[Phantom Stranger]

"Dark Shadows" (2012)
               -Johnny Depp

Plot: After almost 200 years of sleep, vampire Barnabas Collins reawakens in 1972 to battle the evil (but gorgeous) witch who cursed him, help his descendents rebuild their fortune, find his lost love and generally deal with the strange new world he now finds himself in.

Phantom's Review: First, let me say I love the original "Dark Shadows", been a fan for decades, so when I first heard that Depp and Burton were going to do a film version I got very excited I'm a fan of them and I like their style, but then I saw the first few previews and I saw a comedy not a Gothic Horror movie, but I went and saw it anyway and much to my surprise I loved it. The film does have some comedic moments, but they seem natural since they mostly deal with Barnabas trying to figure out his new world. There are some really decent BOO! scenes, great FX and the film really tries to keep the atmosphere and spirit (no pun intended) of the original show. The whole cast does a great job with their characters. My only main complaint is a late film reveal about the Carolyn character that really goes nowhere and the original "Dark Shadows" music is only barely hinted at in the soundtrack. Outside of that really enjoyed this film.

I would like to stress something that I seem to have accidentally omitted from my original review. While I thoroughly enjoyed this film, I want to say that "Dark Shadows" 2012 is definitely NOT a carbon copy of the original series or movie. This is a different take on the familiar themes. Depp and Burton have taken the essence, the spirit (theirs that pun again) of the original show and put their own spin on it. Some characters are very different from the originals, most notably "Victoria Winters" and "Maggie Evans" and some characters remain true to form. This is a remake after all, and most remakes do some things differently. If you are a die hard purist of the original, you might not like this new take,but if your like me and can enjoy this film on it's own merits I think you'll enjoy it.
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[Phantom Stranger]

"It Came From Beneath The Sea" (1955)
                                                   -Kenneth Tobey

Plot: IMDB
  A Giant Octopus, whose feeding habits have been affected by radiation from H-Bomb tests, rises from the Mindanao Deep to terrorize the California Coast.

Phantom's Review: One of those great fun 1950's monster movies.

-- The stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen is excellent, despite the fact that the movie's low budget made the octopus have six tentacles instead of eight.
The cast is lead by 50's sci-fi regulars Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms), Faith Domergue (This Island Earth) and Donald Curtis (Earth vs the Flying Saucers). A love triangle develops with these stars to keep the movie going.
If you love cheesy fun monster movies,then sit back and watch this one. You'll; have a lot of fun.

I watched the Dark Shadows, and gotta say, i truly enjoyed every moment of it

[Phantom Stranger]

"The Return Of Dracula" (1958)
                                     -Francis Lederer

Plot: IMDB
Count Dracula kills a passenger on a train in Transylvania and steals his identity. He comes to a small community in California where the Mayberrys are expecting their cousin from Europe. His strange behavior, sleeping all day and going out at night are surprising to young miss Rachel Mayberry. A policeman from Europe comes to investigate while Rachel's best friend Jenny dies unexpectedly. And the count plans on giving Rachel the gift of eternal life...

Phantom's Review:. This film was released a few months before Christopher Lee's "Horror Of Dracula" but was quickly forgotten when that classic came out. but it's a Surprisingly, well made little low budget thriller. Francis Lederer makes  a suave Count. The rest of the cast does a decent job and the writing and direction are fine. Hardly a classic, but worth watching if your a "Dracula" fan, and keep your eyes open for a "colorful" death scene towards the end.

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They knew how to make a vampire movie back then.... *sighs*

[Phantom Stranger]

"Destroy All Monsters" (1968)

Plot: IMDB
Aliens have released all the giant monsters from their imprisonment on Monster Island and are using them to destroy all major cities on the planet. It is up to the daring crew of the super rocket ship X-2 to infiltrate the aliens' headquarters before the Earth monsters and King Ghidrah annihilate the planet.

Phantom's Review: Probably my all time favorite Godzilla film, outside of the original. Plenty of monster action, great "man-in-suit" FX and a fun exciting story. This was a great way to spend my Father's Day afternoon!
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[Phantom Stranger]

"20 Million Miles To Earth" (1957)
Plot: Amazon
The first spaceship to visit Venus crash lands in the sea, freeing a small native Venusian creature called the Ymir. Eventually growing to enormous size, it threatens the city of Rome.

Phantom's Review: One of the great monster movies of the '50's. Stop motion FX by the great Ray Harryhausen. Plenty of monster action decent acting and a fine story. Harryhausen manages to give the monster (called "The Ymir") a personality that sort of makes you root for him. The plot is reminiscent of "King Kong"but not a exact copy. This film is a minor classic, and should be seen by anybody who is a fan of 1950's monster films.

[Phantom Stranger]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

Plot: IMDB
Explores the secret life of the America's greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, and the untold story that shaped the nation. The future president discovers blood-thirsty vampires are planning to take over the United States. Lincoln makes it his mission to eliminate them, becoming history's greatest hunter of the undead.
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Phantom's Review: First let me say Yes, I have read the book and I enjoyed it. Now Having said that let me say I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Even though there were many changes to the story and characters, I found the film to action packed, well acted and interesting. The actors do a fine job and it's nice to see a modern film trying to make vampires scary again. The film is beautifully shot and gives a look of an old style sepia tone photo. The middle portion of the film does get a little slow, but it picks up big time at the end with a major action piece. Overall a highly enjoyable action/monster movie.(Now if only they could figure out a story that combines Lincoln,Van Helsing, Blade and Buffy..now THAT would be a movie)

[Bane Bloodfang]

The Scars of Dracula

[Phantom Stranger]

"Fright Night" (2011)
                  -Colin Farrell Anton Yelchin

Plot: IMDB
A remake of the 1985 original, teenager Charley Brewster (Yelchin) guesses that his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Farrell) is a vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths. When no one he knows believes him, he enlists Peter Vincent (Tennant), a self proclaimed vampire killer and Las Vegas magician, to help him take down Jerry.

Phantom's Review: First, let me say, I'm a huge fan of the original. I saw it in the theaters back in the '80's and thought it was one of the most entertaining and original takes on the vampire concept. Full of interesting and likeable characters, fine FX and a great story.
Which brings me to the remake. If your a fan of the original...SKIP THIS WORTHLESS PIECE OF s**t!
All the characters have been "re-imagined" and are now all thoroughly unlikeable. "Charlie" is now a self absorbed little s**t. "Evil" Ed is just an obnoxious lout and worst of all is the "Peter Vincent" character, who is now just a foul mouthed and totally unlikeable figure.
Like so many remakes, this one doesn't hold a candle to the original. What a waste of time..

Just watched The Haunting of Whaley House, cause I got too much time while i wait for the lunch to amazingly prepare itself xD

Not really good, but not so bad for ANOTHER haunting movie. Im amazed at the fact someone manages to sell a haunting scenario any more....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396701/

[Phantom Stranger]

Army Of Darkness

Sam Rami's horror/comedy classic. My 5 year old daughter saw it for the first time and she loved it. The next generation of fans has arrived.

[Phantom Stranger]

"The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)
                                   -Christian Bale

Plot: IMDB
Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

Phantom's Review: I've been a Batman fan/collector for about 45 years now. I've seen the character go through many, many changes in those years. Funny live action series, badly animated Saturday morning cartoons, Epic size Gothic motion pictures, brilliant animated series and several things in between, but in my opinion I don't think I've ever seen anything as awesome as "The Dark Knight Trilogy" and the final film in the series, "The Dark Knight rises" is absolutely brilliant. 
Great acting, excellent action scenes, great FX and above all a wonderfully written script. I liked how this film brings all three films together and takes it to a entertaining conclusion. And Anne Hathaway looks damn good in that Catwoman outfit.
A great film.
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[Phantom Stranger]

August 16th, 1956 the world lost horror great Bela Lugosi.
To honor this star today's movie is (what else)

"Dracula" (1931)

Universal's classic about the vampire king going to England for a bite (sorry). One of the best.
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[Phantom Stranger]

"ParaNorman" (2012)

Plot: IMDB
In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a boy who can speak to the dead, but no one besides his eccentric new friend, Neil, believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's estranged eccentric uncle tells him of an important annual ritual must he take up to protect the town from an curse cast by a witch it condemned centuries ago. Eventually, Norman decides to cooperate, but things don't go according to plan. Now, a magic storm of the witch threatens Blithe Hollow as the accursed dead rise. Together with unexpected new companions, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the curse. With that insight, Norman must resolve the crisis for good as only he can.

Phantom's Review: Beautifully animated, surprisingly well written and a couple of decent scare scenes. To be honest, my expectations were a bit low but I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  A good spoof of horror films with a very good story.
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