Creature Double Feature

Since I spent a good part of the last two weeks laid up because of a bruised tendon in my foot, I missed out on a high school play that M-- and H--, some girls from youth group had worked on. My wife and I decided to make it up to them by having them over for dinner and a movie. The movie thing can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth, because quite often the youth group will want to watch something that we wouldn't screen for teenagers, let alone watch ourselves (think American Pie); other times my wife and I will err on the side of discretion and pick a movie more appropriate to their brothers and sisters in elementary school (think Jonah -- a VeggieTales Movie). But I knew that wasn't going to be a problem this time as M-- is a horror fanatic rivaling even myself.

We ended up watching Dracula -- Prince of Darkness and The Masque of the Red Death. Dracula was a no-brainer because the girls knew Christopher Lee from LOTR and they love vampires, I have to say that although I normally would rate this film as one of my favorite Hammer Films, I found it to be a little slow-paced when viewed with a group. At least it picked up the pace a bit after the young couple escapes to the monastery and the ending on the cracking ice is one of the best conclusions in the whole Dracula series. I chose Masque of the Red Death because M-- had never seen any of the Corman/Poe pictures. I think that Masque is the best picture in the whole cycle. It took the girls a bit to work out that "the monster" they were looking for was the very human Vincent Price. (We also scared the heck out of M--'s grandmother who had driven them to town and stayed for dinner. The directors of the films would be proud -- she gasped or jumped at every single shock.)

The verdict? For teens that most likely think of a horror film as something featuring Jason, Michael or Freddy, they were suitably impressed with these movies made almost twenty-five years before they were born. We're planning another double feature soon when I hope to spring some Amicus or William Castle on them...

Young people enjoying Christopher Lee and Vincent Price movies! In these uncertain times, it kind of makes a guy have hope for the future...