. Jean and Linda are deliciously antagonistic.

I just love this polka dot romper. I really need to make this for myself.

This hat gets a lot of hate from the girls at the Footlights Club boardinghouse. But I think the outfit just screams chic Doctor Zhivago.

Oh, that hat! That purse! That coat! That...dress?  Oh, Jean, no!

A lot of the outfits in the film are more stylish day-to-day stuff rather than glamorous gowns. I love Jean's blouse and high waisted trousers combo, but Linda's dress with the half-turban and the sash are delightful in their pretentious sophistication.  

Judy's suit is really fun, but Jean, once again, wins me over with the blouse and high waisted skirt with suspenders. Also, ukulele.   

I'm just really partial to pajamas. Maybe it's becasue I live in a cold climate and therefore find pretty, impractical PJs to be the pinnacle of fashion. I really love Terry's dress, too.    

Here's a better picture of Terry's lovely dress. It's very no-nonsense, just like her, with just a touch of see-through chiffon to show that she has a soft, vulnerable side, too.

In the end, Stage Door is a wonderful movie that you can watch again and again. The acting is great and the dialogue feels authentic and honest. And it's all about girls doing it on their own.

Only Lovers Left Alive: On Style and Substance

Last week I finally watched Only Lovers Left Alive written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and staring the always flawless Tilda Swinton and the ever-charming Tom Hiddleston. If you haven't see it yet, do. It may seem a little slow, but the cinematography is beautiful, the story is touching and the acing is spot-on. 

There isn't much in the way of plot, though. And if you're looking for a contemporary vampire movie like Twilight or Vampire Academy, you will be disappointed. This is more of an art piece, slow and meandering, but beautiful beyond words. Eve (Swinton) and Adam (Hiddleston) are very old, very artistically-inclined vampires, who are very much in love with each other, even after centuries of being together. When Adam, who lives in Detroit, succumbs to one of his dark moods, Eve travels all the way from Tangier to be with him. But trouble is stirred up when Eve's younger 'sister' Ava, played by Mia Wasikowska, shows up and the lovers' eternal lives are endangered.             

But let Maven of the Eventide tell you more about the film. Spoilers ahead, be warned.

The stunning costumes for the film were designed by Bina Daigeler, who you may know as the designer for Le Moine (2010), a French adaptation of Matthew Lewis's The Monk. Sadly, the film was awful, but the costumes were gorgeous.

In Only Lovers Left Alive costumes play a pivotal role in setting up character arcs for our protagonists. Adam is a depressed and miserable. He lives a secluded life surrounded by his antic guitars and feels completely detached from the world around him. His color scheme is dark and heavy, with a little romanticism thrown in for good measure. After all, Marlowe says that he should have based Hamlet on Adam. (Yes, Christopher Marlowe is in it)

Eve, on the other hand, almost always wears white or a mix of some bright colors and ivory or pale yellow. Her outfits often have gold embroidery. She is vivacious, well, by vampire standards, curious and full of life. She is the ray of sunshine that shines into Adam's dismal world. 

Unlike Adam, Eve goes into public and meets up with her vampire friends. And while Adam mopes around his Detroit home in a hundred-year-old dressing gown, Eve puts on her off-white outfit, covers her face with a white scarf and braves the dusty streets of Tangier. 

  

Eve's style is the more fascinating one, no less because it has more fluidity than that of other characters. She can blend in with her environment and people around her. When she goes to visit Adam in Detroit, she begins to adopt his darker leisurely style of dress.  Her clothes go from light and bright, to dark and heavy.

  

But when she's on her own, surrounded by books in Tangier, her colors are vivid and fabrics are sumptuous. Adam's existence is shabby, like his hundred-year-old robe, while Eve's life is full of color and texture.  

     

Eve's vampire best friend is Christopher Marlowe, who according to the movie, had faked his own death and is the real author of all of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. Eve is a book lover, so she naturally gravitates towards him. Marlowe's style is a combination of light and dark colors, and his wardrobe is clearly more old-fashioned than that of the lovers. He likes vests. Ah, a man after my own heart.   

Finally, we come to Ava, Eve's little 'sister'. She is younger than all the rest of the vampire characters both in terms of her apparent physical age, and her vampire age. She is bratty, willful and prefers more youthful and modern fashions. Unlike subdued or block colors of the lovers, Ava goes for patterns. She is fearless and brash and has no problem combining polka tights with an orange and purple floral mini-dress.  

Considering how much thought and effort went into creating beautiful and fitting costumes for all the characters, it's not at all surprising that Vogue used it for their fashion inspiration spread. I, personally, think Eve's sense of style is absolutely flawless and hope to be at least half as effortlessly chic as she is. Though I may have to become a vampire to achieve that.   

The film is definitely worth watching, though it may seem a little slow-paced to some who are used to more plot-driven cinema. The vampire mythos is quite curious in this one. Garlic and going into houses uninvited do not carry all that much weight with these vampires, but drinking contaminated blood is dangerous. 

The 'contaminated blood' issue did bother me a bit. I assume it refers to alcohol, drugs, disease and such. But if this is something vampires have a problem with, how did they survive the 16th century when everyone was dying of the Plague or syphilis and drinking nothing but alcohol. And the constant references to the Marlovian Theory of authorship were a little on the nose. Still, this film feels remarkably fresh and enjoyable, no less thanks to Swinton and Hiddleston, who give a great performance.   

Image sources: 

• Bina Daigeler 
• Cinemafia
• Bloodhound Press