4 Movie Collection: The Return of the Vampire/ The Revenge of Frankenstein/ Mr. Sardonicus/ The Brotherhood of Satan
Directors: Lew Landers, Terence Fisher, William Castle, Bernard McEveety
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Peter Cushing, Oscar Homolka, Strother Martin
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: May 7, 2013
ASIN: B00BUWD7Q6
Retail: $9.98
Running Time: 5 hrs 41 mins
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

I've been a die hard horror fan since around eight or nine-years-old, which I don't recommend for anyone at the age, but I somehow connected with scary films, good or bad. I was more than excited when Mill Creek Entertainment recently released four classic Columbia Pictures horror movies onto a 2-disc set, which I received free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

The most famous Dracula movie was the 1931 version starring Bela Lugosi, which launched a franchise for Universal Studios; though Bela only appeared in one film (I'm not counting the Abbot and Costello movie). He returned as a Dracula-like vampire named Armand Tesla in the 1943 The Return of the Vampire. The movie was attended to be a direct-sequel to Dracula, but Columbia Pictures didn't own the franchise, therefore the character's name was changed. The plot focuses on two scientists driving a railroad stake through the vampire's heart. He is entombed for nearly two decades, along with his werewolf servant, A Nazi bomb frees him from the tomb and he takes revenge of the scientists' family. The movie is a pretty good vampire flick, much better than the campy Universal Studio's sequels.

Deadly Sting
An Elemental Assassin
By Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pub. Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 9781451688993
Retail: $7.99
Pages: 386

Review:

In the seventh entry in the An Elemental Assassin series, three months have passed since Gina Blanco (aka - The Spider) killed Selina, who had murdered her sister. Being an assassin with stone and ice elements comes with a price and many enemies. Own still isn't on speaking terms with her due to the fact that Selina was his fiancé.

Her foster brother, Finn, practically forces her to get an actual life by encouraging her to slip into a fancy dress and attending the local museum event featuring the jewelry and art by Mab Monroe, whom Gina had assassinated. During the event, a few giants thought it would be fun to rob the museum and take everyone hostage. It is all up to The Spider to save the day in a Die Hard style twist.

Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

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If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

What is your guilty pleasure read?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

My Answer:

I have had many guilty pleasures, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-ins, R.L. Stine books, Christopher Pike books, V.C. Andrews (originals and ghostwriter), Debra Webb books, Harlequin thrillers, Nora Roberts romances, Stephen King horror novels, John Saul creepy thrillers and many others.

After having a few back strains from doing high intensity exercises, I started looking into alternative workouts, such as yoga. I've never been the biggest the fan of yoga, mostly because I'm inflexible, but I did a few downward dog routines and it helped my back.

For the past month, I have been trying out the new workout program called DDP Yoga, which I received free of charge in exchange for my honest thoughts. I received the workout kit fairly quickly by USPS, which contained four DVDs in two cardboard sleeves, a reference wall chart featuring all the basic moves, and a fitness guide book.

DDP Yoga was created by the former WCW and WWF wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, famous for his finishing Diamond Cutter move. He suffered from many wrestling injures, which would normally result in a wrestler retiring, but instead he tried doing yoga and got back into fighting shape. Now, he has created a 13-week program to help others get into shape.

The workouts included in this program are:

Once Upon a Prince
The Royal Wedding Series
By Rachel Hauck
Publisher: Zondervan
Pub. Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-0310315476
Pages: 352
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/kFb0Y
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/rhauck

Review:

Cinderella type fairy tales have never been my thing, but I watch the television series Once Upon a Time, so I thought I would give Once Upon a Prince a try, which I received free of charge through the Litfuse Publicity and Zondervan in exchange for my honest review.

For the past twelve years, Susanna Truitt has been in love with the marine Adam Peters, who she has dreamed of marring him, but life has unexpected turns for her. It seems her so-called love had met another woman seven years ago and he plans on marrying this woman! Susanna heart is crushed along with all of her dreams.

Prince Nathaniel is taking once last holiday (aka - a vacation) to the St. Simons Islands. His father's health is failing fast and it is just a matter of time before Nathaniel will take over as king. When he returns home, he'll have to marry a complete stranger in an arrange marriage, something he wishes to avoid. By chance, he aids a beautiful woman, Susanna.Instead of giving her his real name, he tells her his name is Nate as he doesn't want her to know he is a prince. Sparks fly between the two, but his secret may ruin everything.

Texas Chainsaw
Director: John Luessenhop
Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Trey Songz, Scott Eastwood, Tania Raymonde, Shaun Sipos, Keram Malicki-Sánchez
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: May 14, 2013
ASIN: B00BM4Q4H6
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rating: R

Review: 
 Its been thirty-nine years since Leatherface first revved up his chainsaw in Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre followed by two sequels and two remakes with the latter getting a prequel. The franchise seemed to be dead until this year's 3D release of Texas Chainsaw. It completely ignores the sequels and remakes, but it is a direct sequel to the 1974 original.

Honestly, I don't know what all the hype is about the original movie. I saw it once on Showtime when I was a teenager and I thought it was pretty tame compared to other slasher films. The first sequel is tolerable, while the third movie tried to be both a sequel and a remake, which was a complete disaster. The Next Generation starring Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey was a modern day remake (though some consider it to be a loose sequel) that was shelved for three years until it was released direct-to-video. I prefer to watch the gritty 2003 remake starring Jessica Biel or even the pointless prequel.

The 3D sequel/reboot takes place directly after the original movie with the police and mob surrounding the Sawyer farmhouse, demanding them to give up Leatherface. The Sawyers attempted to give Leatherface up, but the mob of Newt, Texas burn down the farmhouse with the Sawyers in it. The only two surviving member was a baby, Edith, which was taken in by a couple and Verna Carson.