Saw a Takashi Miike picture called The Great Yokai War. "Yokai" is a Japanese term for monsters from folklore, as opposed to the more familiar kaiju. It's a kids' picture, about a young boy from Tokyo sent out to live in the countryside with his older sister and his intermittently senile grandfather. When a vengeful spirit appears, the boy gets caught up in a war between warring groups of yokai and must find his courage to become the "Kirin Rider", the hero who will set everything to rights. It's not a bad picture - nothing deep, but an amusing story. Some of the yokai are really trippy, Japanese folklore can get pretty "out there", apparently.
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We Watched the new Nosferatu, The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Shadow of the Vampire Dec. 25-26. We were just full of the festive holiday spirit!
They're all vaguely related:
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is what German director F.W. Murnau made when he was denied the rights to Dracula by the Stoker estate. It's a pretty direct swipe, with all the characters renamed. Count Dracula becomes Count Orlok, Jonathan and Mina Harker become Thomas and Ellen Hutter, Abraham Van Helsing becomes Albin Eberhart von Franz, and so forth. Probably the biggest difference is that Nosferatu (and its descendants) takes place in a German seaport town named Wisborg (and variants) instead of London. The Stoker family sued and won, and all prints were supposed to be destroyed, but some survived, and now it's considered a classic of German expressionism. We watched it together (I'd seen it separately) a couple of years ago. The new NOSFERATU (2024) is a very faithful remake, with virtually all the story beats intact. The one major difference is that it flips the script; Ellen Hutter (Lily Rose-Depp) is the protagonist, instead of Count Orlok (Alexander Skarsgard) or Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult). It works terrifically well, with great performances all around, especially Rose-Depp, Hoult and Willem Dafoe (who plays Van Helsing Von Franz). Interestingly, Arthur Holmwood Friedrich Harding is played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who recently starred in Kraven the Hunter and played Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. and his wife is played by Emma Corrin, who played Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine. They are unrecognizable in their 1838 duds. It's shot by director Robert Eggers tremendously well, sometimes beautifully, sometimes horrifically, sometimes both. Eggars has worked with Dafoe before in The Lighthouse, and Skarsgard before in The Northman, which also starred Anya Taylor-Joy, whom Eggars directed in The Witch. Meanwhile, while Hoult played the Harker role in this film, he was the eponymous Renfield in that movie. It's all tied together!
When the original Nosferatu was made, there were rumors that star Max Schreck was an actual vampire. SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (2000) runs with that idea, with director Murnau (John Malkovitch) contracting with an actual vampire (Willem Dafoe again!), promising him the blood of the leading lady, Greta Schröder (Catherine McCormack of Braveheart, The Witcher, Slow Horses and 28 Weeks Later). He tells the crew that Schreck is eccentric, and will only appear in full costume, and will only film at night. Method acting, in other words, before it had a name. (This is set in 1921.) Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) and Eddie Izzard find their way into the movie, but it's not remotely a comedy. Actual frames of the original movie are included during Dafoe's performances and you can't tell the difference. (Dafoe is unrecognizable in his makeup, which doesnt' hinder his performance in the least.) I found it a little slow, but my wife loved it. The ending is truly horrific. (P.S. This movie was produced by Nicolas Cage, who played Dracula in Renfield, with Nicholas Hoult. It's all connected!)
I've waited 1.5 years to watch LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, which came out on Aug. 11, 2023, and I've finally subscribed to a streamer that has it. It's another movie that my short attention span wants to move faster, especially since we know the ending. (It's right there in Dracula.) It's also really dark, which gave my age-hobbled retinas fits. But it's got a true sense of dread, and some good performances by Corey Hawkins (Kong: Skull Island), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and David Dastmalchian (Suicide Squad). Incidentally, the Demeter makes appearances in both of the other movies. We both enjoyed it, but enjoyed Nosferatu more.
I've wondered since my first reading of Dracula, probably 50 years ago, when the crew of the Demeter realized they were dealing with the supernatural, and if they made any attempts to fight back. The unseen and un-described horror of tha voyage has haunted me since. Demeter and Nosferatu give me two different answers, both valid, I think.
JD DeLuzio > Captain ComicsDecember 27, 2024 at 1:29pm
A Complete Unknown (2024): It's not perfect, but it's a good Hollywood retelling of Dylan's early career, with Timothée Chalamet inhabiting the role.
JD DeLuzio > Captain ComicsDecember 27, 2024 at 1:31pm
I've watched all of these except for the new Nosferatu, but it's definitely one I will be seeing.
Before I read your mention of Renfield (2023), I was thinking about bringing it up. In it we see the man who usually is just an incarcerated nutcase who eats bugs portrayed as Dracula’s human accomplice. He is given powers by Dracula and is more than just human. This fits with the movie version of the original miniseries Salem’s Lot (1979), based on Stephen King’s second published novel. I just rewatched it a couple of days ago. The human helper in this (James Mason) is thought to be just another human. When he is finally engaged, he displays superhuman strength and is very hard to kill. (I have a soft spot for this story. I was originally turned on to Stephen King by Fred Hembeck’s CBG column in which he talked about the ‘Salem’s Lot novel.) I recommend this and Renfield to anyone who hasn’t seen them or anyone who’s seen them just once.
JD DeLuzio > Richard WillisDecember 28, 2024 at 7:38am
Oh, and Renfield. I never saw that.
I liked 'Salem's Lot (and as King's first novel,* it's almost prototypical of his work), but I'm not a fan of the '79 miniseries.
*As Richard wrote, second published novel, but the first one that he wrote and tried to sell. Carrie sold first.
Watched THE LIGHTHOUSE, since I had seen all of Robert Eggers' other movies. There were some good bits, but all in all I kinda wish I hadn't watched it. Disturbing.
JD DeLuzio > Captain ComicsDecember 28, 2024 at 6:53pm
The Lighthouse made for some heavy viewing
After the mysterious death or disappearance of his predecessor, a new wickie (Robert Pattinson) on an island lighthouse in the 1890s becomes concerned about the mental stability of the lighthouse keeper (Willem Dafoe). Both men, of course, harbour secrets. Robert and Max Eggers co-wrote and directed this strange little film, in which two men, isolated together, lose their minds. It saw release just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic.
As in The Witch, the script immerses itself in the language and beliefs of the characters and their era. We get a close-up view of men who are a stew of issues and repression, living before we had the modern language for such things. We even plunge into their dreams and delusions: Lovecrafted merfolk and other phantoms dragged up from fathoms deep. Sometimes the approach works well. Other times it left me cold. Even when the characters are so far out of their skulls you do not know whether to be horrified or laugh (I did both), they remain specific, disturbed men inhabiting an era now beyond our reach.
Eggers shot The Lighthouse in 1.19:1 on 35 mm black and white film and cameras equipped with vintage lenses from the 1930s. Yeah, it's that kind of film, but the results suggest nineteenth century photography while evoking the sense of sinister, otherworldly forces, just out of reach of our perception.
We have, without question, the best-filmed island and lighthouse in cinematic history.
The film draws inspiration from an unfinished Edgar Allan Poe story and the Smalls Lighthouse Incident (1801), the event which directly inspired the 2016 British film, The Lighthouse. The filmmakers take the material in their own deranged directions, but it's fair to say this is not an entirely original work.
It is, however, unlike anything else you're likely to see.
Replies
We Watched the new Nosferatu, The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Shadow of the Vampire Dec. 25-26. We were just full of the festive holiday spirit!
They're all vaguely related:
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is what German director F.W. Murnau made when he was denied the rights to Dracula by the Stoker estate. It's a pretty direct swipe, with all the characters renamed. Count Dracula becomes Count Orlok, Jonathan and Mina Harker become Thomas and Ellen Hutter, Abraham Van Helsing becomes Albin Eberhart von Franz, and so forth. Probably the biggest difference is that Nosferatu (and its descendants) takes place in a German seaport town named Wisborg (and variants) instead of London. The Stoker family sued and won, and all prints were supposed to be destroyed, but some survived, and now it's considered a classic of German expressionism. We watched it together (I'd seen it separately) a couple of years ago. The new NOSFERATU (2024) is a very faithful remake, with virtually all the story beats intact. The one major difference is that it flips the script; Ellen Hutter (Lily Rose-Depp) is the protagonist, instead of Count Orlok (Alexander Skarsgard) or Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult). It works terrifically well, with great performances all around, especially Rose-Depp, Hoult and Willem Dafoe (who plays Van Helsing Von Franz). Interestingly, Arthur Holmwood Friedrich Harding is played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who recently starred in Kraven the Hunter and played Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. and his wife is played by Emma Corrin, who played Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine. They are unrecognizable in their 1838 duds. It's shot by director Robert Eggers tremendously well, sometimes beautifully, sometimes horrifically, sometimes both. Eggars has worked with Dafoe before in The Lighthouse, and Skarsgard before in The Northman, which also starred Anya Taylor-Joy, whom Eggars directed in The Witch. Meanwhile, while Hoult played the Harker role in this film, he was the eponymous Renfield in that movie. It's all tied together!
When the original Nosferatu was made, there were rumors that star Max Schreck was an actual vampire. SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (2000) runs with that idea, with director Murnau (John Malkovitch) contracting with an actual vampire (Willem Dafoe again!), promising him the blood of the leading lady, Greta Schröder (Catherine McCormack of Braveheart, The Witcher, Slow Horses and 28 Weeks Later). He tells the crew that Schreck is eccentric, and will only appear in full costume, and will only film at night. Method acting, in other words, before it had a name. (This is set in 1921.) Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) and Eddie Izzard find their way into the movie, but it's not remotely a comedy. Actual frames of the original movie are included during Dafoe's performances and you can't tell the difference. (Dafoe is unrecognizable in his makeup, which doesnt' hinder his performance in the least.) I found it a little slow, but my wife loved it. The ending is truly horrific. (P.S. This movie was produced by Nicolas Cage, who played Dracula in Renfield, with Nicholas Hoult. It's all connected!)
I've waited 1.5 years to watch LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, which came out on Aug. 11, 2023, and I've finally subscribed to a streamer that has it. It's another movie that my short attention span wants to move faster, especially since we know the ending. (It's right there in Dracula.) It's also really dark, which gave my age-hobbled retinas fits. But it's got a true sense of dread, and some good performances by Corey Hawkins (Kong: Skull Island), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and David Dastmalchian (Suicide Squad). Incidentally, the Demeter makes appearances in both of the other movies. We both enjoyed it, but enjoyed Nosferatu more.
I've wondered since my first reading of Dracula, probably 50 years ago, when the crew of the Demeter realized they were dealing with the supernatural, and if they made any attempts to fight back. The unseen and un-described horror of tha voyage has haunted me since. Demeter and Nosferatu give me two different answers, both valid, I think.
A Complete Unknown (2024): It's not perfect, but it's a good Hollywood retelling of Dylan's early career, with Timothée Chalamet inhabiting the role.
I've watched all of these except for the new Nosferatu, but it's definitely one I will be seeing.
Before I read your mention of Renfield (2023), I was thinking about bringing it up. In it we see the man who usually is just an incarcerated nutcase who eats bugs portrayed as Dracula’s human accomplice. He is given powers by Dracula and is more than just human. This fits with the movie version of the original miniseries Salem’s Lot (1979), based on Stephen King’s second published novel. I just rewatched it a couple of days ago. The human helper in this (James Mason) is thought to be just another human. When he is finally engaged, he displays superhuman strength and is very hard to kill. (I have a soft spot for this story. I was originally turned on to Stephen King by Fred Hembeck’s CBG column in which he talked about the ‘Salem’s Lot novel.) I recommend this and Renfield to anyone who hasn’t seen them or anyone who’s seen them just once.
Oh, and Renfield. I never saw that.
I liked 'Salem's Lot (and as King's first novel,* it's almost prototypical of his work), but I'm not a fan of the '79 miniseries.
*As Richard wrote, second published novel, but the first one that he wrote and tried to sell. Carrie sold first.
Watched THE LIGHTHOUSE, since I had seen all of Robert Eggers' other movies. There were some good bits, but all in all I kinda wish I hadn't watched it. Disturbing.
The Lighthouse made for some heavy viewing
After the mysterious death or disappearance of his predecessor, a new wickie (Robert Pattinson) on an island lighthouse in the 1890s becomes concerned about the mental stability of the lighthouse keeper (Willem Dafoe). Both men, of course, harbour secrets. Robert and Max Eggers co-wrote and directed this strange little film, in which two men, isolated together, lose their minds. It saw release just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic.
As in The Witch, the script immerses itself in the language and beliefs of the characters and their era. We get a close-up view of men who are a stew of issues and repression, living before we had the modern language for such things. We even plunge into their dreams and delusions: Lovecrafted merfolk and other phantoms dragged up from fathoms deep. Sometimes the approach works well. Other times it left me cold. Even when the characters are so far out of their skulls you do not know whether to be horrified or laugh (I did both), they remain specific, disturbed men inhabiting an era now beyond our reach.
Eggers shot The Lighthouse in 1.19:1 on 35 mm black and white film and cameras equipped with vintage lenses from the 1930s. Yeah, it's that kind of film, but the results suggest nineteenth century photography while evoking the sense of sinister, otherworldly forces, just out of reach of our perception.
We have, without question, the best-filmed island and lighthouse in cinematic history.
The film draws inspiration from an unfinished Edgar Allan Poe story and the Smalls Lighthouse Incident (1801), the event which directly inspired the 2016 British film, The Lighthouse. The filmmakers take the material in their own deranged directions, but it's fair to say this is not an entirely original work.
It is, however, unlike anything else you're likely to see.
Great insight into The Lighthouse, JD!
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