Todd’s Serial Blog

Another Halloween is upon us and this year I have decided to once again highlight horror oriented films that would appeal to a serial fan.  First up is a little seen but fun film based on an Italian comic book.  Dumped in a few theaters and pulled out just as quickly, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night ; with it’s mixture of Buffy the Vampire Slayer humor and The Dresden Files style hero will undoubtedly grow into a popular cult film on DVD and Blu-Ray.

The plot involves paranormal PI Dylan Dog called in to investigate a murder that may have been committed by a werewolf.  Investigating the crime reveals that the murder was committed to obtain an artifact that could shift the long held balance of power between the werewolf and vampire families, which could lead to war.  While Dylan works to prevent this he also has to come to terms with his past actions and help his best friend Marcus adjust to being a newly bitten zombie.  When a new unknown and apparently unstoppable monster appears on the scene, Dylan starts to wonder if the impending war is a cover for something  much bigger and more sinister.

Dylan Dog is a fun movie that combines action, humor and horror into a hard boiled plot that contains all the classic archtypes, only here instead of gangsters we get vampires and werewolves, and Dylan’s best informant is a zombie who specializes in black market replacement parts for zombies.

Eschewing such traditional weapons as wooden stakes and crosses, Dylan prefers to  duke it out with werewolves wearing silver plated brass knuckles and dispatching vampires with wooden tipped bullets.  Even the big climax has Dylan going bare knuckle mano a monster with a resurrected demon.  What serial fan couldn’t root for a guy like that?

The film is stolen by Dylan’s sidekick Marcus, who is having a hard time adjusting to his new undead lifestyle.  Whether he is throwing a fit over having to eat worms to alleviate his desire for human flesh and then learning he can also eat hot dogs, to having to replace a missing arm with a gang banger’s because they are out of Caucasian in his size, Marcus is hilarious.  But in the best serial fashion, he is not a hindrance to the hero but a help, using his ripped off arm to knock an opponent out during a fight and swallowing his pride to attend a zombie support group to get Dylan some much needed information.

This film is well worth seeking out by a serial fan for a fun filled Halloween night.

Tags: Reviews //