Big-haired and Moony-Eyed VampiresDr. Derek Tatum blogs today about how he is hating on Stephanie Meyer's Twilight novel less, after watching the "Twilight" movie and doing some soul-searching into his own history with the genre. "The first vampire thing that I ever loved was the movie The Lost Boys. At the time (and even today), some more "hardcore" horror fans derided The Lost Boys as being empty teen fluff that cribbed from earlier sources. And you know what? They were right. But to a 15 year old kid who watched MTV and listened to hard rock, the movie connected. Vampires quit being the Z-grade Lugosi knockoffs who snuck in your window at night, and became vibrant and exciting."
Dr. Derek, as always, has a point. I've always been a fan of paranormal with a humor edge, and I still am, but I was reluctant to watch "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" because I thought it would be some silly teen show. I started watching it one winter when a cable station had a "Buffy" marathon and it was storming outside. It didn't take me long to get completely hooked.
"Buffy" had the humor I liked with my paranormal, but it also had fully-rounded characters, moral complexity, sexiness, a grand sense of purpose that was tempered with humor, often self-deprecating or wry. The series creator, Joss Whedon, treated his teenagers with respect, as intelligent individuals, each trying to balance personal needs and wants against life-threatening danger.
I wonder how many of today's vampire fans got introduced to the genre by Buffy Summers, a blond, surburban girl who got stuck killing vampires on the night of her prom?
Dr. Derek is also right that the fluffy intro vamps don't threaten the established, more mature vamps. And they never have. See for yourself:
1979 - "Love at First Bite," a light-hearted vamp comedy, starring George Hamilton, was released, but director John Badham's "Dracula," with more deadly seductive Frank Langella, also came out.
1987 - "Lost Boys," a hairsprayfest with super cool teen vamps in leather came out, as did Katheryn Bigelow's gritty cult Western, "Near Dark."
1992 - Francis Ford Coppola directed "Bram Stoker's Dracula" at the same time that the campy, movie-version of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" was released. Although screenwriter's vision was warped in the movie, this was the first time we really got to see a teenage girl kicking vampire ass. And the ass-kicking heroine is now a staple in film and especially in urban fantasy.
1994 - "Interview with the Vampire," the big budget adaptation of Anne Rice's bestselling novel, made Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt into fluffy-haired blood-drinking heartthrobs. But indie director Abel Ferrara released "The Addiction" with Christopher Walken and Lili Tayler. She's a philosophy grad student in New York who's turned, and her new condition is likened to drug addiction. This sparse, moody, and enigmatic film is the antithesis of the overblown romantic "Interview..."
2009 - If you need an antidote to "Twilight" and "New Moon," you can always watch "Thirst," from renowned director Park Chan-wook. "Thirst," the story of a Catholic priest who becomes infected and must deal with his monstrous appetites, got raves at the Cannes Film Fest, but hasn't been released in the US yet.
GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY
This is for the guys (and the girls) who love hawt chicks kicking ass.
But it isn't Friday without some a montage of hawt guys set to a Sir Tom Jones' classic. Have a fangtalicious weekend!
