Tag: Adaptation

Scott O. Brown’s ‘Nightfall’ is being adapted.

nightfall

If I may be cheeky with this [enable bad pun insertion], Hollywood is sucking all the vampire stories out from every source imaginable. Since this week is Twilight week here at WAMG….er, ok it’s not because we aren’t 14 year old girls, or worse – ladies in their 20’s thinking they are younger than what they are and still swoon over lead actors out of the Twilight franchise.

Let’s face it, the vampire stories are blood-boiling hot right now. I haven’t read this graphic novel, but it’s premise sounds promising. Let the press release speak!

William Stuart’s Aurora Productions and Platinum Studios, Inc. (OTCBB: PDOS), an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 5,600 comic book characters which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media, have partnered to bring Platinum Studios’ graphic novel “Nightfall” to the big screen.

“Nightfall” tells the story of a man who finds out just how bad life can get when he discovers that the prison he just entered is controlled by vampires. This is just one original property that hails from Platinum Studios’ multi-universe library of over 5,600 comic characters, a library of characters as large as Marvel’s. Marvel was recently acquired by Disney for $4 Billion, and is the second major comic library to be acquired by a Hollywood studio. DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros., recently announced a newly-revamped business model, focusing on reaching deeper into DC’s catalog of characters. Platinum Studios remains independent of major entertainment studio affiliation.

Since that press release is really just hyping the hell out of Platinum Studios, let’s take a look at the synopsis from Amazon.com

When industrious, right-wing survivalist David Paxton is sent to a tough Texas prison, he has no idea that it’s secretly run by vampires using the inmates to feed on. Now, Paxton’s one hope of escape is a desperate prison riot and an uneasy alliance with a ruthless killer named Robbart.

I like the dynamic of putting a guy in a place that can be naturally bad only to learn that there is some worse. Add on the fact that he has to deal with another prisoner to get out of there adds even more complexity.

It could be interesting. It could be a mess. One thing that is for sure is that I will be sinking my teeth into it.

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Source: PR-Inside.com

Review: ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’

bloodthelastvampire

‘Blood: The Last Vampire’ is a mixed bag when it comes to quality. But despite that I found myself liking it quite a bit. It’s based on an anime OVA and series that came out almost ten years ago, and does a good job of expanding the story of Saya (Gianna Jun), a very old, but eternally young vampire who works with an organization to take out all the remaining vampires in the world.

The agency Saya works for places her in a US military base in Japan during the Vietnam conflict. Since she looks sixteen it’s her job to infiltrate the on base high school and see what she can find. It kind of has a Japanese Buff the Vampire Slayer feel to it at first, but quickly turns into an all out blood bath when Saya discovers there’s a lot more Vampires both in the school, and the local Japanese village.

Along the way Saya teams up with Alice (Allison Miller) who is the daughter of the base’s commanding general. She’s a trouble maker, always rebeling against her father. One day after kendo practice at school she’s attacked by two bully school girls who are actually Vampires. Saya of course comes to the rescue and this is where the movie really starts to pick up. The blood bath that ensues is fantastic. They use the actors themselves, which says a lot considering they’re using mostly unknown actors and actresses. One of the vampire girls is a bit on the heavier side, adding a bit of realism, and she’s just as vicious as the others.

When the agency that uses Saya attacks Alice’s dad, Alice goes on a quest to find out why and what’s really going on. This leads her and Saya to uncover a lot of mysteries about Saya’s past and the movie kind of just goes off in the direction of taking out the head vampire.

It’s clear that the writing stinks right from the start and the acting is pretty subpar. Allison Miller and Gianna Jun do a good job of working together and Gianna gives a really good performance considering she’s never done an English speaking role before. Gianna only has a few roles under her belt and it’s pretty obvious here she did most of, if not all of her own stunts nad sword fighting. The camera is right on her face during many of them, and that’s where the movie shines.

With a lacking plot, the main reason to see this film is the intense action. There’s a fight scene in the middle of the film that is one of the coolest, most brutal sword fights I’ve seen in a long time. Saya goes nuts on a massive group of vampires. She’s flipping through the air, slicing them in half, and bisecting them every chance she gets. There are a few chops that will make every guy watching go “Oooooouuuuuch!” All of the blood is digital, giving the film a very 300 type of feel. There’s some of that speed up/slow down type of cinemetography as well.

The biggest problem with the action is that it’s just a little too ambitious for it’s budget. There are a lot of effects that do a good job of conveying an idea, but simply don’t hold up by todays standards. It’s a shame too, because if they were just a bit better, this could have been a massive blockbuster film with a massive cult following.