Dinner and a Movie with Moxie

 Metropolis (2001) In 1927 German silent film director Fritz Lang released what might be arguably the best science fiction film of the silent era, with Metropolis.  The film helped to inspire mangaka Osamu Tezuka in 1949 to create a manga of the same name, even though Tezuka hadn't actually seen the film.   That manga became a well loved manga series, and in 2001 an anime was made of the classic manga.  The 2001 anime film diverged significantly from the original manga, and pulled in more elements from the original Fritz Lang film, and the resulting anime, is one of the greatest science fiction anime films released.   Metropolis was well loved by critics and fans alike, and is considered one of the must-see anime films.  Metropolis was directed by Rintaro, with a screenplay written by Katsuhiro Otomo.  The film was produced by Madhouse, and distributed by Toho (Japan) and Tristar Pictures and Destination Films (internationally).   Metropolis was met with high critical praise, and h

 One Body Too Many (1944) Films that mixed horror and comedy together have a long history dating back to 1920 with Haunted Spooks, and many of the biggest names of the horror genre have been in comedic horror films.  One of my favourite horror comedy films came in 1944 with One Body Too Many, which featured Bela Lugosi and comedic actor Jack Haley.   One Body Too Many is a comedic horror film about a wealthy man who dies, and has left a strange and very specific will regarding how his body will be placed in a glass vault on the top tower of his home under the stars, and that his family must stay in the house until the vault is built, they cannot leave for the couple days that it will take to prepare the vault, and the body must not be buried in any other way, and there are very specific consequences in the will if any of the instructions are violated.  But the family is against each other, and they hire an investigator to guard the body, but the investigator goes missing, and along com

 Invisible Ghost (1941) During the 1940's, Bela Lugosi, who ten years prior was one of the biggest names in the horror genre, after his legendary appearance as Dracula in Universal's 1931 film Dracula, had become nothing more than a supporting character, or a very low-budget b-film actor.  Some of those low-budget b-films were better than others, with 1941's Invisible Ghost definitely being a diamond in the rough.   This would be the first of nine films that Lugosi would do with Sam Katzman and Monogram Pictures, of those nine low budget films, some like Invisible Ghost were really well done, while others like Black Dragons, would be absolutely terrible.  Lugosi wasn't the reasoning for the films being bad, he took each role very seriously, and would give as much passion playing in a low budget role as he would in a big film like Dracula.   Bela Lugosi was one of the greatest actors of all-time, he was a true professional, and passionate actor.  Though he got cast in so

 Black Dragons (1942) After Bela Lugosi's contract with Universal Pictures ended, his career descended to a string of low budget b-films, and many of them were really not very good.  Bela Lugosi though took every role seriously, and there were times it felt that he was the only one that did.  In 1942 as World War 2 was going on, there were films made that were little more than anti-Japanese propaganda, and sadly Bela Lugosi was cast in one of those films, a spy movie with horror elements called Black Dragons.  As much as I love Bela Lugosi this film has always been hard for me to watch.  The film features heavy anti-Japanese sentiment bordering definitely crossing the line into racist propaganda, and also there is a brief anti-union scene, which is especially sad as Lugosi was a very strong advocates of unions.  Black Dragons is one of those films from a dark period of American history during World War 2, when sexism and racism were very mainstream popular concepts. Black Dragons w

 Taste The Blood Of Dracula (1970) The fifth installment of Hammer Horror's Dracula franchise, saw Christopher Lee donning the cape for the fourth time in the series.   Lee supposedly was reluctant to return to the role again, and the script originally was written without Lee reprising the role he had made famous, instead it had the character of Lord Courtley taking his place.  However without Lee Hammer's US distributors had no interest in releasing the film, so Lee was convinced to return to the role of Dracula.  This film also was censored in its original theatrical run in the US so that it was given a GP (PG) rating, but for the DVD version the edits to the nudity and violence were restored.   This film doesn't get as much appreciation from the fans as some of the other Hammer Dracula films, but it is still a great film, and maybe deserves another look. Taste The Blood Of Dracula was released in 1970, one of two Hammer Dracula films released that year, the other being T

 Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968) Aside from Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula, the next most beloved Dracula is by far Christopher Lee, who was the star of the Hammer Horror Dracula films.  Lugosi's Dracula, had this sexiness to him, where he was exotic and seductive, where as Lee's Dracula has a bit more of a forcefulness to him, he feels more threatening, and more evil (maybe it is the bloodshot eyes).   Christopher Lee's Dracula is a true monster, and one of the greatest on screen monsters.   Dracula Has Risen From The Grave was directed by Freddie Francis, with a screenplay written by Anthony Hinds.  The film was produced by Hammer Films, and distributed by Warner-Pathe (UK), and Warner Bros-Seven Arts (USA).  Though the film wasn't well received by the critics, it was by the fans, and it is one of Hammer's highest grossing films.  The film also has a high rating on online film scoring sites, as it has continued to be popular among horror film

 Crawfish Etouffee  It all started with buying five pounds of crawfish from my work, it is rare that we get in crawfish, and since crawfish is my favourite food, I didn't want to pass up the chance, so for $25 I bought a five pound bag of frozen cooked crawfish from my work.  Obviously the best thing to do with 5 lbs of craw fish is to toss them in a pot of boiling water with 1 lemon quartered and squeezed and tossed in the pot, 1 onion quartered, 2 jalapenos sliced, some peppers sliced, and some celery cut into large chunks and bring that all to a nice boil.  The crawfish were already seasoned, so tossed those in too, and boiled for about 5-8 min. then drained and put onto a large platter, reserving some of the juices from boiling for making a stock.   The thought was that we wouldn't eat the whole 5 lbs of crawfish in one sitting (the idea was wrong mind you), and that we would use the leftovers for a crawfish etouffee.   Well there were no leftovers, that's okay, because

  Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) Hammer Film Productions, since the mid 1950s had built itself up as THE name in horror films, and they reigned king of horror from the mid 1950s to the 1970s.  If you say Hammer Horror it conjures up images of Christopher Lee as Dracula, Peter Cushing as Van Helsing and of course as Frankenstein.  Today I am taking a look at Hammer Horror's 1969 film Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed starring Peter Cushing as that mad Dr Frankenstein.   This is definitely a different take on the classic tale of man playing God, and creating life from dead tissue.  This is really a very original take on the story, where Frankenstein doesn't create a monster, he IS a monster, in the most real sense of the word.  He does transplant a brain from one man into the body of another, but he doesn't create life, as he did in the classic Universal Films, or even as he did in Mary Shelley's classic novel.  Here he is a cruel, evil person who wants the doctor who

  The Mummy (1959) From the mid 1950's-the 1970's Hammer Film Productions released a series of films featuring the famous monsters popularized by Universal in the 1930's-1940's.  These films were more violent upping the blood, gore, and graphic nudity that was lacking from their more atmospheric Universal Pictures predecessors.   These films featured a new generation of horror film legends such as Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee.    In 1959, Hammer Film Productions released The Mummy, directed by Terence Fisher, with a screenplay by Jimmy Sangster.  The film was produced by Hammer, and distributed by Rank Film Distributors (UK), and Universal-International (International).  This like all of the Hammer horror films was made in the UK, where Hammy Film Productions was located.  The Mummy was both a box office and critical success, receiving generally positive reviews from the critics, and to this day still holds a high score on online film review sites. The Mummy stars

The Haunting Of Hill House Though I don't use and streaming services, and my film collection exists in a physical format, I must admit that some of the best modern horror, is being released on internet streaming services, such as Netlfix.   Netflix who has made some of my favourite television shows, like Stranger Things, released a reimagining of Shirley Jackson's classic 1959 novel The Haunting Of Hill House in 2018.    The Haunting Of Hill House was directed by Mike Flanagan, who is an incredible director in the horror genre, and this film is no exception to the great works that he has been directing.  The teleplays were written by  Mike Flanagan, Liz Phang, Scott Kosar, Meredith Averill, Jeff Howard, Charise Castro Smith, and Rebecca Klingel.  The series was produced by FanaganFilm, Amblin Television, and Paramount Television; and distributed by Netflix Streaming Services, CBS Television Distribution, Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic.   The series was met with critical

  Darkness Falls (2003) So what happens if you see the Tooth Fairy, when she comes for your teeth?  In Darkness Falls, she stalks you at night for the rest of your life, until she kills you, or in the case of Kyle Walsh of Darkness Falls Maine, she also kills your mother.  According to the film the Tooth Fairy was a widowed woman named Matilda Dixon, who was wrongly hanged for the disappearance of two children in Darkness Falls Maine.  Though in the special features it changes the location of the legend to Port Fairy Australia.  The film itself was filmed partly in Maine, but mostly in Australia. Darkness Falls was directed by Jonathan Liebesman, with a screenplay by Joe Harris, James Vanderbilt, and John Fasano.  The film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, though was an independent film produced by Revolution Studios, Columbia Pictures, and Distant Corners.   Liebesman attempted to make a film that is more of an atmospheric horror film, without relying on gore for the horror,

  The Haunting (1999) One of the greatest haunted house films of all-time, had become a cult classic, and as with many cult classics modern day filmmakers look to cash in on, or improve upon that classic, and The Haunting from 1963, based on Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting Of Hill House was no exception.  The steps of The Haunting being remade had their roots with acclaimed horror writer Stephen King who had approached Steven Spielberg about doing a remake of the Haunting, but they ended up parting ways because of creative differences on the film, in the meantime Jan de Bont, the director of films such as Twister and Speed wanted to do a haunted house film and found that the rights to The Haunting were open, and he obtained the rights for doing a remake.   I remember seeing this film in the theaters, my senior year of highschool, and I remember it being a lot of fun, and I also bought a copy as soon as it was released on VHS, this is a film that I have rewatched many time

  The Haunting (1963) How have I gone this long without seeing this film before?  I saw the remake of The Haunting in 1999 in the theater when it was released, I remember hearing that it was a remake, but not having actually seen the original film, nor had I read the book.   This is a film that ranks high on many top horror film lists, it was the inspiration for Stephen King's 2002 miniseries Rose Red, and one that has been highly influential on the horror genre, even though it wasn't well received when it was first released, not even breaking even in the box office, though it has gone to be an important cult classic.    The Haunting was released in 1963 and directed by Robert Wise.  The film had a screenplay written by Nelson Gidding, based on the 1959 novel The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.  The film was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and filmed in England.  The film was a box office loss though, grossing only $1.02 million against a $1.05 million budget, an