Vampire Movies, Reviews (Katatonia and Willy’s Wonderland) and News, and Box Offices Totals

Vampire Movies by L. Diane Wolfe

Alex asked me about vampire movies.

While none really mirror the setting of my story, I picked a couple fun vampire stories.

Fright Night
The original with Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowall is so much fun. “You’re so cool, Brewster!” I fell in love with this film when I saw it in the theater in 1985 and it’s still a fun film.

Hotel Transylvania
There are now four movies and they are so much fun. Sadly, we watched the first one when our cat Spunky had just gone through his cancer surgery. It was snowy that day and with poor Spunky on my husband’s lap, we watched the first movie. It’s not the greatest in the world, but I just love it.

Let the Right One In
The foreign version of this is SO much better than the American version. It hit the right notes and was creepy, moving, and sad.

Dracula (1979)
I’d seen other Dracula films, but this one with Frank Langella really stuck with me. It’s scary and sexy and so atmospheric. It’s a slow and steady pace but such a great film.

The Lost Boys
Cheesy, commercial, and yet it works. The soundtrack is super. I might even enjoy it more than the movie. Some great stars: Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Dianne Wiest, Alex Winter, and Jamison Newlander.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Gary Oldman really took on the role. He was sexy and the story was so consuming. I remember a woman coming into the place I worked and seeing my Dracula t-shirt – she said it was so disturbing. I told her that it was a beautiful love story.

Shadow of the Vampire
This is a fictionalized account of what happened during the filming of Nosferatu. Willem Dafoe is Nosferatu and he is spot on! It’s just an odd, quirky film but so fascinating.

Nosferatu
The first and unauthorized version of Dracula and the vampire legend. The vampire is renamed Count Orlok and he is incredibly creepy. This is a must-see for every vampire fan.

Again, none resemble my story at all. Think more of a medieval fantasy quest that just happens to feature vampires. And a bit of a love story!

A professional speaker and author, L. Diane Wolfe conducts seminars, offers book formatting, and author consultation. She’s the senior editor at Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. and contributes to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
Find Diane at website, blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads

In Darkness: The Vampire
By L. Diane Wolfe
Romance/Paranormal/Vampires - Fantasy/Paranormal - Fantasy/Romance
eBook ISBN 9781939844903 $3.99

Souls shrouded in darkness…
Stuck working as a barmaid for her demanding father, Anna dreams of adventure. When mysterious strangers enter the bar, she overhears they seek Zancrela, an ancient fortress filled with treasure and a magical library. Taking her chance, she offers to guide them. The conditions: deliver Zancrela or die.
As they journey through the wilderness, she discovers their secret: they are vampires. And most view her as food. One takes interest in her and her heart dares to hope, but it might not be enough to change her fate. Will Anna find Zancrela or become a vampire morsel?

Links: Amazon / iTunes / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Scribed / Goodreads

News and Reviews

Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars

Katatonia is one of those rare bands that have endured, and they are celebrating thirty-plus years of awesomeness with what is (for me) their best album. Their roots may be doom/gothic metal, but this album is progressive and full of energy. Every song is on point with great hooks, catchy choruses, and intense grooves. It clocks in at 51 minutes and it’s all meat, no filler. There are eleven tracks and if you ask me to list some favorites, I would say song one through eleven. They’re all great! It’s February and I already have a contender for album of the year. If you like your Scandinavian metal with clean vocals and a singularly unique sound, you must check out this album.
Highly recommended!

Willy’s Wonderland
From the IMDB: A quiet drifter is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned Willy's Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics.
Yes, you read that right – the animatronics come alive and kill!
This is another case of Cage playing a bat-crap crazy person. (He doesn’t say one word during the entire film.) It’s watchable though and funny in some places.
You’ll think twice about going into a Showbiz Pizza or Chuck E. Cheese’s after this film!
If you are looking for something really unique, give it a try.

Available February 14:
Balance of Love: A Sweet Fantasy Romance (Influenced Book 2) by Patricia Josephine Lynne
Enemies to lovers sweet romance fantasy
Order from all retailers HERE

Box Office

It’s been a while since I did a recap of the current worldwide box office.

Here are the top movies from 2022:

Avatar: The Way of Water - $2,213,093,090
Top Gun: Maverick - $1,488,732,821
Jurassic World: Dominion - $1,001,978,080
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - $955,775,804
Minions: The Rise of Gru - $939,628,210
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - $842,121,221
The Batman - $770,945,583
Thor: Love and Thunder - $760,928,081

And here are the top grossing films of all time:

1 Avatar - $2,923,706,026,  2009
2 Avengers: Endgame - $2,799,439,100,  2019
3 Titanic - $2,216,990,964,  1997
4 Avatar: The Way of Water - $2,213,093,090,  2022
5 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens - $2,071,310,218,  2015

There are now fifty-one movies that have made over a billion dollars! The oldest one in the bunch is Jurassic Park, 1993. Next oldest is Titanic, 1997. Both of their totals are impressive.

Three of the top five are from James Cameron for a take of over seven billion dollars. He’s not hurting!

What vampire films do you like? Picking up Diane’s book? Heard Katatonia or seen Willy’s Wonderland? Seen all of the big box office winners last year or all time?
Enjoy your February and I’ll see you March 1 for the next Insecure Writer’s Support Group post.

Corruptions and Villains, Alita: Battle Angel Review, Train to Busan Review, #HelpMithuSaveSchool, IWSG Award and Co-Hosts, and Strange Blood!

Quick note! I was a guest at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University last Friday. Please check out the article – it was an honour to contribute to her site. Janice Hardy is also visiting the Insecure Writer’s Support Group site today.

Corruptions and Villains

Hi Alex! Thanks for offering to host me on the last day of my tour. I’d like to introduce your readers to the villain of the piece, Professor Roger Lunkin. Who is he and what does he want?

When we first meet Professor Harold Lunkin, he’s about to embark on the newly named Princess Ezmerelda to travel to Loretania under the leadership of Chief Scientist George Tindleson. Their mission: carrying crates of antidote to rid that country’s people of a crippling disesase. Our young heroes – Welles, Ez and Mal – are there to wave the scientists off, and there’s lots of jovial banter between them and Tindleson, but Lunkin comes off very differently. He doesn’t acknowledge the youngsters, seeing them as more of a nuisance. They’ve seen him around the science labs but never really spoken to him.

The truth is, Lunkin liked the way things were before under the Reformers’ Government. That was when the truth about Loretania had been kept hidden from the people of Harmonia, who lived in the lap of luxury. He’s going along on this trip grudgingly, loath to give up the comforts he’s enjoyed all his life for a land that’s dirty, smelly, even primitive. That said, he’s nothing if not ambitious. While most of his colleagues have always looked up to Dr Tindleson, he sees him as a pompous gasbag with a dangerous habit of clinging on to ideas and trinkets from the pre-Reformers days – the bad old days, as Lunkin would see them. If he sees a way to get something out of this trip, something that can offer him a personal benefit, he’s going to take it. Maybe he’ll even get a chance to do what he’s always wanted – assume command.

Corruption by Nick Wilford
Book two of the Black & White series
YA dystopian

Wellesbury Noon and Ezmerelda Dontible have found themselves in a position where they can make their native land somewhere that lives up to its name: Harmonia. However, they’re setting their sights further afield for their number one task: eradicating the disease that has plagued the neighbouring country of Loretania for generations and allowed the privileged Harmonians to live in a sterile environment…
*** Warning – this book contains themes that some sensitive readers may find upsetting. ***

Find it on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iTunes, and Goodreads
And part one, Black & White, is currently free: Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iTunes, and Goodreads

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at his blog or connect with him on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, or Amazon.

Movie Reviews

Alita: Battle Angel

I was hesitant to see this film. I’ve read the manga novels and watched the early 90’s anime film and really enjoyed both. Despite the Cameron/Rodrigues pedigree, I was worried.
Fortunately, nothing to worry about!
In the 26th century, a cybernetics doctor (Christoph Waltz) finds the remains of a female cyborg and revives her. Unable to remember her past life, Alita (Rosa Salazar) sets out to find answers and to connect to the new world around her.
The story follows the graphic novels very well. It feels a bit rushed at times, but the movie is trying to cram several novels into one. It does manage to cover the key story points really well though.
Visually it’s stunning. The blend of anime and reality is amazing, especially with Alita. The actress becomes a CGI anime figure that is both real and yet not. It does cause a little bit of a disconnect, but not enough to take away from your enjoyment.
The story really focuses on the characters. My wife thought the character development was great and tugged at the heart. It doesn’t lack in kick butt action scenes, though. The bar scene with all the hunter-killers was just awesome.
Highly recommended!

Train to Busan

2018 movie - A zombie virus breaks out in South Korea and passengers on a train struggle to stay alive.
Asian cinema has a theme that runs through every film I watch – cue the sad and depressing music. Whether it’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero or The Host, one thing is for sure – you will be sad at the end.
Having said that, this is a solid entry into the incredibly overcrowded zombie genre. There are some really great set pieces and the train provides a feeling of claustrophobia. I appreciated that the film was bloody but not over the top gory. (Good news for squeamish viewers!)
If you’re looking for a film that breathes a little life into a genre done to death (pun intended), this South Korean film gets the job done.
Recommended and bring the Kleenex.

IWSG News

The IWSG made UK Writers Hub’s 50 Best Writing Blogs in 2018 list!
Thanks to everyone who nominated us – we are honoured.

We need co-hosts for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group for April, May, and June! Leave a comment or send me an email if you can volunteer.
Many of you IWSG members have never volunteered – make this your year. It really is more fun on the host side. And all you have to do is visit twenty blogs in a batch. Easy!

Save a New Delhi School

Damyanti is hosting a very special blogathon to raise money for a school in New Delhi that’s in danger of closing forever.

During the blogathon, write one or more posts to talk about love, any kind of love at all, and about honouring the ones you love. All we ask is at the end of your post, you mention the fundraiser, and add the graphic above.

You can support the #HelpMithuSaveSchool fundraiser HERE.

There are many forms of love.
I love people. I used to not love people. At all. But I realized that to love God meant I needed to love His people.
I love my friends. They are there for me, without conditions.
I love my family. No matter what the quirks. They are special people.
I love my wife. She is my best friend. She is the person who brings out the best in me.
I love my Lord. Without Jesus, I have no hope of eternal salvation, and yet all he asks in return is that I accept Him as my saviour and love Him with all my heart. His love for me is true Agape love and He loves me no matter what.
That is how I see love.
How do you see love?

Book News

Coming soon - Strange Blood: 70 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampire Movies compiled by Vanessa Morgan

Featuring an essay by yours truly! Yes, my piece is on the movie Near Dark.

This is an overview of the most offbeat and underrated vampire movies spanning nine decades and 23 countries.
Strange Blood encompasses well-known hits as well as obscurities that differ from your standard fang fare by turning genre conventions on their head. Here, vampires come in the form of cars, pets, aliens, mechanical objects, gorillas, or floating heads. And when they do look like a demonic monster or an aristocratic Count or Countess, they break the mold in terms of imagery, style, or setting.
Leading horror writers, filmmakers, actors, academics, and programmers present their favorite vampire films through in-depth essays, providing background information, analysis, and trivia regarding the various films. Some of these stories are hilarious, some are terrifying, some are touching, and some are just plain weird. Not all of these movies line up with the critical consensus, yet they have one thing in common: they are unlike anything you've ever seen in the world of vampires.
Just when you thought that the children of the night had become a tired trope, it turns out they have quite a diverse inventory after all.

There is also a giveaway through March 12, so don’t miss it.


New release:
With the Magic (Twickenham Time Travel Romance Book 7) by Donna K. Weaver
When Gareth Hildebrand travels from the year 1850 to a future time, he’s not expecting to fall in love.
Find it on Amazon

What do you think of Corruption’s villain? Did you catch Alita: Battle Angel? Seen Train to Busan? What’s your take on love? Can you help a New Deli school? Ready to learn about some unique vampire films? And can you co-host the IWSG in the next three months?

Don’t forget to visit Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

See you next Wednesday for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog posting!