Chip Kaufmann’s Pick:
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Of all the movies to be found in Terence Fisher’s output (see article this section), none is more highly regarded than Dracula (Horror of Dracula in America to distinguish it from Bela Lugosi’s Dracula which had just been reissued in 1958).
Everything is here from the pre-Raphaelite use of color (giving it the look of a painting come to life) to the masterly use of lighting effects, camera angles, and Fisher’s trademark tight-as-a-drum editing which is what gives the film it’s maximum impact.
The movie made international horror stars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (still alive and active at 92) who is considered by many to be the definitive screen Dracula. It’s also the ideal introduction to the Gothic style of England’s Hammer Films which influenced and dominated the horror market for the next 10 years.
Like all movie versions, Horror of Dracula varies considerably from Bram Stoker’s novel. The screenplay by Jimmy Sangster is a benchmark in adaptation. Characters are eliminated or combined and the action never moves to England. It all takes place in a mythical German setting where everyone speaks perfect British English (also a Hammer trademark).
What made this version of Dracula so shocking in its day was the use of color, the ferocity of Lee’s Dracula (he’s like a wild animal), and the undisguised sexual overtones when Dracula seduces a female victim before draining her of blood. Dracula’s demise (not the usual staking) has never been equaled.
The film was restored in 2012 for its U.K. Blu-Ray release. Unfortunately that version isn’t available (yet) in the U.S. In the meantime the Warner Brothers DVD release of a few years ago will do the trick. With the new Dracula Untold now in theaters, this is a chance to see where the modern film version of the character began.
Michelle Keenan’s Pick:
Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)
The vampire flick I’m recommending this Halloween is a bit of a departure from the usual blood sucking fare. Only Lovers Left Alive may be writer director Jim Jarmusch’s best work yet. It may also be one of the best vampire films to date and is certainly one of the most unique. While Jarmusch’s work is always slightly offbeat, you can’t lump his films together stylistically, nor adequately describe them. You don’t so much watch his films as you do let them envelop you. He fires on all cylinders – script, actors, photography, music, pacing – all working together to create uniquely atmospheric films that defy categorization.
Only Lovers Left Alive isn’t a vampire movie about two lovers. It’s a movie about two lovers who happen to be vampires. Taking it a step further it’s a movie about two people whose love not only spans the centuries, but whose observations about the world also span the ages. For all practical purposes Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) are a wonderfully comfortable, old married couple.
At the film’s start Adam is a depressed musician living in Detroit (which, by the way, makes an inspired backdrop for a couple of vampires). Eve lives in Tangiers where she pals around with another immortal bloodsucker, Christopher Marlowe. While the film never discusses whether Adam and Eve are the Adam and Eve, Christopher Marlowe is the Christopher Marlowe and they do have fun at William Shakespeare’s illiterate expense.
Worried about Adam, Eve travels to Detroit. They enjoy a blissfully, languorous reunion until it is unceremoniously interrupted by Eve’s younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska). While Adam, Eve and Christopher are very civilized vampires, who prefer to drink their blood as we would a fine port or sherry, Ava is still a neck biting, blood sucking, party girl. Trouble is sure to follow.
Jarmusch’s script is absolutely delicious. Hiddleston, who is best known to American audiences as Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies, but is equally comfortable in a costume drama or doing a soft shoe a la Fred Astaire, is utterly transformed as Adam. Tilda Swinton is elegant and lovely as Eve. She is an excellent actress, but perhaps not as versatile as Hiddleston, as she only seems truly at home in a film like this or a Derek Jarman vehicle.
Only Lovers Left Alive is wonderfully written. What surprised me about it was its warmth. This could easily be an esoteric Jarmusch expository, but for me it’s a much more beautiful, more elegant and ultimately more powerful statement because of its warmth and love. It’s wonderfully literary and appropriately tinged with sadness and occasional flashes of humor.
