vampires

Back in October, we brought you word of another twist in the tangled and lengthy vampire legend, American Vampire. Written Scott Snyder, with art by Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire is a new monthly comic. Oh, and they're getting some help from Stephen King. Since it's tough to find any water in that well, Snyder and King are going in a different direction and introducing new strain of vampire-a more brutish and violent type, without the trappings of Eastern European vampire lore, hence the title.

The first story arc will play out over 5 issues with 2 different tales. Snyder helms one, while King himself does his first bit of written (not adapted) work for a comic. After King eventually departs, they'll work their way through the first American vampire's various blood drinking shenanigans throughout various decades. I can only hope this means we'll get a nod to Hammer's Dracula AD 1972.

While Snyder's storyline is one set against the backdrop of the roaring 20's, it's King's that I'm looking forward to - a murderous cowboy by the name of Skinner Sweet. How can you not be intrigued by that?

But here's the best part - Jim Lee just released a preview of a variant cover he's worked up. King and Lee? And vampire cowboys? Yes, please. A thousand times, yes. Get a taste of it here. American Vampire is right around the corner. Grab one at your local comic shop on March 17th.

Dreamworks has been threatening us with a Fright Night remake for quite awhile now, but those threats have mostly been empty. That could be changing, as the LA Times is reporting the project has been moved on to the high priority fast track.

As proof that this isn't just Dreamworks blowing more smoke, the article breaks news that Craig Gillespie is now in negotiations to take the reins on the remake. Reports indicate that the studio was mulling over several filmmakers, but decided Gillespie was their man and began serious negotiations on Friday. The director is best known for the romantic comedy Lars and the Real Girl and the Billy Bob Thornton vehicle Mr. Woodcock. Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe Marti Noxon is working on the screenplay.

The original Fright Night found a teenaged horror film fan Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) teaming up with creature feature host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) to battle a vampire who's moved in next door and set his sights on Charley's girlfriend. Directed by Tom Holland, it's one of the better examples of how to mix horror and comedy without alienating either audience.

If Gillespie does sign on for the project, the next big step would appear to be casting. I don't particularly care who plays Charley in a remake, but I do care about who they get to play Peter Vincent. McDowall will be a tough act to follow--who would you cast in that pivotal role?

Just the other day I was talking to a friend about a co-worker of his who is not only a conspiracy nut, but who seems to be categorically incapable of separating the fiction of films from the non-fiction of the real world. For example, upon watching Transformers he questioned whether or not it was based on real events and between the time it took for said friend to first laugh and second answer his ridiculous question, this conspiracy nut had already convinced himself that the government was hiding shape-shifting war robots from the public.

So if something as quite clearly fake as Transformers can have that effect on the man's psyche, I wonder what the book trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith's follow-up novel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, will do to his perception of the sixteenth President of the United States. If a movie can convince him of government cover-ups, I can only imagine that a book will be all the more effective.

As for the trailer itself (embedded below, of course), I actually really like it. I never got around to reading PaPaZ mainly because I lost interest after hearing Grahame-Smith's contributed only about 15% original material, but as far as I know Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a completely original creation. I'm not sure I'll be rushing out to my nearest bookstore March 2nd to pick up a copy, but I imagine it'll make for fine in-flight reading some day.

There are many things I love in this world, but two things I adore above almost everything else are horror flicks and Asian action cinema. So, whenever a film comes along that merges the two, I get excited. Such is the case with Rob Fitz's long-awaited God of Vampires. GoV isn't an Asian action film in the traditional sense, but it does take place in Chinatown and features what appears to be a Triad assassin taking on Chinese vampires. That's close enough for me.

Dread Central brings us the latest update on the project, stating that the film will make its DVD debut through Midnight Releasing on May 4th of this year.

The story finds professional assassin Frank Ng tasked with killing a Chinese crime lord. The catch is that said Chinese crime lord is really a vampire--and he's not all that interested in being killed. Frank must then assemble a team of vampire hunters to destroy the evil vampire once and for all--but it won't be easy, and if the trailer is any indication, things are going to get bloody.

Check out the official synopsis and trailer after the jump. The film doesn't appear to feature any of the traditional hopping Chinese vampires, but it does feature vampire kung-fu, which is a trade-off I'm willing to accept. It also features lots of blood spatter, high-powered weaponry, and guys in dark trench coats channeling their inner Chow Yun-fat--which is like the Bracken trifecta of coolness.

Debate among my friends is that the vampire mine has been stripped. They've done it all. Nothing else can be said in the matter, unless you're making something about vampires that aren't really vampires. The exploration of the nosferatu is one of the oldest in film history, of course, and the approaches to the subject matter are rich and varied. There are the ancient and secret empires of Underworld, the disturbed loners like Martin, and the Oklahoma trash clan of Near Dark. More often than not, though, it's some tired retread of Dracula or a semi-congealed mess that's been shunted straight to DVD. But now, after the cult hit of Undead, the Spierig brothers kicked a little bit of life into that torpid corpse.

In 2019, vampires rule the earth. Blood supplies across the globe have been exhausted, threatening to cast the austere, shadowy world into chaos. What few humans are left are precious commodities, of course, as Ethan Hawke and his crew at Bromley Marks have yet to successfully synthesize a blood substitute. His boss Bromley, played with the serpentine iciness of Sam Neill, cracks the corporate whip, pushing the team for his own greedy purposes. Meanwhile, the world is quickly sliding into decline. The effects of blood-deprivation aren't just starvation. It twists the otherwise human-like vamps into nasty, feral things - crazed creatures with veined wings and mottled skin. As more and more of the general population tumble down the evolutionary ladder, they go 'full Morlock' and migrate to the sewers. Hawke, with his brood dial turned all the way up to '10', wants to prevent the extinction of the humans. He finds his chance to help when he discovers a small band of living rebels, putting himself at odds with his company, his brother, and the entire vampire race.

Daybreakers is gearing up for its January 8 release and Lionsgate has released two new viral websites in anticipation of the post-apocalyptic vamp flick.

The first site is a play on the pharmaceutical company Bromley/Marks, a powerful vampire run corporation. All the art for the film depicting the big business has been propaganda-esque. I suppose you can see a smudge of that in the vampire chick hairstyles on the site, but overall it feels kind of blah to me. Biggest bummer is that the links don't work. Perhaps they'll fix that.

There's also a site for vampire recruitment over here which features a gaunt vamp asking you to fill out a form to turn your friends to the dark side. If you don't move fast enough he gets pissy with you.

In Daybreakers, Ethan Hawke is Edward Dalton, a vampire researcher who refuses to feed on human blood, and tries to perfect a blood substitute that may sustain vampires and spare the few remaining humans. Enter Audrey, a human survivor who leads him to a startling medical breakthrough. The fate of the human race rests in their hands. The film also stars Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, Michael Dorman and Vince Colosimo. Check out William Goss' Fantastic Fest review of Daybreakers here.

I've been on the fence about the new vampire flick Daybreakers since I saw the first trailer earlier this year. I love the fact that it has actors like Sam Neill and Willem Dafoe in it, but the early clips made the film look a little cold and sterile. Subsequent trailers and advertisements have kept that odd color scheme intact, but the film's action and premise are winning me over in spite of it.

FEARnet landed the newest TV spot for the film yesterday, and I can now say that I'm now fully on-board with this film. It's got the aforementioned actors that I love (plus Ethan Hawke), it's got vampires who're actually monsters, and it looks to feature a nice mixture of action and horror elements. Apparently, I'm an easy man to please.

Jump past the break for a look at the new ad for the film, and be sure to check out our Fantastic Fest review of Daybreakers. The film is slated to hit theaters on January 8th.

A month or so ago we put the spotlight on Threadless.com and their exclusive Halloween t-shirt, which was inspired by the monthly "horror" theme. While browsing their selection and lamenting the fact that I can't take advantage of their $12 holiday sale or one-day-only $9 Black Friday sale, I came across a number of designs that can be deemed appropriate for fans of horror and the macabre. Given that we're less than a month until Jesus slides down your chimney to eat your food and rearrange your furniture, there is no time better than the present to take advantage of this incredible sale.

Be warned: due to the popularity of the selection and the limited print run of many of the designs, several are bound to sell out of the more common sizes, especially mens XL. So if you're a tubby like me, make haste to Threadless.com and check out their fine selection. Samples of some of the horror-themed shirts (which includes an entire section devoted to zombies) can be found behind the cut.

I'm not the biggest vampire fan in the world, but I did really like Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines for the PC when it was all the rage a few years back. Since then, I've spent a lot of time looking for a game in that same vein. Cmedia's upcoming release, Vampire Hunters probably isn't going to be as good as Bloodlines was, but judging from the press release and a new gameplay trailer, there may be some fun to be had for those adventurous enough to plunk down $16.99 to try it out.

What's most disappointing about the trailer is that the 'vampire hunter' of the title doesn't seem to slaughter any sparkling vampires. I'd be all in on a game that basically put me in a world where killing Twilight characters was not only encouraged, but rewarded. If you can get past that letdown, the rest of Vampire Hunters looks to be a mixture of adventure-styled exploration coupled with a turn-based combat system ripped straight out of your traditional Japanese Role-Playing Game.

I'm generally a fan of turn-based RPGs, but the mechanic looks clunky in this game's trailer. Killing vampires seems like it should be more action-oriented, and even the inclusion of an "active time battle system" (meaning that combat doesn't devolve completely into a "enemy turn, your turn, enemy turn" mess) doesn't seem to be helping. I'll cross my fingers and hope it's much more engaging in the game proper.

You can learn more about this title (and purchase it through direct download) by checking out the official Vampire Hunters website.

Travel beyond the jump for a look at the gameplay trailer.

Evening all. Making lists on the internet is akin to swallowing a cart load of McNuggets; sure it's fun now but it will come back to haunt you over and over again. Though largely opinion pieces, invariably making a list of best this or greatest that will lead to a cavalcade of backlash from cyberspace. Recently I rewatched Fright Night, a film I hadn't seen since I was a kid, and it got me thinking about all the amazing vampire films of the 1980's. There is an undeniable quantity of cheese associated with most of them, I did say 80's, but there is cheesy vampire fiction and then there is...well you know. So here's my pick of the litter and I will be more than happy to suffer a stake or two through the heart when I inevitably leave off your favorites.