This is a first time watch for me of a British based modern day vampire romance that seems to have been largely forgotten since its release 21 years ago. I was turned onto it by the author Kim Newman whose annotations in his novel Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron reveals he's not the first person to depict Edgar Allen Poe as one of the undead, citing this film, in which Poe is played by Kenneth Cranham, as an example…

It's faithful to Stoker in that we get to see Whitby, but that is largely where the honouring of the source material ends in this 1979 version as many of the novel's characters are either excised altogether or ill served. This version's true allegiance is to the original Deane and Balderston staging that made the Hungarian matinee idol Bela Lugosi a star and would subsequently give us Browning's version for Universal which saw Lugosi repeat the role and create a…

My word.

What an amazing film.

Firstly if you're a nerd for the aesthetics of film, you'll love it. The 70s setting, the Giallo references are all perfect that you don't think of it as a present day film set in the 70s, this could be a lost forgotten 70s film.

Secondly, if you're a nerd for the mechanics of film, the technology, you'll REALLY love it.

I belong in the former camp really but this film has really given…

I used to read quite a bit of 2000 AD as a kid back in the late 80s and early 90s, so imagine my crushing disappointment when as a 15 year old I paid good (pocket) money to see the previous big screen adaptation starring Sly Stallone. What a load of shite! Mind, given the only alternative at the time was Casper, the disappointment was somewhat tempered.

It is with some hesitancy therefore that I approached Dredd, though not that…