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The evolution of vampires in the movies: how the awesome Nosferatu turned into a cute Edward

Vampires have long disturbed the consciousness of people. In many cultures of Europe, their own images were formed (ghouls, ghouls, and so on), but the general concept of a blood-sucking dead man was preserved. In literature, these creatures began to appear at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1897 Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula was published, which, in fact, created the image of the modern vampire. It was picked up by filmmakers and since the beginning of the 20th century, these creatures have been firmly rooted in popular culture. How the image of a vampire in cinema has changed over the past hundred years and where it is heading – later in the article.

Vampires as a nightmare

“Nosferatu. Symphony of Horror (1922)

At the beginning of the 20th century, several silent films about vampires were made, but only the German Nosferatu has survived to this day. Symphony of Horror” Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau 1922 (the rest were lost or destroyed). The image of a vampire in the tape was the quintessence of the myths and beliefs of the peoples of Eastern Europe, as well as the horror component of Stoker’s novel. Nosferatu is presented as sinister as possible: long claws, pointed ears, fangs and a cold, ferocious look. The image of a vampire was a visualization of human fears and a kind of symbol of the “dark” nature of man, omitting any manifestations of romanticization or sexualization from the novel. In 1979, Werner Herzog returned to this image with the film Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night, which nevertheless added a little charm to the monster.

“Dracula” (1931)

In the early 1930s, the famous American director Tod Browning took up vampires in earnest. Unfortunately, his first film, London After Midnight, has survived only in small fragments. But she didn’t have much popularity. But the next picture, “Dracula”, based on the novel by Stoker, was truly a breakthrough. The role of Dracula was played by the Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi, who created an image that is as terrifying as it is attractive. Here the villain has the same erotic component from the book. Also, Dracula has become more aristocratic in appearance than the monstrous creatures from legends. The film became a hit, saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy and launched a whole series of monster movies.

The era of trash cinema

After Browning’s film, vampire cinema monopolized Hollywood. However, due to the large flow of such tapes and their small budget, they more and more caused the audience not fear, but laughter. In addition, in those years, the story of Frankenstein gained wide popularity. On this wave, parody horror films with Dracula and Frankenstein began to appear, marking the beginning of a new genre in cinema – “thrash”. “Dracula’s Daughter”, “House of Frankenstein”, “House of Dracula” are just a pinch of the madness of that period. A female vampire image also began to emerge (1964’s Carmilla), which was more aggressive and almost always bisexual. The peak of this direction was the tape “Vampire Lovers” (1970).

Vampire transformation from monster to human

“Dracula” (1958)

“Dracula” in 1958 is also an adaptation of Stoker’s novel, but also a kind of remake of the 1931 tape. Director Terence Fisher and actor Christopher Lee return Dracula to seriousness, and also move him even further towards aristocracy and eroticism. The continuation of this movement was the film “Dracula: Prince of Darkness” in 1966. A number of cinemas in Europe and the United States subjected the picture to strict censorship, cutting out most of the explicit scenes. And although Christopher Lee did not utter a single word for the entire film, his image remained forever in the memory of the audience. He made a monster out of a man, though still an unambiguous villain.

“Dracula” (1992)

And again “Dracula”, and again a film adaptation of Stoker’s novel. Filmmakers have been exploiting the same image for literally 70 years. Therefore, when Francis Ford Coppola’s film was released in 1992, no one expected revelations. However, this tape was the most accurate film adaptation of the book (and the last successful one). Moreover, Gary Oldman for the first time showed exactly the transformation of the young handsome Vlad Tepes into the vampire Count Dracula. The villain appears before the viewer not as a terrible monster, but as a living and thinking humanoid creature with its own problems, desires, moral dilemmas, and so on. The man in Dracula is trying to escape from vampire control with the help of social traditions and moral attitudes, creating an internal confrontation between the conscious and the unconscious.

“Interview with the Vampire” (1994)

It is the psychological subtext of what it is like to be a blood-sucking monster, living for centuries in human society with its changeable structure, which becomes the main subject of filmmakers’ research in the future. In 1994, Neil Jordan’s film Interview with the Vampire was released, based on the novel of the same name by Anne Rice. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt showed that being a vampire is actually a terrible lot and should not be admired. They are sensitive and subtle natures who have their own laws, traditions and some semblance of morality, but they are forced to satisfy their biological needs every night in order not to die.

Vampires in action movies: heroes and cannon fodder

“From Dusk Till Dawn” (1995)

Simultaneously with the fact that to humanize vampires and make them heroes of the drama, another movement appears in Hollywood, where they are presented as cannon fodder. In 1995, Robert Rodriguez filmed one of his biggest hits, From Dusk Till Dawn. The image of a vampire is equated to an ordinary monster that needs to be destroyed (like zombies, who are experiencing the dawn of popularity at that moment). From that moment on, horror films and dramas are replaced by action films for many years to come. Moreover, the perception of vampires is based on the confrontation between man / monster (then they are shown as soulless consumables for heroes) or on ideological contradictions (then they have character traits, like humans).

Blade (1998) and Underworld (2003)

In 1998, the vampire becomes not only the main character of the film, but also acquires heroic traits. Blade is literally in the business of saving people. True, the villains in Blade are also vampires who consider humanity to be rabble and want to enslave it. The main emphasis is on combat scenes and spectacular destruction of opponents. Another successful example of an action movie with a vampire protagonist was Underworld with Kate Beckinsale. This is one of the first vivid images of the female vampire hero. Moreover, the first notes of the global confrontation between vampires and werewolves appeared here, which will become the main theme of such a movie for many years to come.

“Van Helsing” (2004)

In 2004, the box office blew up another film with Kate Beckinsale, Van Helsing. True, this time she played a simple girl. But the role of Dracula went to Richard Roxburgh, who was trying to stop Hugh Jackman in the image of Van Helsing. Everything that was before was mixed in this action movie. There is Dracula as the seductive main villain, and Frankenstein, and the werewolf as the main weapon against the vampire, and even elements of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After that, filmmakers could no longer come up with anything new in the genre of action movie with vampires.

Vampirism is a virus

I Am Legend (2007) and Warriors of Light (2009)

But in 2007, a new sci-fi trend appeared, in which vampirism was presented in the form of a virus. In the movie I Am Legend, almost the entire population of the planet was infected and turned into blood-sucking monsters that hunt the remnants of humanity at night. The events were shown from the point of view of a man trying to survive this nightmare. In 2009, in the film Warriors of Light, the same story was told by vampires who are trying to find a cure for the virus, because otherwise they will starve to death due to the fact that living people end and there will be no more blood.

Vampires are no longer scary: they are loved and laughed at

“Twilight” (2008)

In 2008, there was a radical transformation of vampires in the cinema thanks to “Twilight”. Here the mystique and sexuality of early images are combined with the heroism and pacifism of more modern ones. The result is Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, who has become the subject of the fantasies of young girls around the world. Here there is a certain degradation of the image of a vampire, who no longer opposes himself to humanity, the system or anything else, he duplicates the classic social roles of a person, including gender ones, being a typical “prince on a white horse” in the film. And the box office success of The Twilight Saga, based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer, solidified it in popular culture. Although not many people remember that such a refined image of a vampire lover appeared back in 1997 in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“Monsters on Vacation” (2012)

From the endless hero-lovers in all sorts of “The Vampire Diaries”, “True Blood” and other similar projects that hit the audience with an endless stream, people began to quickly get tired. Therefore, when Dracula returned to the screens in 2012, albeit in an animated format, expectations were to see something new. And so it happened. Dracula has become a real caring head of the family. Naturally, he did not cause any fear. There was no trace of malice and other characteristics of the monster. True, he was returned the ability to turn into a bat, which looks appropriate in the animation format.

“Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013)

For more than fifteen years, the image of a romanticized vampire has become pretty boring to the public. These once formidable creatures are no longer taken seriously. An attempt to return vampires to the gothic atmosphere and delve into the philosophical side of their existence was Jim Jarmusch’s film Only Lovers Left Alive. There, Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton played creatures tired of a long life that continue to exist for no reason. Perhaps for the love of each other, although they live in different cities. The vampires in this movie are very much like the regretful old people who can’t wait for the relief of death.

“Real Ghouls” (2014)

And although the films of the 40s are impossible to watch without laughter, they were still conceived as horror. And although there were tapes in the spirit of Dracula: Dead and Happy with Leslie Nielsen in the history, they are still parodies of the already caricatured adventures of Dracula in the cinema of the 70s. A real vampire comedy appeared thanks to the New Zealand geniuses Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. These were “Real Ghouls”, where the life of four bloodsuckers in the modern world was described in a documentary style. Viewers finally got a glimpse of the day-to-day routine of vampires as they find food, go to clubs, do household chores, and adapt to technological innovations.

What will happen to the vampires next

In recent years, eight vampires have not been particularly touched, periodically repeating already known scenarios (Dracula, 2014). However, right now there is an increase in the popularity of this topic. Netflix’s summer hit “Day Shift” took viewers back to the 90s, when vampires were killed in batches and done with style. In October 2022, two new series will be released at once. First, a new interpretation of “Interview with the Vampire” with modern agendas. Secondly, the series “Vampire Reginald” based on the novels of the “Fat Vampire” cycle. Almost all of them are also devoid of new ideas, except that the last project may be interesting, because we have never seen vampires suffering from an inferiority complex due to excess weight and self-doubt. Therefore, it is no longer worth hoping for something radically new. Is that the vampires will be transferred to virtual reality and forced to eat …

Source: Trash Box

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