instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
hollywood has really done the whole dracula thing to death ( no pun intended - honest ) .
it 's a shame , too , because the good count was probably the most frightening out the old b - movie monsters .
i mean , come on .
are people really going to get that scared over a big green guy named frankenstein that moves at a speed of five miles per hour ?
hell no .
and not only was the idea of a vampire frightening as hell , but it also carried with it a kind of sensual feeling as well , not commonly associated with horror films .
and not only has the idea been done too many times , but with the possible exception of from dusk ' till dawn , has not been done very well lately , either .
this is precisely why
it was so much fun for me watching the original nosferatu .
i got to go back to the times when making movies ( even horror movies ) was considered an art form , and not just done to make cash like nowadays .
and that is exactly what this film is ; art .
i 've been a horror fan since i was eight years old , and to this day
i have not seen any horror film cover the intellectual ground that this film covers
.
let me backtrack a minute .
when i say " intellectual ground " , i do n't mean that nosferatu tackles philosophical questions or anything like that , i just mean that in order for the film to work the way it was intended to , a little bit of thinking is involved .
with most modern slasher movies like friday the 13th and what - not , you can just simply sit back in your chair and be frightened by the gore that is shown .
those movies could have been made by a fifth grader with a good makeup kit ; movies like this require the viewer to actually pay attention and ponder what is happening on the screen .
you see , this movie has barely any violence in it and even less blood or gore .
this is a thinking man 's slasher flick .
the " nosferatu " of the title is orlock ( max shreck ) , a strange , hermit - like count that , as the film opens , is looking for a new home to buy .
he employs the help of hutter ( gustav von wangenhein ) , a real estate salesman ( or something to that effect ) who has a nice home and even a fiancee named ellen ( greta schroeder ) . upon orders from his boss , hutter treks to the transylvanian mountains to visit orlock 's castle and speak to him about his new home ( which just happens to be right next door to hutter 's ) .
the next morning , he wakes up to find teeth marks on his neck . . .
not really a good sign .
he then discovers through some reading that the count is a " nosferatu " , or vampire , one of the undead that feeds off the blood of living humans .
but by the time he pieces this together , he is too late ; orlock has already embarked to hutter 's hometown via boat .
will hutter reach his destination in time to save his fiancee from the deadly clutches of count orlock ?
the character of orlock is , of course , dracula .
the only only reason his name was changed was because this was an unauthorized account of bram strocker 's novel .
just thought that was an interesting little side note .
. .
probably the only way you will get to see
this fine film is by purchasing a copy of arrow entertainment 's digitally restored cut , now available in stores .
however , this version is quite different than maunau 's original masterpiece .
the movie is now sporting a new soundtrack by band type o - negative and color tinting , much like the 1984 version of lang 's metropolis .
now , i really appreciate what arrow entertainment is trying to do here , bringing a classic like this to the attention of a wider audience that might have otherwise just skipped this one .
but alas
, i like watching movies the way they were originally intended to be seen .
but that 's just my bag
; you may like the newer , more " modern " version better .
either way , i suggest investing your money in a copy .
if you like what they have done with it , pop it in the vcr and enjoy .
if you 're like me , just do what i 'll do during future viewings ; turn the color all the way down on your television , hit mute , turn on some bach or mozart or whatever , dim the lights and prepare to view what is truly one of the greatest films ever made .
answer:
P

question:
synopsis : blond criminal psychologist sarah chooses to copulate with greasy tony the mysterious puerto rican rather than bearded cliff the wisecracking neighbor upstairs .
in the meantime , someone sends sarah rotting flowers , puts her name in the newspaper 's obituary column , and kills her cat .
comments : never talk to strangers ,
a colossal waste of time , moves slower than molasses in winter to arrive at a conclusion which should be obvious to the audience 20 minutes into the film .
one would n't think that two genuine movie stars , antonio banderas ( evita ) and rebecca de mornay ( hand that rocks the cradle ) , and the acerbic comic genius dennis miller ( " saturday night live " ) would be involved in such a celluloid backfire as this turkey .
not only are they in it , however , but de mornay executive produced it .
what was she thinking ?
never talk to strangers centers upon sarah , a psychologist examining the ill - tempered max , a murderer soon to stand trial .
she receives a sudden visit from her father which elicits flashbacks of some tragedy in her early childhood .
two men woo her ; tony the " security consultant " wins her over ( so they have passionate sex replete with cheesy saxophone music ) .
a lot of psychobabble is thrown around about multiple personality disorder , but the movie asks its audience not to derive the obvious conclusion between mpd and sarah , and instead offers several male characters as red herrings .
86 minutes , the running time of this cinematic mess , thus , seem like 86 hours .
a good chunk of never talk to strangers is spent upon sarah and tony .
why would the career - minded , professional sarah feel attracted to the walking steroid with a black hat called tony ?
that 's one of the film 's mysteries which are never answered .
regardless of motive , de mornay and banderas strip down and have sex several times in what passes for eroticism .
they also manage to go out before copulating occasionally -- in one of the stupidest scenes of the film , tony takes sarah to a carnival that 's * right outside *
his dingy apartment (
that way , they can hurry back and have sex quickly ) .
also , apparently , the weather changes quickly in their locale : they 're at this outdoor carnival one day before having sex ;
the next day , they 're out playing in the snow before having sex .
the filmmakers attempt to produce a suspenseful plot interspersed with tony and sarah 's " character development .
"
someone is out to get poor sarah ( though most of the audience should have figured out who before any of this starts ) . rotting flowers , a writeup in the obituary , and a beaten neighbor are just a few of the bad things which happen to her .
suspense cliche number one also occurs : whenever someone is stalked in thrillers , by any means , if the stalked has a pet , that pet will die . oftentimes , to even further the cliche
, the murdered pet is a cat ( suspense filmmakers , for some reason , just do n't like cats ) .
sarah
, in never talk to strangers , receives a package and , lo and behold , discovers her mutilated cat within .
suspense at its very derivative !
as stated before , never talk to strangers is a poor excuse for a film whose sole purpose seems to be exploiting banderas and de mornay 's bodies as often as possible .
comedian dennis miller is completely wasted here
( he 's not given lines that are suitable for his persona ) and does n't even appear all that much .
maybe , in a way , he 's lucky for that .
early on in the movie , sarah tells tony , after meeting him in a supermarket , that she had been advised to never talk to strangers .
allow me to advise that you never watch this stinker .
answer:
N

question:
" . .
it 's certainly more than just a monster story . .
" - kenneth branagh , director / actor / co - writer of mary shelley 's frankenstein .
kenneth branagh 's new motion picture had to compete with all the previous frankenstein - films made throughout the years in almost every part of the world , including the most controversial version of them all - directed by james whale .
the dark and stormy nights , the lightning bolts , the charnel houses of spare body parts , the laboratory where victor frankenstein stirs his steaming cauldron of life are effectful .
but the center of the film , quieter and more thoughtful , contains the real story .
horror - fans will probably be disappointed by the total lack of horror .
branagh has instead concentrated on serious issues : morality , philosophy and human elements of the story , and not on old fashioned horror cliches .
his version is much closer to the book than all the previous adaptions of the classic novel .
the film begins and ends somewhere in the arctic ocean .
the year is 1794 .
a bold captain is steering his ship through the unknown waters .
his gole is to reach the north pole at all costs .
as the ice closes around his ship , a figure appears on the horizon .
it 's a man .
exhausted and on the brink of death he approaches the frightening crew .
his name is victor frankenstein ( kenneth branagh ) and his story is so terrifying that it will scare everyone from venturing into the unknown .
the myserious stranger begins his tale , or more precisely his confession , in geneva , 1773 .
he is remembering his childhood and youth .
laughter , banquets and parties - a happy life , without troubles or concerns .
here victor lived with his father ( ian holm ) , mother ( cherie lunghi ) , his surrogate sister ( helena boham carter ) and his servants in happiness and harmony .
this idyllic lifestyle is suddenly changed .
like thunder from a quite sky , his mother dies , giving birth to his youngest brother .
shocked , baffled and then gradually changed by grief and despair , victor ( already interested in science ) becomes obsessed with death .
standing on his mother 's grave he says :
" oh mother . .
you did not have to die . . .
no one should ever die . . .
i will stop this . .
i promiss . .
" after proposing marridge to his surrogate sister and promising to return as soon as his studies are finished , victor travels to ingolstadt , in presuite of a medical career .
after a while his obsession totally overtakes him as he is working day and night , creating life from death .
composing dead bodies , frankenstein wanted to create the perfect man - both physically and mentally .
with strong electrical impulses , he managed to breeth life into his creation .
the result was ugliness .
realizing what he has done , frankenstein tried to undo his work , but it was to late .
the creature has escaped . because of the epidemic , frankenstein hoped that his creation has died and returned to his home , making plans for the wedding .
for a while everything is as it was before his mother 's death .
but then one by one his loved once are dying mysteriously . . .
whale 's picture , although powerful , never managed to capture the total depth of the novel .
brannagh has more or less done that .
another thing is characters and actors .
branagh has developed every character and assembled a magnificent cast .
the greatest performances comes from de niro - the monster , that has been played by ( among others )
charles ogle , karloff , lon chaney , bela lugosi , glenn strange , christopher lee , fred gwynne ( as herman munster ) , and now , robert de niro .
alone , hated and feared , he is completely aware of his ugliness .
at first he is like a helpless , abandoned child , desperately reaching out for love .
later when he reads frankenstein 's journal , and learns that he is composed of dead bodies , his love turns into rage as he is seeking revenge .
he is capable of killing without regret .
"
i took him by the throughout and lifted him off the ground . . . .
and then i slowly crushed his neck . . .
and as i killed him , i saw your face . .
"
that is how he reveals his savage nature to his creator .
and yet , he is never quite evil in our eyes and
his vaulerbility and his loneliness are palpable : " for the sympathy of one living being i would make peace with all .
"
rarely has a cinematic interpretation of " the daemon " approached the level of three - dimensionality and humanity with which it is portrayed in the novel .
another vital thing is the character of victor frankenstein .
in most of the previous adaptions he was simply a mad scientist that trolls the graveyards for corpses and then creates a monster ( god knows why ! )
with the power of an electrical storm .
almost no time was granted on his charecter , who is the most important and vital charecter in the novel .
here , branagh introduces the character of victor frankenstein , establishes his obsession with the very nature of life and death , sets up the intellectual and ideological conflict between victor and the academic establishment , and somehow manages to build up to a rousing and horrifying creation scene .
branagh plays frankenstein with a remarkable understanding of his character .
on the outside he is strong , ambitious and talented scientist , but deep down he is unsecure , fragile and vaulerble , constantly haunted by the ghosts from his past .
helen boham carter is equally wonderful as frankenstein 's surrogate sister , who at the end becomes his wife for a little while , before death drives them apart .
the rest of the cast , playing secondary characters , is solid and nothing less than convincing .
visually the film is stunning ( especially the makeup ) .
the spinning camera , the constantly building - up musical acore , the art direction , the production design , the costumes are all magnificent : from the arctic ocean to the swiss alps and dark forests , to the plague - riddled streets of ingolstadt , mary shelley 's frankenstein is a wonder to behold .
kenneth branagh directs his film as if the script was written by shakespeare : " . .
all i once loved lies in a shallow grave . . . .
by my hand . .
"
.
and the film ends exacly as hamlet , when the creature sets both his and his creator 's body on fire .
the film ends with frankenstein and his creation burning in the almost hellish fire in the darkness .
and a terrifying last close - up on the creature 's smiling face .
can a man create life , then abandon his creation because its appearance horrifies him ?
to whom are its actions then attributable : the creature or the being who brought about its existence ?
shelley did not answer these questions , but she certainly posed them .
following her example , branagh does the same .
his film is a tragic saga about playing god .
victor frankenstein is not an evil man .
he wanted to change the world to the better .
in this he represents everything science stands for : acting without doubts , never considering the consequences of his actions .
produced by francis ford coppola , frankenstein resembles in some respects coppolas previous film " dracula " .
in comparison , i can say that " dracula " has visuals that even " frankenstein " can not live up to .
but when it comes to story , characters and casting , " frankenstein " is stronger .
but stronger than both of them , on every aspect , is neil jordan 's " interview with the vampire " .
although the film is not perfect ( the camera that simply refuses to stay still and the occasionally pushy score are at times more tiering than effective ) , these minor faults are easily forgivable , as the picture is otherwise captivating and stimulating .
branagh has probably created one of the best ( if not the best ) adaptions of shelly 's classic novel .
answer:
P