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The first vampire film wasn’t actually about bloodsuckers, but a woman who tries to seduce another woman’s husband; a "vamp", a femme fatale, embroiled in a morality story of deadly sexuality. Whilst it wasn’t until Friedrich Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) that the undead-guy-craving-human-blood became the defining feature of the horror sub-genre, the winning combination of lust and death formed the basis of almost all vampire films from then on.
Due to the small issue that vampires aren’t real (right?!), their very nature has differed over the years. Max Schreck and, later, Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog’s deliciously chilling 1979 remake, portray Nosferatu as a rodent-like, repulsive loner. Other films based on Bram Stoker’s novel,the most famous being Bela Lugosi’s 1931 Universal Pictures production,- depict the Count as commanding, hypnotic and frankly terrifying. Lugosi’s Dracula is iconic; even now, eighty years later, watching him is absolutely mesmerising. It is well known that Lugosi was typecast for the rest of his career thanks to this one role- watch it again and you’ll understand why. Christopher Lee does a more than decent job in the British Hammer Horror series, but by that time we’re into slightly camp, kitschy territory - if you want the real deal, it’s Bela you must go to. For you nitpickers, the 1931 version is also more faithful to the novel as Dracula cannot be destroyed by sunlight, merely weakened by it; only a stake will do. For a bunch of sun-shy Peter Pans who sleep in the basement, it’s remarkable how on-trend vampires can be. The mythology of vampires came to represent a widespread fear of openly expressed promiscuous sexuality in Victorian society. In recent incarnations, stories centering around the feisty undead can also be construed as interpretations of malaise within modern society. The Lost Boys (1987) for example is, yes, essentially a slightly spooky teen comedy, but it’s also a commentary on adolescent disengagement and the desire to belong; even if only to a gang of peer-pressuring vampires led by Kiefer Sutherland on a bad hair day. If you want a glimpse of what eternal youth really means, watch Interview with the Vampire (1994) based on the Anne Rice novel, to see Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst’s doomed relationship, a murky mix of paternal and romantic love. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yes, it’s a film column but there is the shockingly bad 1992 movie, so technically we’re not breaking any rules here) is a feminist media student’s dream. It’s a kick-ass shock to genre and gender conventions, with Buffy’s male friend Xander doing all the whimpering sidekick stuff, whilst Buffy and the (mostly) good witch, Willow, are generally being awesome and staking tons of bad guys. Then there’s the Twilight Saga: saccharine star-crossed lovers mush, barely veiling a Mormon abstinence agenda, with just enough(!) eye-candy to keep the tweens shelling out their pocket money. See, there’s something for everyone in the vampire section. Newer news items:
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