THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE is one of my favorite films.  Glad you got to enjoy it!

I think the idea of a feud or innate acrimony between vampires and werewolves was made up by the author of the Twilight books.  It might have been something that came up in modern pulp vampire and werewolf fiction such as the seemingly interminable books by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and others.  I haven't read any of that, so I don't know.

The pre-Victorian lore about vampires, werewolves, Witches etc. was to say the least rather different from modern media images.  You can read books by S. Baring-Gould, the "Reverend" Montague Summers (who was quite a character in his own right), Claude Lecouteux (an excellent modern researcher of old lore) and others, if curious.

Best,  G.

I am not on the mailing list for the Seaview Terrace event, but I've seen references to fans gathering there on the Book of Face. I thought it had happened last weekend but the references have been really vague so I honestly do not know.

G.

For anyone who is curious, here is the "Sweet Transvestite" number from the new version, featuring Laverne Cox:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_mxUuj_jw

The other big production numbers all appear to be up on Youtube as well.  I played "Time Warp" and enjoyed having a look at Reeve Carney's interpretation of Riff Raff.

It is all very energetic but something about it just does not work for me... opinions I have seen are divided between giving it an A for effort and treating it as a tired disaster zone.

G.

Fans, I found two of the Universal "complete legacy" classic monster DVD sets in my local Newbury Comics (a media shop in the Boston area) marked down--they are used, but appear to play fine.  And so, I am watching Frankenstein vs. the Wolfman (from around 1943).  I don't remember ever seeing this one before, apart from a bit when I came into it towards the end of a TV broadcast back around 20 years ago.

Let's just say that the opening sequence, set in the Talbot family mausoleum, proved to have a very familiar look and feel to it.  You might be surprised.  I know I was.

DS definitely stole... er, borrowed... from the best.

For fans of the Universal Sherlock Holmes films (with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce), this one includes a very Inspector Lestrade type role for actor Dennis Hoey.

G.

That's a very cool article, MB.  Thanks!  I don't recall having read that before.

G.

KLS and Lara did promos for the Festivals that were aired on the Sci Fi channel during the episodes.  I didn't watch very often but when I did see the broadcasts, I remember those commercials coming up a few times.

G.

Thanks for posting these again, MB.  Really lovely to see.

What with this sequence and the seance, I keep asking myself why DC and Sam chose to cut some of the most atmospheric, effective moments of the movie.  Of course they had to do the work of editing out nearly half an hour, as mandated by the evil suits of MGM, in the space of a few hours...

G.

And here's the link to a blurb about TCM's horror-heavy October schedule:

http://www.insidethemagic.net/2016/10/tcm-to-put-the-classic-back-in-horror-this-october-a-virtual-whos-who-in-boo/

Best,

G.