AT THE LIBRARY

October 23, 2008

Chillers

The following audio/visual materials are available to library patrons and may be checked out from the main library.

I Am Legend
In this third film version of Richard Matheson’s eponymous book (the other two were The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and The Omega Man starring Charleton Heston), a terrible virus has spread across the planet and turned the human race into virtual vampires. Mankind's only hope for survival is scientist Robert Neville, the one person left unaffected by the epidemic. When he's not fighting for his life against the hordes of the infected, Neville searches for a cure to reverse the virus's effects—all the while battling his own doubt and despair as he spends every day alone but for his faithful hound, Sam.

The Mist
After a brutal thunderstorm pounds a small town leaving the residents with fallen trees, downed power lines, no electricity, and no phone service, they discover a malevolent mist hangs over their homes, killing anyone who remains outside. David Drayton and his young son are trapped in a grocery store along with a band of other survivors who have trouble making a stand against the deadly fog as they splinter into squabbling groups.

Meanwhile soldiers from a high security military installation are scuttling out of town. Hm-m-m.

The Mist is based on the story by Stephen King which allowed him to explore the theme of the thin veneer of civilization and how quickly it can crumble under stress.

Nosferatu is the seminal vampire movie: truly creepy and artful particularly considering that it is a silent film made in 1922 and so without the benefit of modern SFX. This flick was based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula without permission from Stoker or his estate and so was banned from America for a number of years.

Max Schreck (interestingly, schreck is the German word for fright or shock), by no means a handsome man to begin with, is both hideous and mesmerizing in the role of Count Orlok who seeks to move from the Carpathians to Wisborg, Sweden.

Accordingly, realtor Thomas Hutter leaves his wife, Ellen, and sets out for Orlok’s castle to close the deal. The locals are appalled to learn Hutter’s destination and advise him to stay in his room by night. In that room Hutter picks up a book on vampires whose advice he promptly dismisses.

Hutter meets Orlok whose bizarre appearance and behavior disturb him (like licking the blood from Hutter’s finger after he cuts himself). Nonetheless, Hutter is determined to make the sale.

Unfortunately, Orlok imprisons Hutter and takes off for Hutter’s home town along with several coffins filled with earth. Eventually, Hutter escapes and returns, ailing, to Ellen. He explains that Orlok is a vampire. Ellen does her research and, unlike Hutter, takes it to heart when she discovers how to destroy a vampire.

Don't expect a happy ending.

MULBERRY STREET
If you enjoy mutant movies, you will like Mulberry Street.

Diseased rats cause a change in anybody they bite turning the victims into cannibalistic zombies. The Manhattan subways shut down leaving the populace to get home in the dark...alone. With rats on the prowl.
Odd as it may seem, this is a character-driven film in which the City is as much a character as the six people holed up in an apartment building trying to survive the night as they fight off a zillion mutant predators.
Quirky ending to a unique movie.