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‘James Bond’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ villain, Sir Christopher Lee, dead at 93

Another acting legend has passed on. Sir Christopher Lee, known recently for his roles in Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, passed away on Sunday at the age of 93. He had gone into the hospital for some respiratory problems. Lee had a long career that included playing Dracula, Frankenstein, Count Dooku in Star Wars, Saruman in Lord …

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Universal’s Classic monsters taken “out of horror”

So this is kind of sad for horror movie buffs. Growing up for many fans Universal’s classic monster movies like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Creature of the Black Lagoon, and others were a gateway to the genre and were landmarks in the early days of horror. Now in a move to cash in …

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Monster Mashup: Superman vs. Dracula

Unlike Marvel, with its successful Tomb of Dracula series, DC never integrated a specific iteration of Dracula into their superhero universe. However, once the loosening of the Comics Code allowed for them, vampires of all different sorts certainly found their way into the pages of DC’s comics, but there was never a definitive Dracula that existed alongside Superman, Batman, and the rest. As such, the DC heroes have encountered a handful of different Dracula-esque characters through the years. Once such example can be found in 2002’s Superman #180.

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‘Dracula Untold’ seems destined to be unsold

Dracula Untold is one of those misfires that’s not even memorably or enjoyably poor, just a monotonous distraction for an admittedly brisk hour and a half. The revisionist Maleficient-like interpretation of Dr. Acula as a heroic figure just doesn’t work with material like this that’s so miserably solemn and lacking in any stirring entertainment value. Only in one brief part of the final act does the film gain some goofy spark, and it’s fittingly when the film actually embraces its horror roots as a fully vampire Vlad turns a bunch of his people and they all go sharp-toothed upon the Turk forces. Of course, that’s all for naught as Gary Shore’s feature debut goes back to neutering Dracula’s bite in making him the lone ‘good guy’ among his suddenly all evil people, and concluding with a likely far too optimistic franchise tease: ending a film with “Let the games begin” almost feels like mockery when there’s been so little incentive offered to come back and play.

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‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night’ is the ultimate Gothic odyssey

Over the many years since the SNES and PSX had their day in the sun, their legacy and influence have still been felt with regular validity. Legend of Zelda games are still compared to SNES classic, A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy games are still measured by the stick of Final Fantasy VII, and exploratory action-platformers are leveled into a prestigious subgenre known as “metroidvania”.

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Dracula, Ep. 1.10, “Let There Be Light”: Death is coming

NBC’s Dracula has been a tough show to love, or even like for that matter. One episode is effortless fun, another darkly intriguing, and the next unbearably frustrating. On one hand, lead Jonathan Rhys Meyers is delightfully fun and dark as Dracula/Grayson and supporting actors like Katie McGrath have been marvelous even when their plotlines are not. On the other hand, Dracula has never felt quite right. It’s just never really found its footing. At least that was the case until a few episodes ago, when it seemed to settle into a steady and entertaining pattern.

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Dracula, Ep. 1.09, “Four Roses”: Declaration of War

In its last few episodes Dracula has done what seemed impossible, especially after its meandering and somewhat disappointing first half season. The last three episodes have actually exceeded expectations, showing that things really aren’t as bad as they seemed. With its penultimate episode, “Four Roses”, Dracula has righted many of its early wrongs, starting with Grayson (the awesome Jonathan Rhys Meyers) declaring war on the Order.

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Dracula, Ep. 1.07, “Servant to Two Masters”: A man once more

NBC’s Dracula has been both tedious and intriguing. There are a lot of great elements to the show, for one it’s gorgeous to look at; Jonathan Rhys Meyers is consistently charming, and Grayson’s quest to walk in the sun for his one true love Mina (Jessica De Gouw) are fascinating.

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Dracula, Ep. 1.04, “From Darkness to Light”: Hello, Master

Dracula, Season 1, Episode 4, “From Darkness to Light” Written by Tom Grieves Directed by Andy Goddard Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on NBC Here’s what is so frustrating about NBC’s Dracula- it has flashes of absolute juicy goodness, like the standoff that is brewing between Alexander Grayson (Jonathon Rhys Meyers) and kickass Lady Jane …

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Dracula, Ep. 1.03, “Goblin Merchant Men”: Dense episode highlight shows few flaws

Dracula, Season 1, Episode 3, “Goblin Merchant Men” Written by Harley Peyton Directed by Andy Goddard Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on NBC This week’s episode of Dracula opens with a stellar flashback that highlights the Order of the Dragon’s ritual that “condemned” Dracula to an “endless life”. By the end of the end of …

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Dracula, Ep. 1.02, “A Whiff of Sulphur”: The devil you know

Dracula, Season 1, Episode 2, “A Whiff of Sulphur” Written by Daniel Knauf Directed by Steve Shill Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on NBC Dracula’s first episode was sinfully good, giving this week’s follow up a lot to live up to. For the most part, “A Whiff of Sulphur” is an entertaining episode that advances …

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Dracula, Ep.1.01, “Pilot”: Out of the darkness

Dracula is one of literature’s most enduring and adapted characters. What often sets each production apart is their ability to put a new (and believable) twist on the classic character. Expectations may be low going into any new version but the most surprising aspect of NBC’s take on Dracula is that it’s actually very good.

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Fall 2013 Network TV Preview: New Procedural Mad Libs

Though heightened, serialized dramas make up the bulk of the new hour-longs this fall, there are still plenty of procedurals headed our way, both over the next few weeks and at midseason. Some are more successful than others, with the better ones demonstrating some self-awareness and a sense of humor about themselves, but most of …

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Rock Star: The True Story of the Vasquez Rocks

  Well, Sound on Sight’s Locations Month is coming to a close. A lot of good articles about iconic locations have gone up. But there’s one left. The big one. One of the most iconic and enduring locations in both film and television. That’s right kiddies, it’s time to talk about the Vasquez Rocks. The …

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‘Dracula’, a vampire movie which doesn’t suck

Dracula Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Written by James V. Har 1992, USA In 1992 director Francis Ford Coppola returned to Bram Stokers source novel as the primary source of inspiration for his gothic chiller Dracula, evading the numerous cinematic translations that have haunted cinema screens over the previous century, giving the classic tale a …

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‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’- a sensual, gothic love triangle adapted from classic tale

Bram Stoker’s Dracula Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Written by James V. Hart 1992, USA There was a time where horror films were not all about torture porn, found-footage or demonic possessions – this was a time when the genre was less indulgent in killing people. Francis Ford Coppola is known for his epic productions, …

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31 Days of Horror: Thin on story, ‘Dracula’ is powerful for its imagery and acting

Dracula Directed by Tod Browning Written by Garrett Fort U.S.A., 1931 Sound on Sight’s 31 Days of Horror series makes a decisive switch of gears on Tuesdays with a look at some of the horror genre’s unmistakable gems: its classic monsters. These films will all be from the 1950s, 40s and even the 30s, the …

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A Love Letter to Count Dracula

Body Count: Volume 3 Vampires are starting to make a come back, in case you haven’t noticed. Teenage girls seem to be swooning at the thought of gentlemanly “vegetarian” vampires that sparkle in the sunlight that should be burning their wretched husks to a crisp. A little while back, I did an article studying the …

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