VAMPIRES IN 1979! (DRACULA, NOSFERATU, SALEM'S LOT, LOVE AT FIRST BITE, THIRST, VAMPIRE)

DRACULA (1979) d. John Badham (USA)
NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979) d. Werner Herzog (Germany)
LOVE AT FIRST BITE (1979) d. Stan Dragoti (USA)
THIRST (1979) d. Rod Hardy (Australia)
VAMPIRE (1979) d. E.W. Swackhamer (USA)
SALEM'S LOT (1979) d. Tobe Hooper (USA)

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The year was 1979, and it was a time of disco, political unrest, walkmans, and vampires. No fewer than six major film and TV projects premiered across the globe, providing a spectrum of bloodsuckers not seen before or since. Played for laughs (Love at First Bite) or steeped in social commentary (Thirst), from tortured souls (Nosferatu) to top of the food chain (Vampire), adapted from literary works old (Dracula) and new (Salem’s Lot), or completely original storylines, you just couldn’t keep the undead dead, and the shock waves have continued to reverberate throughout history.

Fool's Views (3/3 – 3/16)

VERONICA MARS??  You said we were going to THE LEGO MOVIE!

Howdy folks,

This two-week period was highlighted by conversations with the one and only Larry Fessenden (and preparation for same), as well as a healthy dose of Aussie-flavored genre fare. But the civilian side had its own rewards, aided by a long overdue visit to the Chicago Public Library stacks and movie pal Lee Shoquist’s urging that if I liked Charles Bronson’s pairing with Cape Fear veteran J. Lee Thompson for The White Buffalo, then I owed it to myself to check out some of their other work together. After all, for these guys to work together nine, count ‘em, NINE TIMES, something must have been clicking, right?

And, for better or worse, it was also in the company of Mssr. Shoquist that I made my way to the cinema for the first – and to date only – time in 2014. Too bad it was to see a free screening of Veronica Mars. Next time I get the urge to watch a feature-length TV episode, I’ll just pop in Munster, Go Home!

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

THIRST (1979) Blu-ray Review

Thirst (1979) d. Rod Hardy (Australia)

For decades, viewers have thrilled to traditional Gothic settings of the bloodsucking undead, but there is equal pleasure to be had bringing the vampire into a contemporary (or even futuristic) setting. This offbeat Ozzie fright flick possesses equal measures of both. A descendant of Elizabeth Bathory, Kate Davis (Chantal Contouri), is kidnapped from her home and secreted away to a remote location where a blood-drinking cult attempts to indoctrinate her into their fold. Under close observation, she is introduced to “the farm,” observing the human “cattle” being bred and bled for the superior race’s eager appetites. Though initially (and understandably) repulsed, Kate is painstakingly conditioned to reject more plebeian forms of nourishment...in favor of a refined and iron-rich liquid diet.