The Saga of the Original Vampire Lord : DRACULA

When Bram Stoker wrote the original novel of DRACULA in the last decade of the 19th Century, he could never have surmised that his creation would become one of the most famous monsters/villains of the horror genre. Stoker based his vampire count on the historical Vlad Tepes Drakulya, a Rumanian warlord who lived from 1431 to 1476. Vlad was the son of Vlad Dracul, who was member of the Order of the Dragon (Drakul in Rumanian, hence Drakulya as Son of the Dragon) and he fought the Turks many times in his harsh life. He was known as Vlad Tepes, meaning Vlad the Impaler, as he had a nasty habit of impaling the Turkish prisoners of war on high wooden stakes so they would die slowly. How much of the details Stoker knew is not clear but he turned his Dracula into an unforgettable Vampire Lord, who would time and again be reincarnated and rebooted.

The first film version was NOSFERATU from the German filmmaker F.W. Murnau who interpreted the Vampire Lord in a peculiar way (maybe more so because they did not have the money to pay Florence Stoker, the widow of Bram Stoker, for the rights for filming her husband’s book). His Dracula was named Orlock and was played by Max Schreck.

In 1979 Klaus Kinski played this version of Dracula for Werner Herzog in a new version of NOSFERATU: PHANTOM DER NACHT, this time fully paid for.

Hollywood quickly went to work and produced Tod Browning’s DRACULA in 1931 starring Bela Lugosi, who played the Vampire Count to great effect (maybe because of his Hungarian background, he was able to put some exotic qualities in the part).

At the same time that the American version was shot, a Spanish version was shot on the same sets with Spanish speaking actors. The funny thing here is, the Spanish version is much more dynamic than the American version but the Spanish actor to play Dracula could not imbue him with what Lugosi brought to the part.

It was in the 1950s that Hammer Films would make their version of the book with Christopher Lee as the immortal Count. Lee played the Count in many films but after complaining continuously that there was no real development in the treatment of the Count from one film to the next, he opted out in the 1970s.

Jack Palance did a very passable version for American television that immediately inspired Marvel Comic book artist Gene Colan on how to draw the Vampire Lord for the new Marvel Comics series TOMB OF DRACULA, which was hugely popular.

Later in the decade, Louis Jourdan did a very nice version of the Vamprie Count for BBC television before Frank Langella brought a new, romantic version of the Count to Broadway and then also into John Badham’s film DRACULA (1979).

But in all those different versions of the original story, none came as close to the Stoker book as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992. Gary Oldman portrayed the Vampire Lord in this v ersion with a dramatic flair.

Many other versions have also graced the screen, from the sincere (Count Dracula, 1969 by Jesus Franco) to the insane (Blood for Dracula, 1974, Paul Morrissey, aka Andy Warhols Dracula).

Leslie Nielsen even played Dracula for comedy for Mel Brooks’ Dracula, Dead and Loving It (but George Hamilton had already beat him to it with 1979’s Love At First Bite with an incomparable quote: (Dracula, at the sound of howling wolves) "Children of the Night…… SHUT UP!”

Dario Argento was the first director to make a 3D Dracula film with Thomas Kretschmann as the Count in DARIO ARGENTO’s DRACULA 3D (which was horrendously bad).

A new version will be forthcoming this fall on American television with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as the Count. This reimagining will put the Count in our own time, posing as an entrepreneur who is out for revenge on those who had betrayed him (as the Vampire Lord) in the past. We will have to see if this will be any good.

Profile: CHRISTOPHER LEE

The legendary British actor Christopher Lee (born 1922) has in his career played everything, from villains to heroic characters, to dramatic characters and even crazy characters like Lord Summerisle in THE WICKER MAN (1973) and Count Dooku in the STAR WARS films.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Lee played the Vampire Lord DRACULA in a number of Hammer horror films as well as in a few other films. Not pleased with they way that Hammer developed the Dracula films, he moved on to other characters and films and in 1974, he played the villain Francisco Scaramanga in the Roger Moore James Bond film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. (Interesting link to the world of James Bond is that Christopher Lee was a full cousin to author Ian Fleming.)

After this he moved around quite a lot in different roles until George Lucas got him involved as Count Dooku in the STAR WARS films and Peter Jackson cast him as Saruman in THE LORD OF THE RINGS films.

Even to this day, while Mr. Lee is into his 90s, he keeps active in films and also sings. His autobiography is a fascinating read and his presence is a gift to directors and actors alike.

THE SUPERMAN DEBACLE

Can he Fly or Can’t he?

Sometimes you run into those films where you can only question why they were made. (Not that the true answer to that question may be satisfying but still, it could in some ways maybe still your thoughts.) MAN OF STEEL, the latest incarnation of the SUPERMAN series, is one of those films that polarizes audiences to an extreme. A great many people dislike it and yet an equally great number seem to love it. SUPERMAN, to refresh your memory, came to Earth as a baby, that was raised by Ma and Pa Kent. But of course, Ma and Pa Kent soon realized their adopted son was more than human. It wasn’t really until Richard Donner’s first film SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1978) that a lot of the background information was filled in but even as brilliant as Richard Donner’s film was, his wasn’t the first appearance of SUPERMAN on film. In the 1940s Kirk Alyn portrayed SUPERMAN in two serials. George Reeves played SUPERMAN in the 1950s television series, that already catapulted him into superstardom.

Christopher Reeve got the chance of a lifetime when Richard Donner had him play both Clark Kent as well as Superman in the 1978 blockbuster. Unfortunately, Richard Donner had problems with his producers and was forced out during the making of the second film. The Salkinds had Richard Lester substitute for Donner and Lester’s work can be said to be average at best. But even missing the real Donner touch, SUPERMAN II made enough money to warrant making a third film. At which time Richard Lester again directed and a great deal of attention was put into the humor of the film, which unfortunately took effort away from the serious impact of the film itself. SUPERMAN III did star Richard Pryor with Christopher Reeve but even with Pryor as a comedic draw the film was mediocre at best and not even the Salkinds wanted to continue with a part 4. When Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus from CANNON FILMS decided to produce SUPERMAN IV (with Christopher Reeve executive producing it) they did neglect to provide a sufficient budget to execute the special effects involved in a Superman film. Which is why SUPERMAN IV looked so bad that no one wanted to see it. Which was too bad because the story had some interesting moments. Bryan Singer’s attempt to bring back Superman with Brandon Routh as a very Christopher Reeve-esque Superman leaned heavily on the Richard Donner interpretation but instead of going on with the sequel, Warner Brothers decided in 2008 it was time to reboot the franchise and let a new director try to reintroduce a modern Superman for a modern time. Enter Zack Snyder.

Zack Snyder’s MAN OF STEEL is NOT a bad film. (I am not going into details of the story or the making of the film right now as some may still want to see it. Mind you, spoilers ahead anyway.) Visually the film is gorgeous to look at. The special effects for the Krypton part are outstanding. The actors in their roles are also quite convincing (especially Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon). But the characters are underdeveloped, the 3D effects are hopeless, the music is awful and the violence is so relentless that casualties in this film if counted will run into the hundreds. I did enjoy seeing Henry Cavill bring us a sympathetic Superman that was not styled after Christopher Reeve. Also Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe were very good in their parts. But MAN OF STEEL is far from the Superman film I would want to take my 5 year old grandson to see. Mind you, I have no problem with Zod going so crazy that Superman has no choice but to kill him. That also makes it so terrible for Superman that now he is the only Kryptonian left. But the extreme levels of violence are a bit too much for me. It is also ludicrous to assume you just up the ante in how it looks and how much violence there is and presto, you have a Superhero for the modern Age. It doesn't work like that. Superman stands for ideals that in this film are lost in the mayhem that Zod releases on Earth. I am not saying I would want to have the film sanitized but the Superman we all grew up with from the comics and the earlier films this most definitely isn't. Much of Henry Cavill's sympathetic qualities is also lost when all hell breaks loose. When you look back at that (for me still unequalled) 1978 Richard Donner film SUPERMAN THE MOVIE, everything was there. Action, pathos, the whole Lois and Clark role playing game which in MAN OF STEEL is totally moot. And let's not forget about the legendary score by John Williams. The first thing I literally said coming out of the cinema after seeing MAN OF STEEL was: I Miss John Williams. (Sorry Hans Zimmer, but you totally missed it here. What a boringly monotonous score!!) Of course this is only an opinion. But having heard already read that Henry Cavill will be back as Superman in 2015 in a new film that will also feature BATMAN, I kind of wonder where this is going. We will have to wait and see…

Still my favourite!!!

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

If a franchise is to survive, it has to grow. And with growth, there will likely be change. Like Spock used to say, “It is illogical to assume things will remain the same.” So, after Star Trek The Next Generation ran out of steam with its 4th feature film Nemesis, it was decided that the series would be rebooted entirely. Not move on in the same timeline another 70 years and introduce a new crew, no: the J.J. Abrams film STAR TREK made it clear that this film no longer took place in the timeline we had been watching for so long now. It also explained how this particular change happened. And what’s more, Abrams wanted to focus on Captain Kirk and his crew again and not introduce other faces again. Crafting a new story on how this timeline’s Captain Kirk would get his command team together, the film went on to be a huge success. The inclusion of Leonard Nimoy as old Spock (hereafter: Spock Prime) also served to indicate that this would now be the official new Star Trek that Paramount would be continuing. Naturally, the box office success prompted Paramount to okay J.J. Abrams to take on a second adventure in this new timeline. Now it would remain to be seen if the first Abrams film was a fluke or if the intrepid director would be able to pull it off again. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS shows the crew of the Enterprise after they have come together but they are not yet a tightly functioning team. After an incident on a primitive planet in which the Enterprise has become visible for the life forms on that planet, Kirk is demoted to First Officer of the Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. Pike feels Kirk has been promoted to Captain too soon and wants him to have the chance by first being First Officer, to grow into being the Captain. Pike is killed however in an attack upon Starfleet by one John Harrison, who has been deemed guilty of another terrorist attack in London. Kirk foils the attack of Harrison but cannot stop Harrison from fleeing by transporting to the Klingon Home planet Qronos. Kirk is reinstated as Enterprise’s Captain and is ordered to go after Harrison and use new rocket weapons on Harrison’s hiding place on Qronos. Scotty however resigns his commission as Chief Engineer when he is not allowed to inspect the rocket weapons and refuses to admit them to the Enterprise. Kirk accepts his resignation and puts Mr. Chekov on Scotty’s post. On the way to Qronos his crew convince Kirk it would be better to capture Harrison than to just exterminate him. That is not the way Starfleet works. The Klingons however are less than cooperative but are quickly dispatched by Harrison who seems to be superhumanly strong and quick. To everyone’s surprise, Harrison surrenders to Kirk upon learning of the 72 rocket weapons ready in Enterprise’s weapons bay to strike. Back aboard the Enterprise, Harrison reveals himself to be Khan Noonien Singh, the Indian Prince who was genetically engineered to be a superior breed during the infamous Eugenics Wars of the late 20th Century. He was cryogenically put to sleep with his 72 crewmembers to await for better times but a corrupted Starfleet Admiral found him and woke him up. On their way back to Earth, the Enterprise is intercepted by the USS VENGEANCE under the command of the corrupted Starfleet Admiral Marcus.

It is clear that writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof are well versed in the previous Star Trek lore. Considering the high level of entertainment in this film, it is unfortunate that they chose to do something new with old elements instead of simply going for something new entirely. The fact that Harrison turns out to be Khan reflects poorly on the fact that this will automatically invite a comparison between the work of Ricardo Montalban 30 years before and the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch in this film. Although the story is worked out nicely, I personally would have preferred an original foe for this second film. Also the fact that this film shows various old tricks from new angles (now It turns out Starfleet is the baddie and not so much Khan, similarly so now it is Kirk who dies at the end and is revived and not Spock) does not count as well as presenting original elements in an interesting new setting.

Unfortunately, the writers also seem not to have a full grasp of the technical side as many grievous errors creep thru in the story. One such error is a sequence in which the USS VENGEANCE pursues the ENTERPRISE in warp while at the same time firing at the ENTERPRISE. If you are going faster than the speed of light, firing phasers or photon torpedoes will only result in your own ship’s destruction because phaser fire and photon torpedoes do not go faster than the speed of light themselves. That means that your ship will overtake the phaser fire and the photon torpedoes and you will hit your own ship, causing your own ship to be destroyed. Another grievous error is that if you pursue another ship in warp speed and you go at a higher warp speed than the ship you follow, one does not see the pursuer in one’s own warp wake. A second ship will create a second warp trail and not use the same as the first ship. It is unfortunate that quite a lot of other errors like this can be noted during the film, which could easily have been ironed out if someone had looked at the script with a more realistic / technical view. (In the years under Rick Berman they had an entire team for this troubleshooting and that worked very well.) The young cast in the roles of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest are excellent in their parts. It is very gratifying to see that other actors can also bring similar feelings as in the Classic Show to the fore. Again, however, it is unfortunate that composer Michael Giacchino fails to deliver a score that stands on its own, also when heard without the film. It may not have been Mr. Giacchino’s idea to have to use the original theme of Alexander Courage (which sounds terrible played by as large an orchestra as that of Giacchino’s), but also in other themes Mr. Giacchino shows himself not to be up to the level of a Jerry Goldsmith, a James Horner or a Leonard Rosenman. If a third film in this timeline will be made, it will be unlikely that another composer will be asked to score it. Otherwise it might be interesting to hear what someone like Howard Shore would do, or Elliott Goldenthal. (Heck, James Horner is still alive, even if Jerry Goldsmith and Leonard Rosenman no longer are. Horner would most certainly be better than a third Giacchino score.)

For a film as big as this one, one might also have expected posters of more inventive originality than the derivative and dull posters that were used for this film. All in all, the film is very entertaining but fails to deliver the punch that STAR TREK II THE WRATH OF KHAN, STAR TREK IV THE VOYAGE HOME, STAR TREK VI THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY and STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT had. Still, it is interesting and fun to watch so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt for that third film. Even if that might take a while again, seeing that J.J. Abrams will be busy doing STAR WARS VII first.