Margot Kidder

Margot Kidder was born on October 17th, 1948 in Yellowknife, Canada.

Margaret Ruth Kidder (1948-2018)

Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974)
with Doug McGrath and Olivia Hussey 

Superman (1978)

The Amityville Horror (1979)
with Josh Brolin

Heartaches (1981)
with Annie Potts 

Also on this date:

Julie Adams was born in 1926

Tanya Roberts

Tanya Roberts 

Born October 15th, 1955

Tanya Roberts (1955-2021) 

Tourist Trap (1979)

The Beastmaster (1982)
directed by Don Coscarelli

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1984)

Purgatory (1988)

That 70’s Show (1998-2004)

Also on this date:

Lynn Lowry was born in 1947

Night of the Demons (1988)

On October 14th, 1988 Night of the Demons was released in theaters. 

Night of the Demons (1988)

Linnea Quigley

Amelia Kinkade

The film spawned a remake produced in 2009.

Night of the Demons (2009)

Also on this date:

Jack Arnold was born in 1916

Badlands

On October 13th, 1973 Badlands premiered at the New York Film Festival. 

The film is the directorial debut of Terrence Malick.

The film stars Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. It is loosely based upon the real life actions of Charles Starkweather and Carol Ann Fugate, who went on a bit of a murdering spree in the late 50’s.

The subject matter would also be revisited in Kalifornia (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994)  

Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek in Badlands

Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen in Badlands

Cast includes John Carter

Also on this date:

Cliff Gorman was born in 1936

Related:

Terrence Malick

Ed Wood

Ed Wood was born October 10th, 1924

Ed Wood (1924-1978)

Glen or Glenda (1953)

Also on this date:

Chris Penn was born in 1965

Cynthia Meyers

 Cynthia Myers was born September 12th, 1950.

Cynthia was Playboy’s playmate of the month December 1968. 

She also starred as Casey Anderson in Russ Myers’ 

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970).

Also on this date:

The Monkees TV show premiered on NBC in 1966

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death

On August 27th, 1971 Let’s Scare Jessica to Death premiered in NYC.

This psychological slow burn had a great score and easily held my attention for the full 89 minutes.

That’s saying something since the internet ate my brain. 

Mariclare Costello and Zohra Lampert

Also on this date:

Glen Matlock was born in 1956

Seven (Technically Nine) Pretty Good Vampire Movies You Might Have Missed

Nestled somewhere between Twilight, The Lost Boys, Interview With a Vampire and Bram Stoker's Dracula lie some hidden gems that you may have missed out on. Some digging may be required to find these films but I'm sure they are out there somewhere on one platform or another.

Near Dark (1987)

dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Released 3 months after The Lost Boys, Near Dark didn't do quite as well in theaters but over the years has gained something of a cult like status. It follows a band of bloodthirsty and ruthless travelers as they terrorize their way through the mid-west. Along the way they inadvertently recruit Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) who, unfortunately for the group, comes from a very loving home life. 

Squad Goals

Near Dark stars Adrian Pasdar and Jennifer G. Wright ("wanna take a bath" Groupie from Pink Floyd's The Wall) with horror staple Lance Hendrikson, the late Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstien (Aliens 1986) and Joshua John Miller, who is also know for his role as the shit little brother to Keanu Reeves in Rivers Edge (1986). The fatherly Tim Thomerson really adds to the mid-western feel that helps to make this one stand out a little more than others.

Kathryn Bigelow also directed Point Break (1991) and more recently The Hurt Locker (2008) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Near Dark was co-written by Eric Red who also directed the over the top road trip/action/horror flick The Hitcher (1986) starring the late Rutger Hauer.


Let The Right One In (2008) 
dir. Tomas Alfredson
Screenplay by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Let The Right One In (2008)

This critically acclaimed, well reviewed film set near Stockholm came at a time when the vampire genre needed a little jolt. Based on the book by the same name by John Ajvide Linqvist and starring mostly a bunch of Swedish people you've never heard of.

Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson were 11 years old at the time of casting and filming and have been praised for their performances.

The film has a dark and quiet reservation about it that is very fitting for the subject matter. It proves that restraint is sometimes much more frightening than full on, in your face fright.

Let Me In (2012)

Since we are not fond of subtitles in America, Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) directed an American remake Let Me In in 2012 starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The remake was well received by most, some even placing it higher than the original. Although both films are very similar in plot and even stand up scene to scene at times, the remake does a great job standing on its own. Stellar performances from Moretz and McPhee as well.

The Addiction (1995)

dir. Abel Ferrara
written by Abel Ferrara and Nicholas St. John

A late night convo between Walken and Taylor

From the controversial director Abel Ferrara who brought us the likes of the cult classic Ms. 45 (1981) and the early slasher The Driller Killer (1979) comes this gritty vampire story set in New York City. The film is shot in black and white and was filmed on location in Manhattan, Greenwich Village and at the New York University.

The Addiction stars Lili Taylor, Edie Falco, Christopher Walken and Annabella Sciorra. Both Walken and Sciorra starred together again in Ferrara's Funeral (1996). Walken had previously worked with him in King of New York (1990). The film itself contains allegories to both addiction and religion, both a recurring theme in Ferrara's work and the vampire genre in general. Whenever I think of this movie the scene that comes to mind is a blood orgy near the end of the film where Lili Taylor regurgitates blood after gorging on too many victims only to go right back at it. The excessive bloodiness of the scene is made that much darker by the fact that it is filmed in black and white.

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

written and dir. Jim Jarmusch

Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston

Starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as a pair of ancient lovers, Mia Wasikowska as the eternally energetic little sister and the late Anton Yelchin as the human lackey. The late John Hurt supports as a vampiric Christopher Marlowe who, in the story, faked his own death in 1593 to continue writing anonymously for others including William Shakespeare.

If you are strictly looking for true horror in your vampire movie you can keep looking. This is more of a thinking persons vampire movie. Chock full of cultural and scientific references I must admit a some of which was a bit above my lowbrow. I did however relate to the disillusionment in society that the characters have gathered over the centuries.

In 2019 Jarmusch continued in the horror genre with the schlock zombie flick The Dead Don’t Die. 

Martin (1978)
written and dir. George Romero

Martin the shy vampire

Martin is George Romero’s fifth feature film starring John Amplass as the lead. Martin is an awkward young man who just happens to be a vampire. Maybe. He does wear sunglasses but has no fangs and isn't really concerned with garlic or crosses. He also doesn't have any of the awesome powers that vampires are known to have making subduing his victims that much harder and awkward. He is at the very least a very disturbed serial killer with strong sedatives, syringes and razor blades. Things get a bit complicated for Martin when he is sent away to live with his old school uncle who immediately recognizes the "curse" that has befallen Martin. Things don't get much easier when the young man embarks on a real life affair with a married woman that doesn't involve sedatives or bloodletting.

Martin is a well made, Gothic psychological horror. Some of the scenes are a bit cringe worthy, mostly revolving around the uncomfortable scenes when Martin is awkwardly subduing and assaulting his victims. Martin is notable as it is the first time that Romero and famed special effects artist Tom Savini worked together. Savini has a small part as the boyfriend of the sympathetic cousin that also lives in the house with Martin and his Uncle. Romero is great in a small part in which he plays a priest. It's an amusing scene because there is little acting involved. It's just Romero dressed as a priest doing Romero stuff. Prepare yourself for an abrupt and shocking end to this film.

Ganga And Hess (1973)
written and dir. Bill Gunn

Duane Jones and Marlene Clark

Starring Duane Jones, Marlene Clark and Bill Gunn who also wrote and directed. Ganga and Hess, like many other vampire movies uses addiction as a metaphor. The movie also has a strong religious message. What makes Ganga and Hess stand out over many other African American produced and lead films of the mid-70's is that it doesn't really fit in with a lot of the other exploitation style films that were popular at the time. It has a much more subdued and artistic feel to it with strong, realistic black leads. It is of note that Duane Jones only two significant roles were this movie and Night of the Living Dead (1968). Both characters were strong black leads which was not common at the time and somewhat controversial. This subject is touched touched upon in the documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror currently streaming exclusively on Shudder.

The producers of Ganga and Hess, unhappy with the box office numbers and general feel of the film, sold the rights to another company. Heritage Enterprises released a re-scored drastically re-editted version of the film on VHS entitled Blood Couple that was disowned by Gunn. The original cut was donated to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan whose screenings slowly helped build this films reputation as a piece of independent African American cinema.

Next watch the more stylized remake Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) by Spike Lee. This remake is mostly an homage to the original, at times scene for scene and word for word. So much so that Bill Gunn, who passed in 1989, is listed as co-writer in the credits.

The production for Lee's remake was mostly funded through kickstarter, the first time he used crowd funding to make a film. Lee also compiled a great soundtrack through submissions from unsigned artists.

There is also an incredible 6 minute gospel rendition of Sam Waymon's "You Got To Learn" from the original Ganga and Hess soundtrack.

Vampires 2010  

 dir. Vincent Lanoo
written by Frederique Broos and Vincent Lanoo

Starring Carlo Ferrante as the father, Vera Van Dooren as the mother, Pierre Lognay and Fleur Lise Heuet as rebellious teenage children in a family of vampires residing in Belgium who invite a film crew into their home. Benedicte Bantuelle supports as an ex-prostitute who acts as something of a servant and is refered to as "the meat". Baptiste Sornin and Selma Alaoui also support as the pesky and childless downstairs neighbors.

This French mockumentary style film preceded What We Do in The Shadows original film version by 4 years and offers a fresh and interesting satirical look at what modern day vampire culture and society may look like.

A majority of Vincent Lanoo's work focuses mostly on drama. His only foray into horror/comedy won him the Audience Award at the prestigious Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

Mangrove Slasher 2 Premier at the Sarasota Film festival

Ricky Svec as the Mangrove Slasher

There never was a Mangrove Slasher 1. If there is a sequel it is going to be named Mangrove Slasher 5. It's 47 minutes long. Director Sean Haitz states that he has only spent $850 out of pocket. It began as a long music video concept For Haitz' surfabilly band The Jetties. There was a point when it didn't look as if the movie would be finished. Co-Director Chris Potter was arrested and fired from the school that he worked at for stealing electrical equipment to support an Oxycontin habit. All of the raw footage was confiscated and purportedly destroyed by investigators. As it turns out the files were backed up. This great story has already been written. You can read it here.

Somehow this whole project flew over or under my radar and I didn't know about it until the Sarasota Film Festival schedule was released and I read the article. I immediately felt left out of something I would have really wanted to have been involved with. I hate when that happens. I put it at the top of my must see list and it had to be the Saturday night premiere. Unfortunately neither my wife or I made any initiative to buy tickets ahead of time. We have a tendency to do that. We go downtown a few hours ahead of time to try to get rush tickets at the door.

Director of Photography Chris Potter (L)
and Director Sean Haitz (R)

From a distance we see a hairy, blood covered giant in overalls wielding a machete in each hand, a couple of drag queens and various characters in brightly colored gowns and super high heels. Everyone is drinking a mysterious red punch that I suspect was pure grain alcohol with a few granules of cherry KoolAid added for color. The start time comes and goes and only six have been admitted from the rush line... and then two more a few minutes later. The volunteer comes up one more time and says, "5 more can go in". We are number 5 and 6. Fortunately the two people ahead of us decided at that moment not to go in and we were the last two to be admitted.

So in we are and sitting on the stairs. The movie has already started, which is not good when the movie you just payed $24 to see is only 47 minutes long. We had walked into a theater bursting with the laughter of friends and family and anyone else involved in the project. Every kill produces loud applause and cheers right up to the final beach party massacre scene. There isn't much of a story to review. In fact, there is very little plot. It would have just taken away from the movie. There are a few party scenes in which you see people who have already been slaughtered. This adds to the movie. Bikinis, bad wigs and fake mustaches, douchebags, jocks, a little person (do I really need to be PC here?) , drag queens, stoners and boobs. Lots of boobs. It wouldn't have hurt to put a few more boobs in. It would have added to the movie. It's probably a good thing that it is 47 minutes long because you will laugh continuously until you get one of those annoying laugh headaches.

Original DVD cover with a blurb from yours truly.

There is some great aerial footage from a donated helicopter ride. The imagery is crystal clear and the sound is great, even on the windy shore of the Gulf of Mexico. These guys did a great job making this film and despite all the problems seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. The only thing I can compare it to would be if Bill Zebub directed a concept video for the Beastie Boys it would probably look something like this. If this description makes any sense you should enjoy the movie. If it doesn't make sense it doesn't matter. Mangrove Slasher 2 is a hilarious, cult potential Shlock classic in it's infancy. It's been nearly 24 hours and I'm still giggling about some of the things Is saw in this movie, and that my friends is a good sign.