The Blu Spot

The Film: The great Sir Christopher Lee became quite well-known for a number of roles he played throughout his prolific career, including Saruman in "The Lord of the Rings," Fu Manchu in five different films, and Lord Summerisle in the horror classic "The Wicker Man," though, of course, there are those who will forever remember him as one of the very best to take on the role of Count Dracula, a part he played a grand total of ten times over the course of 18 years, seven of wh

The Film: Back in 1998, an odd little romantic fantasy called "Practical Magic" was released. Based on the popular 1995 novel by Alice Hoffman, it boasted a star-studded cast, but for one reason or another, it failed to connect with critics, who heavily panned it, and audiences, who didn't exactly turn up in droves to see it, which lead to box office disappointment. However, like many films that aren't appreciated upon first release, it found new life on home video, growing i

The Film: Director Tim Burton, a filmmaker who has become quite synonymous with dark & macabre tales, has delivered a number of classics over the decades, including "Batman," "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "Sleepy Hollow," and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." However, despite his reputation for making somewhat dark movies, he has also given us a few lighter projects along the way like "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Ed Wood," and "Big Eyes." An entry in th

The Film: Five years ago, Warner Bros. attempted to reboot the "Mortal Kombat" film series with a new cast & creative team, the result of which was a rather misguided take on the material that got bogged down in training montages and seemed to forget that there was supposed to be a tournament involved. However, that only ended up being part of the film's problems as its release was delayed a few months due to COVID, eventually getting released when theaters were still struggl

The Film: Like most of the classic monsters of the '30s, "The Mummy" is one that's been done to death over the subsequent decades, with highlights including the original Boris Karloff classic (which is more of a melodrama than a horror film), the 1959 Hammer film with Sir Christopher Lee, the action-filled 1999 rendition with Brendan Fraser, and the 2017 outing with Tom Cruise, which was such a disaster that it killed an entire planned universe of films before it could even g

The Film: When it comes to the realm of horror-comedies, it's another one of those genre combos that can be very difficult to get right. Some filmmakers will somehow find a perfect balance between the two, while others will rely far more heavily on the humor side of the equation in order to bring out the laughs of a horrifying situation. Then there are those who simply let the absurdity of the situation speak for itself, which brings us to Kirill Sokolov's "They Will Kill You

The Film: George Stevens is often cited as being one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, an honor that is fully-justified by even the briefest glimpses at his remarkable body of work. With a filmography that boasts such classics as "A Place in the Sun," "Giant," "Gunga Din," "Shane," and "The Greatest Story Ever Told," it's not hard to see why he has such a revered reputation, with many of today's great filmmakers still singing his praises. Way back in 1984, a

The Film: When it comes to action megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger, there are many that primarily remember his incredible work from the '80s, which includes classics such as "The Terminator," "Commando," "The Running Man," and the "Conan" films. However, there's quite a lot to be said about his outstanding run in the '90s as well, where we got such films as "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (a masterpiece considered by many to be his best work), "True Lies," "Total Recall," and "Las

The Show: When "Game of Thrones" ended its brilliant run in 2019, fans anxiously awaited the next project that would be set within the same universe. A multitude of possibilities were announced, but the first one we got was "House of the Dragon," based on George R.R. Martin's novel "Fire & Blood," which explores the history of the Targaryen Dynasty. The results have been little mixed so far, with a fine first season and a rather sluggish second, but it shows strong potential

The Film: James Whale's 1935 classic "The Bride of Frankenstein" is considered by many to be one of the very best horror sequels in cinematic history. In fact, there are those that would even place it above Whale's original "Frankenstein" from 1931, so to attempt to do anything new with the material is already seen somewhat as treading on sacred ground. After Universal's plans for a "Dark Universe" of the classic monsters, which included a new retelling of the story, fell th