Pulse (2006 American re-make)

    Pulse is the story of a virus that comes from the computer and takes life from the host (the person in the room). It started when a college student accidentally releases this program on the internet, and he can't stop it. Once this evil thing gets a hold on its host, it eats ways whats inside of you until you die. It takes over the body, leaves bruises on the skin. Soon the person that has this thing inside them, will kill themselves to end the torture. Slowly everyone is dying from being encountered by this evil that can't be stopped. The Main character is Mattie (played by Kristen Bell) and she was the first to witness the first  attack of this evil virus. It happened to her boyfriend, and soon it spread to every computer of her friends and everyone else. Mattie later meets Dexter (played by Ian Somerhalder), a guy that bought her friend's computer and together they discover haunting video images of people with a ghost like expression on their faces and end up killing themselves because they have been affected by this virus. Together they figure out to try and stop it before it's too late. The ending of the movie isn't a happy one, it leaves with the two characters driving away and knowing that it may be impossible to stop it. "But the will to keep on living never dies" as Mattie last lines from the movie.

    This is a remake of the 2001 japanese film Kairo. This version of Pulse is directed by Jim Sonzero and written by the Wes Craven (famous for films he did such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Red Eye, The Hills have Eyes). For a re-make of the original japanese version, this one wasn't that bad as far as remakes go. I could feel that scared feeling and suspense that Wes Craven never fails to bring to the horror movies. I get the most reaction of fear is when I hear the strange music and the darkness of the room that the characters are in. I could see some comparison to this movie and Nightmare on Elm street. Not only do they have Wes Craven on the project. But the timing of scaring the character and how to scare the viewer is seen in both films. Also that both films have a main female character that trying to defeat this evil force. I think that the ending is a perfect way to end a horror movie such as this one. In the rules of all horror movies (and even literature), there is no happy ending and driving off into the sunset. Evil is always their following and waiting to strike back. The best trick that they do in any horror film is one last scare before the ending credits. Its when you think all is well, you can relax your body from it's tense state. But then out of no where something screams and leaps right in front of you and ending in darkness.
  
    I had a hard time finding the original japanese movie of this horror story. But to be honest, I'm glad that i went with the re-make version. I know the originals are always 10 times better that re-makes. But I don't watch horror films, I'm easily scares at these kinds of movies. There are some horror movies that i might be able to sit through. But If the original is more scarier and frightening that the 2006 re-make. Then I will be scared for a good while (bad nightmares means less sleep).

Kwaidan (movie)

    I've never really seen much of the old japanese movies, but this one has become a new favorite of mine. What I like about this movie is that it's not only telling one story but three in total. Like if someone was reading short stories of these old japanese tales. These three mini movies didn't scare me, but I was blown away by the beautiful visuals that the japanese has to offer. This movie was hard to find, but I'm glad that I found a website that has the movie.

    The story that I liked the best was The Woman of the Snow, it was the second story in the film. In this story, a young man (18 year old) thats an apprentice working with a older man, carrying lots of wood during a snow storm. When the older man is laying on the ground (tired from carrying all that wood in the snow), a woman appears in a white kimono and her face is ice blue. This woman appears and blows cold air on her victims, killing them in there tracks. It is said that she does this do consume their warm blood. When she see's the young man, she doesn't kill him (because he is still young). But she warns him that if he ever told a soul about what he saw (and what she did), she would come and kill him. Years have past and the apprentice has grown to be a man and is married to a beautiful girl and has three children. All is well for this family, but as the years past, the villagers notice that his wife hasn't aged at all (still has the young face when she met him).

     The husband thinks that the woman that he loves s really the snow woman from his past. He doesn't want to believe that, and he does the foolish thing he could do. He told his wife of the snow woman and how she looks like her. At that moment the promise is broken, his wife is the snow woman that killed that man long ago. What I find that was sorta touching is that she still didn't kill him for breaking the promise. She still cares about him and their three children. She makes the decision in leaving him with the children and tell him a new promise that he must keep. If he doesn't take good are of them, if she hears any complaints about him from the children. Then she shall return and kill him. It was in the end part of this story that made me feel that the snow woman really does love her husband and her children. But she must still be that fearful ghost/spirit that takes life from people. When she is gone and the husband leaves the sandals he made for her in the snow. I felt that he doesn't care anymore if she killed people in the past. He loves her and regrets ever breaking the promise.

    The other japanese stories were also good, and each one brought some fear as well as interesting visuals. What i found that all stories have in common, is that that someone is always dies and their is a ghost/ spirit that haunts people. I wish more movies were like these ones. A movie about three of four different stories, not connecting to one another. But a  movie about some short story that can be interesting to watch as well as haunts us in our dreams.

Zombies (class notes)

     What is it about zombies that get's our attention. Why is it that we see them coming after us (slow or fast speed) and eating our brains. In most zombies films and books, zombies are the next thing that humans fear, and a chance to fight them off and be the hero.They could be created by some apocalyptic event or some scientific experiment gone wrong. But their is more to what zombies are. They represent many key things in the world and to how people are. It's also a way of testing us on survival, to test our strength and knowledge of how to defend ourself against the walking dead.

     Zombies is also a metphore of life. People will go through life, going through their life day after day with no emotion or care in the world. People will become zombies, not in the way of looking decay and gross. People will seem to act differently, like walking slow, not being focus to what they are doing and not having any emotion. In way, zombies "are our own dead self that has come back." There are other comparison's to zombies and people. The fact that it does deal with being alone and the dicission of choicing a side to be on. People, espically teens deal with these drama's and they are sometimes forced into a situation that's out of there control. Just like being a victum of a zombie attack, and you have no choice but to be with the group of zombies and eat people's brains. Zombies can also relate to a personal fear and that is the fear of losing yourself. It's important to remember who you are, because when that part of you is gone, you don't know what to do, who you are, and lost your original thoughts. When the part that makes up who you are is gone, the zombie side of you will be clueless and  follow the crowd and do what they do.

    In most movie's and books that has the characters face a zombie attack. It gives that character the chance to be a hero and save the day. It's their time to shine and get the glory of saving the world. In a situation of a zombie attack, it's best to come up with a survival and battle stradegy. It's the only thing that can possible save you and your friends. This kind of stradegy is a test that the characters must pass or it's game over for them and the world. This is most often viewed as a good v.s. evil battle, who is the monster and the hero.

Interview With The Vampire- by Anne Rice

       Interview With The Vampire, written by Anne Rice, is the most well know and popular story of vampires. Her story is different from other vampire stories, having the reader see and discover things through Louie’s eyes since the day he was turned into a vampire, as well as the struggles of understanding what it means to be a vampire. 

    Louis is telling the story of his life to a boy reporter in an apartment in San Francisco. Louis wants to tell the story of how he came to be a vampire. The boy has enough tape for his tape recorder to get the story word for word. Louis's life before he became a vampire was filled with depression, after the death of his brother. He moved to New Orleans to escape from the home of where his brother died. From that day on he "lived like a man who wanted to die, but had no courage to do it himself.” The night that changed his life to be forever in the darkness of nights was his vampire attack with Lestat.

Lestat's character enjoyed the thrill of killing and taking the life of his victims. Taking their energy for his own, it was like a game to him and it could be that he longed to have a companion to share that thrill, and to have his own slave that he can taunt and make him do anything. Louis accepted Lester’s offer and after being drained to the point of death and consuming the blood of Lestat. Louis was forever more to be a vampire. After that, he saw things differently with his new vampire eyes.  There is a lot of sexual tension by Lestat towards Louis.

What makes this story a classic for any book lover or vampire fan, is the characters.  With such great detail, you can feel the suffering and pain that Louis was having, in trying to understand the meaning of being a vampire. He constantly asks himself “what was its purpose?” Lestat enjoys the thrill of taking life and blood. Claudia is also frustrated because she is forever trapped in her young body and is never able to grow up. Also the character of Armand (the head of a vampire coven deep within the theater) is the oldest living vampire (400 years) and he has knowledge and elegance to his character. What Lestat, Claudia, and Armand have in common (besides being vampires) is they all want Louis. He is very popular with the three and throughout the story, whichever one of them is with Louis, there is an erotic, thrilling feeling.  

    Lestat and Louis could not be more different. Louis being a new vampire, still appreciates life and didn't enjoy taking life from another human. Life to him was precious and death was never something to laugh or think of as entertainment. Lestat was everything that Louis refused to be. He enjoyed sucking the life out of some poor soul. When Lestat hunted he would start out with a young girl (those were his favorites) and then towards the end he would take the life of a male teenager. Louis killed and drank the blood of animals to satisfy his hunger. Louis hated Lestat at not not only being in this torture, but because he didn't want to learn his ways of being a vampire. Surely Louis thought of other vampires that knew the answers to his questions.  Lestat knew that Louis wanted to leave him, and Lestat wanted to keep Louis. When they have arrived to New Orleans (after burning down their plantation and the house). It was there that a new character was to join them, but this new person was going to be Lestat’s key to keeping Louis with him. Claudia was a young girl that was found on the floor with her dead mother (some kind of plague that spread). Louis turned her, because he had been hungry for so long and he couldn't resist. But he didn't drain her till she was at the point of death. Lestat found Louis in the act, and after seeing how bad Louis felt for almost taking the child’s life. Lestat gave the child a new life, an eternal life as a vampire. Claudia was to be their child and the three were to be a family. 

The main point of the story about Louis, is learning for himself what it means to be a vampire, by learning from his experiences with being with Lest at, Claudia, and ending with Armand. Also knowing the suffering he faced from Claudia's death, of losing someone he cared about (to him she was like a daughter and he cared for her). In the end he didn't need anyone to teach him anymore. He learned on his own and didn't need a companion like the others. He got the answers that he wanted to get and saw nothing else that he desired. Maybe the reason why he wanted to tell the boy reporter about his life was because he wanted to share what he has seen and maybe this information could be useful to some other new vampire. But the boy reporter wanted to know more, and not just what Louie has told him, but also about all the negative sides of being immortal. The boy reporter was now fascinated in know more, and wanted to experience it just like Louie. He thought that there had to be more. The ending of this book leaves us with the reporter replaying his tape recorder and getting the location of Lestat and finding him. Maybe Lestat will turn him into a vampire, and the boy can be his new companion.

     Interview With The Vampire is a classic vampire novel that's just as great as the story of Dracula. The story doesn't leave the reader bored with just talk between characters. Anne Rice uses her words to create a new look on vampires and the world they are surrounded in and to watch it change, but never they. It was an addicting story that made me crave to see what was going to happen next, like Lestat craving for blood. I was moved by the words of Louis when he would say that even though he's a vampire he appreciates life, even when his life had ended. 

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 Movie)

This Dracula movie is very true to how Bram Stoker told it in his novel. what i thought that movie did so well, was the characters. Character's and their story are very important in both film and literature. Without it, you can't get a clear image of who the characters is, what they see, feel and desire. This movie showed everything that we know (or may think we know) of vampire. The story of Dracula's life from when he was human to becoming the famous vampire we know and fear.

    The characters in Dracula were all very moving and convincing, especially Dracula (played by Gary Oldman). Dracula's character seems to be a combination of both villain and a desperate soul wanting to be with his love. His love interest is Mina Harker (played by Winona Ryder). Mina is a reincarnation of his once beloved Elisabeta. When Dracula comes to London and spots Mina in the streets, it was the start of his plan to make Mina come to him. When he introduces himself to her, he says his name is Prince Vlad of Szekely. The more time Mina is being around him, the more her feelings grow stronger in love for her new prince friend. The love between Dracula and Mina becomes so passionate and real. You can tell that these two share a strong feeling towards one another , it looks so believable and real than any other kind of love that two people share. Even near the end of the movie when Dracula tells Mina who he really is and that he was the on that killed her friend Lucy. She is angry at first, but she still has feelings for him and tells him that she want to be part of his world, to "be what he is, see what he sees, love what he loves".





    The movie there is some narrations from the characters. They are reading their letters or journals of the events that they have seen or were occurring. It's a good idea to switch the narrations during the movie, it helps to put the viewer in that view point of the character reading their letter or journal. The parts where Jonathan Harker (played by Keanu Reeves) is trapped in Dracula's castle (while Dracula is in London). You hear how desperately he wants to tell his beloved Mina why he hasn't returned and the dangers he and she may be in, but he knows he can't. So he writes in his journal all that is going on in Dracula's castle and try's to escape. When we hear Mina's journals, they show that she is both worried for Jonathan, and also starting to have feeling for Prince Vlad. She try's to figure things out with her feelings. We also hear reports from Dr Jack Seward and Professor Abraham Van Helsing (played by Anthony Hopkins). They both narrative their experience of the the events in a scientific term.

  At the end of the movie, there is a final battle at the castle between Dracula and Jonathan and his men to finish Dracula once and for all. Even though they have almost killed him, with a sword in his chest. Mina rushes over and stops them from killing him more and takes Dracula inside the castle to be with him alone before he dies. When they are inside the castle's chapel, Mina kisses him and it is with her love that changed him from his monstrous form back to the man he was. His last words to her was to "give him peace". She takes the sword and pushes it down through his heart, and then cuts off his head. Mina had to do this out because she loved him and wanted to release him. Watching Dracula's death is both a victory but a sad at the same time, because even though the world is safe from vampires like him. That beautiful and strong love that Dracula and Mina had is gone.
  
   This movie stayed true to the original story, and everything was prefect. The character are great as well as the actor that played them. This is a perfect vampire movie that anyone will enjoy and definitely deserve the title of being a classic horror and romance story.

 

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967 movie)

    The Fearless Vampire Killers is a different kind of vampire movie, it's more comical than the rest. The story is about Professor Abronsius and his clumsy and frightened assistant Alfred journeying to Transylvania to further prove the existence of vampires. They make rest at a inn and find that the folks are very scared of the vampires, because they have garlic all over the place and in every room. Alfred falls in love with the inn keepers red head daughter Sara. But the night that she was taking her bath, Sara is abducted by the head vampire Count von Krolock. It is up to Professor Abronsius and Alfred to go to the Counts castle and rescue Sara. The Professor see's this as a great opportunity to get more research of vampires, and to prove to the other professors that he's not a crazy fool.

    What makes this movie entertaining is watching Alfred be more aware of the danger's that he and the professor are in and seeing him scared out of his mind at everything that comes his way. The Professor doesn't seem to be affected by the dangers of being so close to the vampires. The Professor Abronsius and Alfred are on their territory, in a castle thats filled with vampires. Abronsius and Alfred have an unfair advantage, especially when losing their supplies of weapons and tools like garlic, crucifix's cross, etc.



   The next day in the castle Alfred finds Sara and tells her that they have come to rescue her. But she isn't moved by this news. She wants to stay for the midnight ball and wear a real ball gown. But this ball is not like any other ball. This one will be the gathering of all the other vampires and Count von Krolock (as well as the other vampires) will feed on the blood of both Sara, Professor Abronsius and Alfred, and turn them into vampires. When they become vampires, the Count wants the Professor to be his companion and have Alfred be Herbert's boyfriend. Herbert is the Counts gay son that has fallen in love with Alfred. Seeing the scenes with Herbert and Alfred are also entertaining, they just look very comical when in a room together.

     The night of the ball, Professor Abronsius and Alfred manage to get Sara and escape Count von Krolock's castle and return home safely, or so they think. Sara has already been turn into a vampire and bits Alfred. The Professor is clueless to what is happening behind him as he drives the carriage back to the inn. To him he thinks that he has succeeded in preventing the spread of more vampires. But Sara is out of the castle and the continuing of new vampires will emerge.

   There also another version of this story, it is told in the style of theater production. It is called Dance of the Vampires (or Tranz der Vampire in the German original version). The musical version is a remake of this movie, and I like the musical version better. In the musical version there is more going on between the characters. Not only singing, but they seemed more fleshed out in there characters than the actors in the movie. The only problem with the movie version is that there wasn't much talking going on, it seem more of a visual movie without words, like a silent film. Despite the lack of communication between characters, this movie was fun to watch and stretch the bar of how vampires movies can be made, not serious all the time, but comical.


      

Frankenstein- by Mary Shelly (my thoughts)

   Once finishing the book Frankenstein, my thoughts is that i'm impress on how well Mary Shelly created the story and characters such as Victor Frankenstein's monster.  Learning that Mary wrote the story when she was 18 years old, blows my mind on how far a persons thought and idea can go and to see the outcome of the long process.

  I feel that the story makes you question on subjects like, who was the true evil, what is a monster, who has the right to give/create life and take on its responsibilities and can we see past something thats so deformed and different and see the sweet innocence and kindness that they may have deep inside. Victor Frankenstein was so fascinated with science and math and in his studies decided that he can try and create life. But the success of his work, he then created a monstrous figure that even Victor couldn't dare to look and feared. He should have made some hypothesis on what outcome would be for creating a strange figure. Victor should have been the one to teach him the ways of the world like how to read. The monster taught himself how to read, and observed the villagers actions and learn from them, he does this in hiding in the woods or hidden in a barn house.

   The Monster was really the one that should be cast as the villain in the story. True that he did murder the ones Victor knew and loves. But it was out of rage and frustration that even the monster's creator could look or be around him. All the monster wanted was to have someone, a companion and to never be alone with his deformed appearance. But besides his frustration, the monster was a very thoughtful and caring creature on the inside. When he was near a home of some villagers (a blind man and his children), he stayed hidden in near their house and observed and learned from them (but making sure they don't see him and scream and hurt him). At night, the monster would go into the woods and gather wood for his new friends. He also saved a little girl from drowning in a stream (a different girl, not one of the blind man's children). But when someone saw the monster holding the girl, they accuse him of hurting the child and attacked him without giving the monster a chance to explain himself. He learned that man will never take the time to show him kindness or affection. He was domed to be in a world that everyone hates him and hurts him.The more the monster learned from watching his villager friends to the acts of man kind on him, the more sad and angry he became and it was all towards Victor. The Monster vowed vengeance on him and to make him suffer. Perhaps that is why he murder anyone that knew or related to Victor. So that Victor could feel the pain of being alone and heart broken like the monster.

   When the Monster ordered Victor to make him a companion, so that he won't be alone (to have another figure that looks like him. A female monster like him). Victor started making it, but then later refused to finish making the new Monster. Victor had terrible thoughts of more destruction and deaths that might come from them and affect man kind. Anger came to the Monster, and then the Monster ended the life of his creator. Even though the monster was angry at Victor for making him the way he was, without a purpose in life, being a called a monster when he has done so many good deeds, and not making a companion. Victor was the only one that the Monster had some sort of relation. Victor was in this case the creator and father to the monster. The Monster also took his life away, because he wanted all this madness to end. If he is dead then he will be at peace and not have to think or feel of being alone.

    This story was interesting and kept getting better as the chapters continued. It's nice to know more of the story than the movies show. With every detail of the characters, comes more of an image of who they are and the feelings and problems that they are facing. I'm glad I finish the book and to my surprise really enjoyed it. Now I will remember the story of Frankenstein.