Day 5 Vampires~ From Dusk till Dawn

Without a doubt one of the coolest modern Vampire films is 1997's From Dusk till Dawn...from the director, to the bit parts its everything I love. Directed  by the Legend of Independent film making Robert Rodriguez..the screenplay was written by an absolute legend in the film industry and one of my favorite directors: Quentin Tarantino  

It starred some great actors in George Clooney and Harvey Keitel and the man Quentin himself...but also my favorite actress the ever fabulous Juliette Lewis :))

and some smaller parts by Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin and...I LOVE this guy...Danny Trejo...he is awesome

There was an element of surprise for me...being a Tarantino fan..I didn't expect Vampires! Yet when the crew rolls up to The Titty Twister and meets Chet Pussy (Cheech Marin) you know something gonna be crazy :)

The film is full of dark humor like only Tarantino can perfect...some great makeup and cool tunes which suit this Texas Vampire movie to a T...

The Lost Boys~ Art

Day 4~ Vampires~ The Lost Boys

Getting back to vampires in film, I must admit to absolutely loving 1987 The Lost Boys! I first saw it in the theater as a teen. It was filmed in Santa Cruz,California, much of it at the beach boardwalk...a place I knew well :)Not to mention sexy vampires and great tunes...I soon had a Lost Boys poster on my wall :p It stars Keifer Sutherland,Jamie Gertz, Jason Patric and more...is based on a gang of small town vampires who have taken over. The Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) are sort of the local vampire experts and add a bit of comedy.

The original movie poster....

Bela Lugosi

In 1927 Bela Lugosi appeared as Dracula in a play adaption of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The broadway production was a huge success and ran 261 times....Thus started Lugosi as Dracula..a character he was known for and typecast as for the rest of his career.

In 1931 Bela starred in the Film Dracula..when it premiered at the Roxy in Hollywood, it was reported that viewers fainted of shock at the horrors on the screen..it became a box office sensation! :)

Day 2 Dracula

Today, it seems like Vampire and Dracula are almost synonyms...though it wasn't always so. Count Dracula is probably the vampire who over the years has gained the most notoriety. It all started with Irishman Bram Stoker's 1897 Novel: Dracula

 It was not an immediate bestseller, nevertheless received many high praises, including a recommendation from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (very famous author of Sherlock Holmes)..

 It was released in the US in 1899 and did quite well... but it was later, in the 20th century that the story of Dracula was really embraced. It was at this time that film versions started to appear. There have now been over 200 film versions  featuring Dracula and about 650 films that make reference to the famous blood sucker. 
   The very first stage adaption was written and directed by Bram Stoker, known as Dracula or The Un-dead. It was  performed only once at the Lyceum Theater in London on May 18th 1897... preceding the novels publication by 8 days. The actor was Henry Irving, who pronounced it "Dreadful!"...you could hardly blame the man..it took 15 hours to perform!

Is this your wife? What a lovely throat!