After reading this article, I agreed with it so much I had to post it Vlad Tepes, who was called by his patronymic name, Dracula, was a brutal and cruel individual. His number of victims is said to be in the tens of thousands, but beyond the body count of his war tactics and raids, his savagery is what he’s most known for. He gained the nickname ”The Impaler” by putting the body’s of his victims (still alive) on very large wooden stakes rectum first, causing their body weight to weigh them down, making the stake slowly go through their body and eventually out of their mouth, causing an extremely painful death. Under these stakes he placed cups to drink from, this way once all of his prey were deceased he could drink their blood. The blood drinking is where most people get confused. He didn’t grow fangs, he wasn’t supernatural. He was just a sick and twisted warlord who got off on being feared. I once heard a story about Vlad, he saw a man wearing rags walking through a village and picked him up, gave him a ride on his horses. During that ride, Vlad became aware that this man is married and works for a living. Seeing the man in such terrible shape got under Vlad’s skin more than anything. So, when dropping the man off at his home, Vlad confronted the guys wife about her not feeding him properly and making him good clothes despite the fact that the man deserves it because he works hard for a living. Vlad then proceeded to cut her arms off right then and there because he said she didn’t need them if she wasn’t going to use them. What am I getting at? That this malevolent, and downright vile man, is what the vampire mythology is based around. That’s why vampires not only drink blood, but they’re despicable characters, and terrifying. Bram Stoker based his best-selling book, Dracula, off of Vlad’s legend, using Vlad’s very patronymic name as the last name of the vampire his book is about. Not only did this book go on to become a literary achievement, but it inspired the blood thirsty beast to become a cinema sensation! Over 170 film adaptations of Bram Stoker‘s Dracula have been made to date. The Vampire (1913) and A Fool There Was (1915) are some of the earliest film depictions of vampires on screen. The year 1922 came and went, but the one thing that still echoes throughout history is, that Bram Stoker‘s novel was made into a German film called Nosferatu. While avoiding copyright technicalities, director, F. W. Murnau changed things including the vampire’s name to Count Orlok. From here, the trend began with Bela Lugosi in 1931 with the Universal Studios classic motion picture, Dracula. Since then, Dracula has had countless film adaptations, including but not limited to, Dario Argento‘s recent Dracula 3D. There’s even a show by the title Dracula coming this October by the NBC network! So the foundation of the vampire mythology having been based around such hateful and depraved cruelty, spawned countless books and films throughout the ages with their own twist on the vampire tale. Most, if not all of which, were about scary, ugly, dark, and Gothic predators. Although the rules changed (allergic to sunlight, etc) the common ground was that vampires were not people you wanted to be or be around. They weren’t happy living forever, because they never get any relief of their agony and tortured souls. Most of the time, in a vampire tale, when the ending entails the vampire’s death, the blood fiend is actually happy to die, death is a reprieve. That changed when The Lost Boys hit in 1987. Director Joel Schumacher told a tale of vampire’s that were rebels, the cool kids. The ones you’d try to impress to get in with. They were the Fonzie of Happy Days. Here was a gang of vampires that embraced what they are, and gladly let the beast flow forth. And it worked, because the film is still one of, if not the most popular vampire film ever made. And it’s my personal favorite. It has a balance of being scary, yet hip. It made people think it was cool to be vampires, but they never glorified what they do. As a matter of fact, look at the character of Michael (Jason Patrick), when he sees what he has to do to join the gang he changed his tune, and calls on his younger brother and his friends for help. The Lost Boys in itself was innovative, because up until that point, we weren’t hit with anything like it! Stephen King‘s Salem’s Lot (1979) was a hit for genre lovers. As were other titles to come out at that point or before, such as Fright Night (1985), Vamp (1986), The Blood Spattered Bride (1972) , Let’s scare Jessica to Death (1971), The Hunger (1983), and even released the same year as The Lost Boys, Near Dark (1987). None of which captured that cool element that The Lost Boys did, although Near Dark is close, and arguably the better movie. Though a lot of films tried to be hip and outdo Lost Boys, they failed miserably. Look to The Forsaken (2001) to see what I’m saying. Vampire films were actually fading away until the Twilight films came along. They weren’t being made as often, and when they were it was just rehashing’s of twists on the myth that’s already been done. There aren’t too many memorable vampire films to come from the 90’s aside from Interview with a Vampire (1994), Children of Night (1991), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), and Blade (1998). Vampire films became sort of underground in the years that follow. They were still around, but no one really cared. They were a thing of the past. The only vampire films we had to really look forward to were the Blade sequels. And it seemed as though the undead blood suckers may have been ready to crawl into their tombs and rest for a bit, but then came Twilight. And with Twilight came all the fan girls and boys that helped unravel the genre, and have made most of the figurative vampires out there turn in their coffin. I am not against Twilight. Do I like the films? Absolutely not. But, does that make anyone else a moron for liking them? No. I’m a movie buff, I know dozens of people who like movies that I don’t, and vice versa. Like religion, I don’t force my opinion or beliefs on anyone. I’m a live and let live guy. Where my problem lies isn’t with Twilight, it’s with the craze they caused and the way they’ve caused vampires to be seen in today’s society. It’s sad to a horror fan when vampires aren’t scary anymore, and are more known for being on the cover of pop magazine’s. The Lost Boys was the Twilight of the 80’s, but where the actual Twilight movies fail is, the vampires aren’t cool or scary at all, and that is what causes all the hate for the films. The Twilight saga has a right to take it’s place in cinema, just like other films that I don’t necessarily have to like. But due to the success of the saga, everyone has set their goals on making wimpy vampires that will attract young teenage girls. Here’s where the dilemma lies, because you have to ask yourself this question: is it really the fangirls and boys that have caused this craze? Or is it Hollywood and the big shots just cashing in on what’s popular to make a bigger profit? I believe it’s the latter. Not that they aren’t inspired by the crazed fans, but they’re the ones cashing in, causing the vampire scene to become what it has. As I said in my last article, there are those that actually somehow like the movies, and I’m okay with that. But the majority are just wound up over how “beautiful” Edward is, and that’s why in a few years the saga won’t be anything more than an old tired trend that people look back at and laugh at. It’s nothing more than what Pokemon cards used to be. Really big one moment, and gone the next. Looking at things from another perspective, maybe the reason these sparkling vampires have become so popular is because how weak we as a society have become. I mean think about it, back in the day when Ronald Reagan was President of the USA, we as a country, had a very big set of balls. His presidency lasted until January 20th, 1989, and at that point most of these terrifying vampire stories and movies mentioned were made. Granted, Reagan was a controversial President, but he got the job done and we were in a good place. And in today’s world, you’ve got people cowering and thinking it’s okay not to stand up for themselves. You’ve got people giving away awards for 4th and 5th place. You’ve got teachers putting passing grades on failing papers. Everyone and everything has become so pacifistic. I’m not ignoring the war going on, I pray for our soldiers nightly. I was born and raised in America, and I love this country. So don’t think I’m putting this great nation down, I’m just simply reflecting how things have changed and the effects that its had on society, such as vampires becoming PG-13 drama’s instead of horror films. Luckily, the one thing about the Twilight films that I can say I like, is that they’re in a class all by themselves. Nobody else has vampire films like them. So when the fad passes, we will hopefully be back on track and get doing with real, solid vampire stories again. I appreciate Stephenie Meyer for making up her own take and being inventive. It’s just not for me or for a lot of other people. To us, that’s not vampires. Comparing those vampires to the ones I grew up with is like comparing original Godzilla to the crappy 1998 American version. It’s just not the same. And hopefully, one day soon, we’ll see blood suckers be scary and fierce again. Steve Jobs said it best, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 22:57:52 +0000
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