TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: GODZILLA VS THE WOLFMAN

 

THE HAMMER VAMPIRE FILMS: A CLASSIC MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES TRIBUTE

Nige Burton & Jamie Jones, along with distinguished, guest contributor, John (Penny Dreadful) Logan, detail Hammer's rich, marginal expanse on supernatural, parasitic lore, in the highly anticipated The Hammer Vampire Films. 

The issue contains satisfying overviews on The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, Vampire Circus, Twins of Evil, Countess Dracula, The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, The Kiss of the Vampire and The Brides of Dracula.

These titles may not have seized the public's wider fancy in the way that Christopher Lee's Dracula movies did, but a few are considered classics, thanks to their avant-garde angles: case in point, Captain Kronos and Vampire Circus, though The Brides of Dracula and Twins of Evil often receive ample praise for their sexy, Gothic sophistication. Nevertheless, and no matter the title, the authors handle each submission with analytical appropriation, which Hammerheads will respect. 

The publicity content featured in this special edition is superb, as one can only expect from Classic Monsters, thus making this installment an exceptional, pictorial treat if ever there was. 

The Hammer Vampire Films is an ideal addition to Classic Monsters' prior, Hammer tributes, making it as an unanimous must-have. Unearth it at 

https://www.classic-monsters.com/shop/product/the-hammer-vampire-films-signed-art-print/

PINUP TIME: JENNIFER BEALS IS RACHEL (VAMPIRE'S KISS)

 

I SAW NORMAL

Normal is a modern-day western, with Nobody/Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk as its headliner. It's directed by Ben (John Wick/Meg 2) Wheatley, penned by Derek (John Wick/Nobody) Kolstad, from a  concept conceived with Odenkirk. As publicized and hoped, it kicks ass in a way that would make the great, late Chuck Norris proud. 

The allegorical odyssey places Odenkirk's Sheriff Ulysses (past-plagued and estranged from his wife, Penny; get it?) in winterized Normal, Minnesota, to substitute for a counterpart who's died. Ulysses expects the assignment to be low-key, and at the outset, the townsfolks do, indeed, seem normal enough, even if a trifle off-kilter in the Twin Peaks/Northern Exposure/Key West/Fargo vein. 

The citizens include Jess McLeod's misunderstood Alex Gunderson (the deceased's progeny); Lena Headey's mendacious bartender, Moira; Billy MacLellan's Deputy Mike Nelson; Ryan Allen's Deputy Blaine Anderson; David Lawrence Brown's Dr. Vilie; Meagan MacArton's yarn-store owner, Mary Beth; and Henry Winkler's savvy Mayor Kibner. 

After a spell, Ulysses senses something amiss and questions Normal's contradictions (investigating as would Psycho's Milton Arbogast and/or The Wicker Man's Sergeant Howie), with heightened concern spurred by a bank heist, which involves Reena Jolly and Brendan Fletcher's inexperienced but redemptive robbers. Normal's "good" people, it appears, holds Yakuza ties, monitored by Peter Shinkoda's undercover Joe, and has been drawing more than a few subversive dollars through the arrangement.  

Once the truth is exposed, Normal (much like the Nobody set) gets violent (and more than in the slain-suiter end of Homer's epic poem). Its barbarity is delivered in the over-the-top, explosive, Peckinpah tradition (even if underscored by some dark camp). For the prudish, Normal would be one to evade, but for seasoned old-timers like me, who prefer their action fierce and hard-hitting, the movie is, as Winkler's Fonz would say, perfectamundo.

Odenkirk is, as usual, terrific and is a large part why the action sequences are so enjoyable. It's interesting that he's now an action hero, though one who brings an everyman quality to his neo-pulpy roles. Ulysses, therefore, works as a cathartic force, existing to fix the many grievous vices we hear about (and fear), but are unable to remedy. 

I gotta say, this one sure did hit the spot, and if you have a pair of balls, it'll hit yours, too. Ten thumbs up, way up!

DESTINATION MOON: AN ARTEMIS II PRECUSER

With the awe-inspiring success of the Artemis II mission, imaginations have turned to lunar ventures and the movies that depict them. The most noted example is producer George (The War of the Worlds/When Worlds Collide) Pal/director Irving (The Great Rupert) Pichel's 1950, speculative classic, Destination Moon.  

YouTube's Golden Flicker offers an excellent assessment of this groundbreaker, which covers Pal's insistence on scientific accuracy (based on the theoretical notions of rocket travel at the time) and the steps required to gain the public's interest and support for such monumental maneuvers. 

There's no debate that Destination Moon is timelier than ever, in both its ambitious scope and strategic concerns. Engage Golden Flicker's video essay and learn the fascinating facts behind one of the most innovative, cinematic visions ever conceived. 

HAPPY SUPERMAN DAY 2026, 1 OF 2 FOR 2026 (4/18)

 

I SAW LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY

There's confusion regarding Lee Cronin's The Mummy, coproduced by James (Saw/The Conjuring/Aquaman) Wan, where some have presumed it's another Universal variant of the Imhotep (Kharis) series, when, in fact, the writer/director's ominous opus creeps from WB/New Line Cinema and AMC. Others have dismissed the picture as a throwaway, since they're anticipating a revival of the Brendan Fraser, Mummy series, perceiving the latter as the foundation of all such Imhotep adventures. In truth, the Frasier track is a comedic, johnny-come-lately, name-lifting homage to chapter plays, more than Universal monster lore. Really, folks, open thy eyes and get with the program! 

Maybe it would have helped if Cronin's creation had carried a different label (like Evil Unwrapped or The Disinterred), but why not accept its obvious designation: another horror movie with a mummy motif, underscored by a demon-possession angle? No matter its label, Cronin's flick deserves better than the sight-unseen derision it's received, for his product is gruesome and scary and more than holds its own with his previous successes, A Hole in the Ground and Evil Dead Rises. 

Here's the premise: Little Katie Cannon (played at the outset, and later in flashback, by Emily Mitchell), is kidnapped in Cairo (after being lured by a strange woman, portrayed by Hyat Kamille), much to the consternation of her journalist dad, Charlie, played by Jack Reynor, and her mom, Larissa, played by Laia Costa. Eight years pass, and Katie, enacted at this stage by Natalie Grace, is found swathed in a lead-lined sarcophagus (after such is tossed from a crashed plane), alive yet catatonic in her preserved, adolescent state. Katie is transported to her family home in Albuquerque, joined by her siblings, portrayed by Billy Roy and Shylo Molina, and her grandmother, played by Veronica Falcon. However, Katie is a shell of her former self, a vessel for administering an evil that permeates Grand Guignol ghoulishness (we're talking full-blown, Braindead/Dead Alive gruesomeness) and an apparent intent to infect the world, all for the sheer, despicable joy of it. In the meantime, a detective, Dalia Zaki (May Calamawy), digs for answers and an Egyptologist, Professor Bixler (Mark Mitchenson), offers insights, but as one knows, the supernatural is damn tricky to crack, let alone disown. 

Cronin's story marches in step with Zach Cregger's Weapons and W.W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw" (with a smidgeon of Snow White and Stephen King's Pet Sematary and "Gramma" stirred in), but it's most reminiscent of Richard Matheson's "Bobby," a spectral-child tale (like Pet Sematary, a "Monkey's Paw" pastiche), first featured in Dead of Night 1977 and remade for Trilogy of Terror II. (Ample passages from The Exorcist and The Omen sagas manifest within the "Bobby" framework, once the story progresses.) 

A great deal of the tale's impact comes from Grace, with her Katie capturing a giddy repulsiveness comparable to Alyssa Sutherland's in Evil Dead Rises. Without question, dear, demented Katie is the stuff of nightmares. With this said, I can't help but contrast her to Miko Hughes' Gage in Pet Sematary. However, while wee Hughes does churn the chills, the lad doesn't reach the freakish or brutal summit of King's novel. Grace, however, is allowed to detonate her creaky fiendishness without restraint, delivering one gross-out move upon the other, so that it's easy to forget she's just a girl in monster makeup.

Horror fans--monster fans--would be wise to rally around this one, but even if it fizzles at the box office, it's destined for a cult following. I'm at least glad to have seen it on an IMAX screen, where its loathsome decimation was magnified to the fullest, mind-warping measure. Do yourself a favor and buy a ticket, or hell, stay closed-minded and miss out. That next Fraser Mummy isn't too far off or so Universal's publicists have dared to spout.