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Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Godzilla On Kevin Ratliff's Headstone

Above, the back of Kevin Ratliff's headstone. Photo by Frances Ratliff.

Last September, longtime Godzilla toy dealer Kevin Ratliff (Monsterland Toys) lost his battle with Crohn's Disease. He was also a dealer for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

Recently, his widow Frances posted photos of Kevin's headstone.

Above, the front of Kevin Ratliff's headstone. Photo by Frances Ratliff.

It was very fitting that an image of Godzilla was included on one side of the headstone as he was a big fan of the Big G. Along with an image of Godzilla, a line from The Wolf Man (1941) was also included.

Congratulations, Rick Baker!

Congratulations to monster make-up maestro Rick Baker for winning the Academy Award for Best Make-up for The Wolfman!

Recent DVD Viewings

A bunch of DVDs came my way this past week. My cousin gave me a half dozen and I picked up The Wolfman DVD at the local CD/DVD store.

Here's my thoughts on a couple of them:

Above, "The Wolfman" returned to the silver screen and now on DVD.

The Wolfman (2010) - I enjoyed the theatrical version when it first came out. The director's cut fleshes out more of the back story. Although I liked the movie in general, I really didn't like Sir John Talbot's characterization (played by Anthony Hopkins). He's a despicable person in this version. I preferred the tragic aspects of John Talbot in the original (played by Claude Rains) to this. Had John Talbot's character retained the characterization as in the original, I would have liked the movie a lot more. I found Benecio del Toro's portrayal of Lawrence Talbot to be very good. He seemed to channel Lon Chaney Jr. quite well at times. My grade: A-.

Above, Megan Fox in "Jennifer's Body."

Jennifer's Body (2009) - A high school teen (Megan Fox) is turned into a flesh-eating succubus by a rock band who also practices the black arts. This black comedy horror film was written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama. The film also stars Amanda Seyfried as Jennifer's best friend. This was an entertaining little movie. My grade: A-.

"The Wolfman" (2010)

Above, Benicio Del Toro in the title role.

A "guys' night out" was held last night (most of the guys I was with are married) at Universal City Walk for dinner at Tony Roma's and a screening of the new version of The Wolfman with Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot and Anthony Hopkins as John Talbot.

From IMDB:

Universal Studios resurrects the classic lycanthrope with this tale of an American who experiences an unsettling transformation after returning to his ancestral home in Victorian-era Great Britain and being attacked by a rampaging werewolf. His brother having recently vanished without a trace, haunted nobleman Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to his family estate to investigate. What he discovers upon reuniting with his estranged father (Anthony Hopkins), however, is a destiny far darker than his blackest nightmares. As a young boy, the untimely death of his mother caused Talbot to grow up before his time. Though Talbot would attempt to bury his pain in the past by leaving the quiet Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor behind, the past returns with a vengeance when his brother's fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), convinces him to return home and aid the search for his missing brother. But something monstrous has been stalking the residents of Blackmoor from the nighttime shadows, something not quite human. Not even recently arrived Scotland Yard inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving) can dream up a rational explanation for the gruesome spell that has been cast over Blackmoor, yet rumors of an ancient curse persist to this very day. According to legend, the afflicted will experience a horrific transformation by the light of the full moon, their animal rage becoming far too powerful for their human bodies to contain. Now, the woman Talbot loves is in mortal danger, and in order to protect her he must venture into the moonlit woods and destroy the beast before it destroys her. But this isn't your typical hunt, because before the beast can be slain, a simple man will uncover a primal side of himself that he never knew existed. Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker pens a film directed by Joe Johnston and featuring creature effects by special-effects makeup legend Rick Baker.

The movie was very atmospheric and the effects were good. My main gripe with The Wolfman is the editing and script. The editing was too frenetic for my taste. The character development was lacking and casting a Hispanic (Del Toro) as an Englishman did not bring any believability to me. The producers may have tried to address this in the flashback sequences involving Lawrence Talbot's mother. They seem to indicate that she was either Hispanic, Eastern European (or even with gypsy blood) or middle-Eastern. Her background was unclear.

The town already had a werewolf problem at the time of Lawrence's arrival to investigate his brother's death. They were also well-versed in lycanthropy (werewolfism). It also strained credibility to have Lawrence captured in human form to undergo torture. The torture employed seemed pointless.

Those niggling things aside, I was still entertained by the movie. Although it had many faults, I found it more satisfying than the recent thrill-ride The Mummy and Van Helsing movies. The script, at least, took its subject matter seriously. It was based on the 1941 screenplay by Curt Siodmak (who also received credit in this movie).

Although I think Del Toro was miscast (hard to believe he is the same guy in the Timothy Dalton License To Kill James Bond movie), his acting was good and he seemed to "channel" Lon Chaney, Jr.

Rick Baker's make-up was excellent and his make-up of Del Toro did pay a nod to Jack Pierce's 1941 original make-up.

My grade: B+.

Universal Monster Legacy

As the new version of Universal's The Wolf Man is scheduled to be released in theaters on February 12, 2010, the studio has a new website called The Universal Monster Legacy.

Here, film clips and rare still photos (along with music) are presented of the past Universal classic monsters.

The rare photos includes this one of Boris Karloff from Frankenstein (1931):