Gothic Archives | Otaku No Culture

Luc Bresson’s Dracula Has Enough Bite To Be Memorable

Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale reshapes the familiar myth with a sweeping origin, a centuries-long hunt for reincarnated love, and a boldly camp performance from Caleb Landry Jones. It’s uneven in its digital effects, but the pulp energy and gothic romance make it a surprisingly fun Valentine-season watch.

Luc Bresson's Dracula Movie Poster Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale is certainly a different beast. Just when fans of the vampire tale think they’re getting another retelling of Bram Stoker’s classic, what’s presented here begins elsewhere. It offers a great deal of backstory that may have been imagined but never fully dramatized. The novel itself is structured as a series of letters, memos, and recordings recounting how the Count made it to London.

In this auteur’s take, the broader backdrop remains familiar, but the narrative lens shifts. The universe is largely set in France, though any revolutionary parallels feel faint at best. Instead, the focus rests on the Ottoman invasion of Romania, and how young Prince Vladimir (Caleb Landry Jones) vows to save his people from this encroaching tyranny. His fear is not only for his homeland but for Elisabeta’s (Zoë Bleu) safety. Should the enemy breach their borders, she would be taken prisoner. He knows this all too well.

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Borley Rectory The Awakening – A Terrifying Legend Reimagined

Borley Rectory: The Awakening reimagines England’s most haunted house with gothic flair, terrifying twists, and a chilling tale of spirits and family secrets.

Borley Rectory The Awakening Available now on Digital in the USA and on Digital & DVD in the UK

Although the film Borley Rectory The Awakening changes a few of the events leading up to the first spectral sightings, this film is wonderfully gothic. It’s like a Hammer Film—with all its rich colour design and lavish costumes—mixed into a cocktail of delights that Charles Dickens might have penned in The Pickwick Papers. That’s a drink I’d serve up and sip till dawn! Here, this tale explores what may have occurred when the Bull family first took up residency.

Before that, I must inform readers that I know a fair bit about the true-life account. Reverend Harry Bull asked to build this residence. Prior to its construction, there was only Borley Church; no monastery or convent existed before the clergy house. Only local folklore existed, and that included carriaged deiven by headless drivers. As for what happened at the rectory, I suspect some of the spirits from the much older church followed Harry home! In the film, this old man (Julian Glover) leaves the property to his son Henry (Corneille Dion Williams), who is following in his father’s footsteps.

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Roger Corman’s The Terror (1963) is This Week’s Film Masters Striking Release!

Fans of E.A. Poe will enjoy counting the number of moments in this remaster of The Terror, which are designed to honor him!

The Terror and Little Shop of Horrors - Film Masters Release — **Available to purchase on Amazon USA**

Everything you want to know about Roger Corman‘s The Terror but were afraid to ask regarding this latest Film Masters restoration is all nicely packed into a documentary and essay included in this home video release. It’s out just in time for this film’s anniversary! What’s presented is a very clean and upgraded colour pallette to highlight this gothic work.

And to complete the analysis, it includes a bonus HD print of The Little Shop of Horrors. As a fan of the musical, to watch it in its original form made me appreciate both works! There are moments of dialogue that laid the seeds to songs like “Suddenly Seymore,” and “Dentist!”

However, this latest is all about Corman’s homage to Edgar Allan Poe. Nearly every frame pays tribute to what defines this master of macabre’s tales, and to watch it restored didn’t present a lot of flaws as I thought. While those bits are more with the narrative element, the visual one looked quite concrete! From the set designs to the tropes, it’s easy to tell. The video essay does a great job as explaining how this movie came to be, the hurdles faced (which also includes getting Karloff to agree to star in this work) and why it should be remembered as a testing ground for the still young filmmaker–who happened to think that he should take advantage of what’s available for him to use before these contracts expire. Also included in this release is Ballyhoo Motion Pictures “Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story” (part two).

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Who is The Girl From the Other Side, and Should We Be Scared?

The author Nagabe created a wonderful world and the animated adaptation of e The Girl from the Other Side is leaving me begging for more.

Playing at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival at the Aratani Theatre @ JACCC May 13, 2022 7:00 pm (BUY TICKETS) and coming to Fantasia 2022

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún (とつくにの少女) is a tale that deals with several themes. One is about a battle between man versus himself. Another is concerning redemption. There’s a curse affecting nearly everyone and a blight destroying a kingdom.

Anyone infected turns into a shadow of their former selves and when a lone individual (later named Teacher) finds a young girl (named Shiva) abandoned in the woods, he can’t leave her alone. Strangely, she doesn’t succumb to the darkness as others have. This tale takes on a tone which deserves more films to fully explore, explain and resolve–or I can read the finished manga.

My preferences is with the former since the artistic design is rapturous and Rie Takahashi, the voice of the young child is so cute! Even if I was to look at the printed version, I’ll have her voice stuck in my head.

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