Hotel Transylvania

Such an entertaining animation...

I was really pleasantly surprised by how funny this film is. I've always been a fan of Adam Sandler and I really loved his version of Count Dracula in this film. I often found myself forgetting that it was him actually voicing the role as I become so absorbed by the character. 

I loved the interesting twist of humans being made out to look like the dangerous and threatening ones  rather than the traditional story of humans being victimised by monsters. 

Hotel Transylvania is filled with your typical monsters: Frankenstein, mummies, vampires, werewolves, etc. I found that the cast did a really good of bringing these characters to life and making them funny for children. 

Selena Gomez was also good as the voice to Count Dracula's 118 year old daughter Mavis. Furthermore the adult humour references make the film also appealing to older audiences.

The music was quite unusual for the genre and yet I found it quite catchy.

Overall I think this is a cute enjoyable film and helps to portray monsters as less scary to children and more entertaining.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Dark Shadows

Quite odd...

I have to say I wasn't particularly blown away by the film, despite the fantastic cast with Johnny Depp in the lead role. I'm not entirely sure what I expected but I felt that there was a lack of something. Although there were some humorous aspects mainly from Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, but I felt that as the film went on the plot became weaker.

It is quite cheesy in many ways, throwing in ghosts, vampires and all the stereotypical horror characters. I did find myself laughing once Barnabas Collins arrived into 1972 and being completely confused and surprised by modern society. I did also think Eva Green was entertaining as the villain Angelique.

I suppose typically of Tim Burton you had the usual gore and strange eccentric characters, but I just hoped for something more in regards to the plot. I didn't really feel attached to the character Barnabas and was actually far more interested in Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) as a character, due to her story. I think this character could have been developed even more and perhaps worked more on the ending which to me seemed unfinished.



☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Not your traditional view of the late president...

I guess you could say that this take on President Lincoln is rather bizarre and unusual. It certainly adds a more thrilling aspect to his life and makes him to be a hero on a completely different level to how he is currently perceived.

The film itself didn't actually receive the best reviews which I'm guessing is because of the anti-vampire members of the audiences who are sick of the long lasting stream of vampire related films which have been released over these past years.

Instead of glamorising vampires however I feel that this film does stick to the much truer form of vampires as monsters who should be feared and are killed by silver to the heart. Also the representation of Abraham Lincoln as an almost Van Helsing figure adds that side of vampire hunters and the thrill for the audience comes from the vampires who get their heads sliced off.

When you find out that Tim Burton's name is attached to the film as a producer, the amount of blood and gore within the film does seem to make perfect sense. There is certainly no holding back on detail which I feel is a strength of the film.

I was impressed with how well the film makers interweaved Lincoln's real life with this fictional plot and his hidden life as a vampire hunter. Also the added bonus of seeing Abraham grow up and his childhood was rather interesting.

The film wasn't as bad as it has been reviewed. I quite enjoyed and wasn't bothered by the fictional side of the president. If vampires are your sort of thing, in truth you probably will rather like this film.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆