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The Chronicles
Volume 2 Issue 11 |
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London Vampyre Group
PO Box 487
London
WC2H 9WA
© Copyright 2007
London Vamypre Group
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See Archived Reviews for more film and book reviews.
Dead Channel
Compiled By Zuul - February 2010
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Dracula Year Zero - First mention 3 Chronicles ago and in Development for over 2 years Alex “The Crow / Dark City” Proyas Dracula: Year Zero may finally be getting started with Sam “Avatar / Clash of The Titans” Worthington now confirmed to star as Prince Tepes himself. Press releases describe this mega budget take on the big V’s early life as “a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war”. Sounds a bit dungeons and dragons, but lets reserve judgement. Somehow doubt he’ll look like the portrait below, however. MTV interviewed the director a while back and he had this to say: “Oh, you’ve got to have teeth, I mean, the teeth are really important. I think Frank Langella in the ‘Dracula’ movie that was made in the 70s, I think he didn’t want to have teeth in the movie. But, no, I like the teeth. I want to see girls with a lot of teeth.”. I don’t thing many LVG members would disagree.
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Vlad - It’s one of those strange Hollywood coincidences when 2 near identical sounding movies get made at the same time (See: Robin Hood, Asteroid Movies, Animated ant movies etc.). So not a massive surprise to see a second Vlad origins movie in production – this one is being produced by the vampire Louis himself – Brad Pitt. This take will be action-packed – a music video director whose style has been likened to Zack “300 / Watchmen” Snyder’s will call the shots. That said, it’s not actually clear this is a vampire movie at all – this from the main writer: “As the script stands now, we don’t touch on vampirism. That was my one non-negotiable area when we were developing it, and thankfully, nobody suggested that we should delve into it at the end. But you can clearly see the things that Bram Stoker took…. Vlad was such a brutal man, and the trick is to make him sympathetic. That was the challenge, and if we’ve succeeded in any way in this script, I truly believe that it’s genuinely making him sympathetic. There are a million ways to show that this guy is the origin of vampirism without actually having him drinking blood.”. True, true – but given how popular vamps are right now it seems unlikely the execs will handover lots of cash for a toothless epic (sorry). It’s not due until 2012, so a lot could change.
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Lost Boys 3: The Thirst - Like buses the 2nd Lost Boys sequel is coming soon – filming began in November 2009 in South Africa, with Corey Haim starring (of course). Tanit Phoenix also stars a horror novelist who recruits Edgar Frog (Feldman) to rescue her son from the hands of a vampire who calls himself DJ Dusk. Behind the scenes photo below. (Thanks to Arrow In The Head).
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Priest - Paul Bettany is a great actor – most recently seen in Creation the Charles Darwin biopic, so it’s a surprise he’s decided to go down the action here route. US folks will have already seen him recently as an angel in the superb “Legion” (review elsewhere this issue or next – it’s not out until March 2010 in the UK) and it seems he’s not only continuing the action but also the religious themes with a turn as a warrior priest in a post-apocalyptic Earth who hast to hunt down a gang of vampires led by Karl Urban that have kidnapped his niece (see photo). This has not been delayed until 2011 for the same reason many other films have – Avatar – it’s going 3D as most of the big releases will be from now on. In "Priest," a warrior priest disobeys Church law by teaming with a young sheriff and a beautiful priestess. The three band together to track down a band of renegade vampires who have kidnapped the priest's niece before they turn her into one of them. The film stars Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Karl Urban, and Maggie Q. The film is based on the graphic novel series "Priest" by Min-Woo Hyung.
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Vampires: Why The Bite - Probably one to catch on iPlayer this given the timing of this issue – this is a BBC 3 Documentary broadcast on February 10th with various repeats through to the 17th, it’s described as “Historian Lisa Hilton explores our enduring fascination and traces the origins of our favourite bogeyman, charting the transformation of the vampire from monster to heartthrob. With contributions from Charlene Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, and Toby Whithouse, creator of Being Human”. Could be serious or fluff, hard to tell.
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Gone With The Wind With Vampires - There’s a lot of junk on YouTube, but it’s also becoming a show case for up and coming film makers, so in the vein (ahem) of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, this mashup trailer is an excellent mix: Here’s the plot: “The film tells the story of Scarlett O’ Hara, one of the last surviving human beings, who is caught in the midst of a great vampire civil war. Marvel as she outwits the forces of the undead, while she flirts with her true bloo… er… love. Complete with heartaches and staked hearts, “Gone with the Wind with Vampires” will ‘blow’ you away.” Watch it right now on YouTube
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Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter - Ok, it’s just a book at the moment (out end of January), but the have to make this into a film with a title like that. Good or bad, we have Pride & Prejudice & Zombies to blame/thanks for this. Here’s the fantastical synopsis: “London, 1838. Queen Victoria is crowned; she receives the orb, the scepter, and an arsenal of bloodstained weaponry. If Britain is about to become the greatest power of the age, there’s the small matter of the undead to take care of first. Demons stalk the crown, and political ambitions have unleashed ravening hordes of zombies even within the nobility itself. But rather than dreams of demon hunting, Queen Victoria's thoughts are occupied by Prince Albert. Can she dedicate her life to saving her country when her heart belongs elsewhere? With lashings of glistening entrails, decapitations, zombies, and foul demons, this masterly new portrait will give a fresh understanding of a remarkable woman, a legendary monarch, and quite possibly the best demon hunter the world has ever seen.”. Also look out for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
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Blood Drops - Production begins this year on The Eternal about a 500-year-old vampire named Samuel Gradius who wants to die and seeks a warrior's death…..Clash Of The Titans trailers now online – the Kraken looks amazing (if a little Cloverfield) – see poster elsewhere on this page….Alice In Wonderland confirmed for March 5th in the UK….Underworld 4 now confirmed with Kate Beckinsdale and to be in 3D (like everything else)….Let The Right One in remake set in New Mexico, titled Let Me In – out Oct.2010…Stephen King writes vampire origin tale American Vampire about the first American vamp “Skinner Sweet”….Dark Tower movie canned, but 8th Book on the way….Zombieland sequel in the works….Being Human series 2 airing now….Day Breakers is superb go see it now!
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