Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Dudencrantz and Dogenstern


I was going to get all political tonight and talk about CBS and their decision to run a Superbowl ad from the Anti-LGBT group Focus On the Family, but when I ran across this item earlier today, I decided it had been a while since I talked about a movie I really need to see and went with it, instead (though tomorrow I'll probably go full rant on CBS's ass).

As you can probably imagine, I visit tons of movie sites every week. Some, more often than others. And as Genre Queen, I often visit Horror movie sites. About once every two weeks or so, I visit UHM (Upcoming Horror Movies), just to see what's on the Horror horizon. Today, I found a listing on UHM for a movie that pushed all my buttons at once.

My first experience as an Shakespearean actor was playing Claudius in a college production of Hamlet in 1983. The director, a brilliant but possibly insane man whom I adore (and who actually taught me how to use my voice to its best advantage), cast the principal roles in the Spring and worked with all of us throughout that Summer in preparation for a late Fall production. When classes resumed that Fall, he cast the remaining roles and I was introduced to our Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for the first time. Both of them were exchange students (one from England and one from Canada) and both of them were absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with one and later slept with the other (I'll never tell which is which), and both of them were with me when I got my ear pierced (it was the 80's, after all).

Not long after that rather amazing show, I saw Tom Stoppard's brilliant 1966 play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, in which Stoppard dissects Hamlet and skewers theatrical convention, all through the eyes of two of the play's most enigmatic, though relatively minor characters. It wasn't until 1990 that the movie was made, starring Gary Oldman, Tim Roth and Richard Dreyfus, and I immediately fell in love with the material again.

By now, you may well be asking yourself what any of this has to do with Horror movies. Well, just see the poster I've put up at the top of this post, and you will have your answer.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead is the story of a fellow who is hired to direct a rather unorthodox production of Hamlet. It turns out (to the joy of Marlowe conspiracy enthusiasts everywhere), that Shakespeare was not the author of Hamlet and it actually involves both the Holy Grail and... vampires! As ridiculous as it sounds, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead has all the earmarks of a fun, campy horror movie written and directed by someone (Jordan Galland) who knows his way around Elizabethan drama and Vampire lore. Take a look at the hilarious trailer and see if you don't agree:



UHM lists the movie as "Awaiting Release." I, for one, am waiting impatiently.

More, anon.
Prospero

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