FILM REVIEW OF ''DRIVE ANGRY 3D" (2011)

Although the latest Nicolas Cage epic surpasses his previous potboiler “Season of the Witch,” “My Bloody Valentine” director Patrick Lussier’s “Drive Angry 3-D” (**1/2 out of ****) qualifies as little more than a campy, white-trash, B-movie about a gun-toting fugitive fresh out of Hell who struggles to save his infant granddaughter from a Satanic cult set on slaughtering her. Blood-splattered, babe-strewn, and bullet-riddled, this half-grilled collection of grindhouse clichés delivers non-stop action that you’ve seen before in better movies like “Race with the Devil," "Shoot’em Up,” “Crank,” and “Machete.” The only shred of originality in this hard-boiled, hare-brained hokum is a go-for-broke motel room massacre. A half-clad Cage in sunglasses, clutching a fifth of Jack Daniels in one fist and an automatic pistol in the other, mows down a mob of murderous miscreants as they migrate into his room without invitation. Just to show how incredibly cool that our hero is under fire, Lussier and co-scenarist Todd Farmer have his adversaries storm in on him in the middle of a tryst with a totally naked cocktail waitress astride him. Of course, the deafening gunfight traumatizes the poor dame. Meantime, our imperturbable protagonist misses nary a stroke until his pistol clicks on empty and the last thug stands poised to polish him off. This is as good as this beer & pizza movie gets. “Drive Angry” amounts to a second-rate, supernatural saga with cars flying through flaming hoops in “Dukes of Hazzard” fashion without a modicum of realism. Nevertheless, despite all its audacious abandon and above-average 3-D photography, this contrived, R-rated fantasy lacks a shred of genuine suspense. Since our hero is immortal, nothing the villains do can harm him. Sure, they kick him when he is down and put bullets into him, but Milton suffers no long term damage. In other words, we don't have to worry about his safety. As far as that goes, we don't have to worry about the safety of the child that rests in the arms of these vicious thugs. Hollywood would never sanction a film where a helpless child would get burned up. Entirely predictable as well as pedestrian from start to finish, this contrived road rage serves up drivel for dialogue and muscle car stunts that pale by comparison with the “Fast & Furious” franchise.

“Drive Angry” opens in Laughter, Colorado. Our enigmatic hero, John Milton (Nicolas Cage of “Face/Off”), has miraculously managed to escape from perdition. We're given a brief glimpse of Hell with its charred landscape, but none of the action takes place on those fried premises. Guess we'll have to await either for the prequel or the sequel to learn more about Milton's shenanigans in Hades. Meanwhile, we’re neither told how Milton broke out of Hell nor where he was imprisoned, except that he was confined in 'a dark place' that he didn't relish. When we see him for the first time, Milton is behind the wheel of a hot rod with an automatic shotgun. He runs down three repellent ruffians who work for wicked satanic cult leader Jonah King (Billy Burke of “Twilight”) so he can learn the whereabouts of his infant granddaughter. We're told that King murdered Milton’s daughter and son-in-law and King kept her femur as a trophy and turned it into a walking stick. King makes a relatively bland villain in the greater scheme of things when compared to such monsters as either Dr. Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs" or Clarence J. Boddicker from "Robocop." He is leading his minions to a derelict prison in southern Louisiana to sacrifice the child during a bizarre full moon ritual. Chalk up points for Lussier and Farmer for giving the action a deadline. Just to show that he is serious about his aims; Milton blows one thug’s hand off with a blast from his shotgun. That scene looks good in 3-D. He shoots another thug in the leg and threatens to turn his thigh into ground chuck if he doesn’t talk. Naturally, the wounded man divulges King’s destination. Of course, no scene like this one would be complete without our hero igniting a stream of fuel leaking from the smashed up pick-up truck that the villains trundled around in and then walking away as the vehicle blows up in a fireball.

During the opening gunfight, our hero crashed his car and wound up afoot. He trudges no farther than a greasy spoon roadside diner where he spots a nubile waitress, Piper (Amber Heard of “Pineapple Express”), who has just quit her job. Piper's lecherous boss, Fat Lou (Jack McGee of "Basic Instinct") got fresh with her so she cleared out. Our heroine is cruising home to her out-of-work boyfriend when her sleek 1969 Dodge Charger overheats and coasts to a halt. As if on cue, Milton walks out of the woods, takes a gander under the hood, and then tweaks something. In no time flat, they are heading to see her sweetheart. Earlier, Piper had boasted to another waitress about how she had deprived her boyfriend of sex with her until he proposed marriage. It seems that he has been out of work and Piper has been paying the bills on the Charger. Imagine Piper’s surprise when she finds Frank (Todd Farmer of “Jason-X”) in bed with a dark-haired beauty. A bare-knuckles fistfight between Piper and Frank’s slut ensues and later Frank steps in and punches Piper out. He is about to carve her face up when Milton intervenes and decks Frank with several devastating blows. A grateful Piper agrees to drive Milton to Louisiana.

Along about this time, another mysterious individual makes his entrance. A well-tailored man in a suit and tie who calls himself 'the Accountant' (William Fichtner of “Heat”) is trailing Milton and plans to take him back to Satan. Milton and the Accountant engage in a game of cat and mouse throughout “Drive Angry.” Although they appear to be adversaries, the Accountant helps Milton out of some pretty tight predicaments, particularly a sheriff’s roadblock where an army of lawmen yearn for an excuse to blow our hero and heroine to smithereens. The Accountant likes to toss around a magic coin that can either change into the credentials of an FBI agent or a deadly weapon. Indeed, he hurls the coin at one bad guy and it sinks half-way into the brute’s forehead and kills him.

“Drive Angry” comes by its R-rating naturally. The f-word is uttered about 75 times in a variety of variations. When loose women aren’t displaying ample cleavage, they are parading around as naked as jaybirds without a qualm. The violence is somewhat extreme. At one point, we see the villainous Jonah brandish a straight razor and slash at a man’s throat. Although the blade is never shown penetrating flesh, the filmmakers show a geyser of blood splashing a nearby wall. Hands are obliterated. Heads are cut off. A baseball bat is used to skewer a man’s torso and the poor hooligan writhes in agony as he is pinned to a wall. The ultimate act of violence occurs when a heavy is disintegrated by a so called ‘god gun’ that deprives the individual of his soul so he can neither enter Heaven or Hell. Our triumphant hero drinks a cold beer from the dead man’s shattered cranium. Ghoulish as all this seems, Lussier and Farmer play everything for macabre laughs. Indeed, nothing in “Drive Angry” is remotely realistic. Unfortunately, virtually everything is so phony that it provides little in the way of catharsis. You know an action movie is in trouble when the demise of its chief villain yields no satisfaction. “Drive Angry” steps on the gas but winds up going nowhere in the long run.

FILM REVIEW OF ''SCARS OF DRACULA'' (British 1970)

"A Night to Remember" director Roy Ward Baker helmed the liveliest “Dracula” sequel, “Scars of Dracula,” (***1/2 OUT OF ****) with Christopher Lee reprising the role for the fifth time in the Hammer Films franchise. “Scars of Dracula” followed “Taste the Blood of Dracula” but preceded the modern day epic “Dracula, 1972 A.D.” For the record, Dracula's groveling custodian bears most of those titular scars. Whether he went by his real name Anthony Hinds or his pseudonym John Elder, Hinds/Elder penned a screenplay far more ambitious and audacious in its scope, violence, horror, and sexuality. Mind you, despite its cheesy bat massacre, "Scars of Dracula" qualifies as the bloodiest Hammer film. Moreover, "Scars of Dracula" was the first to receive an R-rating in the United States. Dracula punishes his lowly caretaker Klove by applying the red-hot blade of a sword to his back. Further, the caretaker accepts his punishment as if he approved of being punished. Can we say masochism? Of course, the bats are hopelessly phony. Nevertheless, the scene where the bats maul the face off the priest in the church like piranha gorging themselves is terrific. The clergy came under increasing attack in 1970s movies. This scene alone should have landed the film on the video nasties list in Great Britain. Indeed, "Scars of Dracula" is the most supernatural of the "Dracula" franchise. Ultimately, it is the one "Dracula" film from Hammer where the Count boasts more screen time than usual. He also has a fiery death scene that suggests greater powers were at work to vanquish him because mere mortals could not finish him off. Inevitably, this quasi-invincibility adds stature to Christopher Lee's immortal creation

The opening gambit could easily have provided material for an entire movie. Although it somewhat picks up the narrative thread from the previous London-based Dracula opus, “Scars of Dracula” takes place primarily in rural Europe as earlier “Dracula” movies. Dracula’s resurrection scene has got to be the most outlandish of the franchise. A blood-dripping vampire bat shows up (whether by devilish designs or otherwise we never learn) at a remote castle, flies into a chamber that can only be reached by scaling the castle walls, and pukes blood on the Count's remains left over from “Taste the Blood of Dracula.” Presto, Count Dracula is reconstituted into an immaculate, smartly-groomed Christopher Lee. Let the blood-sucking begin! Dracula’s first victim is a farmer's daughter. The introductory credits roll as her sad father totes her lifeless remains to the nearby village. The landlord (Michael Ripper of “The Creeping Flesh”) of the inn assembles the villagers. “This evil must be destroyed,” he vows with feeling. They load up both sufficient fuel and timber, march to Dracula's castle through the woods, trick Dracula’s custodian into letting them within the confines of the castle so that they can set fire to the premises. Of course, their well-intentioned efforts avail them little because Dracula rests in a chamber that nobody can reach.

Ironically, before he allowed them to approach the castle, the priest uttered a prayer to protect his flock. When they return triumphantly from Dracula’s castle the priest congratulates them on the success of their mission. “We must give thanks,” the priest rejoices, “thanks to our savior for his protection.” The villagers agree. The priest turns to leave with them. “Let us go to our church and tell our loved ones they are safe.” Initially, before he supervised their departure, the landlord ordered his wife Marie (television actress Margo Boht) to gather the rest of the village into the church. The last thing that the landlord could imagine has happened. No sooner have they opened the church doors than four vampire bats swoop out past them. The men discover that the rest of the villagers lay blood-splattered and dead in the house of worship. Never have so many people been slaughtered during the first ten minutes in a Hammer “Dracula!” The transition from this scene of slaughter to a faraway birthday party is handled with considerable finesse. As the blood of a victim drips onto the white candles, director Roy Ward Baker dissolves to the red candles at the birthday celebration.

Sarah Framsen (Jenny Hanley of “Undercovers Hero”) and her lover Simon Carlson (Dennis Waterman) wonder where his errant brother, Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews of "Scream and Scream Again"), is as everybody toasts Sarah. Paul has been sleeping with another woman when he learns that he is going to be late getting to Sarah’s party. When he dresses to leave her, Alice (Delia Lindsay of "The Devil's Widow") is convinced that Paul is leaving her for another woman. A wrapped and tied gift falls out of Paul’s suit jacket, and Alice threatens to scream. Ignoring her threats, Paul retrieves the present and heads downstairs. Alice pursues him with only a bed sheet concealing her breasts and vagina. However, her buttocks are bare for all-to-see in two shots as she follows the recalcitrant Paul down the stairs. As he is making for the door, Paul encounters Alice’s imperious father, the Burgomaster (Bob Todd of "Burke & Hare"), and Alice accuses Paul of wantonly having his way with her. The Burgomaster and Paul struggle briefly before Paul escapes his clutches. The Burgomaster's men chase Paul, and he makes a momentary appearance at Sarah’s birthday party and then leaps from a high window to escape the authorities. Crashing through the roof of a carriage parked below the window, Paul spooks the steeds and they plunge off into the night. Paul finds himself trapped in a runaway carriage. Desperately, he tries to rein in the animals but low-hanging tree limbs knock him off the vehicle.

Paul has no luck finding anybody who will take him in after dark. The landlord of the inn in the village has no room for him and turns him out into the cold night. Predictably, things get worse for Paul. He wanders aimlessly through the woods until he finds another parked carriage drawn by quartet of horses. Climbing into the carriage, Paul falls into a deep sleep. What he doesn’t know is that the carriage belongs to Count Dracula. Dracula’s custodian, Klove (Patrick Troughton of “The Omen”), has been out hunting game, and he drives the carriage back to Castle Dracula without realizing that the carriage contains a passenger. Dracula is very civil to Paul when he meets him. Paul is admiring a knife from a wall mounting and stands with his back to Dracula. Dracula’s first words to Paul are: “The blade is very sharp.” Dracula refuses to let Paul leave.

Klove escorts Paul to a sumptuously appointed bedroom. Meantime, Dracula takes a bite out of his dark-haired hostess, Tania (Anouska Hempel of “Black Snake”) and Baker shows the vampire sinking his fangs into her neck. Later, she comes knocking at Paul’s door in her undergarments. She pleads for Paul to save her and explains that she is being her prisoner against her will by Dracula. No sooner has she told Paul that she is a prisoner than she implores him to sleep with her. Tania and Paul consummate their lust for each other. While Paul lies sleeping, Tania admires his throat. The Count catches Tania staring at Paul’s neck, and his rage at seeing Tania with Paul, prompts Dracula to stab her "Psycho" style repeatedly. Afterward, he quenches his lust for her blood. This is the first time that Dracula has behaved in this manner. In "Horror of Dracula," Dracula drove a vampire woman from Jonathan Harker because she had wanted to feast on him. One interpretation for Dracula murdering Tania is that Tania betrayed him when she had sex with Paul. Presumably, Dracula punished Tania for her infidelity. More probably, Dracula didn’t want sloppy seconds, that is, having to dine on Paul after Tania had done the initial damage. Surprisingly, Dracula does nothing to Paul who sprawls unconsciously on the floor. When Paul recovers, he removes the drapes from the bed canopy and lowers himself down from the bedroom window to the only open window below. Talk about getting out of one frying and then getting into another! Paul has descended into the chamber where Dracula hides his coffin! “Help,” Paul cries as the evil Klove reels up the drapery, “there’s no way out!”

Meanwhile, two uniformed policemen with an arrest warrant question the landlord about Paul’s whereabouts, but he tells them nothing. When Julie (Wendy Hamilton) confides in them that Paul went to the castle, they decide that they want nothing more to do with the case. Eventually, Simon sets out to find Paul with an indefatigable Sarah tagging along despite Simon's protests. They experience the chilly hospitality that the landlord provides at his inn when they inquire about Paul’s whereabouts, too, and are treated like persona-non grata. Simon and reach visit Castle Dracula. Dracula welcomes them and sets aside rooms for them. Dracula’s hospitality turns out to be a ruse. He separates Simon from Sarah. They escape after Dracula tries to sink his fangs in Sarah’s neck. The crucifix that Sarah wears around her neck repulses Dracula. Sarah and Simon manage to get away and return to the village. The priest allows them to sleep in the violated church that nobody attends any more after the bat massacre. The priest explains to Simon that Dracula is not simply a man but the incarnation of all things evil. He compels Simon to wait until dawn before he goes back to the castle to search for his brother. Simon offers Klove the small picture of Sarah so that he can get into the castle again. This time Simon is determined to kill Dracula. He shattered the wooden contraption that holds a wash basin and takes one of the legs to serve as a stake. Locking the door to his room, Simon descends by rope to the window beneath the bedroom where Paul and Tania indulged in carnal pleasures before Dracula interrupted them. This time Simon learns the ugly truth about Paul. He discovers Paul impaled and stuck on a wall. Sarah shows up in time to lower the rope to Dracula’s window.

Earlier, Klove explained that the Master sleeps where nobody can get to him. Baker stages a neat scene where we see Dracula leaving through the window of his room and scaling the architecture to the windows above. Indeed, Bram Stoker wrote about Dracula's uncanny ability to scale walls. Dracula clashes with Klove about Sarah, and the vampire throws him off the top of his castle. Simon appears with an iron spear and hurls it at Dracula so it lands in his stomach. Dracula removes the object from his body without suffering. Nevertheless, Dracula is surprised when lightning strikes the metal stake and kills him.

Christopher Lee’s memories of "Scars of Dracula" aren’t particularly fond. In his 1977 book “The Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee,” Lee describes the Baker film as “truly feeble.” Lee elaborated: “It was a story with Dracula popping in almost as an afterthought. Even the Hammer make-up for once was tepid. It’s one thing to look like death warmed over, quite another to look unhealthy. I was a pantomime figure. Everything was over the top, especially the giant bat whose electrically motored wings flapped with slow deliberation as if it were doing morning exercises. The idea that Dracula best liked his blood served up in a nubile container was gaining ground with the front office and I struggled in vain against the direction that the fangs should be seen to strike home, as against the more decorous (and more chilling) methods of shielding the sight with the Count’s cloak.” Nevertheless, “Scars of Dracula” qualifies as one of the best of the Hammer "Dracula" films.

FILM REVIEW OF ''SON OF DRACULA" (1943)

Although I'm a super big fan of Lon Chaney, Sr., I've never admired his son Lon Chaney, Jr. While Junior fared better as the sympathetic Lawrence Talbot in "The Wolf Man," this big lug of a lout is woefully miscast as the urbane, sophisticated Count Dracula in Robert Siodmak's "Son of Dracula." Okay, I'll give Chaney credit for being the first Dracula with a mustache. Was it Chaney's idea or Siodmak's? Other than John Carradine and Christopher Lee, most Draculas are smooth-shaven gents, but Junior needed more than a mustache to make a menacing bloodsucker of himself in this otherwise imaginative but flawed chiller. Junior constitutes the chief flaw. His delivery is stiff beyond belief. When he utters 'decadent' as de-kay-dent, you want to chuckle. He doesn't radiate that evil Bela Lugosi glint in his eyes. Moreover, he doesn't send a chill either up or down your spine. The lack of aristocracy in his appearance doesn't help. Odd enough, Dracula comes off as somewhat of a chump in “Son of Dracula.” Moments of atmosphere, particularly the off-beat setting for this second sequel, and the strange nature of the screenplay compensate for some of the weird things about “Son of Dracula.” The sight of Dracula and his bride going to a Justice of the Peace is faintly amusing. On the other hand, the Count’s emergence from the swamp is a nice touch.

Appropriately enough, “Son of the Dracula” (**1/2 out of ****) opens with a pair of hands clearing out cobwebs. Remember eight years had passed since the release of “Dracula’s Daughter.” The Southern Gothic setting and the swamp is wonderfully sinister. Initially, Frank Stanley (Robert Paige of “Flying G-Men”) and Dr. Harry Brewster (Frank Craven of “Barbary Coast”) arrive at a railroad depot to greet Count Alcuard. The Transylvanian nobleman, however, is nowhere in sight. They spot the railway luggage cart that is stacked with three trunks bearing the family crest. Immediately, Brewster notices that Alucard spelled backwards reads Dracula. Dracula (Lon Chaney, Jr.) makes his first appearance outside ‘Dark Oaks,’ the antebellum house where Katherine ‘Kay’ Caldwell (Louise Allbritton of “Parachute Nurse”) eagerly awaits his arrival. She plans to marry Dracula.

Katherine’s elderly father, Colonel Caldwell (George Irving of “Coquette”), is Dracula’s first victim. When the Colonel’s will is read, Katherine inherits Dark Oaks. Frank is madly in love with Katherine, but she only has eyes for Dracula. She met Dracula initially in Budapest. Meanwhile, Dr. Brewster summons a renowned vampire hunter, Professor Lazlo (J. Edward Bromberg of “Invisible Agent”) from Memphis. Like Van Helsing, Lazlo knows everything about Dracula. Frank shoots Dracula with a revolver after he learns that Kirby has married them. He cringes in horror when his first bullet penetrates Dracula and kills Kay. Kay was standing behind Dracula when Frank fired his first shot at the Count. Frank fires two more shots, discards the gun, and charges through the dark swamp. Later, he turns himself into the authorities and takes the blame for Kay’s murder. Dr. Brewster visits Dark Oaks but finds Kay alive.

Dracula’s first rendezvous with Kay in the swamp is truly atmospheric. The Count’s coffin emerges from the watery depths like a submarine. A mist percolates out of it and turns into Dracula. Literally, Dracula levitates himself across the water to Kay. They drive off to the Justice of the Peace with a jealous Frank shadowing them. The special effects transformation where Dracula turnS his back to the camera and then turns into a flying bat is impressive for its day. It looks cool when the lady vampire dematerializes as a fog bank in the jail cell. The burning of Dracula's coffin as a way to destroy him was a new one on me. Mind you, every studio that has ever made a vampire movie tampers with the formula. The premise that a woman would flirt with Dracula to obtain immortality then double-cross him is interesting. Dracula cuckolded!? Indeed, "Son of Dracula" seems more like film noir than horror. Things get pretty complicated and these complications make "Son of Dracula" worth watching.

The gimmick of spelling Dracula's name backwards is clever. Anybody but Lon Chaney, Jr., would have made a serviceable Dracula. The guy looks like he ought to be stuffing baloney into his big hammy jowls instead of draining bodies of blood with his fangs. Incidentally, you never see his fangs, but then you never saw Lugosi's fangs or Carradine's fangs. The Production Code Administration probably ruled out such a toothy display on the grounds that it was too repellent. George Robinson's black & white photography is textbook excellent. He takes a two-dimensional format and gives it a three-dimensional look by bringing out the foreground from the background and the mid-ground.

Altogether, "Son of Dracula" surpasses “Dracula’s Daughter.” Nevertheless, you have to overlook the obvious lapse of continuity in “Phantom of the Opera” scenarist Eric Taylor’s screenplay that he derived from Siodmak’s story. Basically, the studio maintained no continuity for Dracula. Siodmak and Taylor make no references to previous "Dracula" movies. Universal Studios observed far greater continuity in the "Frankenstein" and "The Wolfman" franchises. Doesn't it say something when the second sequel to "Dracula" appeared eight years after “Dracula’s Daughter?” The latter in-name-only sequel without Lugosi and only a glimpse of the infamous Count in a coffin with a stake driven into his heart amounted to a letdown compared with the vintage original. The change in the character of Dracula is even more apparent in “Son of Dracula.” Perhaps they simply couldn't conjure up a reasonable excuse about how to keep reviving the count. Of course, Universal should have brought back Lugosi. Presumably, studio politics kept Lugosi from encoring in the role until "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." "Daughter's Daughter" and the remaining "Dracula" movies qualify as stand alone sequels. Remember, Countess Zaleska burned Dracula’s body in “Dracula’s Daughter.” In “Son of Dracula,” however, the vampire expert states the Dracula died in the 19th century.

FILM REVIEW OF ''DRACULA'S DAUGHTER"

The executives at Universal Studios didn't have long to mind the store after they produced the deplorable "Dracula's Daughter." Universal's principal debtor, Standard Capital Corporation, gave studio founder Carl Laemmle and his regime the boot after production wrapped on it. Laemmle and company should have gotten the boot far earlier for making such a lackluster sequel. Any sequel that doesn’t bring back the original protagonist—villainous or otherwise—can hardly be considered a genuine sequel. Not only does “Dracula’s Daughter” (*1/2 out of ****) refuse to reanimate Dracula, who had been impaled at the end of the original, but also Universal replaced their seminal male vampire with an entirely different protagonist—a female vampire! Unfortunately, Bela Lugosi didn't make an encore appearance; even though the Count’s supine corpse lies sprawled in his coffin at the police station. Not surprisingly, the corpse bears no resemblance to Lugosi. Indeed, Dracula plays only a peripheral part in “Dracula’s Daughter.” Conversely, Edward Van Sloan's Professor Von Helsing plays a major part. None of the other characters from the Tod Browning original participate in these new antics. Well, Renfield's body appears at the foot of the stairs in the opening sequence when the two London policemen discover him.

Presumably, since a supernatural horror movie like "Dracula" was so new to Hollywood, Universal Studios scenarists had no idea how to handle such a character. After all, “Daughter’s Daughter” came out in 1936, five years after “Dracula!” It makes you wonder why Universal waited so long to parlay a franchise out of the character. “Dracula’s Daughter” picks up where “Dracula” concluded in Carfax Abbey—a much cleaner Carfax Abbey--after Van Helsing had driven a stake into the Count as the bloodsucker lay in his coffin. Later Universal “Dracula” sequels, such as “House of Frankenstein,” would bring back Dracula even though a stake had been hammered through his body. Apparently, Universal didn't know how to handle its own merchandise. Consider if you will the inconsistency between Dracula’s corpse in “Dracula’s Daughter.” Dracula’s corporal body remains intact with the stake in him. In “House of Frankenstein” (1944), however, Dracula is a skeleton with a stake in his ribs. Clearly, the cinematic technology of 1944 enabled Universal to alter the rules that they had created for Dracula.

As Dracula's Daughter, the dark-haired Hungarian Countess, Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden of “Dodge City”), boasts the power to hypnotize the helpless. She accomplishes this feat with the use of an awesome ring. She is strong enough to put a victim into a coma with her hypnotic powers. Later, "Dracula's Daughter" waxes somewhat risqué, particularly when the eponymous heroine seduces a young girl from the streets. Lili (Nan Grey), who had planned to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, has consented to be a model for Zaleska to paint. A strain of forbidden lesbianism permeates this scene when the Countess convinces pretty young Lili lower the straps of her slip so she can admire her neck and shoulders. This is about as scary as this movie gets. Like Dracula, the Countess possesses her own sinister assistant, Sandor (Irving Pichel of "British Agent"), who carries out her orders. The faithful Sandor found Lili. Comparatively, Sandor resembles Renfield because he performs some of the leg work for Zaleska. Ultimately, Sandor hopes that the Countess will reward him for his service. He yearn to be her lover for an eternality. Unfortunately, for Sandor, the Countess has her eyes set on somebody else who has far greater power than Sandor.

Initially, the Countess claims she is struggling to break free of ‘the curse of Dracula.’ After all, she steals Dracula’s corpse from the police station and cremated it in the wilderness. Meanwhile, the bulk of the action at the outset concerns Von Helsing turning himself over to two London policemen for the murder of Count Dracula. “Dracula’s Daughter” wins brownie points for this loyalty to the original. The police send Von Helsing to Scotland Yard where he tries to justify the ‘service to humanity’ that he performed by murdering Count Dracula. Commissioner Sir Basil Humphrey (Gilbert Emery of “Scandal Sheet”) warns Von Helsing that a jury will either convict him to be hanged or sentence to a mental asylum for the criminally insane. Von Helsing solicits the help of a former student, psychologist Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger of "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet"), and defines vampirism and the methods of dealing with vampires to Garth. A skeptical Garth assures Von Helsing that the jury will hang him at the mention of such folklore. Eventually, the Countess seeks out Dr. Garth, but she runs into trouble with Garth's jealous secretary Janet Blair (Marguerite Churchill of "Riders of the Purple Saga") who behaves like a comedian from a screwball comedy. Janet and the Countess clash from the get-go, and Janet does everything in her power to see the Countess doesn't get any time to be alone with Garth.

B-western director Lambert Hillyer replaced A. Edward Sutherland as director after several delays plagued the production. Hillyer helmed 161 films during his 32 year career as a director. Aside from “Dracula’s Daughter,” Hillyer is best known for his 1943 serial “Batman,” the first appearance of the DC Comics Caped Crusader on the big screen. Hillyer maintains forward momentum and the action never bogs down in complications. Mind you, George Robinson's glorious black and white lensing creates considerable atmosphere. For the record, Robinson went on to photograph the sequel to "Dracula's Daughter," "Son of Dracula" (1943) with Lon Chaney cast as the immortal count! Nevertheless, despite the first-rate photography, little that is spooky occurs this half-baked sequel.Hillyer and "Frankenstein" scenarist Garrett Ford try to whip up some fury in the last ten minutes as the Countess abducts Dr. Garth's girlfriend Janet and flies back to Transylvania with her as her hostage. A desperate Garth follows hot on their heels and following just as hot on Garth’s heels are Von Helsing and Humphrey. Despite some atmospheric moments, the eponymous heroine generates none of the chills that Lugosi conveyed. Moreover, despite her Hungarian origins, the Countess speaks English without an accent. “Dracula’s Daughter” would have qualified as an okay vampire yarn outside the “Dracula” franchise, but it is a disappointing “Dracula” sequel.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE MECHANIC" (2011)

Anybody who saw British director Michael Winner's top-notch 1972 killer-thriller "The Mechanic" with Charles Bronson cast as a stoic, steely-eyed assassin who makes murder look like an accident knows no remake could ever do it justice. Mind you, Jason Statham makes "Con-Air" director Simon West's rehash of this classic action epic tolerable. Statham possesses an iconic presence that the cinema has been grooming since he made his debut in writer & director Guy Ritchie's outstanding crime opus "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in 1998. French producer Luc Besson catapulted the actor to widespread prominence with larger-than-life "The Transporter" franchise. Meantime, if the best action movies must top each other, then "The Mechanic" sends Statham stumbling. Although it occurs in a believable physical environment, "The Mechanic" (** out of ****) is just too tame and low yield to be more than average. You don't see Statham perform any stunts here that he hasn't done far better in either his "Transporter" trilogy or his outlandish "Crank" movies. Credit Simon West for maintaining the momentum throughout this contemporary actioneer. Nevertheless, the surprises, complications, and villains induce yawns more often than alarms. As R-rated thrillers go, "The Mechanic" seems incredibly subdued compared with genuine R-rated exercises in blood, gore and murder like the recent crime epic "The Punisher." “16 Blocks" scenarist Richard Wenk has changed substantially the content and context of the original in his update. Lewis John Carlino, who penned the original, shares screen credit with Wenk but it is difficult to determine if more than the Carlino basics were retained. A straight scene-for-scene retelling of the original "Mechanic" would have been less-than-inspired but more than adequate. Apparently, West and Wenk wanted to improve on the original and thus dispense with everything that made it memorable. Unlike the grim 1972 ending, the "Mechanic" remake provides boasts an upbeat ending. Furthermore, this revenge melodrama provides more deception that makes our hero appear somewhat stupid when you think about it because the villains take advantage of him in a way that would never have occurred in the Bronson classic. Moreover, unlike Bronson and co-star Jan-Michael Vincent, Statham and Ben Foster kindle little charisma as mentor and apprentice.

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham of “The Expendables”) is a reclusive killer who performs hits for a mysterious corporation. He is the best in the business, and the first scene demonstrates his expertise. Bishop penetrates the premises of a Colombian drug lord. Scores of heavily armed brutes patrol the place. Nevertheless, our protagonist kills the drug lord right under their collective noses. Moreover, Bishop makes it appear as if drug lord drowned. This is probably as slick as “The Mechanic” remake gets, and our anti-heroic hero makes good his escape by swimming away under the dead drug dealer. The guards think nothing unusual as they watch their wiry boss perform a slow crawl across the pool. The next thing they know is their boss has curled up dead in the water. They sound the alarm, but Bishop is far away. Bishop meets his mentor, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland of “The Eagle Has Landed”), who rolls around in a wheelchair. Harry brings Arthur a package of greenbacks as payment. Harry and he have a history, and Harry is the closest to a friend that Arthur has. When Arthur isn’t knocking off people, he listens to vinyl Schubert recordings on a turntable, tinkers with his fashionable Jaguar, and checks his e-mail on his Apple. Occasionally, he goes out for a drink and enjoys the company of a well-paid prostitute. Incidentally, Arthur lives in a sumptuous residence in a remote bayou outside of New Orleans. Life for Arthur, as far as everything goes, couldn’t be better until he learns that Harry has been selling out his colleagues to the tune of $50 million. Harry’s partner, Dean (Tony Goldwyn of “Ghost”), contacts Arthur and shows him a sheaf of gory photos.

Naturally, Arthur has to think this contract over before he accepts it. A life-long friend, Harry has been there for him. Harry loves Arthur like a son. Harry has a son, Steve (Ben Foster of “3:10 to Yuma”), but he cannot stand his son and considers him a complete waste of time. Anyway, Arthur decides to perform the hit, if for no other reason than Harry will suffer less. Of course, Arthur makes Harry’s death look like a carjacking. Eventually, Steve drifts into the picture and the only thing on his mind is revenge. Arthur intervenes to keep Steve from killing an innocent criminal and decides to train him as a hit man. Dean doesn’t think that this is one of Arthur’s better ideas, but he lets him do it. Arthur teaches Steve the rules of killing, but Steve isn’t as cautious and careful. Rather than kill a child molesting thug without fanfare, Steve decides to beat the man to death. Steve survives, but he looks like he ran into a bull dozer. As Steve learns more and more, he moves in with Arthur. One day Steve discovers his father’s nickel-plated automatic pistol in Arthur’s storage tubs and plots his mentor’s demise. Before he can carry out the hit, Arthur and he must leave for Chicago to murder a religious cult figure with a controversial background. Indeed, nothing goes right for them and they escape by the skin of their teeth.

Director Simon West doesn’t rely as heavily on high tech gadgetry. He keeps most of violence pretty down to earth. The shoot-out scenes are staged without excessive blood and gore, and West lets nothing get in the fairly straight-f0rward storyline. West and Wenk do insert an occasional surprise. The best concerns cramming a teenage girl’s fingers down a garbage disposal in a sink. Not surprisingly, Arthur Bishop comes off looking immaculate compared with his murderous colleagues as well as the unholy scum of the earth that he receives orders to terminate with extreme prejudice. For the record, the Charles Bronson character in the original worked for the Italian mafia and his father had been a top mob boss. No traces of the mafia exist in the remake. Unfortunately, “The Mechanic” is primarily a nuts and bolts melodrama with little to distinguish it outside of Jason Statham’s tight-lipped performance and Ben Foster’s maniacal energy as a wannabe killer.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE GREEN HORNET'' (2011)

“The Green Hornet” (***1/2 out of ****) isn't just another jaded crime fighter movie. Those dreadful movies include “The Shadow” (1994), “The Phantom” (1996), and “The Spirit” (2008). Actually, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Michel Gondry and co-scenarists Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have done a commendable job with their revival of this long dormant franchise. This cinematic reboot remains largely faithful to “The Green Hornet” radio series of the 1930s. Nevertheless, Rogen and Goldberg have taken marginal liberties with their adaptation. Our misunderstood protagonist endures an abusive father and fritters away his life as a party animal until he awakens to his true potential. The cars that our heroes cruise around in pay tribute to the 1966 ABC-TV series more than the two 1940s era cliffhanger serials, "The Green Hornet" (1940) with Gordon Jones and "The Green Hornet Strikes Again" (1940) with Warren Hull. Although the radio series occurred in Chicago, the film takes place in Los Angeles where the Reid family owned newspaper "The Daily Sentinel" is published. Meantime, the people who made the new “Green Hornet” ridicule the clichés and conventions of the crime fighter film genre and refrain from making the action appear hopelessly outlandish. Not only does the film examine the essence of villainy, but it also insists that wardrobe does not a villain make. Basically, “The Green Hornet” unfolds as an origins epic. Gondry and his writers ensure that the protagonists make a realistic transition from ordinary to extraordinary. Our heroes spend at least half of the action battling each other over their respective roles as hero and sidekick when they aren’t clashing with a lethal villain who will stop at nothing to ice them. 

“The Green Hornet” opens as young Brett Reid is escorted to his father’s newspaper office at “The Daily Sentinel.” James Reid (Tom Wilkinson of “Rush Hour”) berates his elementary school age son for being expelled for fighting. Sure, Brett’s father understands life is tough for his son. After all, Brett has no mother. Brett argues he was trying to thwart some bullies. James tears the head off his son’s superhero action figure and trashes it. Brett never forgives him for this act of cruelty. Twenty years elapse, and Brett turns into a no-holds-barred, thrill-seeking party animal until his father drops dead from an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Of course, there is more here than meets the eye. Anyway, public officials flock to James’ funeral and erect a statue in his honor. 

Meanwhile, Brett still smolders with resentment toward his father. Along the way, Brett has grown accustomed to his morning coffee. When he discovers his coffee doesn’t taste as delicious anymore, he starts screaming and learns that he fired the man who made it. Brett is surprised when he meets Kato (Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou) and the two guys bond. Kato is a chauffeur/inventor. He maintained James Reid's fleet of automobiles. Moreover, he rebuilt James’ cars and incorporated bullet-proof glass in the windshields and armored plated the vehicles against gunfire. Neither really liked Reid. Brett convinces Kato to join him for a late night prank. Brett decapitates his father’s statue. As he is lugging the head away, our protagonist tries to intervene when thugs attack an innocent couple. Kato arrives in the nick of time to save Brett and demonstrate his superb martial arts skills. A surveillance camera captures Brett stealing the statue head, and he appropriates this opportunity to introduce Los Angeles to its newest nemesis.

Chudnofsky (Oscar winner Christopher Waltz of “Inglourious Basterds”) is the most dangerous criminal in Los Angeles. You either join Chudnofsky or die. An ambitious crystal meth dealer, Danny Cleere (James Franco of “Spider-Man”), berates Chudnofsky for his old-school apparel and advises him to retire. Not surprisingly, Chudnofsky wipes out Cleere and company with a devastating double-barreled automatic pistol. Meantime, Brett uses “The Daily Sentinel” to propel his mysterious alter-ego to heights of notoriety. Unfortunately, Brett realizes almost too late that he doesn’t have a clue about fighting crime. He relies on his savvy newspaper secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz of “Knight and Day”), who has a college degree in journalism and criminology. As he watches the Green Hornet’s ascent to prominence, Chudnofsky calls for a meeting. The first encounter between Chudnofsky and the Hornet is pretty spectacular. Meantime, when Brett isn’t matching wits with Chudnofsky, he tangles with District Attorney Scanlon ( David Harbour of “Quantum of Solace”) who wants him to halt his news coverage about escalating crime. Scanlon is campaigning for re-election, and “The Daily Sentinel” is undermining his claims that Los Angeles crime is under control.

As a crime fighter, “The Green Hornet” resembles "Batman" and Bruce Wayne. James Reid was a newspaper tycoon, and Brett appropriates his father’s millions to pay for his exotic Green Hornet regalia and hardware. At the same time, Brett is like Zorro because he dons his emerald mask when he isn’t at the office. Of course, the chief difference between “The Green Hornet” and most crime fighters is that he behaves like a villain so criminals cannot take advantage of his virtue. In a sense, the Green Hornet emerges as an anti-heroic hero who fights for justice. Rogen and Goldberg never miss a moment to mock the crime fighter formula. What makes “The Green Hornet” doubly entertaining is that our heroes must learn the ropes of crime fighting as they are dodging lead. As they learn from their stupid mistakes, they acquire greater polish. Half of their success comes from ‘the Black Beauty.' Kato has tricked out a jet-black Chrysler Imperial so it amounts to a rolling arsenal with hood-mounted machine guns, a flame thrower, and rockets.

For the record, George W. Trendle and Fran Striker created “The Green Hornet” on January 31, 1936, at Detroit radio station WXYZ-AM. Comparatively, artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger created “Batman” about three years later in 1939. Seth Rogen makes a sympathetic hero and Christopher Waltz is a terrific villain. Altogether, “The Green Hornet” qualifies as an above-average reboot of a classic crime fighter with a stimulating car chase and some memorable confrontations.

FILM REVIEW OF ''COUNTRY STRONG" (2011)

Oscar winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow of “Shakespeare in Love” gives an electrifying performance as a country music superstar in “The Greatest” writer & director Shana Feste’s “Country Strong” (**** out of ****), an earnest tabloid tearjerker about a troubled country crooner in decline. Actually, Feste’s film owes a great deal to the venerable Hollywood soaper “A Star Is Born” that charted the fall of a superstar and the rise of a talented newcomer. Ironically, Feste has said that she drew on the travails that Britney Spears endured when her career took a downward spiral. Mind you, all country music yarns about warblers basically conform to a familiar storyline. You know that “Country Strong” is going to be about the headlines and the heartaches that a vocalist wallows in when either he or she tries to cleanse their shattered souls with booze, pills, and extramarital affairs. Feste’s superior screenplay with sympathetic characters and surprises galore as well as top-notch thesping by an all-around brilliant ensemble cast make the formulaic subject matter far better than you can ever imagine. You don’t have to groove country tunes to wade into this melodrama ripe with interesting characters and raw predicaments. Paltrow’s offbeat casting is a bonus and she dominates the action even though she is often out of the limelight with real-life country singer Tim McGraw playing her husband. Anybody who loved “Walk the Line,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “Nashville,” “Sweet Dreams,” and “Crazy Heart” will find this 117-minute, PG-13 pseudo biographical drama as musically rewarding as it is psychologically riveting.

Grammy winning country music sensation Kelly Cantor (Gwyneth Paltrow) is in rehab when “Country Strong” begins. A year before the pregnant Cantor performed on stage in Dallas and tripped over a cable. She plunged into the audience and suffered a miscarriage. Later, the authorities arrested her because she had been drunk when she had her tragic accident. While in rehab, our recovering alcoholic meets a talented young singer Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund of “Georgia Rule”) who dreams of pursuing a career in country music. Beau prefers to play honky-tonk bars where people drink and listen to his tunes rather than tour. Nevertheless, he gets to meet Kelly while she is in rehab, and they have an affair. Before Kelly is fully prepared to leave rehab, her career manager/husband James Canter (Tim McGraw of “The Blind Side”) secures her early release. Symbolically, Kelly totes around an orphan baby quail in a tiny wooden box that she has been nursing back to health. Principally, James wants to get Kelly back in the spotlight on stage before she is written off as a ‘has been.’ He has lined up a three city tour: Austin, Houston, and finally Dallas. Beau doesn’t think that James’ idea is a good one. Naturally, Kelly is ready, willing, and eager. One of the conditions that she decides on before they leave rehab is that Beau accompanies them on tour. Of course, James suspects something is going on between Beau and his wife. James and Kelly aren’t the ideal couple since she lost his baby in an alcohol fueled frenzy on stage. As if to counteract his wife’s demand, James finds a beautiful young singer, Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester of “Date Night”), to open for Kelly. Kelly warns Chiles to stay away from her husband. Meanwhile, Beau pokes fun at Chiles’ clean-scrubbed image as a beauty pageant queen with school teacher parents.

Although Beau and Kelly make out behind James’ back, you know that Beau and Chiles are intractably drawn to each other because they are so antagonistic when they see each other. Beau’s prediction that James took Kelly out of rehab too early comes true when she cannot make her first stage appearance. Kelly’s publicist claims that a bad case of food poisoning kept the superstar from performing at her Austin comeback concert. Indeed, things grow progressively worse for our heroine. She blows her stack when James gives a song that Kelly wanted to record to young Chiles. While they are touring Texas, Beau finds himself attracted to Chiles and he tells Kelly that he doesn’t like having her behind James’ back. Despite her multitude of problems, Kelly rallies when she appears in concert in Dallas where she took a dive a year ago. Eventually, Kelly mends fences with poor Chiles and gives her a laundry list of suggestions about life, love, and performing on stage. Moreover, the sagacious Kelly sees right through Chiles’ squeaky clean image. Never lie to your fans, the two-faced Kelly advises Chiles.

Writer & director Shana Feste does a superlative job orchestrating her characters. Just when you think that you have a character pigeonholed, the character performs an about-face that catches you off-guard. Perhaps the most ironic element of “Country Strong” is Tim McGraw’s turn as the heroine’s music manager. You’d think that McGraw would have taken the plum role that Garrett Hedlund landed, but it is McGraw’s offbeat casting, like Paltrow’s, that gives “Country Strong” its strength. Incidentally, Paltrow warbles her own tunes. Meantime, Leighton Meester registers an excellent performance and proves that her insecure character is far from the shallow princess that she appears to be from the outset. Although this $15-million movie takes place in Texas, Feste and company lensed it primarily in Tennessee. “Country Strong" unspools like a series of memorable high notes.