Dracula

If it seems like we've been hearing about the vampire film The Last Voyage of the Demeter for years now, it's because we have. Based on a script written by the scribe responsible for the upcoming Nic Cage vehicle Season of the Witch, Demeter has been kicking around Hollywood for at least five years. Occasionally news emerges that reminds us the project still exists and that we may see it on a screen one day. Yesterday was one of those days, with THR bringing us a long-awaited update on the project.

Last we heard, Marcus Nispel was attached to direct the film--which is based on an episode from Bram Stoker's Dracula. The latest news reveals that Nispel is no longer directing the film (thank you, God...) and instead production company Phoenix Pictures is in negotiations withAustrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky. Ruzowitzky may not be a household name, but he did win an Oscar for his foreign film The Counterfeiters. I'm willing to bet that gives him one more Oscar than Marcus Nispel will ever win.

In the book, the Demeter is the ship that transports Dracula from Transylvania to England. When it arrives, only a lone survivor is on board--and he's gone mad. Dracula films never spend much time covering what happens on the ship, which always struck me as a missed opportunity. Dracula on a boat picking off passengers and crew one by one? Sounds like an early template for your standard slasher movie. Stoker was clearly ahead of his time. Demeter looks to remedy this oversight by focusing solely on this one part of the novel.

While news of movement on this project is encouraging, I'll believe The Last Voyage of the Demeter is for real when I see it on a big screen.

An article by David Barnett in yesterday's The Guardian shed light on one magazine's lack of acknowledgment given to women in the horror field. SFX Magazine, a veteran SF/fantasy UK mag, recently published a special horror-themed edition (SFX Collection: Horror), which included a "beefy 14-page news section, oodles of in-depth new features, and six great free gifts," but no women. In the article, Horror's Hidden Treasure's, 34 directors, screenwriters and authors were asked to name underappreciated cult horror that deserved more recognition, but no women were polled.

Ironically, this oversight comes during Women in Horror Month -- a time set aside to raise awareness and give more love to the ladies. It also follows a previous oversight five months earlier when the British Fantasy Society omitted women from a collection of interviews with horror writers. SFX at least managed to commemorate Black History Month with a feature on Blaxploitation horror. So, what's going on with the industry folks on the other side of the pond that things like this keep happening?

Editor Ian Berriman's editorial reads: "You see, some people think horror is a limited one-dimensional genre, but I don't see it that way. Horror is a broad church. It encompasses everything from the classy chillers produced by Val Lewton through to the likes of Saw and Hostel. It comes in an almost infinite variety of forms, and I love nearly every single one of them." Do you Ian?

Some are more hopeful than others about Summit Entertainment's new take on vampirism with the Anthony Mandler directed, Vlad. Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment is producing the feature, which promises to take a look at the origins of the Romanian Prince, Vlad the Impaler, whose life who would eventually become the basis for Bram Stoker's epic tale, Dracula. For those of you who fear that Summit wants to make Vlad one of the glitterati, take heed. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Scott Kosar will be penning the screenplay for Vlad.

The film should be in good hands with Kosar who has some genre experience with The Machinist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror and most recently The Crazies which hits theaters Friday, February 19. Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam wrote the original script, which looks at Vlad with an action-oriented eye during his reign as a young prince. Music video director and photographer Anthony Mandler impressed the studio with a reel of the project that was reminiscent of 300, so let's hope that between Mandler and Kosar we can expect something brutal and worthy of the dark Prince.

Is this one shaping up to be better than you thought or are you still weary?

Sam Worthington is enjoying the huge success of his latest role in James Cameron's Avatar, but he's going to be trading blue for blood soon in Alex Proyas' Dracula: Year Zero. Yes, you read that right. The film is being budgeted at over $100 million which is not far behind the $165 million Universal has put out for their Wolfman redux.

Latino Review broke the news that the Terminator and Titans star will be cast as the lead in a story which chronicles the the origin of Dracula, combining vampire mythology with the history of Prince Vlad the Impaler. According to Dread Central, the film depicts Dracula as a tragic hero (and don't forget the tragic love story to go along with everything) amidst a dark age of magic and war. Sounding similar to Titans yet? Supposedly, he will be cast as a vengeful hero rather than the monster we're all familiar with from Bram Stoker's classic novel.

First the news about Jason Momoa as the new Conan and now this? Worthington seems totally miscast but I'm actually excited about Universal exploring the origins of Dracula's character. I adore the Victorian, Gothic leanings of the Dracula tale from Stoker's point of view but I've always been fascinated by the history of Vlad the Impaler. I respect Univeral's decision to take things in a new direction--giving the dark Prince more screen time, but I wish they would reconsider their leading man. Every depiction and account of Vlad the Impaler I've come across paints the Prince as noble and regal, yet ultimately terrifying. Based on looks alone, Worthington is completely off and I'm gritting my teeth thinking about that Aussie accent rearing its head like it did in Avatar. Also, what's up with the film's title? It sounds like a Dracula 2000 prequel. Let me know what your thoughts are regarding the direction Universal is taking with the fanged fiend.

What better person than a former vampire to produce a movie about the inimitable Vlad the Impaler?

Brad Pitt will produce for Summit Entertainment an epic origins story centered upon the Romanian prince's life, before he became associated with the legendary Dracula. While some might be tempted to cry foul (as our own Brian did at the initial news), one only has to remember just how brutal Vlad Tepes really was, and there is no need to incorporate the stuff of legends to make an effective movie.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, writer Charlie Hunnam, known recently as Jax on Sons of Anarchy and as the ladies' man Lloyd on Judd Apatow's Undeclared, declared his intent with the script, which he has been working on for several years.

"As the script stands now, we don't touch on vampirism. That was my one non-negotiable area when we were developing it, and thankfully, nobody suggested that we should delve into it at the end...He had the advantage of fighting on home ground and he knew the terrain better, which gave him the ability to fight at night. Because he would fight at night, he would try to get his men on a night schedule, so they hadn't already been up for 12 hours through the day. There are a million ways to show that this guy is the origin of vampirism without actually having him drinking blood."

Good evening all. Let me just say that it was not my intention to have all the news on which I reported revolve around The Wolfman, but he we are again. Today, I have a wonderful piece of news to report that is only marginally related to the remake. If you are anything like me, you have a great deal of reverence when it comes to Universal and horror. This is the studio that gave us the legends: Dracula, Frankenstein('s monster), the Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, and the original Wolfman. Well, in celebration of their upcoming revamp, Universal has unveiled a website devoted to the legacy of their rogue's gallery of monsters and madmen.

I cannot say enough about this site. It not only looks amazing, but is the best online treatment of the Universal Monsters I have ever seen. The intro video is a great reminder as to why horrophiles like us love this era and there is a constant stream of gorgeous scores playing from the films themselves. Each movie offers a synopsis and the background changes with each selection. You can scroll through the time-line of releases, admiring original posters or even watching clips. I'm nerding out just thinking about it. It's like an online shrine to classic horror royalty.

Universal made a very wise decision loosely linking the new film to this site. There is a brief mention below the montage and a small link at the top to the new movie's site. I'm glad they didn't try to shoehorn the remake into the gallery, and thus insinuate comparison. The limelight stands focused on the true titans; quelling any potential backlash. Well done!

Go see it now!

Gothic horror god Christopher Lee says he has no interest in today's horror films and considers them "dreadful" and "obscene." The veteran actor recently told CNN, "I find it quite nauseating what they do. The blood is all over the screen like an avalanche--the mutilation...I just don't enjoy that." I guess he won't be lining up for Saw VIII any time soon.

The British actor is synonymous with Hammer studios in his recurring role as Dracula. His first role as the fanged Count lasted only six weeks and paid him £750. Since then he has become a legend -- the Queen even knighted him earlier this year. Even though he left Hammer on shaky terms, he will be returning to work with them on their first theatrical feature in over 30 years, The Resident, which is currently in post-production.

The film is about a young doctor whose landlord has a frightening obsession with her. John De Mol, one of the founders of reality TV powerhouse Endemol and creator of Big Brother, purchased the rights to Hammer in 2007. The Resident and Let Me In, a remake of the popular Swedish vampire flick Let the Right One In, are the two new features that De Mol hopes will revive the studio. Resident director Antti Jokinen feels that Lee is instrumental in creating the right mood for the film's noir style, "He has that presence that a movie like this needs because a single look can be the scary atmosphere that you need."

By: Kevin Kelly

If you're a fan of the classic Universal Studios movie monsters, including Dracula, Frankenstein, the Werewolf, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and more, then you've probably found yourself haunted by a severe lack of ginormous books that focus on your obsession. With Halloween just around the corner, Michael Mallory's Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror arrives just in time.

It's chock full of over 300 black and white and 25 color behind-the-scenes photos, original movie posters, publicity shots, and articles from people like James Whale (director of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and many more), makeup marvel Jack P. Piece, FX man John Fulton, and more. It's officially endorsed by the studio, so I'm not sure if this will be the Bela Lugosi tell-all expose that you're looking for.

The whole package is 252 pages long, and at 9" by 12 ", it can double as a blunt object if you need to brain anyone. Check out an exclusive pic from the book just after the break.

One of the coolest chapters in Bram Stoker's Dracula (the book, not the Coppola movie) is the one in which the titular bloodsucker is on a boat ride from Bulgaria to England, and he uses the crew as a rather messy all-you-can-eat buffet. It's a sequence that certainly seems spooky enough to warrant its very own film, so I say it's good news that Marcus Nispel is on board to direct The Last Voyage of Demeter.

Variety describes the story with a bit more clarity than I can muster at 6am on a Sunday morning, so here goes: It's "based on a chapter in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" describing the arrival of the vampire count in England on a cargo ship that has crashed into the rocks at Whitby with no crew and the dead captain lashed to the steering wheel. Stoker tells the story via the captain's log of the voyage, which begins in Bulgaria and becomes increasingly disjointed as members of the crew disappear."

Given Nispel's affection for tackling old-school horror (like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th), it'll be interesting to see what he does with Dracula. It's not like Demeter could be any more outrageously ridiculous than the Frankenstein adaptation the director did for the USA Network a few years back.