In the world of internet
movie reviews there are none more infamous than Dr. Blood. The master of the
Blogger review site Dr Blood’s Video Vault, Dr Blood is known for being a hard
reviewer that does not let recent trends alter his opinion.
Also, the host of the podcast
The Bloody Podcast, Dr Blood goes no holds barred in his opinions on films and
the horror community.
Next to Eric Morse, Dr Blood
is known as a harsh critic of the horror community, the cliques, political
groups, and everything that has brought horror to the point where it gets less
respect in entertainment than porno.
It is Horror Bob’s Blog’s
pleasure to present this no hold barred interview with the man himself, Dr
Blood.
Horror Bob: Where did you get
your pen name, Dr Blood?
Dr Blood: From the British
horror movie “Doctor Blood's Coffin” (1961). I'd never seen it at the time and
assumed that it was a vampire movie. It turned out to be Frankenstein subgenre
movie, but I kept the name anyway because it's British like me.
Horror Bob: What inspired you
to start Dr Blood’s Video Vault?
Dr Blood: The facetious
answer would be “horror movies”. If I hadn't watched so many, I wouldn't have
started writing about them. Seriously though, it was the lure of money, sex and
fame.
Horror Bob: When did you
start reviewing films? Where?
Dr Blood: In the very early
'90s while I was still at University. I was one of the lucky few who had my own
computer (an Amstrad 1512 PC), so just for my own benefit, I started making a
database of horror movies that I'd seen. In 1994, I was offered my own column
in a vampire fanzine.
Horror Bob: Tell us a little
bit about your time at Horrornews.Net.
Dr Blood: I wrote half a
dozen movie reviews for them and then moved on. They used to have some crazy
rule about a having a minimum word count of 650 words, and most of the movies I
review can be summed up in one or two expletives.
Horror Bob: Who was your
favorite writer at Horrornews.Net?
Dr Blood: I don't remember
his name, but I'm sure it had “Necro” and “666” in it. I didn't read anything
on there regularly though.
Horror Bob: What is your
favorite era in horror?
Dr Blood: The 1970s. To be more precise the period from 1968-1981
contains 99% of my favourite horror movies ever.
Horror Bob: Which do you
prefer the Universal monsters or the Hammer films version of them?
Dr Blood: Hammer. Universal's
movies are too tame and dated due to the censorship by the Hays board or
whatever it was called. I also prefer my movies in colour.
Horror Bob: What is your
theory of why the Universal monsters died out?
Dr Blood: World War 2
happened. After people encountered the horrors of war and had their loved ones
returned to them in boxes or with bits missing, a bunch of former stage actors
in silly costumes wouldn't be very scary. Also, Universal had sequelled those
characters to death and people were bored with them.
Horror Bob: Which version of
Dracula by Universal do you find better the English version or Spanish that was
shot at the same time?
Dr Blood: The Spanish one. I
can't stand Bela Lugosi anyway, and Lupita Tovar makes Helen Chandler look very
plain.
Horror Bob: Of all the
Japanese giant monster films which is your personal favorite?
Dr Blood: The only ones I've
ever seen are the Godzilla movies where it's two guys dressed in costumes
fighting each other. I don't have a favourite because I don't like any of them.
Horror Bob: What is your
favorite ghost film? Why?
Dr Blood: It used to be “The
Haunting” (1963) but the Nell character irritates me. Having only watched
“Spectre” (2006) fairly recently, it's now a tie between that or “The
Orphanage” (2007) because I fancy Natalia Millan and Belen Rueda equally.
Horror Bob: What is your
favorite exorcism film? Why?
Dr Blood: “Constantine” (2005). It's just so good! Lots of action, Keanu Reeves is so damned cool, and Tilda Swinton is outstanding.
Horror Bob: Is there a “found
footage” film you find tolerable? Why?
Dr Blood: “[Rec]” (2007),
because it's Spanish, has a nice looking girl in it and it's kind of different.
Basically, it's “Demons 2” (1986) with handycams, but it's acceptable and it it
doesn't make me want to throw-up from motion sickness.
Horror Bob: Ulli Lommell,
genius or disgrace? Why?
Dr Blood: Disgrace. I've only
seen his two “Boogeyman” movies and I hated both of them. I can't imagine that
he's done anything better.
Horror Bob: Who is your
favorite horror director? And why?
Dr Blood: Robert Wise,
because he wasn't only a horror director and he brought his skills learned in
other genres with him.
Horror Bob: Who is your
favorite horror author?
Dr Blood: The late James
Herbert. I read everything he wrote as soon as it was published apart from the
very early novels which I read 4 years later. I started reading his books when
I was 8 years old.
Horror Bob: What is your
opinion on torture Porn?
Dr Blood: I love it! I can't
get enough of it! It still hasn't gone far enough to satisfy me, although I'm
sure it's already gone way too far for the censors.
Horror Bob: What is your
opinion on remakes?
Dr Blood: I like most of
them, but I don't love them or anything. I prefer the remakes of all the Asian horror
movies because I can't tell who is who in the originals. I don't care if that
sounds racist, it's just the truth. I can't even get my head round their names.
I also think that the “Night of the Demons” remake is the best remake ever! I
hate the original movies but I love that one!
Horror Bob: What makes for a
good horror film?
Dr Blood: Characterization,
scares, boobs, and blood. A good story and characters you can empathize with
are the most important parts otherwise there's no catharsis.
Horror Bob: Who is your all
time favorite horror host? Why?
Dr Blood: Elvira. Being
English, I've never actually seen her do her thing... but dem boobs!
Horror Bob: What is your
opinion on fan films? Why?
Dr Blood: They're great, just
so long as I never have to see any of them. Honestly, they are utter crap with
no talent and no production values. Plus they are unoriginal, unimaginative,
and best suited to someone's private home video collection rather than ever
seeing the light of day.
Horror Bob: What is your
opinion on fan fiction?
Dr Blood: Pretty much the
same as my opinion of fan films. I have no interest in it.
Horror Bob: Are fan scripts
really fan fiction? Why?
Dr Blood: They're the same,
yes. Unless it's somebody writing out a movie that they've just seen in their
own words. I'm not really sure what a fan script is. I assume they're all shit
though.
Horror Bob: Is there an indie
actress that you enjoy?
Dr Blood: No.
Horror Bob: What indie actor
do you like?
Dr Blood: I can't think of
one other than Bruce Campbell. I prefered him as Autolycus in “Xena: Warrior
Princess” though. Does Tim Thomerson count? I like him too.
Horror Bob: What is your
definition of “Scream Queen”?
Dr Blood: Fay Wray. Simple as
that.
Horror Bob: What is you
opinion of The Suicide Girls?
Dr Blood: Ugly, dirty,
skanky, wannabes. Not for me.
Horror Bob: It is well known
that you dislike Women in Horror and Comic Book Divas. What you’re your major
reasons for this dislike?
Dr Blood: Their hypocritical
use of feminism when it suits them really pisses me off. They throw out all the
buzzwords, but you know they don't believe in any of it any more than anyone
else. One minute they are playing the slut to sleaze their way into things
which they don't have the talent for, the next, when they aren't getting their
own way, they are playing the victim card to get attention. The truth is, women
aren't an “oppressed and exploited minority” in the horror industry. It's
probably the other way around in most cases. Men have a much more difficult
time getting anywhere than these women do.
Horror Bob: The Twisted
Twins, like or dislike? Talented or not?
Why?
Dr Blood: I'm indifferent to
them. I don't think they are very talented except at playing the system, but
they put so much effort into it that it also begs the question of whether or
not they would get anywhere if they didn't. I don't think either of them would
be successful based on innate talent so they've chosen to saturate social
networks and conventions with their presence to get known. I really don't know
much about them even so.
Horror Bob: What is your
opinion of horror conventions? Why?
Dr Blood: Overpriced,
rip-off, indoor yard sales full of sweaty, overweight, basement-dwelling
neckbeards, has-been actors selling their signatures, bootleg DVDs, and
attention seeking cosplayers who want to be in the movies. Why? Because I've
seen how conventions have changed since the days when they were really
swapmeets for the fans by the fans. Conventions have become a money-making
racket and are appropriately named as “cons”.
Horror Bob: What is it you
think is bringing down the horror community? Why?
Dr Blood: Women in Horror Month. Also, the “hobby horror”
crowd with their shitty no-budget camcorder movies have upset the applecart too.
Horror Bob: What do you think
of the concept of horror unity?
Dr Blood: It's never going to
happen. There are too many cliques., and there always have been. That's just
human nature and it won't change.
Horror Bob: How many cheese
burger sliders can you eat before passing out? An estimate.
Dr Blood: I don't know about
passing out, but I can probably only get through 5 out of a pack of 6 before
their blandness is more than I can tolerate. They're only little though. I
could probably eat 87 or so if they tasted of anything.
Well
that is it for this interview. Horror Bob's Blog would like to thank Dr Blood
for taking the time to answer our questions
As
always, Keep on Creepin'
