Happy Alcoholloween everyone! Clint and Jared (along with returning guest Craig) polish off Horror Octorbor with their final double feature of a Universal classic monster movie and its modern counterpart!
This time, we delve into the one that started it all: 1931’s Dracula, starring the inimitable Bela Lugosi as the titular vampire, whose thirst for blood leads him to seek out a life in London. Then, we sink our teeth into 1992’s bold (if flawed) Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman as the shape shifting Dracula (now literally Vlad the Impaler, complete with tragic girlfriend backstory).
In this episode, we talk about the origins of the vampire mythos, Keanu Reeves’ infamously bad performance, Anthony Hopkins’ surprisingly great performance, and the “Spanish” version of Dracula that was filmed at the same time. It’s all great stuff, so sit down and enjoy your spooky holiday with our signature custom cocktail and drinking game
This week on Alcohollywood, we (along with guest Max) unwrap the secrets of the 1933 James Whale classic The Invisible Man and the 2000 Paul Verhoeven slasher Hollow Man! Two wildly different tales of mad scientists who discover invisibility, the Universal classic follows Claude Rains as a sadistic chemist who goes on a murder spree in a 19th century village. Meanwhile, Hollow Man follows Kevin Bacon as an egotistical pervert who uses his powers to terrorize his hot neighbors in a SyFy Original Movie laboratory.
The 30s film earns its classic status through tremendous performances, ahead of its time effects and a surprising amount of humanity. However, Hollow Man’s artificiality and flat characters make it a disappointing survival horror movie. No matter what you think about these flicks, check out our drinking rules and custom cocktail!
This week on Alcohollywood, Brockett from the Biggest Fan Podcast joins us for this latest installment of Horror Octorbor, where we pair classic Universal monster movies with a modern adaptation! This time around, we get wrapped up in the 1932 Boris Karloff classic The Mummy and the 1999 Stephen Sommers-directed action-comedy The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser as Indiana Jones-lite Rick O’Connell! These two movies have wildly different tones. Whereas the Karloff Mummy is a more sedate, dramatic and suspenseful love story, Fraser’s Mummy trades tension for wry charm and thrilling, fast-paced action sequences. They’re two great flavors that go great together, along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules – check ‘em out!
The full moon is out, and this week on Alcohollywood we’re scaring up some strange (along with guest Jesse) for Week 2 of this year’s Horror Octorbor! This week, we’re looking at the 1941 Universal classic The Wolf Man, starring Lon Cheney Jr., and the 2010 Joe Johnston reimagining The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro!
While the 1940s movie has quite a bit to love (fun performances, great makeup and prosthetics for the time), Johnston’s flick suffers from incredibly flat performances (especially from Del Toro and Emily Blunt), dim cinematography, and a tone that goes all over the place – evidence of the film’s troubled production history.
Either way, it’s a howling good time, especially with our drinking rules and custom cocktail below – also check out our episode!
Happy hauntings, listeners – it’s Horror Octorbor once again at Alcohollywood! This year, we’re doing something a little different: taking the major Universal monster movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood and comparing them to a modern adaptation/reimagining and seeing how they stack up. We’re starting out this week with everyone’s favorite stitched-up modern Prometheus, Frankenstein – along with guest Nathan of The Right Brain Project, we resurrect both the 1931 James Whale classic (starring Boris Karloff) and the melodramatic, big-budget costume drama Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, directed by and starring Thor’s Kenneth Branagh (and Robert De Niro as the creature)! Take a listen to the episode to find out what we thought, and be sure to make our drink and follow our rules!