After Death takes her love, a young woman manages to convince him to give her an opportunity to bring her fiance back to life.

Although it drags a bit in the beginning and in my opinion is not Fritz Lang's best, this was actually a very good film. The story is a little predictable at times and due to the way it is told, there are some questionable moments involving the stereotyping of multiple cultures. The way it was filmed though was amazing. The tinting was beautiful and fit perfectly. I also feel like I could easily fangirl over how Lang uses stairs in not just Destiny, but all of his films. They are never just stairs and instead are used to help portray the mood of the moment in the movie (from ominous to sad or even peaceful). During the early parts that dragged, I found myself feeling a little disappointed but by the end, I was almost in tears at how powerful some of the scenes and actions were. This is definitely a must-watch for anyone who loves cinema.

Rating: 8/10
Buy/Watch: Amazon, Amazon Video, Vudu, Youtube, iTunes

Ruxandra learned everything she knows while growing up in a convent. Training to be the perfect nobleman’s wife, she relishes the prospect of a simple life. But everything changes when her father, Vlad Dracula, retrieves her on her eighteenth birthday. Securing her a marriage is the last thing he has in mind…(Goodreads)

*Please note that there are some minor spoilers in this review.*

After spending ten years at a convent, Princess Ruxandara is finally reunited with her father, Lord Vlad Dracula. However, the reason behind this reunion is quickly revealed to not be what the Princess expected. Her father hopes to sacrifice her to a demon in exchange for more power. Lord Dracula's plans go awry though, and Ruxandra finds herself changed, with horrifying consequences.
The majority of Princess Dracula is spent detailing the struggles the young woman must now face as part of her transition from royalty to living dead. We accompany her while she learns to hunt (which took up way too much of the book if you ask me) and easily predict the doomed fates of those she comes into contact with. Ultimately, as her failure to contain control over her new primal instinct grows and she experiences a disastrous (and overly dramatic) romance, Ruxandra is left completely hopeless. The book ends by doing a bit of a time jump to set up the second installment of the series by introducing someone I expect will be very important, Elizabeth Bathory.
For the most part, this was an enjoyable read. However, the hunting scenes had so much detail, to the point of being a little too much for me personally. There would be a little development in the story...and then it would go back to hunting. I get it...she needs to feed, but the amount of time spent on just this aspect of the story makes it start to feel like filler. I was also a little in shock at how incredibly cheesy the sex scene was. It was like I put down Princess Dracula and was suddenly reading a Harlequin romance from the 80's or 90's. One line in particular, "She didn't care about being a lady anymore.", somehow left me speechless while laughing hysterically in my head at the same time. Seeing as we start in book one with Vlad Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) and book two will have Elizabeth Bathory, it seems that each book will see Ruxandra's interactions with historical figures connected to the vampire mythology.

Rating: 3/5
Buy: Amazon

Many went into this film thinking it was a true documentary.

A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar. (IMDB)

You would think that since the villains of this movie are neo-Nazis, it would be easy to cheer on whoever was going up against them. However, it is hard to find an ounce of empathy for the pretentious and whiny punk band. It seems that the Jeremy Saulnier was under the impression that as long as the bad guys were bad enough, he would not have to worry about developing the protagonists. So I was left not liking the neo-Nazi gang and not giving a crap what happened to the little punk band. That left me very bored and a little disappointed. More time to actually get to know the band would have helped with this problem. The highlight of the film is when the band opens their set (at a place known as a hangout for neo-Nazis) with a song that has them yelling "fuck Nazi scum". The rest is a borefest with the occasional moment of gore that came off as trying too hard to be shocking.

Rating: 3/10
Buy/Watch: Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Youtube, GooglePlay

Gary, who has just married Samantha, the woman of his dreams, discovers that her six-year-old son may be the Antichrist. (IMDB)

This would be the perfect film to watch on a family movie night during October if it were not for all of the explicit language. If you have older kids and do not mind them hearing some f-bombs (and some other words) then I would say go for it. Although not a very rewatchable movie, it still manages to be entertaining. It is full of sarcastic and dark humor and features tons of references to classic horror films such as The Omen (I mean...this is kinda obvious) and Rosemary's Baby.

Rating: 6/10
Watch: Netflix

A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun. (IMDB)

As the title of the film states, the city is dark...and grungy. The story is one that would be told better a year later in The Matrix and quite a bit of the imagery reminded me of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. I found myself incredibly bored while watching it and ecstatic when it was finally over.

Rating: 5/10
Buy/Watch: Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Youtube, Vudu

Midnight is a safe haven for those who are different, but with the presence of outsiders, the residents band together and form a strong and unlikely family. (IMDB)

This show has me very torn. Individually, without much thinking, the characters all are very interesting. However, when you actually start thinking about things, they quickly become problematic to the point where it has me questioning if I will watch additional seasons.

Quick note: I have not read the books, and as of right now, I have zero intention of doing so.

This show has all of the elements of the kind of show that becomes insanely popular on Tumblr, so when I noticed a lack of attention, I decided to figure out why it did not seem to be talked about much.  So, problem number one? The lead character, Manfred Bernardo (played by François Arnaud), is repeatedly described as a "gypsy". This word is known as a racial slur to the Romani and is very much like having a black character frequently described using the N-word. This issue was the base of the majority of the complaints about the show that I found. At no point during season one is it pointed out that this slur...is, in fact, a slur. I also noticed quite a bit of anger and hurt when it was revealed that Chuy is half-demon. (Chuy is also a gay Latino.)
Things that really annoyed me, outside of all of the issues above, included the relationship between Bobo and Fiji and the relationship between Olivia and Lem. At the beginning of the show, Fiji is Bobo's best friend who happens to be in love with him. Bobo is completely oblivious to this fact until...suddenly he has feelings for Fiji...after his fiancee has been murdered. He acts as if he is head over heels in love with her and it happens far too fast. As for Olivia and Lem, they have an interesting relationship that involves Olivia using Lem so she doesn't have to deal with fear (If you are a fan of the Nevernight Chronicles, this would be like Mia having a romantic relationship with Mr. Kindly). As things progress and demons are closer to taking over, Lem becomes an abusive asshole (but its totally okay, because Hell was basically opening right? He couldn't control himself.) that manages to convince Olivia to marry him even though he beat the shit out of her because she did not want to be turned into a vampire like him.

Quite honestly, the more I think about it, the more I wonder why I watched this and how I was entertained at all.

Rating: 4/10