Curse of Dracula comic from Dark Horse

 

TITLE-The Curse of Dracula

SOURCE-3 issue mini series from Dark Horse Comics

Yea  I read the classic Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan run on the Tomb of Dracula comic. Loved what I read and  wanted more. Then maybe 2 years ago was in a local pawn shop and saw a longbox behind the counter. Knowing the shop owner is a collector I assumed it was his personal collection. Asked if I could look through it. Got told sure and every comic was priced. Found all 3 issues of Dark Horse's late 90s Curse of Dracula mini and saw it was Wolfman/Colan working on it so grabbed them. And like what happens with piles of comics in my collection ,these got put in a short box and I forgot about them.

The other night wanted something to read after dinner,been trying to each night after dinner is ate and kitchen is clean sitting at the bar and reading for an hour. Plan was read the first issue and head out to the pier to relax. Got so into issue 1 and went ahead and finish the other two.

Now going into this mini I figured it was Wolfman/Colan taking ideas from their Tomb of Dracula run they didn't get to use and changing stuff enough where Marvel couldnt sue. Nah this is very different. This Dracula is based on the Bram Stoker original. And while we got a team of vampire hunters like TOD had this team is so different.

Modern day a new member is added to the team and we learn Dracula is working on getting political power in the USA. Having a connection to a Senator that is about to run for President. Then we get a twist,that I didn't see coming. And issue 3 ends with a new person possibly becoming President while Dracula has control of them. Guessing Wolfman/Colan figured this would sell great and get another mini series. It sadly didn't.

The writing is great,sure for the late 90s it feels a bit wordy. But unlike a Silver Age X-men comic I read recently this isn't wordy without needing to be. This wordy works on setting the mood and tone.

And the art OMG! Appears they just used Gene Colan's pencils,have read before he prefered to not have his pencils inked. Which makes this art stand out.

Like this gorgeous 2 page spread from the first issue. Sorry for the crap picture. Look at how smooth the coloring looks. And you can see the linework in the art.

And this cover from issue 3. Would love a poster of it.  Always loved Gene Colan's art and that is a major reason I bought this series.

Do not think there is a tpb of this mini. Appears you can get the three issues for close to cover price. And it is worth that. 

The Curse of Dracula gets a read if you love horror and a buy if you are a Gene Colan fan.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 20 Last Voyage of the Demeter

 

TITLE-The Last Voyage of the Demeter

SOURCE-Universal Blu ray

For the past 7 or so years I rarely see ads on TV. Most of what I watch is either off dvd/blu ray or streaming. And with streaming when an ad break starts I usually have a book or comic nearby and I read during the ad break. Which is why in the summer of 2023 I had no clue about this movie until a friend was asking if I was going to go see it. After she told me the basic idea behind the film I knew I had to see it. 

Pretty much now I rarely goto a theater to see anything. Not really the price of a ticket keeping me at home it is more lack of a good theater near me. And how now people can't sit through the movie without having to use their phone. Not sure how people dont realize that the bright screen of their phone is just as distracting as talking on it. I just chalk it up to the general public are assholes and morons.

This movie is a neat idea. Taking one chapter from the Bram Stoker classic Dracula,the chapter about Dracula's trip by sea to London,and making an entire film about it.Fleshing out what needed to be fleshed out.

A young doctor barely manages to get passage on the Demeter. After finding a young woman who is almost dead in a crate he realizes something ain't right. 

Then the animals on board the ship start dying and disappearing.  Yep we got a vampire on the ship and where do  you run when out at sea and there is a vampire on the ship?

Well shot and with a great score,this is a throwback to the horror made 60 years ago. A slow build. Where the sense of dread is huge. And when a horrific act happens you are a bit relived to have the tense broke for a short bit.

Not really sure who this movie was aimed at. The friend that mentioned it to me is a huge old horror fan. But she is also a bit older than the average person going to the theater to see a movie. From what I can find The Last Voyage of the Demeter bombed. Not even making half of what it cost to make. 

This Blu ray has a few extras. Including some deleted scenes and an alternate opening. I can see why they used the opening in the film and why the scenes got cut. Then we get a commentary from the director and the producer.

What I wanted was an extra talking about how this movie has been trying to be made since the mid 90s. AFter the writer got inspired by Coppla's Bram Stoker's Dracula which came out in 1992.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2016 Day 30 Dracula Unleashed DVD game

Title-Dracula Unleashed
Source-Interactive DVD Game

Somehow this FMV game passed me by until about a week ago.I owned a Sega CD back in the day,but had never heard of this game until someone supplied me with a rip of the DVD release.

Using FMV and onscreen choices this game tells the story of Alexander Morris. As he comes to London to investigate the death,that happened 10 years ago,of his brother Quincy. By choosing the right things at the right time you can manage to defeat Dracula and win the game.

The acting is pretty decent compared to other FMV games of the era. The interface is well done. And overall the game isn't bad. I doubt I play it more than once a year. But it is a nice way to kill time.

Dracula Unleashed DVD game gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 27 Double Feature The Return of Dracula/The Vampire

The Return of Dracula
Source-MGM Midnite Movies Double Feature flipper DVD

Ok this was released in 58. And I can see why I had never heard of it before grabbing this set.Last year found like 15 of these MGM Midnite Movies double features. All brand new for $3. So grabbed them. Been throwing them on as background noise. But I see the title Return of Dracula and it is from MGM I gave it my full attention.

Which was a mistake. This fucking sucks. Dracula leaves Europe and comes to Califorina. Pretending to be a distant cousin of this one family.

Really the only thing that makes this stand out at all is at the end we get a bit of color. The film has been b/w all the way through. But in the final kill we see red blood. A neat touch in an otherwise boring as hell film.

The Return of Dracula gets a D.

The Vampire
Source-MGM Midnite Movies Double Feature flipper DVD

From 57 here is another vampire flick. But with a twist. Instead of getting bit by a vampire ,our lead vampire is created by a doctor that accidentally takes some special Bat pills. So  a bit of a science fiction twist on your typical vampire.

But like Return of Dracula this one neat feature is all the film has.Well that and that it is only 76 minutes long. I can handle a low budget kind of shitty movie much better when it is an hour or maybe a bit over that tops.

The Vampire gets a D+.

Even at the $3 I paid this set is a dud. Only reason I can see to own it is if maybe you got nostalgia for either film.Or you want two "scary" films you could show young kids around Halloween. Nothing in either that say a 5 or 6 year old now couldn't handle.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 23 Dracula 2000

Dracula 2000
Source-Various Echo Bridge multipacks,really I own 8 copies of this movie thanks to the cheap Echo Bridge movie packs.

I can remember going to see some film in a theater and seeing the Dracula 2000 trailer for the first time. The trailer looked great. And it appeared to have a fun cast. So I went to see it when it came out. Ended up being very disappointed with the movie.

One of Van Helsings decedents has Dracula's body sealed up in silver coffin. Jennifer Esposito allows her shitbag boyfriend and his crew of thieves brake into Van Helsings shop. They see all the security measures put in place cause of the silver coffin. So figuring something that well protected must be very valuable they steal the coffin. And head from the UK to New Orleans with it. During the flight to NOLA one of the thieves,Hyde from That 70's Show,opens up the coffin awakens Dracula. And in the chaos the plane crashes in the swamps outside NOLA.

Honestly this movie is pretty much total shit.Only 3 things make it stand out a bit against all the other modern vampire films. First is the so called "brides of Dracula". They are the three ladies pictured above. I have always thought Jennifer Esposito was a pretty young lady,and Colleen Fitzpatrick AKA Vitamin C is also really pretty. Then there is Jeri Ryan. And I am sure what I am about to say will piss off plenty of Trekkies. But I have never found Ms Ryan to be a good actress or to be that attractive. Sure she has pretty big breasts. But her face looks like someone shaved Gizmo from Gremlins.She has less acting talent than my dead departed dog Peaches. And always has a look on  her face like she thinks she has to fart,but isn't sure if it is a fart or she has to take a shit.The second thing is the male cast of this film. Gerald Butler tries his best as Dracula and does an OK job. Jonny Lee Miller tries really hard in his role,but to me he was only good in one film and that was Hackers. And the final thing from the film that stands out. Is the theory it throws out that Dracula is actually Judas. And the reason why vampires are harmed to silver is because of the 30 pieces of silver Judas was given to betray Jesus. The rest of the film is pretty much your normal late 90s/early 2000s Dimension Films movie.

The only reason I watched this film this year is because of a friend.He is known mostly online as thefuckerfromhell or just Fucker for short. And this is one of his favorite films. So since I own so many copies of it I thought I would give it another chance. And I doubt I ever watch this again. I also own 1 of the 2 sequels to this. But I haven't watched it yet.

Dracula 2000 gets a D-.