Ravenloft: The Movie

[Boccaccio Barbarossa]

*mental note* Brotherhood of the wolf. . .

Hmmm In the reviews it got 4/5 why if it such a good movie?

I did the review for it and I consider 4/5 in pretty damn high order. The movie's feel and pacing was dead-on for Ravenloft, as were the characters and the atmosphere. The only thing that kept it from being 5/5 (for me) were the slight discrepancies between the intrigue elements and the Hong Kong-style action.

I think what the director (C.Ganz) was attempting to create is an experiment between established period-piece French cinema, while blending a little Van Dam action into it and employing some music video cinematography. It almost felt like he was trying to show Hollywood "how its done". For the most part I believe he succeeded, but the experimental nature of BotW did make it feel disjointed at times (and unbelievably intense at others).

]Yeah. There were definitely some "cheezy" moments in the movie whic made it drop in my esteem, but think 4/5 is a reasonable estimate. I really just like the characters and the decor, as well as the dialogue. Effects... +/-. And there are some "Soul Calibur 2" fight scenes... it's was just TOO MUCH for me and poorly explained.

And I'm french and saw it in the original... I can just imagine in the translation. Or <shudder> the voiceover...

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Bah! Damn the voice over.
When I heard about Brotherhood of the Wolf, and found out that it was offered in Dubbed and in Subtitles, I knew exactly which one to see.

That said, yes, that last fight scene was more than a little riddiculous. It was kind of kwel to see the bone-sword, but it just doesn't make any sense. Damn thing looked more like a canoe paddle when it wasn't flopping around like a fish.

VIEW CONTENT:

By the by, I don't recal hearing any explanation as to why nutsy kept his hand in a painful sling for seemingly no reason other than looking kwel when he pulled it out.

[Boccaccio Barbarossa]

Bah! Damn the voice over.
When I heard about Brotherhood of the Wolf, and found out that it was offered in Dubbed and in Subtitles, I knew exactly which one to see.

That said, yes, that last fight scene was more than a little riddiculous. It was kind of kwel to see the bone-sword, but it just doesn't make any sense. Damn thing looked more like a canoe paddle when it wasn't flopping around like a fish.

VIEW CONTENT:

By the by, I don't recal hearing any explanation as to why nutsy kept his hand in a painful sling for seemingly no reason other than looking kwel when he pulled it out.

I think that has something to do with the fact that his hand/arm was horribly disfigured/scarred... It's been a while. But I'm pretty sure that's the reason. That, I think that's the arm he channeled power through...

I'll have to watch it again.

[Samael Hands of Stone]

The villain in the movie hides his arm to protect his identity as the master of the Beast of Gevaudan, and I believe it was also some kind of a subtle allegory to represent the villain's complexity, and his obsession with being only half the man he wants to be. It may also tie in with his incestuous feelings toward his younger sister.

I agree though, the end fight was extremely lame and out of place with the rest of the movie, somewhat like that cheesy martial-arts exhibition that sprang out of nowhere before the wolf hunt.

One exotic character I can deal with (Mani) and even suspend disbelief for, but when 18th century gypsies start popping wolverine claws and spontaniously busting out like they just walked off the set of a Jet Li movie, well, I begin to question the artistic vision of the director and his editors.

If you edit out those two scenes, and maybe finished the movie with the protagonist ambushing the cultists and their followers with the help of the vatican assassin and her men. Then you give us one of those classic rapier duels on the side of a cliff or something, and voila.

But what the hell do I know...

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Don't get me wrong, I liked the idea of a bunch of exotic fighters battling it out in Louis XIV's france. But the fight scenes needed a lot more rational.

Ex: Why, just before the big wolf hunt, did a whole bunch of people start a big free-for-all? I mean come on! Was Mani giving everyone the finger while we were looking the other way?

[Samael Hands of Stone]

Don't get me wrong, I liked the idea of a bunch of exotic fighters battling it out in Louis XIV's france. But the fight scenes needed a lot more rational.

Ex: Why, just before the big wolf hunt, did a whole bunch of people start a big free-for-all? I mean come on! Was Mani giving everyone the finger while we were looking the other way?

I agree with you. To bring this thread back to the topic of its heading, I'd like to point out some of the elements in BotW that I DID like very much, and that I would definitely try to assimilate in my screenplay.

- The unsopken relationship between Mani and the gypsy girl: I thought this was very well done. It was low-key, subtle, meaningful and tragic in the end. I think it captures the essence of the elusiveness and conseuqences of being entranced by a Vistani girl.

- Gregoire De Fronsac (main character) was a "royal naturalist", a kind of scholar/druid/physician that I think chould be a sweet prestige class in places like Dementlieu. Loved the part where he had to stuff a normal wolf and make it look like the Beast of Gevaudan (by order of the king)

- The assassin/spy/prostitute character was incredible. Pure Borcan goodness.

There are of course a bunch of other things that were on-point wih BotW but these were the main ones.

[Undead Cabbage]

Here's a question,

Which domain would you do? And by 'domain' I mean there's no way a decent RL movie could do all or even most of domains. Albeit, two or three might work, depending on which ones, but which ones would you pick?

Pushing away my personal bias towards either Mordent or Paridon, maybe Barovia and Kartakass? This way you engage society's two favorite horror monsters, 'the wolf-man, and dracula'.

[Samael Hands of Stone]

Here's a question,

Which domain would you do? And by 'domain' I mean there's no way a decent RL movie could do all or even most of domains. Albeit, two or three might work, depending on which ones, but which ones would you pick?

Pushing away my personal bias towards either Mordent or Paridon, maybe Barovia and Kartakass? This way you engage society's two favorite horror monsters, 'the wolf-man, and dracula'.

I think to answer your question, we'd have to narrow down the essential Ravenloft elements that would absolutely have to go into a film adaptation. Let me ask you in turn Cabbage, what 5 factors would you say are quintessentially Ravenloft. Based on that, I think a lot of questions would answer themselves.

I look forward to your reply.

[Undead Cabbage]

A good quesiton to ask,

What makes Ravenloft Ravenloft? The answer to that would provide much more than simply what Domains to host, but the answer in providing a true Ravenloftian movie.

Well, lets have a look. My first reccomendation would probably be subltey. Visual and sound effects, dialogue, camios of beloved characters, aspects of main characters, backgrounds, music: all of it would have to be subtle.

[Samael Hands of Stone]

A good quesiton to ask,

What makes Ravenloft Ravenloft? The answer to that would provide much more than simply what Domains to host, but the answer in providing a true Ravenloftian movie.

Well, lets have a look. My first reccomendation would probably be subltey. Visual and sound effects, dialogue, camios of beloved characters, aspects of main characters, backgrounds, music: all of it would have to be subtle.

Good place to start, subtlety (my favorite tool). We'd have to imagine a story that doesn't play favorites with domains or canon npcs, a tale that any layman could understand and appreciate, then you sprinkle the story with little inside track bits, cameos like you said, locations or characters that those in-the-know will jump out of their seats and go "hold on, THAT'S A DAMN SITH FROM THE SHADOW RIFT!"

Because Ravenloft has a LOT of depth and inside information, I think an opening shot of the Core in bird's eye view accompanied with one of those frantic "bring everyone up to speed" dialogues would fit well. The way they did it in that dragon flick Reign of Fire for example would fit really well in my mind; a hand scribbling away on parchement while we get flashes of this and that, the Grand Conjunction, the Requiem, etc.In terms of documenting Ravenloft history, I'd stick to the principal main events and then quickly bring the story down to earth so that we might meet and discover the characters.

The overall plot would have to be more of a human story, exploring fear and self-doubt, the supernatural expressions of our dread, things that go bump in the night.

To answer your initial question, I'd probably go with domains like Barovia, Invidia, Richemulot, Mordent, Borca.

I dunno, what do you think?

[Boccaccio Barbarossa]

A good quesiton to ask,

What makes Ravenloft Ravenloft? The answer to that would provide much more than simply what Domains to host, but the answer in providing a true Ravenloftian movie.

Well, lets have a look. My first reccomendation would probably be subltey. Visual and sound effects, dialogue, camios of beloved characters, aspects of main characters, backgrounds, music: all of it would have to be subtle.

Good place to start, subtlety (my favorite tool). We'd have to imagine a story that doesn't play favorites with domains or canon npcs, a tale that any layman could understand and appreciate, then you sprinkle the story with little inside track bits, cameos like you said, locations or characters that those in-the-know will jump out of their seats and go "hold on, THAT'S A DAMN SITH FROM THE SHADOW RIFT!"

Because Ravenloft has a LOT of depth and inside information, I think an opening shot of the Core in bird's eye view accompanied with one of those frantic "bring everyone up to speed" dialogues would fit well. The way they did it in that dragon flick Reign of Fire for example would fit really well in my mind; a hand scribbling away on parchement while we get flashes of this and that, the Grand Conjunction, the Requiem, etc.In terms of documenting Ravenloft history, I'd stick to the principal main events and then quickly bring the story down to earth so that we might meet and discover the characters.

The overall plot would have to be more of a human story, exploring fear and self-doubt, the supernatural expressions of our dread, things that go bump in the night.

To answer your initial question, I'd probably go with domains like Barovia, Invidia, Richemulot, Mordent, Borca.

I dunno, what do you think?

I think yes to subtlety.

As for domains... well, it's kind of important - it determines the kind of horror you're aiming at. But so far- I agree with most of what is beign said. Now, If I had to pick the realsm... wow... I guess you could go with the usual suspects.

barovia, Mordent, Lamordia, dementlieu, richemulot... The standard horro settings, I suppose. Though, you could make a half-decent movie with any... save maybe Odiare, which has always messed with me. (sorry to whoever came up with that - it was great as a one-shot conept, but not much once that's been done...)

[alhoon]

- Sublety

- Villains that remind you of your darker self like "This one could be me if I gave in to my worst self". That should be there in all the villains.
For example look in the VRGttWD. The approach to zombies isn't like the one in movies like "Dawn of the Dead" or Resident Evil, where they are a nameless (almost unstoppable) menace. The approach in VRGttWD is "that could be me or my loved ones in different circumstances".
Another example is Mordenheim/Adam.

- Supernatural. Not overtly present; hidden, but still there. It should be mysterious, powerful, enticing and corrupting.

- Mists. They should be omnipresent but silent. No need to have them interact with anything, just like a presence watching from the background.

- alhoons (OK that is a joke).

[DeepShadow of FoS]

FWIW, my wife and I have been working on adapting I, Strahd to a screenplay format.

Let us know if you need writers!

[Samael Hands of Stone]

FWIW, my wife and I have been working on adapting I, Strahd to a screenplay format.

Let us know if you need writers!

That sounds super interesting. I'd love to see what you guys have come up with so far.

I'll keep you in mind for this project if I ever launch into it full-on.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Just remember that much of "I, Strahd" is his propaganda, not the literal truth. We know from other sources -- sources, that aren't first-person claims by a darklord who's recalling what he's convinced himself happened four centuries back, even when he's not lying outright -- that much of his recounting of events is incorrect; for instance, he really DID slaughter most of the (innocent) wedding guests himself, because we saw him doing so in "From The Shadows".

One intriguing way to portray this might be to enact those scenes on-camera the way they really happened (probably much like in "Vampire of the Mists"), but to maintain a running narrative in Strahd's voice that claims they happened differently. That way, the audience will see how what Van Richten is reading (assuming you keep that subplot) is a lie: while Strahd-the-narrator is describing how Dilisnya's men massacred the wedding guests, we see Strahd himself tearing his way through a terrified crowd in a fury; while Strahd strokes his ego boasting of how Tatyana was getting into his kisses, we see her shy away with a look of utter revulsion on her face, when he pulls back in shock (because she'd bitten his lip to get him off of her). Make Strahd's fundamental hypocrisy and self-deception crystal clear, and it'll set the pattern for hypothetical future films, by showing that universal denial of accountability with which all darklords rationalize their crimes.