Favorite films
Don’t forget to select your favorite films!
Don’t forget to select your favorite films!
I'm never NOT going to be down for a grimy, class-conscious spacefaring adventure, so of course this was an absolute treat. Unsubtle as a brick through a window, and kind of prone to over-explaining itself (I could've done fine without basically any of the narration), but when a narrative is put together this well I don't mind being clubbed over the head with it a bit. Full of Weird Little Guys and boasting two of Robert Pattinson's most unhinged performances…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
By and large, a banger of a retelling, blending together the best aspects of the original novel and the 1922 film into an absolute metal album of a movie, dripping with tension and gothic atmosphere throughout. Immaculately cast (shout-outs especially to Nicholas Hoult as a desperately earnest Thomas Hutter, and Willem Dafoe capturing the essence of how goddamn weird the original book Van Helsing is).
Best of all, gives us a version of the Count with all the suave Bela…
A masterpiece, honestly. Despite (and/or because of) the spare narrative setup and self-aware, slightly mannered dialogue, the whole thing just sings with sensuality and emotion from start to finish. Genuinely astonishing it came out in 1985; it feels barely a step removed from, say, Carol.